The axiological dimension of work in the linguistic and cultural image of the world held by the inhabitants of the Polish countryside (based on material from Lesser Poland)

Abstract

Work occupies one of the main positions in the folk axiological system. In a traditional rural community, manual work – especially farm work, which was particularly dear to its members – was the highest-valued type. The performance of work was subject to very detailed inspection and critical assessment. The oldest generation of inhabitants of the Polish countryside is still the carrier of this system of values, and the prominent place of work in the rural axiosphere is evidenced by, among others, a great wealth of contemporary vocabulary relating to work. The image of work, especially farm work, is generationally diverse and heterogeneous. The linguistic material used in the text consists primarily of expressive vocabulary defining a person due to his attitude to work or the way of performing it. The analysis covered both appellative personal expressivisms and unofficial anthroponyms enriched with motivational paraphrases, as well as fragments of oral histories collected during field research in Lesser Poland.