PORADNIK JĘZYKOWY

ISSUE 4 / 2015

ARTICLES AND DISSERTATIONS

  • Stanisław Dubisz : Development of vocabulary in the history of the Polish language – outline of the issues
    In the history of language, vocabulary has been developing on two basic planes: quantitative and qualitative changes. The former allow the conclusion that the development of the lexical resource of the Polish language has been progressive: from 5,000–7,000 to ca. 300,000 lexical units. On the plane of qualitative changes, vocabulary is developing within several scopes: 1) thematic circles; 2) communicative and stylistic variants; 3) semantic relations; 4) semantic changes of words; 5) vocabulary reproduction processes. The data obtained from the conducted analysis confirm the dominance of the completion trend on the plane of qualitative changes, yet the hierarchy of other development trends is known to an insignificant degree only and requires further studies.
  • Radosław Pawelec : Words and values – examples of semantic changes in evaluative lexis
    This text analyses semantic changes of 5 Polish adjectives: morowy (bubonic, groovy), sztuczny (masterly, artificial, fake), podły (lousy, cheep, base, mean), piękny (beautiful) and gładki (smooth, comely, fluid) over the past several centuries. The aim of this analysis is to define such characteristics of the emerging changes as dynamics, changes in evaluative markedness, linearity and predictability. Changes of individual words differ in terms of each of the examined aspects. Some develop by evolution, others in steps, evaluative markedness changes its mark or nature, it appears or disappears, some transformations are predictable, while in the case of others it is extremely difficult to find logical justifications. One of the hypotheses which could explain this state of affairs is that transformation diversity is implied by creativeness of language, it is a manifestation of its flexibility in adapting to new communication situations in the changing material and spiritual culture.
  • Krystyna Długosz-Kurczabowa : Lost words from the viewpoint of Bible translations into Polish
    This paper aims at examining the mechanism of “being lost” (and “being found”) in the case of selected words and phrases in various Polish translations of the Bible, observing lexical and semantic changes, and making an attempt at a fuller interpretation of the message of the analysed fragments of the Bible. The comparison of selected vocabulary (e.g. stolec nagłego spadnienia (to seat in the sit of scoffers), marność nad marościami (vanity of vanities), czynić sobie wczas (to relieve oneself)) in individual translations of the Holy Bible permits conclusions regarding its presence in or absence from the contemporary Polish language and semantic transformations, if any.
  • Dorota Kondratczyk-Przybylska : Names of women having extramarital relations in Słownik warszawski (Warsaw Dictionary) (semantic fi eld <adulteress>)
    This paper is an attempt at describing the sematic field CUDZOŁOŻNICA (ADULTERESS). The basis for the excerption was the lexicographic material included in Słownik języka polskiego (Dictionary of Polish) edited by Jan Karłowicz, Adam Antoni Kryński and Władysław Niedźwiedzki, called the “Warsaw” Dictionary. The material obtained from Swarsz was subjected to a semic analysis discussed from the viewpoint of the semantic field theory as approached by Ryszard Tokarski. What was considered archisems was kobiecość (femininity) ([+Human being], [–Childish], [–Male]) and an extramarital erotic relation, where the archisem [–Marriage] refers directly to the archisem [+Erotic relation]. The analysed vocabulary group was characterised in terms of hierarchical relations, genetics, stylistics, word formation and chronology.
  • Kazimierz Sikora : Dialect in the past and at present – reflections of a dialectologist
    This paper contains comments on the operation of dialects in the contemporary Polish language. Based on the topical literature and his own observations, the author presents considerations for transformation of dialects as a result of the changing nonlinguistic and extralinguistic realities, in particular ones connected with the change in methods of communication. What is noticeable is that – despite the richness of various dialects – a strong trend for neutralising and disintegrating the dialect consisting in getting rid of the peculiar (different from colloquial) lexis, which at the same time usually constitutes a significant component of the local cultural heritage. The fact that dialect vocabulary appears in colloquial and expressive Polish is also noticeable.
  • Anna Piotrowicz, Małgorzata Witaszek-Samborska : Disappearing words and the urban dialect of Poznań
    This paper concerns words which used to be present in general Polish but disappeared from it over time (that is archaisms), and yet have survived in Poznań Polish. They are characterised by a varied degree of persistence in the dialect used by Poznań residents. A considerable number of them have been moved or is moving to the linguistic archives even in this dialect (e.g. celstat, dęga, gardyny, nawarka, sztykutać, taszka, wenerować), others, however, are still alive (e.g. chęchy, drabka, kejter, korbol, nabierka, nieusłuchany, wysiepać, zesmyknąć się, żybura and semantic archaisms, e.g. ból ‘a wound, a sore’, pyza ‘a steamed bun’, uliczka ‘a gate’, or zatrzasnąć ‘to kill’). The persistence of the Poznań dialect is influenced by factors such as: the tradition of cultivating linguistic distinctness and conservatism, which is stereotypically attributed to inhabitants of Wielkopolska region, and most of all their positive emotional attitude to the dialect. The residents of the city often use it for ludic and stylisation purposes, and the fact that they have made it an important element in promoting their city is a sign of the times.
  • Małgorzata B. Majewska : Stages of works on database digitalisation of Słownik wileński (Vilnius Dictionary)
    This paper contains a discussion of differences in the assumptions and process of works in two digitalisation projects of Słownik wileński (Vilnius Dictionary). Difficulties encountered in the course of its implementation are indicated and methods of their resolution are shown. The scope of the performed works is presented in tables. Twenty-nine text files including the content of the Dictionary, consisting of more than eighteen million characters, which constitutes over three million textual words, were created as part of EESW implementation. More than a million tags were introduced to text files. The total time of work on the files of the Dictionary exceeded one and a half thousand hours.

POLISH GRAMMAR

  • Anna Just : Gramatyka polska (Polish grammar) by Maciej Dobracki – an advanced course in grammar of Polish

REPORTS, NOTICES, POLEMICS

  • Przemysław Wiatrowski : Report on the 4th scientifi c symposium in the series “Perspektywy współczesnej frazeologii polskiej” (“Perspectives of the contemporary Polish phraseology”) titled “Geneza dawnych i nowych frazeologizmów polskich” (“The origin of old and new Polish phraseologisms”), Poznań, 18 November 2014

REVIEWS

  • Monika Kresa : Mirosław Dawlewicz, Irena Fedorowicz, Algis Kaleda (eds), Funkcjonowanie języków i literatur na Litwie. Litewsko-polskie związki naukowe i kulturowe (Functioning of languages and literatures in Lithuania. Lithuanian-Polish scientifi c and cultural relations), Vilnius 2014

EXPLANATIONS OF WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS

  • Dorota Kruk : Who were niemężate żony (unmarried wives)? A few words about the history of the noun żona (a wife) and its derivatives