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Rutkowski's analysis of the corpus confirmed the uniqueness of the surname "Kowalski" in Polish language with respect to the mentioned connotations. In particular, the surname Nowak was used with a similar meaning only once. However, in some cases "Kowalski" was grouped with some other surnames, such
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Due to its commonality, the surname "Kowalski" acquired some other connotations, which may be grouped into two classes, with close meanings: "average, typical/stereotypical dweller of Poland" and "ordinary, mundane person". It is often difficult to classify a specific metonymic usage of the surname
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A major difference between the two classes may be demonstrated by the following examples: "An average
Kowalski who uses the internet for purchases is in the age range of 31 to 40 years". Here "average/ordinary" is used in the statistical sense, referring to the traits of the majority of people.
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Rutkowski summarizes that overall, the figure of
Kowalski has the function of similarity and representativeness. This function also implies the exclusion of the elites or "non-Kovalskis", as non-representative. At the same time, a Kovalski is stripped of individuality and represents a kind of
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is 9,526.90zl; an ordinary
Kowalski can only dream about such earnings". Here "ordinary/average" is used as a contrast with respect to the privileged elites. Close to the latter case is the situation when the name "Kowalski" is contrasted with a celebrity surname, such as
143:" itself is a stereotypical Polish surname, despite being nearly half as common as the leader, Nowak. Polish philologist Mariusz Rutkowski explains this phenomenon by the additional fact of the high productivity of the surname's structure: the patronymic suffix
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Yet another meaning is to use the surname "Kowalski" to refer to an unspecified, but specific, concrete person from a crowd: "We started the activities of our insurance company with offering our products to a
Kowalski, i.e. to an individual client".
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In broader, especially international contexts, "Kowalski" signifies the
Polishness of the average person in question: "The average Kowalski spends 10.6 hours a week online (7th place in the world)".
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181:. In this context the surname Kowalski" acquires the meaning "unknown, anonymous person". An example would be a newspaper article title "Poseł Rokita, premier Buzek i Jan Kowalski"
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The Polish-language source groups these synonyms with overlapping meanings as follows: "przeciętny, zwyczajny mieszkaniec Polski" and "zwykły człowiek, szary człowiek".
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based on the
National Corpus of the Polish Language (NCPL) carried out by Rutkowski did not uncover any additional function beyond the mentioned ones.
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The metonymic reference is not restricted to Polish average persons: One may see the expressions such as "Kowalskis of
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411:, "PRZECIĘTNY KOWALSKI. UWAGI O KONOTACJACH I MEDIALNYCH WYSTĄPIENIACH JEDNOSTKI ONIMICZNEJ",
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meaning of averageness, although a more literal translation would be "John
Smithson", as
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Some linguists suggest that the common expression "przysłowiowy
Kowalski" has a
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with respect to the second one, i.e., an average person is also an ordinary one.
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Rutkowski M., Słownik metafor i konotacji nazw własnych, Olsztyn 2012, p. 70
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produces over 7,800 Polish surnames, with the runner-up being the suffix
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Our
Marvelous Native Tongue. The Life and Times of the English Language
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Disrespected
Neighbo(u)rs. Cultural Stereotypes in Literature and Film
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Statystyka najpopularniejszych nazwisk występujących w Polsce in 2009
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International Free Trade Union News Volumes 7-9, 1952,
170:Compare it with "The monthly salary of a member of
80:(140,471 people in 2009), with the leader being
307:(The most popular surnames in Poland in 2009).
107:. Analogous names in other languages include
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434:"Poseł Rokita, premier Buzek i Jan Kowalski"
195:character. However, the analysis of the
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155:Kowalski, because the first class is
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135:Stereotypes associated with the name
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91:, both in translation and in the
38:bearing the name of Jan Kowalski.
24:bearing the name of Jan Kowalski.
215:100 less per month than we do".
58:, the meaning being similar to "
166:", "German Jan Kowalski", etc.
254:, Polish musical band of 1980s
241:of an ordinary and humble type
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292:Ministry of Interior (Poland)
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309:Retrieved 2013-02-28.
105:Polish-language surnames
320:Zagratzki, Uwe (2018).
151:(about 1680 surnames).
231:, a stereotypical Pole
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25:
22:Polish driving licence
219:collective identity.
197:corpus of media texts
87:The name is close to
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19:
413:Zeszyty Naukowe KUL
245:Jan Kowalski (band)
84:(207,348 in 2009).
302:2013-09-28 at the
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462:Society of Poland
457:Placeholder names
452:Culture of Poland
402:Mariusz Rutkowski
101:patronymic suffix
67:Kowalski/Kowalska
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113:Giovanni Ferrari
52:placeholder name
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304:Wayback Machine
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121:Sean McGowan
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109:Jean Lefèvre
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65:The surname
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48:Jan Kowalski
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35:Karta Polaka
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405: [
248: [
71:most common
60:Average Joe
446:Categories
370:0812910389
279:References
209:Wiśniewski
205:Malinowski
203:as Nowak,
89:John Smith
229:True Pole
157:hyponymic
93:metonymic
364:, 1983,
300:Archived
235:Everyman
223:See also
141:Kowalski
164:Albania
149:icz/ycz
131:, etc.
74:surname
374:p. 144
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207:, or
78:Poland
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259:Notes
252:]
99:is a
82:Nowak
50:is a
366:ISBN
328:ISBN
237:, a
179:Tusk
173:sejm
145:-ski
97:-ski
213:PLN
103:in
76:in
62:".
42:In
448::
407:pl
380:^
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250:pl
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