Słowotwórstwo języka doby staropolskiej : przegląd formacji rzeczownikowych

Abstract

This work is a survey of derived nouns found in Polish texts written before the year 1500. A formal arrangement assumed here to be primary satisfies the following pattern: A. Forms derived from a single base of derivation I. Affixal derivation 1. Suffixal derivatives 2. Préfixai derivatives II. Paradigmatic derivation III. Desintegrating derivation (with base modification) B. Compounding C. Derivatives based on syntactic units 1. Formations derived from prepositional units 2. Formations derived from a negated verb. Within each of these classes the derivatives are grouped first according to the formative and later according to the word-formation base. So classified, lexemes are cited together with their definition (word-thing definition) and the bases of derivation. The main objective of the survey is to form a basis of comparison with numerous analyses of nominal derivation in contemporary Polish. The linguistic material offered in this work is comparable with that of contemporary Polish and provides a clear picture of similarities and differences. The data show that the core of word-formation rules has not be changed in spite of the fact that the lexical units observing the rules are not the same. However significant differences are also observable. In the Old Polish there existed formatives, eg., -ic, -icz, -ec, -esc replaced after 1500 by, eg., -owicz, -ys, -is, -us. Also such prefixes as o-, pa-, prze-, sq-, wq- have passed out of use. New prefixes, e.g., archi-, arcy-, eks-, are only recent borrowings. However it is not only the number of the formatives that contrasts strongly with the modern ones but their function. The data under analysis provide a number of formatives with obsolete senses, e.g., -isko or -iszcze) as well as numerous derived forms in which the formative is semantically empty ( cf. modern Polish strona : stronica). Even more striking is the broad range of synonymy, expressing itself in a variety of derivational morphems, a characteristic extremely rare nowadays. The crucial differences arise however from the frequency relations between word-formation categories and types. A broad and reliable analysis of source material of the contemporary Polish language makes it possible to recognise differences between the two remote temporal planes and to identify problems deserving the attention of historical word-formation.