O różnorodnych definicjach słownikowych rzeczowników osobowych rodzaju męskiego
About diverse dictionary definitions of masculine personal nouns

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims to describe the issues of masculine personal nouns, which are defined in dictionaries of Polish in an ambiguous manner. They are normally lexemes stereotypically attributable to men (particularly regarding age, appearance, character and behaviour), which – depending on a dictionary – are defined with expressions that either clearly specify the male sex or do not inform about the sex (a human being, a person, someone). This issue was infrequently described by linguists. Based on a comparative analysis of four dictionaries of Polish (Słownik języka polskiego (Dictionary of Polish) ed. W. Doroszewski, Słownik współczesnego języka polskiego (Dictionary of contemporary Polish), Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego (Universal dictionary of Polish) and Inny słownik języka polskiego (Different dictionary of Polish)), it was possible to separate several dozen lexemes of this type that differ in terms of definitions (they are presented in the table), and a closed group of compounds with the particle -latek was also described from this angle. On this basis, strategies of defi ning such terms that are employed in dictionaries are discussed. Secondly, attempts are made to identify the causes of this type of doubts by referring to lexicographic studies and by describing potential possibilities to determine references of a particular noun. These discussions are preceded by a brief reflection about relations between gender and sex and a description of masculine personal lexeme groups in the case of which there is always or sometimes information only about the male sex.

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