Andrzej Stanisław Bogusławski (born 1 December 1931) is a Polish

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

, semanticist, semioticist and philosopher of language of international repute. Originally a specialist in

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

, his interests broadened into the

epistemology Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...

of language and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

. During

martial law in Poland Martial law in Poland () existed between 13 December 1981 and 22 July 1983. The Polish United Workers' Party, government of the Polish People's Republic drastically restricted everyday life by introducing martial law and a military junta in an a ...

he was interned for refusing to sign an oath of loyalty which led to international protests. He is a professor emeritus at Warsaw University.

Career

His early work focused on

and moved later to the

theory of language Theory of language is a topic in philosophy of language and theoretical linguistics. It has the goal of answering the questions "What is language?"; "Why do languages have the properties they do?"; or "What is the origin of language?". In addition ...

. He became a member of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

philology committee, a member of the

Warsaw Scientific Society Warsaw Scientific Society (Polish: ''Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie''; TNW) is a Polish scientific society based in Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city o ...

, a national member of the

Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning (, PAU), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of sciences (the other being the Po ...

, and for many years director of the faculty of

Formal Linguistics Formal linguistics is a branch of mathematical linguistics which uses formal languages, formal grammars and first-order logical expressions for the analysis of natural languages. Formal linguistics forms much of the basis of computational linguisti ...

at Warsaw University.

Political internment

On 13 December 1981 he was arrested and interned by the Polish authorities for refusing to sign an oath of loyalty.

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

, among other academics, called for his release. He was released on 16 July 1982.

Research

Bogusławski's research interests have ranged from

lexicography Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretical le ...

, through

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

semantics Semantics is the study of linguistic Meaning (philosophy), meaning. It examines what meaning is, how words get their meaning, and how the meaning of a complex expression depends on its parts. Part of this process involves the distinction betwee ...

semiotics Semiotics ( ) is the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning. In semiotics, a sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feelings to the sign's interpreter. Semiosis is a ...

formal logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

and the roots of language in philosophy and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. He collaborated with

Anna Wierzbicka Anna Wierzbicka (born 10 March 1938 in Warsaw) is a Polish people, Polish linguistics, linguist who is Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University, Canberra. Brought up in Poland, she graduated from Warsaw University and emigrated ...

on Natural semantic metalanguage research and is credited by her with reviving the notion of

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in addition to many ...

's "

alphabet of human thought The alphabet of human thought () is a concept originally proposed by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz that provides a universal way to represent and analyze ideas and relationships by breaking down their component pieces. All ideas are compounded from a ...

", or ''Lingua Mentalis''. Bogusławski is an acknowledged authority in the field of the

and research methodology in the sphere of

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

, especially

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto- ...

. His interests also take in semantics,

lexicology Lexicology is the branch of linguistics that analyzes the lexicon of a specific language. A word is the smallest meaningful unit of a language that can stand on its own, and is made up of small components called morphemes and even smaller elemen ...

pragmatics In linguistics and the philosophy of language, pragmatics is the study of how Context (linguistics), context contributes to meaning. The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions, as well as the relationship ...

syntax In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituenc ...

inflection In linguistic Morphology (linguistics), morphology, inflection (less commonly, inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical category, grammatical categories such as grammatical tense, ...

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

phonology Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...

, theories of text and translation, semiotics and the theory of literature. He has made original contributions to the methodology of semantics and to the theoretical bases of synchronistic morphology, lexicology, lexicography. In the 1960s he hypothesised the emergence of natural language generation with the aid of elementary linguistic units. In the 1970s he postulated a theory of operational grammar, relating linguistic elements to syntax. This helped to advance understanding of how the fields of internal languages are demarcated and he assisted the development of the empirical study of linguistics. He laid down the methodological basis of contemporary synchronous lexicography. He has also explored the frontiers of language and philosophy.

Honours

* In 2001 he was honoured with a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' on the occasion of his 70th birthday. * In 2003 he was awarded the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta. * On 16 May 2012 Andrzej Bogusławski was awarded an Honorary doctorate by the University of Torun.

Works

Bogusławski is the author of over 400 publications and the editor of the Polish-Russian and Russian-Polish dictionary. He has published in Polish, Russian and English.

Selected books

* Bogusławski, Andrzej (2023). ''Metodologia lingwistyki. Zarys''. Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. . * Bogusławski, Andrzej (2010)
''Dwa studia z teorii fleksji (i inne przyczynki)''
Warsaw: Bel Studio. . * Bogusławski, Andrzej (2007). ''A study in the linguistics-philosophy interface''. Warsaw: BEL Studio.

* ''Fleksja rosyjska'', Warsaw 2005. * ''Aspekt i negacja'', Warsaw 2003¹, 2004². * ''Science as Linguistic Activity, Linguistics as Scientific Activity'', Warszawa 1998. * ''Sprawy słowa = Word matters'', Warsaw 1994. * ''Two Essays on Inflection'', Warsaw 1992. * ''Język w słowniku : desiderata semantyczne do wielkiego słownika polszczyzny'', Wrocław 1988. * ''Ilustrowany słownik rosyjsko-polski, polsko-rosyjski'', t. 1–2, Warsaw 1978¹, 1983², 1986³, 1993⁴. * ''Problems of the Thematic-Rhematic Structure of Sentences'', Warsaw 1977. * ''Semantyczne pojęcie liczebnika i jego morfologia w języku rosyjskim'', Wrocław 1966.

Selected articles

* ''Rezygnacja i nadzieja filozofów'', „Przegląd Humanistyczny” 2004 Nr 383, p. 1-26. * ''A note on Apresjan`s concept of "Polish school of semantics" with an appendix'', „Lingua Posnaniensis” 2003 Tom XLV, p. 7-18. * ''Jeszcze o wiedzy i wszechwiedzy'', „Przegląd Humanistyczny” 2002 Tom 3, p. 67-73. * ''Reflections on Wierzbicka`s explications'', „Lingua Posnaniensis” 2001 Tom XLIII, p. 47-88. * ''On the necessity of necessity'', „Lingua Posnaniensis” 2001 Tom XLIII, p. 39-45. * ''O pozytywnej stronie granic poznania'', in ''U progu trzeciego tysiąclecia. Człowiek - Nauka - Wiara'', Warsaw 2000, pp. 209–245. * ''Człowiek współczesny: rozum i wiara'', in ''U progu trzeciego tysiąclecia. Człowiek - Nauka - Wiara'', Warsaw 2000, pp. 524–536.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

biography of Andrzej Bogusławski at Nicolas Copernicus University

NSM bibliography page at University of New England, Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boguslawski, Andrzej 1931 births Living people Etymologists Polish lexicographers Linguistic turn Members of the Polish Academy of Sciences Philosophers of language Polish educators Polish non-fiction writers Polish male non-fiction writers Polish philologists Polish translators Polish male writers 20th-century Polish linguists Semanticists Linguists of Indo-European languages Semioticians Structuralists Academics from Warsaw Polish dissidents Academic staff of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń University of Warsaw alumni Academic staff of the University of Warsaw Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta