niech

== Old Polish == === Etymology === Clipping of niechaj. First attested in the 15th century. Compare Old Czech nechť. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): (10th–15th CE) /ɲɛːx/ IPA(key): (15th CE) /ɲex/ === Particle === niech (hortative, attested in Greater Poland) forms third person imperative; let Synonyms: niecha, niechaj ==== Related terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== Polish: niech Silesian: niych === References === Boryś, Wiesław (2005), “niech”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000), “niech”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish) B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “niech”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN == Polish == === Etymology === Inherited from Old Polish niech. By surface analysis, clipping of niechaj. Compare Czech nechť, Serbo-Croatian neka, Ukrainian неха́й (nexáj), and Upper Sorbian njech. === Pronunciation === Rhymes: -ɛx Syllabification: niech === Particle === niech forms the third person imperative in the singular and plural; let, may Niech moc będzie z tobą! ― May the force be with you! Niech cię Bóg błogosławi. ― God bless you. forms the first person imperative in the singular; used only with perfective verbs; let, may Niech no pomyślę... ― Let me think... Niech zgadnę... ty jesteś John? ― Let me guess... you must be John? expresses optative meaning; had better, may (sciences) let (used to specify the meaning of a variable) Synonym: gdzie Niech x oznacza... ― Let x signify... (Middle Polish) if only; only Synonym: tylko === Interjection === niech (Middle Polish) expresses dissatisfaction or impatience === Conjunction === niech (Middle Polish) creates a subordinate clause expressing desire or wish; to, so that, for that, in order to Synonyms: aby, żeby (Middle Polish) creates a conditional; if Synonym: jeśli ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== === Trivia === According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), niech is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 8 times in scientific texts, 1 time in news, 12 times in essays, 60 times in fiction, and 219 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 300 times, making it the 168th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words. === References === === Further reading === niech in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN niech in Polish dictionaries at PWN Maria Renata Mayenowa; Stanisław Rospond; Witold Taszycki; Stefan Hrabec; Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023), “niech”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish] Renata Bronikowska (29.12.2012), “NIECH”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century] Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814), “niech”, in Słownik języka polskiego Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “niech”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861 J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1904), “niech”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 3, Warsaw, page 261