The term positive linguistics implies that linguistics is joining the transdisciplinary research orientation, which examines the idea of individual and social well-being and is called positive humanities (with reference to the term positive psychology coined by A. Maslow). This idea has immemorial roots and has been taken up in various cultures, cf. universal virtues (wisdom, bravery, humanity, fairness, restraint, and spirituality) as mental and moral personality traits supported by cultural patterns, social roles and institutions as well as language.
The stimuli for developing this orientation in linguistics include the disturbing situation of the contemporary world and impacts of numerous disciplines (not only within the humanities, and hence the name valeology from Latin valeo ‘to be strong, healthy, not only in the medical sense’ is proposed) and one’s own traditions related to language culture and ethics of the word. Positive linguistics is underlain by the theory of language which assumes the mutual interactive impact of the world, mind and language, and various manners in which the linguistic reality exists. Positive linguistics is interested also in such
a good speech as is accompanied in various spheres and situations of the human life above all by moral responsibility assumed by individual and collective
entities.
The aim of this paper is to present selected theoretical observations in the area of normative linguistics (in particular the concept of a language norm and related concepts) as well as to provide a concise synthesis of the standpoints presented to date and a proposition of a new view on the essence of normativism and the relation between the language norm and langue.
This study adopts a narrow definition of the term normative linguistics, limiting its scope to the theory of proper language use. Langue was defined as a system the carrier of which is an individual language user. A concept of a universal norm, e.g. the extratextual assessment of the normative status of linguistic elements, was proposed. The notions of active and passive norm, related to the complete separateness of the essence of language usus (actual use)
and the essence of normativeness (no objection against a given linguistic element) were introduced. The issue of the subject of approval as a condition of normativeness was also discussed.
The research on the surface structure of judgments was undertaken to confront the methods of building a jurisdictive text with the formalistic convention of the official legal discourse. The method of verbalising information in judgments is not only a linguistic form of shaping the style of expression but also and foremost a tool for regulating the extralinguistic reality. Hence, the actual effect depends on communication effectiveness.
Based on the conducted analysis, it was found that the text of a judgment is characterised by semantic, stylistic and functional eclecticism resulting from the engagement of various (professional and unprofessional) entities in the text of the statement. It was proved that the analysed type of an act implementing the legal norms was a conglomerate containing elements of an idiolect, professiolect, dialect, and jargon.
The grounds for the conducted research were the methods of pragmatic linguistics. Hence, the studies of the textual form allowed for the discoursive context.
This paper presents an analysis of the language used in job advertisements in the press based on the material of job advertisements published in Gazeta Wyborcza in the issues released between January and June 2014. Job advertisements are characterised by a clear and wellorganised structure, which is connected with their fundamentally informative function. Yet, the analysis shows that the language used in the examined job advertisements exhibits features which are not typical of informative style. The texts often contain many professional expressions, borrowings, abstract words, and complex phrases. The use of loaded words and expressions which build a positive view of the business world, as well as the tendency towards exaggeration regarding job requirements and job descriptions are noticeable. Furthermore, the texts are not free from redundancy, euphemisms and expressions lacking precision. This leads to the conclusion that the language of job advertisements goes beyond its informative function and enters the sphere of valuating, persuasion and manipulation, which raises questions about the intentions of such operations and their impact on the reception of such texts by applicants.
