Is it correct to ubrać płaszcz?

Abstract

This article discusses the change in the normative qualification of the verb ubrać/ubierać (‘to dress’) in the sense ‘to wear’. This meaning, and hence collocations such as ubrać płaszcz, ubrać sukienkę, ubrać kapelusz have been consistently evaluated as linguistic errors, which is evidenced by both dictionary entries and prescriptive advice. Looking into the scope of usage of this type of expressions – their commonness in speech and writing among Poles of various social classes from southern and western Poland – enforces a consideration of whether this meaning of the verb ubrać/ubierać should not be included into the group of regionalisms accepted as a norm of regional usage. As a sidenote, the emerging question is whether there actually are any normatively unaccepted regionalisms or the unacceptance should be ascribed only to dialecticisms in general language. Keywords: regionalism – linguistic correctness – linguistic advice – normativity.