Zmysł smaku. Studium leksykalno-semantyczne
The Sense of Taste. A Lexical-Semantic Study

Author(s): Barbara Mitrenga
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: taste; Lexical-Semantic Study
Summary/Abstract: The following book presents a meticulous description of the sense of taste fromthe perspective of linguistics. The analysis of both former and contemporary lexiswhich belong to the semantic field of taste – hereby referred to as the lexis of taste – isprovided with a historico-cultural commentary which concerns the Polish penchantfor taste over the centuries, as well as the shaping of Polish cuisine. The analysis oflinguistic facts finds interdisciplinary complementation in the following fields: biology,psychology, chemistry and history. Metalinguistic references taken up in thisstudy are correlative to the lexical analysis of the sense of taste, which duly places thebook within the scope of interdisciplinary studies.This book’s linguistic data is derived from nine general and historical dictionariesof the Polish language, as well as directly from the sources. The lexis in questionencompasses, among others, the noun smak (taste) along with its former equivalent– ukuszenie; adjectives refering to four basic taste qualities, e.g. salty, sweet, sour, andbitter, as well as their derivatives. Moreover, the study provides a description of derivativesof the following nouns: salt, honey, sugar, vinegar, lemon, wormwood, and bile,or names of the most characteristic products which represent particular taste fromthe historical perspective. However, derivations based on the previously stated wordsare not the subject of the proposed analysis, but lexemes whose meaning connotes thesense of taste (exclusive of words such as sugar bowl, patisserie, and brine). Observationsare made with regard to basic as well as metaphorical lexis of taste.The book consists of the introduction, seven chapters and conclusions. The subsequentchapters take up theoretical and general issues which deal with the perceptionof taste (chapter one), provide the analysis of lexis refering to the notion of taste(chapter two), to particular tastes (chapters three to six), as well as the phenomenonof synaesthesia (chapter seven). The book ends with a list of tables used in the thesis,a list of abbreviations, sources, and index.

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