ALESSANDRO MANZONI A SPRAWA WŁOSKA: POGLĄDY NA KWESTIĘ JĘZYKA NARODOWEGO WŁOCHÓW W WYBRANYCH PISMACH FILOZOFICZNO-JĘZYKOWYCH NA PRZYKŁADZIE TRAKTATU DELL'UNITÀ DELLA LINGUA E DEI MEZZI DI DIFFONDERLA (1868) I JEGO PRZEKŁADU NA JĘZYK POLSKI

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to outline the views of Alessandro Manzoni on the issue of the national language of Italians throughout the selected philosophical and linguistic works. In the first part of the article, the authors highlighted the figure of the Milanese bard as well as the main theoretical framework for the origins of human speech in general and the sources of inspiration of these concepts mostly deriving from the works of the French Enlightenment philosophers (J. J. Rousseau, É. de Condillac, C. De Brosses) and of their Italian advocates and antagonists (M. Cesarotti, A. Cesari, V. Monti). Subsequently, a general overview of references dedicated to the subject of linguistics shall be presented including published and unpublished pieces. In the final part, the authors synthesized several chief theses exposed by Manzoni in the treaty titled Dell'unità della lingua e dei mezzi di diffonderla [On the unity of the language and the means of diffusing it] being at the same time a report on the proceedings of the parliamentary committee on the national language of 1868, whose authorial translation into Polish language is provided as an integral part of this article.