The Orient in Polish: An image of the Orient in Polish lexicography
The article focuses on the study of the meaning, occurrence and use of the term Orient and its derivatives — associated words related to it — in the Polish language.
The starting point is the concept of a linguistic image of the world that assumes the dependence of the individual’s perception of reality on the language he or she uses. A person, learning about the world, experiences it with the help of native speech, which imposes a certain specific way of thinking. The language appears as a filter and a ready set of interpretive schemes that impose a specific point of view on the user.
The aim of the presented research is the reconstruction of the linguistic image of the non-linguistic reality section represented by the Orient lexeme and its derivatives.
The study covered the National Corpus of the Polish Language, more widely available dictionary and encyclopedic definitions, and types of usage that can be observed in the contemporary public space represented by the so-called old and new media. The article also focuses on the connotations of the word Orient appearing in the Polish language system. An important part of the research focuses on the functioning of the analyzed lexeme and its derivatives in Polish culture, taking into account the changes taking place. The observed changes were separated and described, then presented in a chronological manner.
The presented analysis creates the possibility of a better understanding of the perception of the Orient by people speaking Polish.