All my life, there is ongoing confusion with everyone I meet on how to pronounce my last name: ‘Lewczyk’. The name is Polish, and different languages have different ways to pronounce letters – plus some languages even have different letters that other languages don’t have. Also, when your name is from another country, you need to find a sensible balance in the local language between: having your name be pronounced correctly vs having it be pronounceable (consistently).
I was born in the Buffalo NY area, where there is a sizable percentage of people of Polish descent – so the likelihood of someone pronouncing my last name correctly around Buffalo is higher than where I live now (California). In Buffalo (and other east US cities) there are even streets with Polish names.
I remember only one time in my life that someone new pronounced my last name correctly. It was a teacher in school who was (I believe) married to someone with a Polish last name similar to mine – so the teacher knew how to pronounce my name.
Because of Polish pronunciation, my last name is tricky for two reasons:
- the ‘cz’ is said like a hard ‘ch’ – essentially like a ‘tch’
- the ‘w’ is said like a soft ‘v’ – essentially like an ‘f’ when next to a consonant
So the correct name pronunciation is ‘Lef-chick’. I sometimes write it phonetically as ‘Left-chick’ since this combines two common English words, and gets the ‘cz’ said more correctly as ‘tch’.
Most people can understand that the ‘cz’ is said like a ‘ch’. This is true in many surnames, and even the country Czechoslovakia (or the Czech Republic) have this ‘ch’ pronunciation.
The bigger challenge comes with the ‘w’. In English, ‘ew’ has a definite pronunciation – like ‘oo’. So many people look at my name and want to say ‘Loo-chick’ (or ‘Loo-check’). Beyond that, what’s even more interesting is – even within my family, there is disagreement on how to pronounce the’w’…
The disagreement within my family stems from my Dad saying that the ‘w’ is pronounced like a ‘v’. This is true when the ‘w’ is surrounded by vowels, but when it is next to a consonant, the letter softens to (almost) and ‘f’. How do I know this? Three reasons, which I’ll provide below:
- Polish Professor – The first reason I know the ‘w’ is said like an ‘f’ is because I took a Polish class in college. (I’m the only one of my siblings that took a Polish class.) The professor teaching Polish said that the ‘w’ softens to (almost) an ‘f’ when next to a consonant. (Further, with the ‘cz’ being said like a ‘hard ch’ – it is awkward to say ‘v’ then ‘tch’ one after another.)
- My Dad – The second reason I know the ‘w’ is said like an ‘f’ is because… I asked my dad! This was a funny exchange between him and me, because I found myself years ago telling my dad how I had learned in school that the ‘v’ is said very soft – like an ‘f’ when next to a consonant. He disagreed, and said “No, it is said like a ‘v’ – as in ‘Lefchick'” When he heard the pronunciation that came out of his mouth, he had a very surprised look on his face – because it absolutely came out as an ‘f’. 🙂
- Multiple 3rd Parties – Here’s an example of a Polish person who agrees: link.
So for these reasons – my Polish professor, my dad’s pronunciation, and random googled 3rd parties – I’m certain that the w in my last name (the ‘v’) is said essentially like an ‘f’. What’s interesting is that my siblings all say our name with a hard ‘v’ sound (‘Levv-chick’) which doesn’t roll off the tongue that well. (And can also lead to some odd pronunciations – like my wife’s sister’s family who call us the ‘Love-chucks’.)
Whatever. It is too late to change my siblings’ minds on pronunciation – even if I point them to this post. 🙁
It was interesting walking into my Polish class in college for the first time. I entered the room, and looked around – and the students were all in a similar situation as me: non-Polish-speakers of Polish descent. Everyone looked Polish (pale, tall face, big forehead, wide-set eyes), and it was like walking into a family reunion. Shocking, but I guess not surprising.
Other note: the title of this post is a line from a play that my siblings and I wrote and (audio) recorded when young.