An indicator of the quantitative richness of vocabulary as an element of the lexical characteristics of contemporary Polish book reportage Cover Image

Wskaźnik ilościowego bogactwa słownictwa jako element leksykalnej charakterystyki współczesnego polskiego reportażu książkowego
An indicator of the quantitative richness of vocabulary as an element of the lexical characteristics of contemporary Polish book reportage

Author(s): Katarzyna Ostrowska, Marek Ruszkowski
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie
Keywords: vocabulary richness frequency of lexemes; frequency of word forms; book reportage

Summary/Abstract: One of the most important parameters for characterizing the vocabulary of a text is the index of quantitative vocabulary richness (Ibog). The most frequently used indicator is developed by Jozef Mistrik: Ibog = (V – the number of different lexemes in the text, i.e. the text dictionary; N – text length, i.e. the number of all word forms). Using J. Mistrik’s formula (N – number of word forms, i.e. 10,000 from the beginning of each reportage, V – number of lexemes in each of these samples), Ibog was calculated for individual texts. The value of the indicator ranges between 5.2 (D. Rosiak, Ziarno i krew. Podróż śladami bliskowschodnich chrześcijan) and 6.8 (M. Janiszewski, Dom nad rzeką Loes). There is, therefore, a significant difference in the quantitative vocabulary richness index among the analyzed book reports, which amounts to as much as 1.6. It should be assumed that it results from the style of specific reportages, spanning between written and spoken Polish and between static and dynamic relationships. The average for the reportage Ibog ≈ 5.9. Therefore, due to the examined parameter, it is close to the humanistic scientific disciplines (literary, historical, linguistic works in which ranges between 5.4 and 6.1), which indicates a high lexical richness of book reportage.

  • Issue Year: 2024
  • Issue No: 19
  • Page Range: 173-182
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: Polish
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