Polish dialectal wild herbaceous plant names against a Slavic and European background

Abstract

The argument put forward in the present article is that many Polish dialectal plant names do not have folk roots. The only way to ascertain the true origin of a given name is by analysing the history of the dialectal name and related names in other languages. Such an analysis leads to the conclusion that Polish dialectal names have various origins. Some of them are truly dialectal, i.e. they originate from Polish dialects, while others are colloquial, non-dialectal native names that have been adapted by particular dialects. Yet others are relatively new loanwords and new calques, while another group originates from Old Polish forms no longer in use in non-dialectal Polish. The latter do not comprise a homogeneous category. Instead, they fall into three subcategories: Polish names originating from the Polish language or inherited from Old Slavic, old loanwords employed in Old Polish and no longer in use today except in Polish dialects, and finally, an often misclassified group of names comprising old calques. In the summary of the present study the author emphasises the importance of a diachronic and comparative approach to analysing dialectal plant names. She highlights the existence of numerous calques, especially old ones, whose presence had previously been overlooked due to their native and sometimes almost entirely dialectal character. Therefore, a superficial, synchronic analysis would not reveal their long and rich history or the fact that they also have counterparts in non-Slavic languages, indeed often have ancient roots.