Words of foreign origin in Melchior Wańkowicz’s reportages in Anoda i katoda Cover Image

Słownictwo obcego pochodzenia w reportażach Melchiora Wańkowicza z tomu Anoda i katoda
Words of foreign origin in Melchior Wańkowicz’s reportages in Anoda i katoda

Author(s): Marzena Guz
Subject(s): Foreign languages learning, Comparative Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Polish Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku
Keywords: borrowings; Melchior Wańkowicz; reportage; adaptations; foreign languages;

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present the multitude of foreign words and phrases in reportages published in the Anoda i katoda [Anode and Cathode] collection by Melchior Wańkowicz and to answer the following questions: Does the author mark foreign words in his text? Have they been adapted to the Polish language? Where did this abundance of borrowings come from? When the lexemes or phrases were kept in their original form, it was established whether the writer marked them in the text, and if so, how it was achieved. In the group of words highlighted in the text by the writer, the majority are written in italics. The writer did not use any special distinction towards many words in a foreign form. In those cases when words of foreign origin were adapted to the Polish language system, the methods of this adaptation were indicated. The two largest collections of foreign vocabulary in the examined material originate from Latin and French. Some foreign lexemes were adapted to Polish, becoming the basis for new words in the Polish language by declination and replacement of vowels and/or consonants with their Polish equivalents. The diversity of the borrowings applied is the effect of the writer’s background in the multi-cultural Borderlands, his thorough education and his numerous journeys and long time spent abroad.

  • Issue Year: 2023
  • Issue No: 23
  • Page Range: 141 - 160
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Polish