At the origin of scientific linguistics: terminology in Antoni Małecki’s grammars (1863 and 1879)
At the origin of scientific linguistics: terminology in Antoni Małecki’s grammars (1863 and 1879)

Author(s): Izabela Stąpor
Contributor(s): Helena Marzec-Gołąb (Translator)
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Polish Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Antoni Małecki; grammatical terminology; historical-comparative method; language evolution; Latin language; German language
Summary/Abstract: Antoni Małecki’s grammars (especially the one from 1863) have used historical-comparative methodology in describing the Polish language for the first time. This allowed for a broader and more accurate analysis of the phenomena and showed the evolution of the language system. On the one hand, Małecki was a supporter of the grammatical tradition, which used Polish terms derived from Latin. In addition to these, numerous terms (mainly in morphology and syntax) of German origin appear in grammars. These are lexical borrowings, but primarily linguistic (structural) calques. Małecki’s grammar shows a tendency to unify the nomenclature and create Polish terms corresponding to those used in European linguistics. However, while the phonetic and inflectional terminology is already relatively orderly by then, the vocabulary and syntactic nomenclature are still defined by instability and high variability.

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