Published: 2024-12-301

About Greek borrowings in Polish Orthodox terminology

Abstract

The article deals with the issue of terms of Greek provenance functioning in the religious language of the Polish Orthodox Church. The analysed lexemes were excerption from the Dictionary of Polish Orthodox Terminology edited by W. Przyczyna, K. Czarnecka and M. Ławreszuk. The author distinguishes and characterises three groups of Graecisms which differ in their period and the way they penetrate into the Polish language. One group includes general Christian terms borrowed in the Old and Middle Polish era, often via Latin, e.g. eucharystia, prezbiter, apostoł. A significant place is occupied by Graecisms concerning to the spirituality of Orthodoxy, the borrowing of which is visible through Church Slavonic mediation, sometimes additionally from East Slavonic sources, e.g. akafist, anaław, trikirij. An active and still supplemented group are terms taken over from the 19th century directly from Greek or through the medium of Western European languages, e.g. akatyst, Pantokrator, troparion.

Keywords:

Orthodox terminology, borrowings, Graecisms, Polish language, Orthodoxy, religious lexis

Download files

Citation rules

Rygorowicz-Kuźma, A. (2024). About Greek borrowings in Polish Orthodox terminology. Theological Yearbook, 66(4), 759–773. https://doi.org/10.36124/rt.2024.28

Cited by / Share

Licence