Językowy obraz demokracji w polszczyźnie

Abstract

THE LINGUISTIC IMAGE OF DEMOCRACY IN POLISH LANGUAGE The article attempts to reconstruct the linguistic image of DEMOCRACY in Polish language in accordance with the methodological assumptions of the “Lublin school of cognitive ethnolinguistics”. The material for analysis has been excerpted from three types of sources: dictionaries, surveys and texts. First, a set of fundamental defining features (“basic features”) of the concept of DEMOCRACY has been established, which focused on four aspects: political, social, ethical and economic. Second, using the operation of profiling, the author of the article outlined which sets of features are ascribed to DEMOCRACY in various types of Polish public discourse. Particular attention has been given to the following (basic) features of the analysed concept: power/majority rule, freedom, equality, tolerance and pluralism.