PORADNIK JĘZYKOWY

ISSUE 10 / 2006

ARTICLES AND DISSERTATIONS

  • Iwona Burkacka : Suffix Sets in Noun Derivatives
    The aim of this work is the description of suffix sets distinguished in the course of the word formation analysis of noun derivatives. In 1073 suffix sets, those in which a suffix is a separate formant (not a co-formant) are prevailing. Among those, dual-suffix sets are predominant; three-element sets are far less frequent. The longest sets consist of five suffixes, distributed within 5 or 7 times, with 2 cuts of non-inflectional elements (usually formants added earlier). Apparently, the richer the suffix set, the lower is its frequency and the more important is the role of cuts which manifests in the reduction of set length and, consequently, of derivatives.
  • Anna Cegieła : Ethics – Ability to Be Virtuous or Knowledge of the Art of Being among People?
    Linguistic custom shows that the notions %morality’ and %ethics’ are often identified as one. Ethics is understood by the users as a stylistically more sophisticated synonym of morality. According to the detailed study, %morality’ can be used interchangeably with the lexeme %ethics’ only in non-terminological meanings %functioning in a certain society system of attitudes, norms and evaluation of conduct’ and %behavior referring to the system’ on condition that the context of the word %morality’ does not reveal the semantic component %conviction’ or %actual behavior, action’. The lexeme %ethics’ can be replaced by %morality’ if the context does not bring out the semantic aspect %action which is a realization of a specific system of norms, principles and evaluations’.
  • Agata Hącia : On the Normative Evaluations of Redundant Word Connections
    The article aims at a review of evaluations of redundant word connections declared in normative dictionaries and handbooks of Polish language culture of the last three decades. Apparently, the evaluations differ greatly, or even evolve, as one may say. Initially considered a stylistic phenomenon, pleonasms and tautologies become viewed as an inner linguistic phenomenon, e.g. close to lexical connectability, systemic, functionalized. These observations referring to the kernel of redundancy make the linguists evaluate it more liberally, noticing its linguistic functions as well.
  • Hanna Jadacka : Contemporary Mistakes in Pronunciation
    The article contains an analysis of four types of phonetic mistakes of various origins, spread mainly by television (series and commercials). Due to the pace and the power of the false pronunciation influence on the articulation of the youngest Polish generation, official actions have to be directed to TVP authorities by the Polish Language Committee.
  • Tomasz Karpowicz : Three Normative Verb Trifles
    With the next codification of linguistic norms ahead, it is necessary to have a closer look at the current lexicographic description of those lexemes, which have been known as difficult in the aspect of their correctness. The article refers to three verb entries: potrafić (can, be able to), wybrać (choose – for a post or a position) and ustąpić (give up one’s seat to somebody else e.g. on public transport vehicles). The first of them has not acquired a contemporary description in its aspect category. The second one requires reflection on its justified ruling relations. The third one is apparently interesting not only because of its common syntactic innovation, but also due to its position in the lexical system of contemporary Polish.
  • Monika Kącka : Lexicographic Decisions Referring to the Status of Selected Word Connections Containing the Lexeme świat (the World)
    The article raises the problem of registering phrasal connections as well as meanings and metaphorical uses, including the lexeme świat (the world) in five Polish language dictionaries. The comparison of word connections gathered at the entry świat shows differences in the decisions like whether a certain word connection should be defined as a phrasal connection, whether a constitutive part of such a connection ought to be described as metaphorical, or whether a certain phrase or an expression should be classified as a term or as an example of using a specific meaning of the word.
  • Dorota Kopczyńska : On the Possibility of Using Algorisms in Normative Studies (Based on the Algorism of Part nie Spelt Together and Separately)

    The article indicates a possibility of using a mathematical method in meta-linguistic research. The author of the article presumes that algorisms, known in science and transformational-generative linguistics, may be used in normative studies, i.e. for the analysis of a linguistic norm available in texts which codify it, as well as for verification of the norm codification. To prove the statement, she uses the rules of the part nie spelling, included in Wielki słownik ortograficzny PWN (The Great PWN Orthographic Dictionary).

    The set of rules is transformed into an algorithmic form, which does not only help to specify the criteria used in the rule formation and their hierarchic order. It also allows to specify whether they were employed properly, and it indicates the areas of the rules’ application, as well as the areas which the rules do not refer to in a clear and precise way.

  • Tomasz Korpysz : A Few Comments on Poetic Definitions by Cyprian Norwid (Based on the Example of Sphinx [II])
    In Cyprian Norwid’s poetic works, there are numerous meta-textual and meta-linguistic structures, among which the so-called poetic definitions seem to be the most interesting group. They are characterized with subjectivism, open attitude, partiality, being metaphorical, immediate response. They do not just describe the real qualities of an object but they also reveal their individual vision, which is usually the outcome of contextual interpretation. An example of such a contextual definition (yet, presenting the typical of Norwid way of thinking about man) is a phrase from the poem Sphinx [II]: “A man?... – He is a priest, and yet still unconscious and immature…” (II 33), the formal analysis and interpretation of which is the second part of the article.
  • Jarosław Łachnik : How does the Capital of Poland Function? – Or an Analysis of Grammatical Mistakes in the Statute of the City of Warsaw
    The aim of the article is a normative linguistic analysis of the text of the Statute of the City of Warsaw. The author deals with grammatical mistakes in the legislative act. Apparently, there are hardly any inflectional mistakes, while syntactic ones are predominant, particularly those in word order. He explains the reasons for this phenomenon. The author gives examples of sentences including mistakes in syntactic relations of agreement and government, resulting from the wrong usage of functional words or participles. While describing the mistakes in word order he focuses on adverbial phrases which break syntactically connected words, qualifiers and objects. He also analyses examples of single, compound and complex sentences of some chaotic structure.
  • Radosław Pawelec : Division of Things in Mind
    „Myślą rzeczy rozbieranie” (mental analysis of things) – this is how Jan Mączyński defined the meaning of the word speculation in the 16th century Latin-Polish dictionary. In the 19th century, the Latin noun is introduced into Polish. At the same time, the word spekulacja acquires a new economic meaning, taken from western languages. At the beginning, it has a very general character; speculation is simply a profitable economic (as well as manufacturing) enterprise. In time, the meaning is reduced to financial operations. In the communist times, in the times of economic shortage, the meaning of the word becomes negative; speculation is illegal purchasing of huge quantities of goods, to sell them with high profit. After the year 1989, despite the transformation of the economic situation, some elements of negative evaluation are prevailing in the semantic structure of the word, which can be understood as a kind of “semantic gravity” in the processes of linguistic changes.
  • Ewa Pokorska-Szczodruch : Adjectival and Adverbial Analytic Structures in Press Articles. A Stylistic and Semantic Description
    The article includes a stylistic and semantic description of adjectival and adverbial analytic structures. It shows that the analytic change of an adjective or an adverb often causes an obvious shift in its meaning, moreover, in extreme cases – even a change of the designate of a simple form. Furthermore, a wide stylistic variety and semantic, in particular, has been noticed in one type of multi-verbal phrases. It has been pointed out, that descriptive structures representing the same type may be divided into several groups, which are semantically different. As the analysis of adjectival and adverbial complex relations shows, superficially identical structures may have various functions, which is mainly related to the context, i.e. their lexical surrounding.
  • Ewa Rudnicka : About the Creation of “Prace Filologiczne” (“Philological Works”) in the Context of 19th-Century Linguistic Press – From Adam A. Kryński’s Letters to Jan Karłowicz in the Years 1879–1887
    The article is devoted to the history of one of the first Polish specialist linguistic magazines – “Prace Filologiczne”. The sources used in the description of the idea of creating it, the actual creation, the body of the editorial team, choosing the title, and finally preparations to publishing the first issue were Adam A. Kryński’s letters to Jan Karłowicz, which have never been published. The attention is drawn to the role of “Prace Filologiczne” in the process of the specialist (linguistic) press movement formation in Poland in the 2nd part of the 19th century.
  • Joanna Stankiewicz : The Exchange of Prefixes in Derivation from Verbs (Based on the Root Material)
    The article describes briefly the phenomenon of interchangeable derivation in the roots originating from verbs. It is a common assumption in Polish word formation that interchangeable derivation is a marginal phenomenon among noun formations. The article presents research results denoting that the view needs to be verified. There is a description of interchangeable derivation types and the prefixes which are most typical of this derivation. It also includes the table showing the frequency of the prefix changes.
  • Michał Wiśnicki : On the Prefix-Interchangeable Derivation in Word Formation Roots of Nouns and Adjectives
    The subject of the article is a word formation technique which has not been thoroughly described, yet, namely the prefix-interchangeable derivation. It is still new, which is why it has not been mentioned in the first two volumes of Słownik gniazd słowotwórczych (The Dictionary of Word Formation Roots, including those originating from adjectives and from nouns), which Polish root word formation is based on. The text is supposed to fill in these gaps. The article indicates the capacity of the prefix-interchangeable derivation in the roots based on nouns and adjectives. There is also the description of prefixes which participate in the formation of derivatives; moreover, there are explanations of meaning of each prefix which is a part of a new word. Such characteristics may be useful in classification of each prefix-interchangeable derivation type. In conclusion, there are suggestions of solutions to the questions associated with the description of this type of derivation.
  • Dorota Zdunkiewicz-Jedynak : “Byśmy mogli iść do Pana razem” („So that We Can Walk to the Lord Together”). The Pilgrimage Song – A Genre Example in Pragmatic, Cognitive and Stylistic Aspects

    The border between secular and religious discourses, considered so far as separate ways of speaking about the world, has been getting vague in the latest religious materials. One of the manifestations of the phenomenon is the process of adapting the genres from outside the traditional religious language, which is acquiring certain elements of secular genres. The process brings about new forms of expression. One of them is a pilgrimage song. Based on the material of 360 pilgrimage songs, the author attempts to provide genre characteristics. She focuses on 3 aspects which are unique to the genre:

    • the pragmatic aspect (the aim and sender-recipient relations, life context);
    • the cognitive aspect: the subject and the way of dealing with it (perspective, a point of view, the hierarchy of values and other components of the linguistic view of the world);
    • the stylistic aspect: a specific linguistic shape.