Polish etymology : past, present, future

Celem artykułu jest opis i analiza zadań oraz perspektyw współczesnych badań etymologicznych w Polsce. Artykuł rozpoczyna się krótkim zarysem historii pierwszych słowiańskich słowników etymologicznych. Następnie omówiono pokrótce współczesne słowniki etymologiczne w Polsce oraz współczesną metodologię badań etymologicznych. Potem autor odwołuje się do przełomu cyfrowego w badaniach etymologicznych i opisuje współczesny model edukacji językowej w Polsce. Uważa się, że gwałtowny spadek liczby specjalistów w zakresie etymologii jest wynikiem wycofania przedmiotów historyczno-językowych i historyczno-porównawczych z programów uniwersyteckich. Autor proponuje różne sposoby zachęcania studentów do studiowania etymologii. Artykuł kończy się omówieniem wyzwań stojących przed etymologami, w tym badań nad pochodzeniem słownictwa dawnego, gwarowego, potocznego i środowiskowego oraz etymologią słownictwa języków zagrożonych, a także sugestiami, jak można tym wyzwaniom sprostać w przyszłości.The aim of the article is to describe and analyse the tasks and perspectives within contemporary etymological research in Poland. The article begins with a brief outline of the first Slavic etymological dictionaries. Next, contemporary etymological dictionaries in Poland and the contemporary methodology of etymological research are briefly discussed. Then the author refers to the digital breakthrough in etymological research and describes the present-day model of linguistic education in Poland. A sharp decline in the number of specialists in etymology is argued to be a result of the withdrawal of historical-linguistic and historical-comparative subjects in university curricula and the author suggests various ways of encouraging students to study etymology. The article finishes with a discussion of the challenges facing etymologists, including research into the roots of ancient, dialectal, colloquial, and sociolectal vocabulary, as well as the origins of the vocabulary of endangered languages, followed by suggestions for how these can be overcome in the future

What the pencil and the sweet flag have in common or the migration of words and meanings

The Gr. κάλαμος ‘cane, a thing made of cane: pen, rural pipe, fishing rod etc.’ is the primary source of certain terms for the sweet flag (Acorus calamus L.) and numerous names for a pencil in many different languages. Namely, the Greek word was borrowed by Latin in the form calamus, with the same meaning, whence originated many Germanic terms for the sweet flag. What is more, the dialectal Pol. kalmus is a loanword from the Germ. Kalmus ‘sweet flag’. Additionally, the Gr. κάλαμος was borrowed by Arabic in the form qalam, whence the Osm. kalém. The forms in other Turkic languages are borrowings from Turkish. Some Albanian, Bulgarian and Macedonian terms for a pencil are also loanwords from the Turk. kalem ‘pen, thin brush, oblong bone’. The terms in many Caucasian languages are Arabisms. Moreover, the Russ. карандаш ‘pencil’, as well as many other contemporary forms from Altaic, Uralic and other languages, which constitute new borrowings from Russian today, are in fact compounds consisting of kalam ‘cane’ and daš ‘stone

Polish "tatarka" ‘Fagopyrum tataricum (L.) Gaertn.’ and ‘Fagopyrum esculentum Moench’ in a Slavic and European context

The article deals with the names of two species of plant which have "Tartar" associations in the Polish language. The author is talking about gryka tatarska, also known as gryka tatarka, i.e. Fagopyrum tataricum (L.). Gaertn., known for short as tatarka (KLRN), and common buckwheat, i.e. Fagopyrum esculentum Moench, syn. Fagopyrum sagittatum Gilib. The names for common buckwheat and Tartary buckwheat in Slavic and European languages indicate that both species have eastern origins. These names suggest that Greeks, Tartars and “pagans” in general can take most credit for the spread of these plants. The name tatarka, attesting to the fact that the Tartars acted as intermediaries in the spread of buckwheat, first emerged on Polish soil and from there spread to Slovakia, Eastern Moravia in the modern day Czech Republic, to Ukrainian dialects bordering Slovakia, to Hungarian dialects and even to Romanian dialects. It is fairly likely that it was also the source of German names of the type Taterkorn and Tater

Etymology in the Polish Academy of Sciences Great Dictionary of Polish

The article offers an insight into etymological information provided in the Polish Academy of Sciences Great Dictionary of Polish (Pol. Wielki słownik języka polskiego PAN, WSJP PAN). The dictionary and the rules of producing the entries are briefly presented. These rules influence the way of working on etymology within the project. The main part of the article is devoted to the presentation of the field relating to origin and the etymological information which is given in one-word entries. The principles of elaborating upon this information in the dictionary are presented in detail and illustrated with examples. Moreover, some problems, like the question of borrowings, calques and semantic motivation, are discussed in the paper as well.  Keywords: Etymology, Polish Academy Of Sciences Great Dictionary Of Polish (Wsjp Pan), Lexicography, Polish

Poljska poimenovanja za ajdo v slovanskem in evropskem kontekstu

This article discusses the Polish name for buckwheat in the broader Slavic and European context. In Polish and in other Slavic and European languages, the motivation for naming buckwheat is most often connected to the origin of the plant itself. The names indicate that buckwheat was spread across the European continent primarily by the Greeks, Tatars, and pagans

Etimologija v dialektologiji : izvor poljskega narečnega "usiatać się" ‘utruditi se’

This article presents the geographical scope and origin of the Polish dialect verb usiatać się ‘to get tired’. The analysis indicates that this lexeme is a loanword from Czech; however, related terms occur in both Polish and other Slavic languages, indicating a Proto-Slavic etymon

Polskie nazwy gryki na tle słowiańskim i europejskim / Poljska poimenovanja za ajdo v slovanskem in evropskem kontekstu

This article discusses the Polish name for buckwheat in the broader Slavic and European context. In Polish and in other Slavic and European languages, the motivation for naming buckwheat is most often connected to the origin of the plant itself. The names indicate that buckwheat was spread across the European continent primarily by the Greeks, Tatars, and pagans.Prispevek predstavlja poljska poimenovanja za ajdo, in sicer v širšem slovanskem in evropskem kontekstu. Motivacija poimenovanj za ajdo je tako v poljščini kot v drugih slovanskih in evropskih jezikih najpogosteje povezana z izvorom rastline same. Poimenovanja kažejo, da so za razširitev ajde po evropski celini zaslužni predvsem Grki, Tatari in pogani