In 1996, Kazimierz Rymut, a Polish linguist, onomastician, and professor of humanities, began publication of Nazwy Miejscowe Polski (Polish Place Names) an encylopedic dictionary of the names of places in present-day Poland. The title of each article in the dictionary is the name in its current official form, taken from the list of official names of towns in Poland from 1980-1982. Each article attempts to explain the origin of the place name and describe how the place name changed over time.
Kazimierz Rymut died on 14 November 2006, but the publication of additional volumes has continued after his death. The dictionary has been published in volumes as follows:
Volume I, (AB), published in 1996
Volume II, (CD), published in 1997
Volume III, (EI), published in 1999
Volume IV, (J-Kn), published in 2001
Volume V, (Ko-Ky), published in 2003
Volume VI, (L-Ma), published in 2005
Volume VII, (Mą-N), published in 2007
Volume VIII, (O-Mon), published in 2009
Volume IX, (Po-Q), published in 2013
Volume X, (Ra-Re), published in 2015
Volume XI, (Rę-Rs), published in 2015
Volume XII, (Ru-Rż), published in 2015
Volume XIII, (Sa-Si), published in 2016
Volume XIV, (Sk- Sn), published in 2017
Volume XV, (September), published in 2018
Volume XVI, (Stb- Sy), published in 2021
Volume I includes an introduction that describes the scope of work, a list of sources for the information in the dictionary, and a list of abbreviations. To help English-speaking genealogists understand the information included is Rymut’s dictionary, a translation of the introduction and list of abbreviations in Volume I of the series is provided below.
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