Człowiek wśród ludzi — w perspektywie języka
A PERSON AMONG PEOPLE IN THE LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE

Summary/Abstract: The authoress analyzes the multilayered semantic connections of the Russian lexeme 'ludi' (people), which belongs to basic words and concepts. On the basis of examples from the literary variety and peasant dialects of Russian and, to a lesser extent, other Slavic languages, she reconstructs the 'principles of the organization of semantic space' of the lexeme 'ludi', as well as investigating its numerous semantic links and the pragmatic conditions of its usage. The lexeme has many derivatives, tends towards a generalized meaning and in its long history has acquired significant axiological (positive and negative) overtones. Its meanings have also been conditioned by changing and variable viewpoints. The word 'ludi' and its derivatives, according to the authoress, function in the following 'ideographic spheres': 1. the 'physical' human being, including the sex, physique and age; 2. the character and patterns of behaviour, such as openness towards others, empathy, moral principles; 3. the society or community, characterized in terms of the social status and the US - THEM opposition, with due attention paid to the role of communication, the etiquette, the change of one's marital status (esp. in the case of women) and of the social roles; 4. professional occupation: divisions into peasants, tradesman and factory workers; 5. culture and ideology, including religion and upbringing; 6. space, with the distinction between the world as such, one's broader and narrower homeland and home; 7. general properties of objects and substances, e.g. the quantity or the general rational evaluation. She concludes that despite its multiaspectuality, the semantic complex connected with the word 'ludi' is internally coherent.

• Details
• Contents