# Lengyel vs. Lenkija



## neonrider

Szervusz!

I have a question to Hungarian linguists. In Hungarian "Poland" is "Lengyel". In Lithuanian (Litvania) "Lenkija". I find Lengyel and Lenkija somehow similar. Knowing that Baltic languages have not much in common with Ugorian languages, I'd like to know whether the word "Lenkija" in Lithuanian language originated in Hungary.


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## galaxy man

neonrider said:


> ... In Hungarian "Poland" is "Lengyel". In Lithuanian (Litvania) "Lenkija". ... I'd like to know whether the word "Lenkija" in Lithuanian language originated in Hungary.




  According to a popular etymology of the Hungarian language (Bárczy Géza: Magyar szófejtő szótár, 1941), the word *lengyel* (archaic form: *lengyen*) is found in documents in the 13th century, and is presumed to have been adopted from the Old-Russian, where *lęděnъ* has a similar meaning. I am not a linguist, so please take this with a grain of salt,


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## Elvus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lendians <- here is the key.



> That the Lendians occupied a considerable territory is evident from  the fact their name gave rise to the name for the Poles in a  number of languages. From later forms Ljęchy (Lęchy), by way of Ljędchy:
> 
> 
> East Slavic: _Lyakh_ (also  transliterated as _Lach_ and _Ljach_)
> Old  Norse: _Laesir_; see Heimskringla  (also transliterated as _Laesar_ and _Ljachar_)[2]
> Lithuanian : _Lenkas_
> Romanian (now dated) : _Leah_
> Byzantine Greek: _Lechoi_ and _Lendzeninoi  (Λενζενίνοις)_
> Directly from Lędzianie, Lendzianie, Lędzice
> 
> 
> Hungarian: Lendiel, Lengyel
> South Slavic: Ledianin


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## neonrider

Thanks. Now I understand where it originated from. By the way - letter "ę" in Polish (and in old Lithuanian) is pronounced as "en", therefore accordingly by the above info of yours, "lęch" could have become "lenk(as) in Lithuanian language, while we did not have a "ch" (kh) sound in Lithuanian language, so a "k" was used instead. Lech Walęsa's first name probably originated from "Lęch". Also "lenkti" (to fold, to bend) is a Lithuanian word, but probably has no connection with 'lenkas'.


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