PORADNIK JĘZYKOWY

ISSUE 4 / 2009

ARTICLES AND DISSERTATIONS

  • Józef Porayski-Pomsta : Teaching Grammar at School According to Jan Tokarski
    The article presents an analysis of Prof. Jan Tokarski’s (1907–1980) views on language teaching at school. The author of the article highlights the forerunning character of the views, both in his scholarly works, like Czasowniki polskie (Polish Verbs) (1951), Słownictwo (Vocabulary) (1972), Fleksja polska (Polish Inflection) (1974), and methodological: Gramatyka w szkole (Grammar at School) (1966) and Z pogranicza metodyki i językoznawstwa (Between Methodology and Linguistics) (1967). The forerunning character of his views on language teaching at school reveals in his indicating the need of teaching grammar integrated with all the didactic tasks of school and with the student’s needs. Long before the slogans about the subject approach towards the student in the didactic-educational process, he emphasized the fact that the student is a person, a human being, hence an intentional creature, whose needs and potential have to be considered in didactics. He also advocated the need to connect theory and practice. It resulted in the choice of theoretical contents which would be valuable in linguistic practice and which would serve this practice, explaining especially those elements of linguistic reality which, based on practice alone, might be vague or impossible to understand.
  • Iwona Burkacka : The Knowledge of Selected Grammatical Terms and the Capacity of Basic Abilities of New Coming Students of Polish Philology

    As the survey carried out in the years 2006–2008 reveals, first-year university students of Polish Philology are not familiar with a number of linguistic terms and have not mastered certain linguistic skills, which results in their difficulties with learning grammatical syllabus at the first year of their studies. The respondents are frequently unable to distinguish an inflectional subject and a morphological one, an inflectional ending and a suffix, parts of speech and parts of sentences. They cannot make an inflectional analysis and a morphological one. In their view, a formant is either a suffix or a prefix, while a verb is just a synthetic structure. They cannot distinguish clearly polysemy and homonymy. Their knowledge of orthography and punctuation is not full. Some of their difficulties with spelling and inflection of names are quite frequent and typical in contemporary times.

    Thus the author of the article finds it essential to pay more attention to make sure that university freshmen acquire the command of some basic linguistic notions and abilities, e.g. by introducing additional exercises or classes on school grammar.

  • Jolanta Wróblewska : Conceptualization of Space in the Utterances of a Kindergarten Child Based on the Near-Far Scheme

    The main research subject presented in the article concerns conceptualization of a fragment of the closest space (the way from home to kindergarten) registered in the utterances of kindergarten children. The author analyzed expressions children use to describe the near-far relation. She also gathered linguistic phrases they use to compare distance. The aim of the research was to solve practical problems, while conclusions from vocabulary analysis can help to make exercising material to enrich their space related vocabulary.

    As the research shows, toddlers use distance relations and apply vocabulary defining closeness and getting farther, while metrical estimation and comparison also occur in the semantic level of the utterances.

    One hundred and twenty children from four Wrocław kindergartens took part in the research, carried out by the author of the article in the years 2002–2005 (used in her doctorate). While gathering material, she considered the age and gender of the children, whereas the analyzed data are children’s utterances about the way from home to kindergarten. In her analysis, she applied various methods: philological, statistic and cognitive.

  • Aleksander Kiklewicz : Without Metaphor. Metaphor in the Light of Intentional Semantics
    The article describes linguistic metaphor from the point of view of modal and intentional semantics. The author analyzes the essentials of the theory of possible worlds by J. Hintikki, particularly such notions as the first and the second language, suggesting attitude, ontological adverb et al. The latter part of the article offers an analysis of possible interpretations of linguistic utterances in the aspect of deontic modality. Thus the sphere of realization of linguistic metaphors is reduced as opposed to interpretation of unconventional lexical idiomatic as a realization of specific “exotic” points of view, or of intentional suggesting attitudes. The study is based on the source of facts of contemporary Polish excerpted from the press and artistic literary texts.
  • Kamila Gądek : Methods of Describing Interaction: Player – Character – Elements of the Game World in Computer Players’ Jargon
    The article analyses one of basic issues associated with exploration of computer players’ jargon, namely the influence of a specific game situation (simultaneous functioning in the real and virtual world) on the structure of players’ utterances. Based on the model of identification of the player with the character of Z. Wałaszewski, controlled within the game, there are three levels of identification and their linguistic realization. The author refers to the research on traditional literary text (semantic paradigm and transposition of personal forms as described by A. Okopień-Sławińska and the point of view issues and identification processes). She also analyses semantic-syntactic valence disorders of verbs, associated with the pursuit of shortenings and connection of two perspectives of game world perception in abbreviated utterances.
  • Agnieszka Jawór : Paleosemantisms in Phrasal Collocations
    In contemporary Polish there are collocations which save not only archaic inflectional forms, e.g.: przed dawnymi laty (long ago), mówiąc innymi słowy (in other words), za pan brat (knowing only too well), wyjśc za mąż (to marry sb), or lexical ones, e.g.: po omacku (not seeing); bez liku (countless); po próżnicy (in vain), but they also restore ancient meanings of words, e.g.: błędny rycerz (lost knight), chodzić jak błędna owca (walk like a lost sheep); słomiany wdowiec (temporary widower), słomiana wdowa (temporary widow) etc. It is about paleosemantisms, i.e. words used today in a different meaning. Collocations with paleosemantisms get out of use the fastest as they might be wrongly interpreted and cause misunderstandings. It is an outcome of linguistic defense mechanism. Yet, in contemporary Polish, there is linguistic evidence of stabilization of collocations whose lexeme-component meanings have passed away. What makes some lexical units of the kind disappear and others stay within the language? Are there any semantic clashes? Are the phrases containing words with misleading associations really wrongly interpreted? How does language cope with such collocations? These are the main questions raised in the article.
  • Patrycja Cieśla : Names of Weapons and Armament Used until the 15th Century (Based on Słownik staropolski (Old Polish Dictionary)
    The article includes an analysis of 97 names concerning weapons and armament, registered in Słownik staropolski (Old Polish Dictionary). Weapons are classified and the origin of their names is presented. The analysis shows vocabulary of Polish origin as predominant. Words of German origin are prevailing among borrowings from the Old Polish period.

REPORTS, NOTICES, POLEMICS

  • Hanna Jadacka : Why Can’t Kindergarten Kids’ Custom Influence the Linguistic Norm
  • Witold Mańczak : Etymology of the Word wiata (bus stop roof)

REVIEWS

  • Ewa Badyda : Aneta Lewińska, Słownictwo z zakresu dawnej kultury materialnej w „Inwentarzu Ekonomii Malborskiej” z 1745 roku, Gdańsk 2005

WORDS AND PHRASES

Wersja polska