Od „chąśnika” do „kradzieżnika” – jak zmieniały się nazwy „złodzieja” na przestrzeni wieków

Abstract

The article is devoted to the names of the thief in the Polish language. T he research procedure is representative of the trend of diachronic linguistics and its purpose is to present the evolution of the vocabulary concentrated in the field that is analysed. T he essence of the text is the presentation of semantic changes which occurred in the vocabulary that was examined, as well as the emphasis of the influence of extralinguistic factors upon the development of the vocabulary. The research material that was collected in the present work was excerpted from dictionary sources. T he range of the collected material spans the earliest and the modern times. T he analyses that were conducted offer a broad insight into the lexicon in the historical perspective which enables a comprehensive indication of the many transformations which occurred in the field of the names of the “thief”. The frequence‑related aspect is also crucial to the article which is directly associated with the dynamics of the changes which occur in language.