The Deluge

NOTES.

NOTES.

POLISH ALPHABET.

Since the Polish alphabet has many peculiar phonetic combinations which are difficult to one who does not know the language, it was decided to transliterate the names of persons and places in which such combinations occur in this book. The following are the letters and combinations which are met with most frequently;--

Polish Letters.English Sounds.

cts

chh

czch

rzr followed by the French j

szsh

szczshch

wv

żj

In this transliteration ch retains its ordinary English sound. J is the French j; the vowels e, i, u, are, respectively, ai in «bait,» ee in «beet,» oo in «pool,» when long; when short, «bet,» «bit,» «put» would represent their values. I, when unaccented and followed by a vowel, is sounded as y.

The following names will illustrate the method of this transliteration:--

Polish Form of Name.Form in Transliteration.

PotockiPototski

ChudzynskiHudzynski

CzarnkowskiCharnkovski

RzendzianJendzian

BleszynskiBleshyuski

SzandarowskiShandarovski

WlostowskiVlostovski

ŻyromskiJyromski

In Jendzian and Jechytsa,--only names, as I believe, beginning in Polish with rz in this work,--the initial r has been omitted in the transliteration on account of the extreme difficulty, for any one not a Pole, of pronouncing r followed by the French j.

ACCENT.

All Polish words, with few exceptions, are accented on the syllable next the last, the penult. The exceptions are foreign names, some compounds, some words with enclitics. Polish names of men and places are generally accented on the penult.

MAP OF THE POLISH COMMONWEALTH.

This map, though diminutive, contains data through which the reader may see, at least in part, the historical course of the Commonwealth.

The territory is indicated which was lost to the Teutonic Knights, and which became later the kingdom of Prussia. On the east are indicated the Russian lands which became connected with Poland, and which rose against Polish rule in 1618. These lands are included between the lines running north and south on the map, and which are designated, respectively, «Western limit of Russia before the Tartar invasion,» «Eastern limit of the Polish Commonwealth at the accession of Yan Kazimir.»

The names of more important places mentioned in Fire and Sword and The Deluge appear also on the map. A few of these names are not so familiar in their Polish forms, which I have preserved; therefore the German is given, as follows:--

Polish.German.

ElblangElbing

GlogovGlogau

GnyeznoGnesen

TaurogiTauroggen

TyltsaTilsit

OpolOppeln

PoznanPosen

TITLES OF RANK AND ADDRESS.

The highest military rank in Poland was grand hetman; next in order came field-hetman, which has appeared inadvertently in these volumes as full hetman. «Your worthiness,» so frequently used, would be better translated «your dignity,» «dignity» being used in the sense of «office.» The terms Pan, Pani, and Panna are applied, respectively, to a gentleman, a married lady, and an unmarried lady; they are now equivalent to Mr., Mrs. or Madame, and Miss.

Map of the Polish Commonwealth at the

accession of Yan Kazimir

Map of the Polish Commonwealth at the accession of Yan Kazimir.