# rozłkanym szelest



## anthox

This is an atmospheric and creepy scene during what I think is a seance:

"...to nierozpoznany szelest, jakby lot ptaka, okrążał ich głowy, łopotał po pokoju, wiał chłodem na rozgorączkowane twarze i marł w mrokach *rozłkanym szelestem*..."

"...an indeterminate rustling, like a bird flying in circles over their heads, fluttered around the room, blew cold air into their feverish faces and died out in the darkness with a *mournful*? rustle.”
Source: Reymont, _Wampir

_
I understand the "roz-" prefix and guess this word is related to "łkać," to sob. But I can't understand exactly what the word means to indicate and it's not in any dictionaries I can find. How would you translate?


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## zaffy

So the infinitive for this word is 'rozkłać' and I have no idea what it means. This word doesn't even exist in the biggest Polish dictionary, ie. PWN.


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## anthox

zaffy said:


> So the infinitive for this word is 'rozkłać' and I have no idea what it means. This word doesn't even exist in the biggest Polish dictionary, ie. PWN.



I know, I checked .

The infinitive must rather be “rozłkać.” I double-checked against a print version of the book (my original source is an online version) and it uses the same spelling. Either way, could be typo. I can check Polona.pl for a scan of the original printed text to confirm.


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## zaffy

yes, I meant 'rozłkać' , misspelled it, sorry. I will ask a teacher of Polish what it can mean.


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## anthox

Thank you! 

I checked a scan of the 1911 print edition of the novel, which is the 1st I believe, and confirmed the word appears there as such.


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## zaffy

A teacher of Polish suggested: rozedrganym, żałosnym, smutnym, melancholicznym, płaczliwym


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## anthox

Aha, so my “mournful” attempt was fairly close. Excellent, thanks a lot!


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## jasio

As yiou noticed, "rozłkany" is a passive participle from "rozłkać" - and the latter apparently is derived from "łkać" (eng. sob) with a prefix "roz-" added. According to roz- – Słownik języka polskiego PWN the latter conveys a meaning of 'increasing a size or intensity of something' or 'a beginning of an activity, often more and more intense' (other meanings privided in the article does not seem to apply in this case). 

I think that this rather unusual word was used not for its dictionary meaning, but rather to convey deep emotions which seem to be quite clear for a native speaker even, if it's difficult to explain them clearly. It's not fully blown, loud crying with a lot of tears, but rather a sign of a feeling of misery, coming deeply from the inside, despite one's attempts to hide it. Something which makes you want to share these emotions in sympathy. If 'mournful' conveys these, or a similar emotions, then it's ok, if it does not - perhaps you may want to find or even create a better equivalent - I do not feel to be in a position to explain nuances of a foreign language to a native speaker. ;-)

Actually, originally I suspected that the word was a neologism, but I've found a few references, which may help you evaluate your decision.


> Hiacynt zwiastowany
> przedwiosenne dreszcze
> srebrzą świat *rozłkany*
> 
> *Rozłkany* z uniesień
> łzą w oku – tęczowy
> z kwiatu kwieciem zalesień





> Swiat rozpłakany, *rozłkany*! Sercem przed domem stojącej kobiety targa ból, smutek - tęsknota. - Rozwartemi szeroko Oczami chce przebić ciemność gęstego boru i mgły deszczowe i sercem i myślą lecieć tam, za nimi. Co oni robią? Co myślą? Czemu nic dają nic znać o sobie? Na próżno wyczekuje już kilka tygodni.





> Jak noc księżycowa, rozdrgana
> roztęskniona światłem — spływasz do mojej piersi — i tam
> zawisasz, jak na skrzydłach rozpiętych w nieskończoność, cicha
> *rozłkana*, promienna, tuląca się w mój zachwyt, marząca dla
> nas obojga byt poza wszelkim bytem, a taka cicha, taka jasna
> wszystka...


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## anthox

Thanks for the extra references jasio - I will have to take the time to examine that word more deeply in the contexts you've provided. Googling the word literally brings up 4 results for me, one of which is the "Świat rozpłakany, rozłkany..." So I see that it is obviously quite rare.

As far as the word "mournful," I was proud of having come up with an approximate term, but I do think that if I were translating this novel (which I am actually considering, since after a century it still does not exist in English) I would have to scrutinize that choice. Maybe something like "dolorous" is closer, but I'm still not sure it captures the precise sense of "rozłkany" as you describe it. And then there is the "rustle" - it is hard for me to comprehend how a "rustle," which is the only translation I find for "szelest", and which I associate with something moving among leaves, or particular fabrics rubbing together, can be associated with an impression of deep sadness. But such is the fun of translating, I suppose.


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## grassy

It's a quite sophisticated personification and I wouldn't bother looking for a literal translation. 'Dolorous rustling' would be a fair equivalent.


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## jasio

anthox said:


> And then there is the "rustle" - it is hard for me to comprehend how a "rustle," which is the only translation I find for "szelest", and which I associate with something moving among leaves, or particular fabrics rubbing together, can be associated with an impression of deep sadness.


Indeed, "szelest" is an onomatopeia which represents a delicate sound produced by dry leaves moved around by the wind or by small creatures running among them, a paper sheet when you change page when reading a book... this kind if stuff.

Again, although this word is quite common and quite specific (unlike the other), please note that this whole phrase is very emotional, not based on logic. A delicate, almost unaudiable sound flying 'round the characters, delicate blows of cold air on their hot faces, perhaps hot from emotions, like fear, an unspecified sense of a dolorous presense around them, hiding in the darkness... I've never read that book but judging from its title it may be a horror story. From my perspective as a reader, your ability to make a native English reader *feel* right emotions may be by far more important than to properly translate every single word or a phrase. Unless it is expected to be a translation for literature scholars, of course.



anthox said:


> But such is the fun of translating, I suppose.


Indeed, translation is like a woman - if it's beautiful, it's not faithful, and if it's faithful, it's not beautiful. ;-)


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## Ben Jamin

I have ckecked both "łkać" and "sob" in monolingual dictionaries (PWN and Merriam Webster) and their definitions match very well.
I would translate "*rozłkany" *just as "sobbing" or "violently sobbing". "Mournful" does not match that well IMHO.


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## Europadia

In my opinion, and according to a trusted Polish dictionary (rozełkać - definicja, synonimy, przykłady użycia), this word should read *rozełkanym*. Under łkać - definicja, synonimy, przykłady użycia, you'll find some descriptions giving you some idea what that rustle might sound like.


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## jasio

Europadia said:


> In my opinion, and according to a trusted Polish dictionary (rozełkać - definicja, synonimy, przykłady użycia), this word should read *rozełkanym*. Under łkać - definicja, synonimy, przykłady użycia, you'll find some descriptions giving you some idea what that rustle might sound like.


Albeit in general I agree with you with regards to the spelling, I believe that complaints should be directed to Mr. Władysław Reymont. ;-) 
Wampir


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## Poland91pl

anthox said:


> This is an atmospheric and creepy scene during what I think is a seance:
> 
> "...to nierozpoznany szelest, jakby lot ptaka, okrążał ich głowy, łopotał po pokoju, wiał chłodem na rozgorączkowane twarze i marł w mrokach *rozłkanym szelestem*..."
> 
> "...an indeterminate rustling, like a bird flying in circles over their heads, fluttered around the room, blew cold air into their feverish faces and died out in the darkness with a *mournful*? rustle.”
> Source: Reymont, _Wampir
> 
> _
> I understand the "roz-" prefix and guess this word is related to "łkać," to sob. But I can't understand exactly what the word means to indicate and it's not in any dictionaries I can find. How would you translate?


Hello. The prefix roz- gives most verbs a kind of feeling of having being done many times. It is hard to explain but using the word TO shake as an example you can say to shake- trząść and roztrzęsiony- shaken. Basically roz- transforms a verb into an adj. Giving it a feeling of as your teacher said drganie.


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## Ben Jamin

Poland91pl said:


> Hello. The prefix roz- gives most verbs a kind of feeling of having being done many times.


This is a bold statement. Give a better explanation, please.



Poland91pl said:


> Basically roz- transforms a verb into an adj.


So you say that for example "palić" is a verb, while "rozpalić" is an adjective?


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