# zechco, mogo



## anthox

Source: Same letter from 1940s as previous threads.

The writer provides an address that the recipient can use to write to another person mentioned in the letter, saying:

"Mogę dać adres do <redacted> jeśly *zechco *to *mogo* sie porozumieć."

I gather this means, "I will provide the address for <person> so that you can communicate with them if you want to." 

But I have never seen verb forms ending in -o like this. Are they antiquated or dialectal?


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## ornityna

_zechcą, mogą, _respectively, so the sentence would be "jeśli zechcą to mogą się porozumieć" 'if they want, thay can make contact.' I suppose the writer used more of a phonetic spelling, since in some parts of Poland (mostly rural areas) the final _ą_s are pronounced as _o._


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## anthox

Thank you very much.


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## haes

Zechco, mogo, zrobio, pójdo etc is phonetic, of "zachcą, mogą.. " etc,  as ornityna said above. This is kind of primitive, factory, not very sophisticated worker talk, to say the least (imagine some guys playing cards in the 70s during their shift in state owned enterprise, drinking beer instead of working, etc). I know such guy, he is a kind man, but this way of talking always made me (secretly) smile. it is very rare nowadays, I would say super rare.


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## jasio

Indeed, "-o" (as well as "-om") pronunciation instead of a correct nasal "-ą", was traditionally related to uneducated, typically rural speech. Of the two "-o" still retains its primitive sounding, but during recent few decades I observe a shift and I hear quite a lot of "-om" pronunciation from otherwise educated people, with a degree. Sometimes I even wonder if I here '-om' just because I'm sensitive to it, or is it really used more often than '-ą' nowadays.

Denasalisation of sufixes also leads to incorrect (or, perhaps, hypercorrect) usage of '-ą', where it does not belong - like a spelling '*ludzią' of the dative case plural (instead of a correct form 'ludziom'), and sometimes even in suffixes which end with an oral vowel, where there should not be any trace of nasality whatsoever.


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## Poland91pl

jasio said:


> Indeed, "-o" (as well as "-om") pronunciation instead of a correct nasal "-ą", was traditionally related to uneducated, typically rural speech. Of the two "-o" still retains its primitive sounding, but during recent few decades I observe a shift and I hear quite a lot of "-om" pronunciation from otherwise educated people, with a degree. Sometimes I even wonder if I here '-om' just because I'm sensitive to it, or is it really used more often than '-ą' nowadays.
> 
> Denasalisation of sufixes also leads to incorrect (or, perhaps, hypercorrect) usage of '-ą', where it does not belong - like a spelling '*ludzią' of the dative case plural (instead of a correct form 'ludziom'), and sometimes even in suffixes which end with an oral vowel, where there should not be any trace of nasality whatsoever.


I asked my friends to pronounce some words ending in ą and all of them said - om instead. They are around 30 years old ( świętokrzyskie).
I noticed it is especially common in my voivodeship

And of course, we are all educated, with a degree


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## jasio

Poland91pl said:


> I asked my friends to pronounce some words ending in ą and all of them said - om instead. They are around 30 years old ( świętokrzyskie).
> I noticed it is especially common in my voivodeship
> 
> And of course, we are all educated, with a degree


Yes, as I mentioned earlier, "-om" pronunciation gains popularity and I hear it virtually everywhere. On the other hand, as far as I am aware, it's still officially considered improper or sub-standard: Wymowa samogłosek nosowych w wygłosie
Not mentioning that at least for some people the "-om" pronunciation may be irritating, even if they don't tell you openly.


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## Poland91pl

jasio said:


> Yes, as I mentioned earlier, "-om" pronunciation gains popularity and I hear it virtually everywhere. On the other hand, as far as I am aware, it's still officially considered improper or sub-standard: Wymowa samogłosek nosowych w wygłosie
> Not mentioning that at least for some people the "-om" pronunciation may be irritating, even if they don't tell you openly.


It may be irritating but it's so natural for all of us here that no one even thinks about that


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## jasio

Poland91pl said:


> It may be irritating but it's so natural for all of us here that no one even thinks about that


That's why I decided to let you know in the first place. After all, if you don't even notice something there is no way to correct it even if you wanted. If you know, at least you have a choice.


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