Talk:Czapka

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That's interesting: the Turkish word for hat is şapka! Does anyone know about the etymology of the word? Is the origin polish or turkish? --Katpatuka (msg)

It is actually French: fr:Chapeau. `'mikka (t) 23:45, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Nope, chapeau is a false friend, as it's a hat, while czapka is a cap. Aleksander Brückner's Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego lists czapka as local, ancient Slavic, repeats itself in this or that form in all Slavic speaches and gives the examples of Russian shapka and shapoval (whatever that is). Andrzej Bańkowski lists more data: first mentioned as a proper name in 1384; less common version czapica (15th cent.); diminutive of Polish czapa, itself rendered from Old-Slavic čěpa, and from Indo-European *kēup-ā. Some authors wrongly assumed a borrowing of old French chape (cape, a covering), in turn falsely associated with Greek cappa, name of the letter. Old Russian (14th century) šapka might possibly be a borrowing from old Polish (š- replaced the - by then hardened in Polish - č-, which in Russian was soft). So no, no foreign influence whatsoever.  // Halibutt 00:33, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Better Image Needed
I can't see the czapka clearly on the image provided. Googling images for czapka gets lots and lots of baseball caps, winter caps, etc., but only a few ornate military caps. For me, the clue was to look for something like a "mortarboard." Maybe somebody who knows about czapka can find a copyright-free close-up image of one and put it in this article. Lou Sander 03:19, 18 July 2006 (UTC)


 * It's fixed! Thanks. FAST work! Lou Sander 11:48, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
 * You should expect nothing less, sire :)  // Halibutt 13:33, 18 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Well, I have learned that now! BTW, in the related article (I don't remember the Polish word), the image also leaves a bit to be desired. It is hard to see the square corners of the hat in the gray image as it appears in the article. But if one clicks the image and shows it full size, the square corners are much more apparent. Possibly one could crop the image to show only the person's head, then show an enlargement in the article.


 * Also, I came upon czapka when clicking through "random articles." It is amazing that such a thing often leads to improvements in articles.


 * Also, by the way, I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There are many families from central and eastern Europe here, mostly immigrants from two or three generations ago. That is not my heritage, but like most Pittsburghers, I definitely eat pierogis (local spelling) and like them. Also stuffed cabbage, noodles and cabbage, kielbasa, etc. Lou Sander 13:53, 18 July 2006 (UTC)