The author makes an attempt to discuss the current role of linguistics among other disciplines of Slavonic studies (Slavistics), i.e. literature and cultural studies. The second part of the question in the title refers to the place of Slavonic linguistic studies within contemporary Polish linguistics. On the basis of preliminary observations and queries one may propose several hypotheses: 1) Slavonic linguistics in Poland differs significantly from the research on Polish language, both with regard to methodology and topics; 1.a) Inside Slavonic linguistics there is another division, between Russian and non-Russian Slavistics; 2) Slavonic and Polish Linguistics are also divided in the frames of Polish universities and Academy of Sciences; c) The main scientific forums, such as journals and conferences, reflect the divisions mentioned above, what results in relatively isolated communities in various fields of Slavonic linguistics, i.e. research on Polish, Russian and other Slavonic languages. To justify and illustrate the hypotheses in question, the author analyses the organizational structures of selected scientific centres, the contents of the most distinguished linguistic journals in Poland, as well as themes of conferences and the International Congress of Slavists.
Einar Haugen’s theory of “ecology of language”, also known as ecolinguistics and linguistic ecology, is an interdisciplinary approach within linguistic studies. The description of language with its “environment”, i.e. speech community, its history, economic and political situation, legal status and other features, is an important part of many research reports in sociolinguistics and contact linguistics. Despite of the usefulness of non-structural factors in linguistic analysis, one has to admit that many scholars, not only representatives of social sciences but also linguists, tend to concentrate on the sociological or anthropological part of ecolinguistic studies and neglect the question of linguistic phenomena or significantly reduce their description. However, there are certain studies from the field of linguistic ecology which can be characterized as comprehensive approaches in the research on speech communities, where socio-cultural and linguistic questions are paid equal attention. One of the most detailed research reports in this field is Tadeusz Lewaszkiewicz’s monograph on the language of resettlers from Navahrudak and its surroundings after the World War II. This in-depth study of a speech community is a rare example of a multifaceted analysis of idiolectal and generational evolution of the Polish language of the Eastern Borderlands.
Since Poland is an ethnically and linguistically homogeneous country, the lack of knowledge of the mother tongue in minority communities occurs much often than of the Polish language. The intergenerational transmission of language in a small community (ca. 1000 people) of the Old Believers in North-Eastern Poland differs from bigger minorities, such as Germans, Lithuanians or Belarussians, who have the possibility to teach their mother tongue as a school subject. Young Old Believers are more proficient in the Polish language, and the traditional dialect fulfills the function of the 2nd language, and in some aspects can be even treated as a foreign language. Due to the structural and lexical differences, resulting from the influence of the Polish language, the Old Believers’ dialect significantly differs from the literary variety of Russian which is taught as a school subject in Poland. Despite of the demographic and administrative problems (there is no possibility to establish a school teaching of the Russian dialect in Poland), the Old Believers have elaborated some mechanisms of teaching their traditional language, which will be characterized in the article, as well as their effects and future perspectives for the self-made language education system in the minority community.
In this text the connections between the group identity and its language are described. The identity is here understood as self-determination of group members, their common history, religion, language, sense of integrity and tradition belonging to all the individuals in the group. The selfconsciousof bilingual group’s members can affect their language behaviour and the level of competencein each of their languages. The language itself, can be a kind of marker emphasising the differences between the group members and the outer world. Depending on the situation and conditions, this fact may be underlined or disguised. The language can be a strong factor supporting the group identity. On the other hand, the sense of bond with tradition and minority’s values, influence the language structure and act a role of an important non-structural factor, which can strengthen or reduce total amount of language interference. Thus, the influence and connections between the group’s identity and its language, are mutual.
The Old Believers living in Poland are a bilingual community. Although they managed to maintain their religion, culture and language through ages, their language situation as well as the structure of the dialect have been undergoing severe changes. In spite of Polish loan translations and borrowings present in the Russian dialect, the Old Believers tend to switch the code between sentences and inside of them. The article is an approach to find an appropriate theoretical approach to characterize the phenomenon of code switching and code mixing in monologues, i.e. these cases of switching which are caused neither by the change of interlocutor nor by the change of communicative situation.
PL
Mieszkający w Polsce staroobrzędowcy są społecznością dwujęzyczną. Choć na przestrzeni kilku stuleci udało im się zachować swoją religię, kulturę i język, ich sytuacja językowa oraz struktura dialektu wciąż podlegają poważnym zmianom. Oprócz zapożyczeń i kalk z języka polskiego przejawem tych zmian jest tendencja do przełączania kodów pomiędzy zdaniami i wewnątrz nich. Artykuł stanowi próbę znalezienia podejścia teoretycznego, które byłoby odpowiednie do opisu zjawisk przełączania i mieszania kodów w monologach, czyli tych przypadków zmiany języka wypowiedzi, które nie są spowodowane zmianą rozmówcy ani sytuacji komunikacyjnej.
The review concerns two books devoed to the sociocultural, historical and lingusitic situation of Vilnius region (Lithuania). The author compares G. Dąbrowski's 'simple' ethnography and the practical application of his theories in the volume "Wileńszczyzna. Przedmioty – opowieści – refleksje".
The monograph Różnojęzyczne słownictwo gwarowe Podlasia, Suwalszczyzny i północno-wschodniego Mazowsza is a result of an innovative, holistic approach in lexicography. The authors are not interested in separate languages, but in a specified linguistic area as a whole. The contact of Polish, Lithuanian and Eastern-Slavonic dialects in North East Poland lasts several centuries and it is impossible to set the borders between these codes. Thus, the holistic approach is the best theoretical solution in question.
PL
Opracowanie Różnojęzyczne słownictwo gwarowe Podlasia, Suwalszczyzny i północno-wschodniego Mazowsza jest efektem nowatorskiego, kompleksowego podejścia badawczego w leksykografii. Przedmiotem badań nie są poszczególne systemy językowe, lecz pewien obszar językowy jako całość. Wielowiekowy kontakt gwar polskich, wschodniosłowiańskich i litewskich na terenach północno-wschodniej Polski uniemożliwia jednoznaczne określenie ich granic, w związku z czym ujęcie holistyczne jest ze wszech miar uzasadnione.
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