O szaleństwie w języku, czyli na manowcach umysłu (na przykładzie czasownika oszaleć)
Of madness in language, or the alleys of the mind (on the example of the verb oszaleć ‘to go mad’)

Summary/Abstract: The term used in the title has not, so far, provoked a more extensive linguistic reflection. The present paper aims to provide a disciplined description of lexical units which contain the segment oszaleć, with respect to their structure and meaning. The method of analysis is based on putting forward hypotheses formulated as analytic implications, and then subjecting them to falsification by reduction to contradiction. The paper focuses on issues pertaining to the reconstruction of the form of lexical units (based on segmental and supra-segmental signals) and to the reconstruction of the hierarchy of meaningful components. In close relationship with the content of the analysed terms, a discussion of the following notions is presented: ‘someone’, ‘to become’, ‘to behave’, ‘to know’ and ‘to be ready to say’. The author attempts to prove that these components belong to the semantic structure of the examined phrase, and proposes a preliminary explication of meanings in the terms of a natural semantic meta-language.

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