On the priority of connotative over denotative meanings in Polish diminutives

Abstract

This paper undertakes an analysis of the connotative meanings of Polish diminutives excerpted from different types of literary texts including children’s stories as well as dramas, stories and poems addressed at adult readers. The author attempts to demonstrate that in the above-mentioned texts connotative meanings are more frequent than denotative ones. At the outset, some theoretical aspects of diminutive meanings are discussed. Firstly, the prototypical meanings of the diminutive are presented. Further on, the notion of polysemy is clarified, and the classification of diminutive meanings on the basis of Taylor’s (1995) work is given. It is followed by Jurafsky’s (1996) proposal of a universal structure for the semantics of the diminutive and Heltberg’s (1964) classification of diminutives into three types. In the main part of the paper, the meanings of Polish diminutives found in the texts are analysed, focusing on connotative meanings.