"Deszcza" or "deszczu"? Some remarks about a typesetting “incident” and the lesson drawn from it Cover Image

"Deszcza" czy "deszczu"? Kilka uwag o pewnym «wypadku» zecerskim i o płynącej z niego nauce
"Deszcza" or "deszczu"? Some remarks about a typesetting “incident” and the lesson drawn from it

Author(s): Marek Osiewicz
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Towarzystwo Miłośników Języka Polskiego
Keywords: history of Polish language; Polish in prints; Polish in 16th century; typesetter

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to verify the hypothesis about the influence of a typesetter’s work (which was greater than it has so far been assumed) on the graphical and linguistic shape of prints from the first half of 16th century. The verification is based on a comparative study of two synonymous singular genitive forms of the lexeme "deszcz" (Eng. rain) acknowledged in twin Polish editions of Księgi o gospodarstwie domowym (Eng. Books about the Household) by Piotr Krescentyn from the 16th century. In the first printing edition the analyzed accidental form was a result of the typesetter’s mistake — he made a common “typo” replacing the original suffix -u with the suffix -a. In the reprint edition from 1571 the defective fragment of the text version from 1549 was corrected, but the form "deszcza" instead of "deszczu" remained unchanged.

  • Issue Year: 2013
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 299-309
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: Polish