Contemporary Polish Language Research Articles

Neologizmy słowotwórcze w Obserwatorium Językowym Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (na materiale haseł opracowanych do lutego 2022 roku). Część 2: Substantywne derywaty złożone

This article constitutes the second part of a series of papers devoted to 1117 Polish derivational neologisms in Obserwatorium Językowe Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (Language Obserwatory of the University of Warsaw). Its aim is to present and analyse 334 new substantival compounds in the Polish language. The author divides them into groups of derivational neologisms created by the use of the same formative technique and containing the same part of the compound. The study concludes that the biggest class of the described new substantival compounds in contemporary Polish language consists of structures without any affixes. As for the morphemes used to create them, the interfix -o- turned out to be the most productive. Most of them contain the elements e- (abbreviated adjective elektroniczny [electronic]) and -mat (abbreviated noun automat).

The usage of the adjective słodki (sweet) in word combinations of historical and contemporary Polish

This article aims to confirm that modifications in meanings of words are associated with their collocations. This is based on an analysis performed on the collocations of the adjective ‘słodki’ [sweet]. The language material for the research was collected using historical and contemporary Polish language corpora: Korpus Dawnych Polskich Tekstów Dramatycznych (1772–1939) [The Corpus of Polish Drama Texts], PELCRA search engine for Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego[The National Corpus of Polish], and the Monco PL searching tool for websites. Analysing authentic examples of word combinations reveals the relationship between the adjective’s specific meaning and its collocates. The analysis also demonstrates that the collocation of ‘słodki’ has been changing over the eras of language use.

Neologizmy słowotwórcze w Obserwatorium Językowym Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (na materiale haseł opracowanych do lutego 2022 roku). Część 1: Substantywne derywaty proste

This article constitutes the first part of paper cycle devoted to 1,117 Polish derivational neologisms in Obserwatorium Językowe Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (Language Observatory of University of Warsaw). Its aim is to present and analyze 572 new substantival derivatives in the Polish language. The author divides them into groups of derivational neologisms created by the use of the same formative technique and affix. He states that 529 of them were formed by the use of 37 suffixes, 19 – with 8 prefixes, 16 – by the change of paradigm and 8 – by adding prefix and suffix simultaneously. The study concludes that the biggest class of described new substantival derivatives in contemporary Polish language consists of suffixal structures. As for morphemes used to create them, suffixes -ka, -(ów)ka and -(ow’)ec turned out to be the most productive.

Problemy z interpretacją fonologiczną postpalatalnych głosek zwarto-wybuchowych

PROBLEMS WITH THE PHONOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF POST-PALATAL PLOSIVE SOUNDS The article reports the most important phonetic changes which took place in the contemporary Polish language. The aim of the chapter is to answer the questions that arise when learning phonetics and phonology, especially in regard to phonemes /k΄/ and /g΄/. In this paper the author presents various opinions on the phonological distinctiveness of the two sounds. The author focuses on the phenomenon associated with depalatalisation of consonants [k΄] and [g΄] and presents solutions adopted in academic textbooks. Finally, the author presents suggestions for the phonological interpretation of selected consonants.

Ruina(a ruin), ruiny(ruins), rujnować(to ruin). Delimitation of units and characteristics of notions

The aim of this article is the delimitation and semantic analysis of language units represented in the contemporary Polish language by the forms ruina (a ruin), ruiny (ruins), rujnować(to ruin). The text is situated in the steam of structuralist linguistics, and more specifically in reducƟ on semantics.The outcome of the conducted analysis is the identification of both verbal units in the form of [ktośi] zrujnował [kogośj], [ktośi] zrujnował się na [cośj], [ktośi] zrujnował[cośj], [ktośi] obrócił[cośj] w ruinę and nominal units in the form of ruiny [czegośi], as well as three expressions associated with the form ruina, namely the specific noun ruina and the abstract nouns ruina[kogośj] and ruina [czegośj].The author describes the semantic propertied of the distinguished lexemes and formulates an explication of the notions assigned to them.

Status niekonotowanych fraz celownikowychwe współczesnej polszczyźnie a delimitacja jednostek języka

The author describes a certain type of non-obligatory dative phrases, interpreted as dativus ethicus, dativus possesivus, dativus commodi and dativus incommodi, cf. Ładny mi przyjaciel., Syn nam się rozchorował., Ugotowałam ojcu obiad. The analysis of dative phrases does not include the multifunctional Polish expression sobie.
 Most common usage of dative in the Polish language (as an obligatory valency slot ) is to refer to the real recipient or beneficiary of an action. It is also used as some sort of commentary, when one wants to show their commitment to the action and when one feels like a quasi-recipient of this action (as an non-obligatory valency slot). The author provides her own interpretation of the function of non-obligatory dative phrases in Contemporary Polish Language.
 The author also considers a number of problems with interpreting dative forms in sentences as non-obligatory phrases or as required arguments (immanent parts of language units). In the article, units of language are understood as separate entities (continuous or discontinuous) to which (in most cases) a single meaning is assigned. As regards valency slots, they are treated as immanent parts of expressions, unlike lexemes filling these slots in an utterance. The procedure of language-unit delimitation aims at identifying exactly those elements, the detachment of which would result in the unit losing its semantic properties.

Understanding of Dementia in the Polish Language: A Frame Semantic Approach.

With the increasing incidences of dementia in aging societies, attention should be paid to the social context in which people with dementia live. One of its aspects is language transmitting beliefs, perceptions, and behavioral patterns. An analysis of understanding the diagnostic label of dementia may reveal the role of semantics in the process of social cognition of this disease. The overall aim of this study was to investigate the understanding of the word dementia (otępienie) in the Polish language. Frame semantics approach was applied. The structure of semantic information was uncovered with the concept of frame utilizing The National Corpus of Polish (the biggest corpus of contemporary Polish language of 1,500 million words). Additional data was collected from Polish speaking adults in Poland. The analyses allowed to identify the otępienie frame for Polish and verify how its elements are filled in by the general population, indicating the selectivity of colloquial knowledge about dementia. Dementia deviates from the prototypical disease. Need to care for the person with dementia outweighs treatment options. The cognitive symptoms and characteristics of the subject are salient. The perceptions of people with dementia embedded in semantics of the diagnostic label might create a basis for prejudicial attitudes among lay part of the society. Findings give foundation to further studies on relationship between semantics and social cognition of dementia which has a real impact on the social and clinical situation of people with dementia and may facilitate formulation of tailored messages aimed at building dementia-friendly society.

Церковнославянизмы и заимствования из восточнославянских языков в польской православной терминологии

Orthodox terminology in the contemporary Polish language is an interesting topic that requires scientific research. This article deals with religious terms of Orthodox or East Slavic origin and concerns proper borrowings, i.e. foreign forms transferred in their original or slightly transformed form, adapted to the Polish language system. The analysed terms were extracted from the Dictionary of Polish Orthodox Terminology edited by W. Przyczyna, K. Czarnecka and M. Ławreszuk. Church Slavonicisms and East Slavicisms are groups of borrowings characteristic of Polish Orthodox terminology. The presence of Church Slavonicisms is related to the functioning of the Church Slavonic liturgical language in the Orthodox Church in Poland. These borrowings name primarily designations and concepts relating to the liturgical life and rituals of the Orthodox Church. In addition to Church Slavonicisms, East Slavic borrowings (Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian), not attested in the Church Slavonic language, constitute a characteristic group in the terminology of Polish Orthodoxy. These lexemes most often refer to the culture of East Slavic Orthodoxy (transferred to Polish) and occur primarily in the spoken language of believers living in the eastern and southern borderlands, as well as resettlers from these areas. The spelling of the borrowed Orthodox terms in the Polish language is not standardized and unified. Their graphic forms are often variants, indicating different ways of penetration into the Polish language system (through written language, oral speech, mediation of a second language).

Jak zwracamy się do osób nieznajomych? Granica między swoim a obcym we współczesnej polszczyźnie

The subject of this article is the manner of addressing strangers in Polish. In order to verify the current use of the language in this regard, two research methods were used: a survey method and an analysis of comments on a website aimed at the business community. As the respondents of the survey indicated, the contemporary Polish language speakers recognise the importance of the traditional border of officiality when choosing the appropriate forms of address. However, a problem in communication arises when the conceptual opposition of the official / unofficial intersects with the opposition of ours / others. This problem is sometimes observed in a business conversation, in which a recruiter addresses a job candidate using Polish ty form from the first contact and treats them as a person on the “our” side. The analysis of the comments from the internet showed that the relationship between the recruiter and the candidate basically remains between strangers and it is better to avoid the use of unofficial forms, especially those which use the addressee's first name.

Przymiotniki relacyjne z sufiksem -sk(i)/-ск(и) w języku polskim i macedońskim. Analiza konfrontatywna

The paper is devoted to the issue of the derivation of denominal adjectives with suffixal formatives -sk(i)/-ск(и) in Polish and Macedonian. In both of the analysed languages this type is highly productive, but in Macedonian it has significant advantage over the other formatives. In the foreground there is contextual significance of the derivatives. As the most adequate model of description for relational adjectives and for contrastive analysis I find the one proposed by Krystyna Kallas in Grammar of Contemporary Polish Language: Morphology, which consists of relationships between the derivative and the noun it determines. Most of the denominal adjectives with formative -sk(i)/-ск(и) have general meaning “related to what is named by the base noun”; hence, it is possible to specify the meaning of the derivatives only in contextual use. The research leads to the conclusion that the contextual significance depends mainly on the semantics of the word-formation base.

Selected problems with realisation of Polish consonants in the stream of speech from the teaching perspective

The article reports the most important phonetic changes which have taken place in the contemporary Polish language. The aim of the sketch is to answer the questions that arise when learning phonetics and pronunciation, especially in regard to sounds: [ś], [ź], [ć], [ӡ́] and [s΄], [z΄], [c΄], [ӡ’]. The author focuses on the phenomena associated with the withdrawal of palatalisation and presents the solutions adopted in academic textbooks. Finally, she presents her own suggestions for the articulation of the abovementioned sounds at the meeting point of morphemes.

Specific nature of the forms of address found in contemporary Polish-language newspapers released in Ukraine (against the Polish standard)

This article analyses the nominal as well as attributive and nominal forms of address found in Polish-language newspapers released in Ukraine in the 20th century. The research material concerns the forms of address the structures or functions of which are specific compared to the Polish standard. The discussion focuses on the causes of their formation in the circumstances of language and cultural contacts and their functional and pragmatic peculiarities in the Polish language in Ukraine. The scale of the acceptability of the analysed forms of address in the Polish-centric communication community in Ukraine is identified by means of cultural and linguistic criteria for the evaluation of linguistic devices (while taking into consideration also a more extensive research material than the one found in newspapers).

The expression młode wilki (young wolves) in the contemporary Polish language

The idiom młode wilki (young wolves), with an additional meaning ‘young, entrepreneurial, go-getting people, who climb the career ladder fast, are extremely successful in a given fi eld’ exists in the contemporary Polish language. The meaning of this expression reveals the following semes that are signifi cant for the stereotype of wolf: ‘predacious’, ‘aggressive’, ‘hostile’, ‘distrustful’, ‘wild’, ‘dangerous for a human being’. Such a meaning of this idiom has been established under the infl uence of a fi lm directed by J. Żamojda and the song titled Obława (Hunt) by Jacek Kaczmarski although the impact of the fi lm seems to be predominant here. In the contemporary Polish texts, the expression młode wilki can be found in both standard and modifi ed forms: these are usually innovations with additions, cf. e.g. młode wilki polskiego kina (young wolves of the Polish cinematography), młode wilki obozu władzy (young wolves of the ruling camp), and młode wilki biznesu (young wolves of business).

Wielki słownik języka polskiego PAN w 2022 roku – osiągnięcia, perspektywy, wyzwania

The article briefly presents the history of work on the Polish Academy of Sciences Great Dictionary of Polish (pol. Wielki słownik języka polskiego PAN), its status in April 2022, indicating the important features of the dictionary as a source of knowledge about the contemporary Polish language, and also the plans of the lexicographic team for the years to come.

Onomastykon o proweniencji antycznej (grecko-rzymskiej) w powieściach kryminalnych Marka Krajewskiego

PropernamesderivedfromthenexusoftheancientGraeco-Romantradition,namelyofGreekandLatin languages, are due to cultural and identity-related reasons a vital component of the contempo-rary Polish language namespace. These onyms mostly belong to such varieties of Polish as academic, literary/bookish, and are mostly written. In onomastics they are considered transmitters of modern-day popular culture among whose products features the crime novel aimed at the mass reader. The presentexplorationorfirstapproximation,withitsqualitativeratherthsnquantitative(statistical)character, sets out to try to present, arrange, classify, and describe the ways in which a recipient is onymicallyreferredtotheculturesofantiquitywithinMarekKrajewski’seightcrimestories,pay-ing particular attention to their functional aspect and onymic status. The research should form part ofculturalonomasticsandliteraryonomasticsaswellasotherlinguisticdisciplinessuchaslexicol-ogyandphraseology/phrasematics.Theexcerptsofthenovelscontain:(a)onymsofancientoriginused in their primary sense to identify and differentiate the referents associated with the culture of classicalantiquity(e.g.thepersonalnamesofthemenofcultureofAntiquityandofphilosophy);(b)propernamesbasedononymsorappellativesderivingfromclassicallanguagesandantiquity;(c) ancient eponymisms, or common names taken at their root from ancient nomina propria, appel-lative derivatives stemming from Greek or Latin onyms among them; and (d) eponymous phrasemes incorporating either onyms of ancient pedigree or the appellatives and derivatives they gave rise to. Thelinguistictapestrythusreviewedisatestimonytoantiquity’simpactonPolish,whosefacetsclearlyreflectsitsmulticulturalandintertextualnature.Atthesametime,itdisplayshowantiquityis received in Polish culture as an ongoing process but here of the popular sort.

POKORA i POKORNOŚĆ w polszczyźnie (w świetle jednostek kolokacyjnych, frazeologicznych i paremicznych)

The main intention in the presentation of Humility and Being Humble in the Old and Contemporary Polish language is to reveal the formation and consolidation of these concepts in the minds of language users. The subject of the review are multi-word units – collocation, phraseology and paremism. In the image of Humility and Being Humble, two fundamental planes are distinguished. The multifaceted fulfillment of the manifestations of a human attitude boils down to: an attitude towards humility, its formation, its manifestation and the attitude expressed; in the case of humility – to acquire it, form it, manifest it, act in harmony with it, and obey something in humility. You express the nature of humility as the source of something else, the perpetration, effects, coexistence with certain concepts; humility determines its character and consequences.

Tryb rozkazujący – uwagi o definiowaniu pojęcia i zakresie jego użycia w opisach systemu fleksyjnego współczesnego języka polskiego

The aim of this paper is to present how the imperative mood is defined in the descriptions of the inflection system of the contemporary Polish language. First of all, imperative mood is considered to be the value of one of the inflection categories of mood, and the forms representing it, e.g. zrób! (‘do!’), myj! (‘wash!’) are considered to be in opposition to the forms of the declarative and the conditional moods. On the other hand, the imperative is a grammatical means that expresses the so-called deontic modality and utterances with imperative forms are treated, before anything else, as acts of directive speech. This way of defining the imperative mood is the reason why the status of such forms as wygraj! (‘win!’), otrzymaj! (‘receive!’), (nie) umieraj! (‘[not] die!’) or bądź (szczęśliwy) (‘be [happy]’) is problematic, because they constitute a non-directive use of the imperative mood. The conclusion is that the way of defining the imperative mood in Polish requires clarification.

Z problematyki opisu frazeologii publicystycznej

The article analyses the sources of phraseological units occurring in the media and in journalistic texts of contemporary Polish language. The first part of the article contains a few remarks on two types of new noun phrases, e.g. Europa dwu prędkości (two-/multi-speed Europe), mowa nienawiści (hate speech), dane wrażliwe (sensitive data). The second part indicates the main problems related to the linguistic description of phraseology in journalism: the phraseologism – term relation and the difficulties in identifying the sources of phraseological units (the type of loanword).

Frazematyczny potencjał połączenia wyrazowego bieda z nędzą we współczesnej polszczyźnie

Phrasematic Potential of the Word Combination: bieda z nędzą in Contemporary Polish
 The combination of synonymous words, whose origin may be associated with folk demonology and personified notions of Bieda [Poverty] and Nędza [Misery], has become the basis for a few phrasemes that are authenticated in contemporary Polish language. The analysis of research material that includes a variety of texts, differing in terms of topic, genre and style, is the evidence that apart from the phraseme bieda z nędzą, which is registered in dictionaries, also other multi-verbal units, whose basic element of composition is this particular word combination, are used in Polish. The primary significance of the analysed phrasemes results from the presence of two synonymous words denoting a difficult financial situation, which leads to the hyperbolisation of the phenomenon. From the pragmatic perspective, however, they are used mostly as negative evaluation units, referring to the material sphere, but also to various fields, phenomena and events, which, according to the speaker, are characterised by low quality, have visible shortages and symptoms of poverty, or result from negligence or bad taste. As expressively and axiologically marked terms, which are characteristic of the colloquial style, these phrasemes are encountered in comments and discussion forums, as well as media coverage, especially in headlines. Longer phrasemes, which are joined by a clear rhyme, are the elements of intertextual games in various cultural texts: artistic works, blogs and chrematonyms.

New lexis of the Polish language. Sources and trends of development (selected issues)

The author’s main thesis is that the processes of internationalisation and democratisation are characteristic of the contemporary Polish language. The main research subject presented in the paper concerns an intensive development of the Polish vocabulary. The author analyses the neologisms performing the nominative function. She presents words formed with Polish suffi xes, productivity of foreign prefi xes, and series formed with borrowed morphemes.