One hundred years of Polish language in a nutshell

Why Warsaw is supposed to be Warsew, and what is the so-called communication revolution observed in recent years? These and many other linguistic phenomena were discussed by prof. Jan Miodek during the first lecture of the Lower Silesian Science Festival. But this is not the end, as right after the lecture, prof. Miodek read the text of the II Wrocław Dictation to a group of courageous volunteers.

During the “Polish language of the years 1918-2018” lecture, prof. Miodek touched upon selected issues of the Polish language of the last century. Here are the two of them.

As stated by prof. Miodek, the story of Wars and Sawa is a tale. The name Warsaw comes from the name Warcisław (also known as Warsz). Its original form was Warszewa, and we can trace it in the name of a Mazovian village called Warszewka. The change to what we currently know as Warszawa (Warsaw) is a result of aversion to regionalisms, once considered a worse variety of language.

The changes in the Polish language observed in the recent years were described by prof. Miodek as communication revolution, or even a lexical Copernican revolution. Countless Anglicisms have entered the language, led by economic and electronic vocabulary. What is interesting, however, is not their mere presence, but rather their influence on the Polish language. The verb zresetować (to reset) served as an example – nowadays not only computers, but also people need to reset after hard work.

“I feel sorry for you” – joked prof. Miodek during a dictation organised by employees and students of the Institute of Polish Studies.

“The Odra River thriller, half joking and half serious” is the title of the text noted down by the participants of the dictation. It wasn’t easy – the stories of Lower Silesians were full of linguistic traps, so we congratulate all volunteers for their courage!

And, for those who were not able to be with us in the Mikulski’s hall, we recommend a recording of the dictations read by prof. Miodek posted on the University of Wrocław’s Facebook.