Zur Syntax der polnischen Leichten Sprache

Abstract

Summary Easy Language as a means for communicative accessibility is designed for use by people with communication impairments and low literacy skills in general, e. g. persons with intellectual disability, functional illiterates or individuals with dementia. Compared to standard written Polish, the complexity of this variety is reduced on all linguistic levels. The present article deals with the level of syntax and follows on from a previous study concerning the syntax of Easy-to-read Russian. It aims to contribute to the linguistically substantiated elaboration of Easy-to-read Polish by submitting suggestions for avoiding complex syntactic structures. Various subgroups of clause constructions and complex sentences are included. It turns out that the endeavour to make sentences as short, simple and comprehensible as possible is quite complex and certainly not easy. The presented suggestions await further discussion among linguists as well as systematic testing with target groups of Easy-to-read Polish. Since Easy Language has been implemented in Polish legislation, it is to be expected that this fact will result in an amplification of Easy-to-read text offers in the future. Therefore, there is a need for more intensive research in the field of Easy Language that can be seen as crucial in enabling people with disabilities and other persons with reading difficulties to fully enjoy the fundamental right to information and participation in social life.