Articles
On some of the recent bohemismsin the Polish language
During the last two hundred years, the Polish language has been enriched by bohemisms that have nothing to do with the earlier wave of Czech influence — cultural or linguistic — in Poland. The manifold manifestations of Czech–Polish communication in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century took place in the Austrian part of Poland. At this time anumber of Czech colloquial expressions made their way into the Polish language; in the same way words borrowed from Czech terminology or inspired by the Czech specialized lexicon were accepted in the Polish language. At the same time some Czech words found their way into the Polish language and were used to convey a linguistic characterization of the Czechs. Semantic components that express assessment are also to be seen in the group of loanwords from the second half of the 20th century. This was due to the deeply rooted prejudice against Czech people and — during the era of normalisation — the banal picture of Czechoslovakia offered by the official media. Even today, when communication barriers have been removed, the Czechs and their language are still connected with stereotyped connotations. However, with the growth of contacts that are unlimited and free from compulsion the new Czech loanwords in Polish texts are accompanied with aclearly more positive assessment of Czech realia. At the same time, thanks to the development of the communication technology, it is now definitely easier to observe the linguistic results of these spontaneous contacts in the language.