Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
czy. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
czy, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
czy in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
czy you have here. The definition of the word
czy will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
czy, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Old Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *či. First attested in the 14th century.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (10th–15th CE) /t͡ʃʲɨ/
- IPA(key): (15th CE) /t͡ʃʲɨ/
Particle
czy
- introduces a clarifying question
Descendants
References
- Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “czy”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
- Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “czy”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
- Brückner, Aleksander (1927) “czy”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna
- B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “czy”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Old Polish czy.
Pronunciation
Particle
czy
- interrogative particle: introduces a yes-no question; whether (often omitted)
- Synonyms: (archaic) azali, (archaic) azaliż, czyż
- Czy ten pan jest z Anglii? Tak, ten pan jest z Anglii. ― Is that man from England? Yes, that man is from England.
Descendants
Conjunction
czy
- if, whether
- Próbował się zdecydować, czy pójdzie. ― He was trying to make up his mind if he'd go or not.
- or (in questions)
- To w końcu poszedłeś czy nie? ― Did you end up going or not?
- or (suggesting that the speaker is not sure)
- Synonyms: abo, albo, bądź, lub
- Karol ma jakiegoś jamnika czy labradora? ― Does Karol have some dachshund or a Labrador?
- and
- Jamnik, berneńczyk czy labrador to jedne z najbardziej znanych ras psów. ― The dachshund, Bernese, as well as the Labrador are some of the most famous dog breeds.
Trivia
According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), czy is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 157 times in scientific texts, 39 times in news, 249 times in essays, 220 times in fiction, and 454 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 1119 times, making it the 37th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.
References
- ^ Ida Kurcz (1990) “czy”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), volume 1, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 65
Further reading
- czy in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- czy in Polish dictionaries at PWN
- Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “czy”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
- “CZY”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 07.05.2010
- Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “czy”, in Słownik języka polskiego
- Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “czy”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
- J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “czy”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 410
Silesian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Inherited from Old Polish czy.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʂɨ/
- Rhymes: -ɨ
- Syllabification: czy
Conjunction
czy
- (interrogative) if, whether
- Synonym: jeźli
- (correlative) or
- Synonym: abo
- Antonym: ani
Further reading