Polityka językowa w Polsce a wpływ języka angielskiego na polszczyznę

Abstract

Language Policy in Poland in the Context of the Impact of English on Polish
 The paper examines the way and the extent to which language policies have affected the development of the Polish language. However, the purpose of the present paper is to highlight the change in attitude towards the increasing impact of English on Polish. The influence of English became more prominent in Poland after the change in the political system in 1989, and has for the most part been in the area of lexical borrowings. However, the influence of English is not only restricted to the inflow of English loanwords, but also extends to their relatively high frequency of usage. In addition, there is evidence of other types of influence that are non-lexical. However, the impact of English on Polish has not been as extensive as is claimed by some Polish linguists who since the early 1990s have lamented over the decline of the Polish language caused by the ”flood” of British and American English borrowings. Indeed, the status of English as a lingua franca was considered itself to be a threat to Polish, with even the possibility of the extinction of the tongue. This concern about language purity led to the creation of the Polish Language Council in 1996, whose aim has been to advise on and describe (rather than prescribe) linguistic behaviours among Polish language users. This legislative body was behind the Polish Language Act passed in 1999. Its purpose, however, has been to protect Polish rather than to purify it and to minimize the foreign influences (which mainly refer to English) rather than to eradicate them. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Polish linguists’ attitude towards the ”Anglicization” of the Polish language has changed dramatically and it is now believed that the influence of English makes Polish richer and more globalized.

The dynamic role of the English language in contemporary Poland

“…Many linguists have examined the ways that English has changed the Polish language. Mańczak‐Wohlfeld (2019, 2020) argued that English is primarily shaping Polish through lexical borrowings, and Witalisz's (2016) Przewodnik po Anglicyzmach w Języku Polskim (‘Guide to Anglicisms in the Polish Language’) offers numerous examples of these loans, showing that some have been adapted to conform to Polish grammar, while others have retained their original forms. English loan words have entered many semantic domains, including business (Cierpich, 2019), advertising and marketing (Dąbrowska, 2022), as well as media and the Internet (Galilej, 2022; Rozpędowski, 2015; Surendra, 2019; Zabawa, 2022).…”

“…Among other interesting innovations listed in Witalisz's (2016) book is the use of the genitive suffix ’s in noun phrases like Auto Hurtownia Mareks Modlnica (‘Marek's Auto Wholesale in Modlnica’) (p. 140), new compounds like jajogłowy (‘egghead’) and idioms such as mieć trupa w szafie (‘to have a skeleton in the cupboard’) (p. 89). Mańczak‐Wohlfeld (2020) also makes note of these and other changes, cautioning that they pose a greater threat to Polish than merely lexical borrowings (p. 154). She finds especially worrisome the tendency for compound noun phrases to follow English syntax and the usage of English exclamations like oops and wow because she believes that ‘feelings should be expressed in one's native language’ (Mańczak‐Wohlfeld, 2020, p. 155).…”

“…Mańczak‐Wohlfeld (2020) also makes note of these and other changes, cautioning that they pose a greater threat to Polish than merely lexical borrowings (p. 154). She finds especially worrisome the tendency for compound noun phrases to follow English syntax and the usage of English exclamations like oops and wow because she believes that ‘feelings should be expressed in one's native language’ (Mańczak‐Wohlfeld, 2020, p. 155). This suggests that even descriptive Polish linguists who generally welcome linguistic innovations via English may in some cases regard the growing impact of English on Polish as a threat.…”