The article attempts to demonstrate that the problem of parts of speech i.e. defining the functional classes of lexemes in a given language is not to be solved on the grounds of semantics or morphology. Consistent semantic classifications of vocabulary produce classes that have little in common with grammatical ( i.e. syntactic and morphological) features of lexemes.
More than two million people emigrated from Poland after the accession to the European Union. Most of them were young, and future parents. In the coming years, Polish diaspora will grow by several thousand children born outside of their parents’ homeland. These children will, and already do, face the necessity of reconciling the awareness of their Polish roots with the need to find their place inside the community of the country they live in. Language is the key both to their inherited culture, and to the culture of the host community. Polish, and the language of the dominant society. A generation of diaspora is now growing, that was immersed from birth in two languages and two cultures. It is the task of the parents, of the teachers, and of the Polish state, to make bilingualism the wealth of these children, and of both of their homelands. Well-planned work with parents is necessary, but most of all, an accurate identification of the mechanisms of linguistic interference in the conditions of life in two languages should be thoroughly investigated.
Following Poland’s entry into the EU, over 2 million people have emigrated, most of them young people and future parents. During the next few years, the Polish Diaspora will grow as thousands of children are born outside of their parents’ homeland. These children will have to accept their Polish roots and find their place in their new adopted country. Language is the key to understanding their inherited culture and the culture of their adopted country. There is a growing generation of children who are brought up from birth with two languages and two cultures. The task of parents, teachers and the Polish government is to ensure that this bilingualism is an asset to both the children, and the countries. This requires thoughtful support from parents and, moreover, an understanding of the different types of language transfer / linguistic interference common when ‘living in two languages’.
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