Krótka historia ‘czytania’ (cz. III). Historyczne spojrzenie na czytać
A short history of ‘reading’ (part 3). A historical look on the Polish verb czytać ‘to read’

Author(s): Kacper Kardas
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to briefly discuss the history of the Polish verb to read (czytać), i.e. trace its semantic transformations across the evolution of the Polish language, on the basis of the available dictionary data (accounting for dialectic differences). Through a comparative study of the lexicographical data, the author identifies a set of semantic elements which accompanied the use of the verb ‘to read’ across time. Those elements have been grouped together, according to their continuity of existence, to differentiate two groups: hereditary and innovative; moreover, the article identifies which of those still function in the language and which have become extinct (while providing the probable causes of such extinction). Apart from that, the article discusses certain evolutionary parallels between the Polish verb to read and selected words in other languages. This article constitutes a continuation and supplementation of an etymological study regarding the roots of the Polish words czyść and czytać (to read) in comparison with other lexemes denoting the activity of reading in other European languages.

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