Mistrz, bakałarz, belfer: What was an individual who teaches others called throughout the history of the Polish language?

Abstract

The article presents vocabulary describing a person who teaches others, recorded in dictionaries of the Polish language from the earliest times to mid-20th century. It arranges the collected material chronologically and semantically, describing the history of particular lexical units as reflected in dictionaries. The author pays attention to the genetic, morphological and stylistic diversity of the collected words, and considers the unusually high number of lexemes as a linguistic validation of the lack of a unified organizational schooling system in parallel with a long tradition of home schooling. The numerous common nouns represent a linguistic reflection of low qualifications and requirements for those teaching in elementary schools, especially in rural schools. It is demonstrated that many of the names used in the history of the Polish language in relation to a rural school teacher demonstrate a lack of social appreciation for the profession.