Kiedy mówimy, że mówimy od rzeczy? Wokół problemów znaczenia
When Do We Say That We Speak Gibberish? The Issues of Meaning

Summary/Abstract: The article takes as its subjects the Polish expression {mówić od rzeczy} (‘speak gibberish’). Although the form of the linguistic string that is being analysed can already be read in the title of the article, the author’s considerations are much focused on the very shape of the expression. In the introductory part the author delineates its status and proves a thesis proposing {mówić od rzeczy} to be a linguistic unit. Then the expression is characterized in terms of syntax, which leads to some conclusions helpful in further semantic considerations, which mainly concern restrictions on the right-hand side propositional completion of the expression, ie. a blockage on the information concerning the content of speaking. In the parts devoted to the analysis of the meaning of the expression, {mówić od rzeczy} is compared to semantically close predicates: {coś nie ma sensu} (‘something does not make any sense’), {bez sensu} (‘with no sense’). Having established the semantic relationship among these expressions and pointing to differences among them leads to introducing a defining formula of the analyzed unit.

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