AboutMaciej St. Zięba Expertise I am native Polish and I used to teach Polish to foreigners. I know (passively of actively) more than 15 other languages - so I can answer many questions concerning Polish grammar, pronounciation, spelling, ethymology and usage - as compared to English, French, German, Russian, Dutch, Esperanto or Norwegian. Also questions concerning other Slavic languages, Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, or general linguistics, especially scripts (writing systems and transcriptions) - are welcome.
Experience Teaching English and French to Poles, Polish to foreigners, teaching Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan to philosophy students.
Question Dzien dobry pan,
I have the English name Luke which is Łukasz in Polish.
Some people shorten that to what sounds like Łuki - that is the sound in English 'woo-kee'.
Is this a common nickname for Łukasz? How do you spell it properly? Are there any other nicknames for Łukasz.
Dzienkuje,
Łukasz
Answer Dear Łukasz
The way you write your name and nickname in Polish shows that you know quite a bit about our language. Congratulations!
Yes, you have written the name correctly. Is it a common nickname? To tell you the truth - I don't know.
1st. Łukasz is not such a popular name in Poland as one might suppose. I am 50 and I have personally known only one Łukasz in my life and that was some twenty years ago.
2nd. Nowadays the customs concerning creation of nicknames change. When I was young nobody would have used such a form but now it seems that everybody uses very short and unfamiliar forms - not only of proper names but also of any daily words. Instead of "spokojnie" ("calm") they say "spoko", instead of "promocja" they say "promo", instead of "na razie" ("see you soon") they say "nara" etc.
This fashion, it seems to me, came with the rap and hip-hop. Anyhow, it sounds to me "American". You want to make a nickname? Cut any word in the middle of the second syllable and add letter -i (pronounced like -y or -ie in Miky, Mikie) and you have you name sound "modern", "trendy" and "American-like".
Other nicknames for Łukasz? Well this name sounds like not having any regular nicknames (not every name has one); except for the endearment form used to smaller kids, "Łukaszek". However, don't use this form to anyone if you are not the "Łukaszek's" mother (grandmother, aunt etc.) and the "Łukaszek" is more that 7 years old.
Best regards
MAciej
PS. to correct you Polish expressions:
1) Dzień dobry Panu.
2) Dziękuję
