History of Polish - Changes in Grammar - Conjugation - Dual Number

Dual Number

Dual number survived until 14th - 15th century with some slight changes:

first person -vě > *-wie > -wa (due to the influence of the first person masculine dual: dwa konja) (two horses).
second person -ta > -ta
third person -te > *-cie > -ta (became the same as the second person to be differentiated from the second person singular)

In the 16th century dual number disappeared from the literary language. It has been preserved in a number of dialects but the meaning of words in the dual number is equal to their blending in plural. The first person ending -ma is sometimes used as a result of merging -wa with -my.

chodźwa, chodźma (=chodźmy) (/we/let's go).

Only in the region of Tarnobrzeg does the distinction still exist for niesiewa, nieśwa (dual number) and niesiemy, nieśmy (plural) (we carry, let's carry).

Read more about this topic:  History Of Polish, Changes in Grammar, Conjugation

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