# The Polish surname Walczak



## Plot Device

Hello,

I am an English speaker and I wanted to know how to pronounce the last name Walczak. I guess this is a multiple-choice question. So I have three possibilities listed for you below, and I have worded them according to the typical American understanding of how to sound out English words. 

Is it one of the following?

1) "wall-zack"
2) "wall-ck-sack"
3) "wall-chack"
4) other







But here's the REAL reason I am asking you guys for help on all this: 

I am a writer and I am working on a novel. My main character is narrating the novel in First Person Singular. And here's the part of the novel that really really matters as far as his name goes. Please read the following piece of narrative which takes place in Chapter 1, Page 2. 



> "Hello?" I said as I answered the same telephone the next morning, preparing for anything from an angry ex-wife to a hysterical son to a calm-toned police officer.
> 
> "Yes, good morning. Is this Peter Walczak?" Whoever she was she had a sweet voice --but not TOO sweet. Not only am I a sucker for a nice telephone voice, I also appreciated her flawless pronunciation of my name: "wall-zack." Most uninvited callers bastardized it into "wall-ck-sack" or "wall-chack." And one top-flight cold caller even mangled it into "whales-chick" one morning. But Mystery Lady here nailed it beautifully. I was so charmed I nearly dropped my guard against the possibility that I was about to get dunned.


 
Now all of the above is somewhat amusing and witty and mildly entertaining, But my REAL question is: is it just plain WRONG????? If I am incorrectly rendering the name Walczak, then I need to correct myself asap. 

Can anyone help me? 

Thanks!


----------



## Thomas1

Plot Device said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am an English speaker and I wanted to know how to pronounce the last name Walczak. I guess this is a multiple-choice question. So I have three possibilities listed for you below, and I have worded them according to the typical American understanding of how to sound out English words.
> 
> Is it one of the following?
> 
> 1) "wall-zack"
> 2) "wall-ck-sack"
> 3) "wall-chack"
> 4) other


valchack


> But here's the REAL reason I am asking you guys for help on all this:
> 
> I am a writer and I am working on a novel. My main character is narrating the novel in First Person Singular. And here's the part of the novel that really really matters as far as his name goes. Please read the following piece of narrative which takes place in Chapter 1, Page 2.
> 
> 
> 
> "Hello?" I said as I answered the same telephone the next morning, preparing for anything from an angry ex-wife to a hysterical son to a calm-toned police officer.
> 
> "Yes, good morning. Is this Peter Walczak?" Whoever she was she had a sweet voice --but not TOO sweet. Not only am I a sucker for a nice telephone voice, I also appreciated her flawless pronunciation of my name: "wall-zack." Most uninvited callers bastardized it into "wall-ck-sack" or "wall-chack." And one top-flight cold caller even mangled it into "whales-chick" one morning. But Mystery Lady here nailed it beautifully. I was so charmed I nearly dropped my guard against the possibility that I was about to get dunned.
> 
> 
> 
> Now all of the above is somewhat amusing and witty and mildly entertaining, But my REAL question is: is it just plain WRONG????? If I am incorrectly rendering the name Walczak, then I need to correct myself asap.
> 
> Can anyone help me?
> 
> Thanks!
Click to expand...

Though, one of the wrong ones, wall-chack, seems to be most close to the correct one.  wall-zack is worse than wall-chack. The pronunciation I wrote above is what it sounds, not exactly of course, in Polish. _W _in Polish is always pronounced as [v], not as [w], _*ch* _as in _*ch*air_.

Tom


----------



## njumi

Thomas1 said:


> valchack
> Though, one of the wrong ones, wall-chack, seems to be most close to the correct one.  wall-zack is worse than wall-chack. The pronunciation I wrote above is what it sounds, not exactly of course, in Polish. _W _in Polish is always pronounced as [v], not as [w], _*ch* _as in _*ch*air_.
> 
> Tom



Yes. It should be pronounced like that.

/vʌltʃʌk/


----------



## Plot Device

Great! 

Now I have a REALLY stupid question.



Spelling!




I am finding "cz" and "zc" and I am told it is always only ever "cz". 

Can you clarify??


----------



## Thomas1

Plot Device said:


> [...]I am finding "cz" and zc" and I am told it is always only ever "cz".
> 
> Can you clarify??


zc would be very unusual in Polish. 

Tom


----------



## Martin_85

About the spelling...well if it's a Polish surname it is always 'cz' because it forms a particular sound like fricatives in English.. it's always *ch*ur*ch  *and not hcurhc..

that's all I can think of..

BTW it's very nice of you to be concerned about those little things


----------



## Plot Device

Thanks, Guys. 

And if anyone is interested, here's the latest edit I made to my novel, based upon all your kind assistance today. 



> "Hello?" I said as I answered the same telephone the next morning, preparing for anything from an angry ex-wife to a hysterical son to a calm-toned police officer.
> 
> "Yes, good morning. Is this Peter Walczak?" Whoever she was she had a sweet voice --but not TOO sweet. And not only am I a sucker for a nice telephone voice, I also appreciated her flawless pronunciation of my name: "voll-chack." My entire family and I, going back many generations, rarely met anyone on this side of the Atlantic who knew to render the Slavic "w" as a "v." So since coming to America my ancestors resigned to settle for the Americanized "w," thus we always introduced ourselves as "wall-chack." No one but other Polish people ever knew to make it come out as a "v." As for the rest of my name, most uninvited phone callers bastardized it as "wall-ck-zack" or "wall-shack." I recall one top-flight buffoon of a cold caller who even mangled it into "whales-chick." But Mystery Lady here nailed it beautifully. I was so charmed that I nearly dropped my guard against the likelihood that I was about to get dunned.
> 
> "Uh, yes it is," is all I could say.
> 
> "Hello, Mr. Waczak," Mystery Lady continued, and I swore I could somehow hear a smile in her voice amid that kind and tender treatment of my name. "I hope this isn't too early in the morning."
> 
> My lawyer insisted collection agencies cannot call a private home at "inappropriate hours." So my reply was: "Uh, that depends on what this call is about."


----------



## Outsider

You've missed an "L" that last time around.


----------



## njumi

Plot Device said:


> Great!
> 
> I am finding "cz" and "zc" and I am told it is always only ever "cz".
> 
> Can you clarify??



Almost. There are in Polish such words as "s*zc*zęście" = "luck" or "hapiness".


----------



## Thomas1

Plot Device said:


> Thanks, Guys.
> 
> And if anyone is interested, here's the latest edit I made to my novel, based upon all your kind assistance today.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Hello?" I said as I answered the same telephone the next morning, preparing for anything from an angry ex-wife to a hysterical son to a calm-toned police officer.
> 
> "Yes, good morning. Is this Peter Walczak?" Whoever she was she had a sweet voice --but not TOO sweet. And not only am I a sucker for a nice telephone voice, I also appreciated her flawless pronunciation of my name: "voall-chack." (not sure if you wrote o on purpose, if that's the case don't pay attention to my correction) My entire family and I, going back many generations, rarely met anyone on this side of the Atlantic who knew to render the Slavic "w" as a "v." So since coming to America my ancestors resigned to settle for the Americanized "w," thus we always introduced ourselves as "wall-chack." No one but other Polish people ever knew to make it come out as a "v." As for the rest of my name, most uninvited phone callers bastardized it as "wall-ck-zack" or "wall-shack." I recall one top-flight buffoon of a cold caller who even mangled it into "whales-chick." But Mystery Lady here nailed it beautifully. I was so charmed that I nearly dropped my guard against the likelihood that I was about to get dunned.
> 
> "Uh, yes it is," is all I could say.
> 
> "Hello, Mr. Walczak," (as per Outsider's correction) Mystery Lady continued, and I swore I could somehow hear a smile in her voice amid that kind and tender treatment of my name. "I hope this isn't too early in the morning."
> 
> My lawyer insisted collection agencies cannot call a private home at "inappropriate hours." So my reply was: "Uh, that depends on what this call is about."
Click to expand...


A caveat to Polish learners: 


njumi said:


> Almost. There are in Polish such words as "s*zc*zęście" = "luck" or "hapiness".


This cluster is normal in Polish, however, it comes from the vicinity of the digraphs _sz _and _cz _they are pronounced differently from zc as stand-alones. 

Tom


----------



## avok

Voll-chack: I guess that's the result of his American accent, he writes "vol" to pronounce "wal" in Polish. Well, even a better pronunciation would be "*vul-chuck"* for "Walczak,"


----------



## Plot Device

njumi said:


> Almost. There are in Polish such words as "s*zc*zęście" = "luck" or "hapiness".


 
Okay then. 

Sounds like I should stick with "Walczak" for my character's name.


----------



## Plot Device

Thomas1 said:


> And not only am I a sucker for a nice telephone voice, I also appreciated her flawless pronunciation of my name: "voall-chack." (not sure if you wrote o on purpose, if that's the case don't pay attention to my correction)


 
I guess I'm trying to cater to the conventions of American colloquial English here. The word "volley ball" is what I was trying to imitate by rendering it as "voll" instead of "vall."

I ultimately want what works better for American layman as opposed to multi-linguists. Do you feel "vall" is better? I'm all ears. 





Thomas1 said:


> "Hello, Mr. Walczak," (as per Outsider's correction) Mystery Lady continued, and I swore I could somehow hear a smile in her voice amid that kind and tender treatment of my name.


 
Whoops! Thanks for catching that!


----------



## Plot Device

Outsider said:


> You've missed an "L" that last time around.


 
Thanks for the proof-read.


----------



## Plot Device

avok said:


> Voll-chack: I guess that's the result of his American accent, he writes "vol" to pronounce "wal" in Polish. Well, even a better pronunciation would be "*vul-chuck"* for "Walczak,"


 
Ditto what I said above to Thomas1. I'm totally open to changing that vowel.


----------



## Thomas1

I think avok's clues are good ones, I was waffling whether I should put it down like he did, but wasn't sure if this would be better.
I don't know whether you are familiar with IPA transcription, which may be of aid here. I'll use njumi's transcription to show you how Polish a is pronunced:
/*vʌltʃʌk*/
*v*aluable
c*u*t
*l*ot
*ch*air
*cu*t

the transcription with *a*, vallchack, may hint at its being pronounced as in c*a*t, which is not exactly what it sounds like in Polish, but I wouldn't be surprised if English speakers enunciated it this way.
Now, whether putting it down  as vulchuck* or valchack* is better for a native AE speaker is up to your judgement. 

*another thing that's occurred to me: is writing it with double ll more palatable to colloquial English standards?

Don't hesitate to ask further if you still have doubts. 

Tom


----------



## Plot Device

Thomas1 said:


> I think avok's clues are good ones, I was waffling whether I should put it down like he did, but wasn't sure if this would be better.
> I don't know whether you are familiar with IPA transcription, which may be of aid here. I'll use njumi's transcription to show you how Polish a is pronunced:
> /*vʌltʃʌk*/
> *v*aluable
> c*u*t
> *l*ot
> *ch*air
> *cu*t
> 
> the transcription with *a*, vallchack, may hint at its being pronounced as in c*a*t, which is not exactly what it sounds like in Polish, but I wouldn't be surprised if English speakers enunciated it this way.
> Now, whether putting it down as vulchuck* or valchack* is better for a native AE speaker is up to your judgement.
> 
> *another thing that's occurred to me: is writing it with double ll more palatable to colloquial English standards?
> 
> Don't hesitate to ask further if you still have doubts.
> 
> Tom


 
Okay. 

Now that I think about it, Americans MIGHT mistakenly pronounce "voll" more like "toll" or "coal" or "sole" rather than like the intended "stall" or "doll" or "Paul." What I wanted to aviod was "pal" --unless of course "pal" is indeed the correct rendering. Go ahead and correct me there, please! I need to know! 



Again, this is aimed at American readers. This novel is intended to be published as "mainstream/contemporary fiction" and NOT meant to aspire to the more astute vein of publishing called "literary fiction." Literary fiction tends to follow very formal literary conventions and avoids puns and colloquialisms, gets very flowery and prosaic in its style, and tends to be rather "heady." Therefore my novel will be far less in the neighborhood of JRR Tolkien and far more in the neighborhood of Stephen King or Robert Ludlum or even Dan Brown. 

I'm aiming for only a mildly gritty feel --sort of a "light noir" because my main character is narrating, and he's a real "bue collar joe" as we say in America. However I am NOT trying for a truly dark, pessimistic, and industrial strength noir of what's called "classic hard boiled prose" full of sordid, pulp fiction puns and similes (think Humphrey Bogart for the ultimate benchmark of American, hard boiled, First Person Singular narration.). Instead my "blue collar joe" named Peter Walczak speaks American English with a measure of grace and civility, even though he's ... (well) ... even though he's blue collar.


----------



## avok

But if you write Walczak as Walzcak, I guess, then the pronunciation would change.


----------



## njumi

avok said:


> But if you write Walczak as Walzcak, I guess, then the pronunciation would change.



You're right. And it would be very strange.


----------



## pwalczak

Hi there,

As my name _is_ Peter Walczak, I thought I may add something from myself. If I'm asked how to pronounce my name, I always say - val-chuck (like in Chuck Norris).

Regards,
Peter.


----------



## Blacklack

Plot Device said:


> And if anyone is interested, here's the latest edit I made to my novel, based upon all your kind assistance today.
> 
> 
> 
> ...My entire family and I, going back many generations, rarely met anyone on this side of the Atlantic who knew to render the Slavic "w" as a "v".
Click to expand...

Why Slavic? As far as I know it's only Poles who use this character for *v* (consonant).


----------



## BezierCurve

> Why Slavic? As far as I know it's only Poles who use this character for *v* (consonant).


 
What about the German speakers?


----------



## Plot Device

avok said:


> But if you write Walczak as Walzcak, I guess, then the pronunciation would change.


 



njumi said:


> You're right. And it would be very strange.


 

Yes. 

Which is why I appreciate that both Thomas1 and Martin_85 both corrected me earlier.


----------



## Plot Device

pwalczak said:


> Hi there,
> 
> As my name _is_ Peter Walczak, I thought I may add something from myself. If I'm asked how to pronounce my name, I always say - val-chuck (like in Chuck Norris).
> 
> Regards,
> Peter.


 
Okay. This is SOMEWHAT helpful. The "chuck" I am totally getting. But at this point I'd like to ask you (or anyone else here) to "talk" like an American (or at least post like one) as opposed to an Irishman. (BTW, I was in Ireland for a few months once many years ago. Lovely place.  )

My question is on your rendering of "val." 

Is "val" supposed to be like "pal" or like "shoot-out at the O.K. Corral" or (since we're doing Hollywood actors who specialize in action films) like Val Kilmer? 

Or is "val" like "tall" or "ball" or "fall"??


----------



## Plot Device

Blacklack said:


> Why Slavic? As far as I know it's only Poles who use this character for *v* (consonant).
> 
> 
> BezierCurve said:
> 
> 
> 
> What about the German speakers?
Click to expand...

 
Only Polish???


----------



## Blacklack

BezierCurve said:


> Blacklack said:
> 
> 
> 
> Why Slavic? As far as I know it's only Poles who use this character for *v* (consonant).
> 
> 
> 
> What about the German speakers?
Click to expand...

You think German a Slavic language?


----------



## avok

Plot Device said:


> Okay. This is SOMEWHAT helpful. The "chuck" I am totally getting. But at this point I'd like to ask you (or anyone else here) to "talk" like an American (or at least post like one) as opposed to an Irishman. (BTW, I was in Ireland for a few months once many years ago. Lovely place.  )
> 
> My question is on your rendering of "val."
> 
> Is "val" supposed to be like "pal" or like "shoot-out at the O.K. Corral" or (since we're doing Hollywood actors who specialize in action films) like Val Kilmer?
> 
> Or is "val" like "tall" or "ball" or "fall"??


 
the letter a in the word "Val/wal" is pronounced as "u" in "hunt" so "wal" is pronounced as "vul"


----------



## pwalczak

Can't agree... the Letter 'a' in Walczak is pronounced like 'a' in an architect.


----------



## Thomas1

Polish has no long and short vowels, the _a_ in architect is a long vowel, however, to many Poles it may seem to be similar to the first _a_ in _Walczak _since this is where the stress falls in the surname in question. It's a bit different to my ears.

Tom


----------



## BezierCurve

> You think German a Slavic language?


 
No, Blacklack, I don't. 
Just replied to "it's only Poles who use this character for *v* ".

As for the Slavic languages you're absolutely right.


----------



## mylastnameiswalczak

*M*y name is brad WALCZAK,, and let me make a few things clear for you, first of all, the official *P*olish pronuciation of the name is "valchuck",,, my grandpa came from *P*oland and *I* am 2nd generation in,, so *I* am good at speaking proper *E*nglish and consider myself more *A*merican than *P*olish.. Since the time of Walczaks comming to *A*merica, they decided the only way to americanize the pronuciation was to in fact make the "c" silent, so the *A*merican pronuciation is indeed "wall- zack"  and yes it rhymes with ballsack,,, and yes *I* am embarresed by it, and also why would you name the character peter walczak if you don*'*t know anything about it.. sounds like *I* should be writing this book.


----------



## Ben Jamin

Thomas1 said:


> A caveat to Polish learners:
> This cluster is normal in Polish, however, it comes from the vicinity of the digraphs _sz _and _cz _they are pronounced differently from zc as stand-alones.
> 
> Tom


You can find following instances of occurence of "zc" combination:
In words containing "szcz", the pronunciation is always "sh+ch".
In other words, it is always "z+ts":
Znalazca
Zwycięzca


----------



## franknagy

Hi,
The -v- and -w- characters in English denote different sounds.
The -v- is not used in Polish. The -w- is pronounced as the English -v- in "vessel".
The sound denoted by -w- in English is denoted by the crossed -Łł- in Polish: city of Łódź = [Woodge. in E.] (In letters written by hand the character _l_ *is not crossed but it is stroke over* in order to distinguish it from the "t". )


> _
> l


 If you go Southwards, the English -v- is written in Slovakian and Hungarian with the same letter but the English -w- sound is missing from them.
If you go Westwards, the English -w- sound is missing from the German language, and -v- is written mainly by -w- but rarely with -v-, too.

The -cz- is a frequently used Polish digraph used for the hard sound of "chuck" and picture.
The letter zed is used alone and in other Polish digraphs like dz, sz --> so the zed Łódź can preced occassionally the _c_ as in the above examples. In this case no separator | is written. You have to know the word in order to divide and pronounce it correctly.

Regards
   Frank


----------

