Zwięzła historia języka polskiego – założenia opisu

The article begins with the presentation of the previous syntheses of the history of the Polish language. Next, the foundations of the description have been presented. According to the author they should comprise, among others, the processes of linguistic differentiation, occurring at the level of the: a) system, b) style as well as the process of linguistic integration leading to the creation of a general language. In the historical and linguistic description, the author distinguished 3 levels: a) political, social and cultural background, b) communicative aspects, c) linguistic aspects. While discussing the problem of linguistic communication, the author draws readers’ attention to three communicative breakthroughs in the history of the Polish language: a) in the first half of the 16th c., b) after World War II, c) at the turn of the 20th century. The article is concluded with a proposal of periodization of the history of the Polish language. The author has divided the history of the Polish language—comprising more than ten centuries—into two great epochs: a) until the beginning of the 16th century, b) from the 16th century until the modern times. They have been divided into subperiods on the basis of varied criteria: historical, linguistic and communicative.