This monograph consists of two parts. Its target which is the review of the Old-Polish categories of
word-building is presented in the second part. It has been proceeded by considerations of more general
character which refer to the problems resulting from general analysis but which occur often enough to
be treated as majot driving forces in evolution of the Polish word formation.
The interpretation of history of Polish word-building suggested in this paper has focused mainly
on observation of the changes triggered by changing of the word-building bases and also the ones in
understanding them. It is the properties of the bases and interrelations between derivatives and words
of their foundation that are the main drive in evolution of the word-formation system. Formal characteristics
(afixes) are only the resultant, being the result of the previous changes. Interlingual forces form
models the activity of which can either be quenched or induced by some extra-linguistic factors - since
derivation is a mechanism subjected to more general lexical rules.
Word-building changes, therefore, can be divided into two classes. The first one is formed by
historical changes - meaning that they can be located on the time axis. In this class it is possible to
differentiate the following:
1. Changes in word-formation caused by réévaluation of some grammatical category; in history of
Polish language forming of aspect opposition as well as some reevaluatings of the system of Pre-Slavonic
participles turned out to be of great importance:
2. Word-building changes triggered by the socio-political and socio-cultural situation of the nation.
We can speak here of the waves of the so called borrowings causing essential changes in the names
of activities (-cja, -az, -ada, -ata, -encja. -sja and the like) an the names of activity doers (e.g. -ator,
-er, -ant, -ent, -ista, -ysta). To a smaller degree the borrowings influenced names of the objects (-ja, -at.
-ant, -and), names of products (-ja, -at. -ant. -and), and places (-ja, -at. -um. -ing. -ura) and other
categories. Close contacts with other foreign languages considerably enriched Polish prefix derivation
(compare anty-, arcy-, eks-, super-, wice-). Reinterpretation of the newly created structures based upon
prepositional prhares especially favoured it. In this type of historical changes word-building changes
are included because they have been formed due to cultural progress this specially refers to the names
of tools and places. This type of transformations sometimes causes rapid vanishing of the whole semantic
- word-building classes - see withdraval of names of obligations of feudal duties or names of
the officials of the time of the type: podczaszy, koniuszy, lowczy. The second class includes free réévaluations
of the panchronic character. Derivations are lexical items of which life proceeds according to
their individual rules. Secondly, in the very word-building system one can observe some trends of
panchronic character. Historical material exhibits weakness of the basis of adjectives which frequently
undergo reinterpretation in relation to either verb or noun. Also semantic derivation is an important
drive leading to objectivisation of the names of activities and quality.
Comparison of the Old-Polish language data with contemporary vocabulary gives rise to drawing
some general conclusions concerning the whole system of noun categories. The most “orderly” seem to be transppsitional categories of nouns already in the very early stages of the written Polish. Further
mutational categories have been created on the basis of them (as a result of semantical derivation). Only
modificational categories are scarce in the Old-Polish. Then an evolutionary chain has been created:
transposition-mutation - modification. Such an approach can partially explain reinterpretations which
“replace” noun with their modifications in the form of the new noun-derived nouns.
It could serve to explain a large number of semantically empty forms resulting in formation of
diminutives and later also augmentatives. Polish derivation forms, to a large extent, a word-building
verbal system. Verb derivations used to be most frequeot in the language and they also had many own
forms - compare -(i)ciel, -ca. In development of the Polish language it is easy to notice increasing
number of mutational dervatives based on nouns. Therefore derivations of extended meaningfulness
are in abundance yet being of quite vague structural meaning, which, in turn, makes them closer to the
class of unmotivated lexical items
