Symbolika nominacji ludzi za pomocą rzeczownika baran – wpływ religii na kształtowanie się personifikowanego znaczenia apelatywu
The symbolism of the noun baran (‘ram’) used to denominate people. The influence of religion on the development of the personified meaning...

Summary/Abstract: The paper describes the semantic changes of the meaning of the Polish appellative baran (ram) used to denote a person. The core meanings of the an¬thropomorphized noun in the sixteenth century were established on the basis of religious texts and related lay writings. The meanings were decidedly posi¬tive as they referred to Christ, Catholics, and, to a greater extent, to virtuous and righteous people. In the next centuries, the marking changed completely and the very noun baran was used as an insult and conveyed unequivocally negative values. Parallel to the above study, a comparative analysis of the semantic evolu¬tion of the diminutive baranek (lamb), which could also function as personal designation, was conducted. In texts written in the Middle Polish language, the word functioned parallel to the root baran; however, in time, the distribution of both words diverged and their semantic evolution followed two completely different directions. The deminutivum did not undergo such a significant meaning amelioration as the noun baran.

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