1. Editor and the Editorial Committee. Owner of the periodical and its publishers

As has already been mentioned, Prof. Dr. Witold Doroszewski died on 26 January 1976. The status of Poradnik Językowy was as follows then: the journal was a body of the Society for Language Culture and was released by the Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe publishing house. Its editor was appointed on the publisher’s request by the Minister competent for education (the publisher arranged the candidacy informally with representatives of linguistic circles, and formally – probably with competent state authorities).

In 1976, the composition of the Editorial Committee of Poradnik Językowy was as follows: editor and chair of the Editorial Committee: Prof. Dr. Witold Doroszewski, deputy editor: Prof. Dr. Mieczysław Szymczak, Editorial Committee: Dr. Barbara Falińska (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Hubert Górnowicz (Gdańsk), Prof. Dr. Halina Kurkowska (Warsaw), Dr. Zofia Mianowska (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Leszek Moszyński (Gdańsk), Doc. Dr. hab. Wanda Pomianowska (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Andrzej Sieczkowski (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Stanisław Skorupka (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Zdzisław Stieber (Warsaw), Mgr Alicja Szlązakowa (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Witold Taszycki (Cracow); editorial assistant: Mgr Magdalena Foland.

After Prof. Doroszewski’s death, the editorial board was in fact headed by Prof. Mieczysław Szymczak although the Deceased remained formally the editor of the journal until the end of 1976. This situation is hard to explain, but this is just the way it was. One of the likely reasons for that state of affairs was the fact that the monthly was planned well in advance – relevant texts were ordered and agreed upon with their authors and various tasks needed to be performed to prepare individual issues for publication. This could be the reason why this procedure was considered appropriate. This undoubtedly holds true for the first two issues of the annual bound volume for that year: Issue 1 – dedicated to Jan Baudouin de Courtenay – and Issue 2 were prepared under the supervision of Witold Doroszewski, but the following ones were not (Issue 3 included texts commemorating the Deceased and lectures delivered at the conference held in his honour). It should be noted, however, that the “Explanations of words and expressions” section was filled with texts prepared by Witold Doroszewski in the entire annual bound volume (Issues 1–10).

On page 472 in Issue 10 of 1976 – under the contents of “Explanations...” – the editorial board placed the following information, which needs to be quoted in full, as it is a sort of tribute paid to the Author of that section:

The “Explanations of words and expressions” column has been published since 1935. For 41 years, its contents were prepared exceptionally systematically by the Editor-in-Chief of our journal, Prof. Dr. Witold Doroszewski, whose outstanding talent for popularising knowledge was manifest there. He would reply in this column to queries concerning proper use and culture of language, which were sent to the Editorial Board and the Radio Linguistic Guide (Radiowy Poradnik Językowy) from all corners of our country. Enquiries were sent in large numbers; they reflected doubts that would arise in the society along with the development of our language. The replies – always thoroughly thought out and based on a profound knowledge of all varieties of the Polish language – were delivered in a beautiful language. “Explanations of words and expressions” was one of the most popular sections of Poradnik Językowy, and the texts comprised in two volumes entitled O kulturę słowa (For the sake of the culture of the word) (Warsaw 1962 and 1966) became a bestseller popular not only among language enthusiasts.
We deeply regret to announce that this issue contains the last text written by Prof. Witold Doroszewski. We wish to preserve the column created by him, maintaining its character. Our intention is to continue to provide the society with advice and guidance in resolving any linguistic doubts and seeking the most proper language forms. We also hope to show the beauty of our mother tongue. To accomplish this objective, we need contribution from our Readers, who are kindly encouraged to engage in close collaboration with the Editorial Board.

In 1977, Prof. Dr. Mieczysław Szymczak became the official editor-in-chief of the journal (1977, Issue 3) and introduced changes to the composition of the Editorial Committee, which was as follows: the editor and chair of the Editorial Committee: Prof. Dr. Mieczysław Szymczak, members: Doc. Dr. Mieczysław Basara, Mgr Magdalena Foland, Dr. Barbara Falińska, Prof. Dr. Hubert Górnowicz (Gdańsk), Mgr Anna Jóźwiak (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Mieczysław Karaś (Cracow), Prof. Dr. Leszek Moszyński (Gdańsk), Prof. Dr. Andrzej Sieczkowski (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Stanisław Skorupka (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Teresa Skubalanka (Lublin), Prof. Dr. Zdzisław Stieber (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Witold Taszycki (Cracow), Prof. Dr. Przemysław Zwoliński (Warsaw). The function of the editorial assistant was performed by Mgr Wanda Sławińska.

The composition of the Editorial Committee changed due to the death of Prof. Dr. Mieczysław Karaś (1977) and Prof. Dr. Przemysław Zwoliński (1983). The Committee was complemented by two new members: Prof. Dr. Teresa Skubalanka (Lublin) and Prof. Dr. Alfred Zaręba (Cracow), and in 1985 its composition was as follows: Prof. Dr. Mieczysław Szymczak – editor-in-chief and chair of the Editorial Committee, members: Prof. Dr. Jan Basara (Warsaw), Doc. Dr. Barbara Falińska (Warsaw), Dr. Magdalena Foland-Kugler (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Hubert Górnowicz (Gdańsk), Mgr Anna Jóźwiak (Warsaw), Doc. Dr. Jerzy Maciejewski (Toruń), Prof. Dr. Leszek Moszyński (Gdańsk), Prof. Dr. Andrzej Sieczkowski (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Stanisław Skorupka (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Teresa Skubalanka (Lublin), Prof. Dr. Alfred Zaręba (Cracow). The function of the editorial assistant was performed by Mgr Ewa Markowska.

2. Contents of the journal

The new Editor did not introduce any major modifications to the journal’s layout. The arrangement of Poradnik Językowy into sections, which is presented below, indicates that it continued to be organised in accordance with the changes initiated by Witold Doroszewski. Publication of fragmented sections was abandoned, while the following columns were published consistently and on a regular basis: “Papers” (404) , “Polish in schools” (32), “Polish abroad” (91), “Reviews” (113), “Reports” (59), “What is being written about language?” (19), “Explanations of words and expressions” (77). “Bibliography”, prepared by Krystyna Długosz-Kurczabowa and Władysław Kupiszewski, was published on a regular basis as well. Prof. Szymczak would also systematically prepare high quality contents for the “Explanations of words and expressions” column. Texts published in the “What is being written about language?” section were prepared by A.S. (Andrzej Sieczkowski), joined by R.S. (Roxana Sinielnikoff), who started publishing her first texts in this column. A new section developed by Prof. Stanisław Rospond – “Names speak” (“Mówią nazwy”) – was introduced, but it was published for 4 years only (1980–1984, 6 papers). The “Additions – comments – observations” section was rarely used (only in 1977 and 1978).

• “Papers” (1977: 37; 1978: 50; 1979: 38; 1980: 33; 1981: 34; 1982: 49; 1983: 60; 1984: 59; 1985: 44);
• “Polish in schools” (1977: 1; 1980: 3; 1981: 7; 1982: 3; 1983: 8; 1984: 7; 1985: 3);
• “Polish abroad” (1977: 5; 1978: 8; 1979: 9; 1980: 13; 1981: 10; 1982: 14; 1983: 15; 1984: 5; 1985: 12);
• “Names speak” (1980: 3; 1981: 1; 1982: 1; 1984: 1);
• “Reviews (1977: 13; 1978: 11; 1979: 13; 1980: 17; 1981: 8; 1982: 17; 1983: 15; 1984: 7; 1985: 12);
• “Reports” (1977: 6; 1978: 6; 1979: 8; 1980: 7; 1981: 6; 1982: 13; 1983: 5; 1984: 6; 1985: 8);
• “Additions – comments – observations” (1977: 2; 1978: 2);
• “What is being written about language?” (1977: 1; 1979: 2; 1980: 4; 1981: 2; 1982: 5; 1983: 1; 1985: 4);
• “Explanations of words and expressions” (1977: 10; 1978: 9; 1979: 10; 1980: 9; 1981: 5; 1982: 10; 1983: 9; 1984: 7; 1985: 8);
• “Bibliography” (1977: 1; 1978: 1; 1979: 1; 1980: 1; 1981: 1; 1982: 1; 1984: 2; 1985: 1);
• “Editorial board” (“Redakcja”) (1977: 1; 1983: 1; 1984: 3; 1985: 2).

Although Prof. Dr. Mieczysław Szymczak did not manage to develop various potential initiatives over the eight years of his work as the editor-in-chief of Poradnik Językowy, the journal’s achievements were considerable at that time. Our evaluation will be limited to some issues only.

It should be emphasised that Poradnik Językowy became more accessible at that time to the academic community from outside Warsaw. Texts published in the journal were written by authors from Poznań, Lublin, Katowice, Cracow, and Gdańsk – virtually from all linguistic research centres. Young researchers willing to collaborate with the journal were particularly welcome.

Poradnik Językowy sometimes published post-conference materials corresponding to the journal’s profile and mission, e.g. materials from the conference devoted to linguistic guidance, organised by the Language Culture Commission of the Linguistics Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Komisja Kultury Języka Komitetu Językoznawstwa PAN) on 7 December 1977 (1978, Issue 7/8).

Good traditions of the journal, such as taking up new research topics, were continued, as evidenced by examples of studies with respect to:

• a linguistic atlas of Europe (cf. Mieczysław Szymczak, “Atlas językowy Europy” (“Linguistic atlas of Europe”), 1977, Issue 6, pp. 241–246; Jan Basara, “Ogólnosłowiański atlas językowy” (“General Slavic language atlas”), 1977, Issue 6, pp. 247–252; Zenon Sobierajski, “Problemy metodyczne atlasu lingwistyczno–etnograficznego (na przykładzie Atlasu języka i kultury Wielkopolski)” (“Methodical problems faced by a linguistic and ethnographic atlas (on the example of Atlas of the language and culture of Wielkopolska)”), 1982, Issue 1, pp. 1–20);
• sociolinguistics (cf. Władysław Lubaś, “Teoria i metody socjolingwistyczne” (“Sociolinguistic theory and methods”), 1982, Issue 4, pp. 199–212; Danuta Bartol-Jarosińska, “Inteligent w języku robotników warszawskich” (“An educated person in the language of blue-collar workers in Warsaw”), 1983, Issue 10, pp. 656–662);
• colloquial vocabulary (cf., e.g. Danuta Buttler, “Polskie słownictwo potoczne” (“Polish colloquial vocabulary”), 1977, Issue 3, pp. 89–98, Issue 4, pp. 153–163; 1978, Issue 1, pp. 7–19; Danuta Buttler, “Procesy multiwerbizacji we współczesnej polszczyźnie” (“Multiverbisation processes in the contemporary Polish language”), 1978, Issue 2, pp. 54–62; Władysław Miodunka, “O badaniach słownictwa i gramatyki francuszczyzny mówionej” (“On the research on the vocabulary and grammar of spoken French”), 1977, Issue 5, pp. 206–218);
• methodology of word formation analysis (cf. e.g. Jadwiga Puzynina, “O relacjach derywatów do ich podstaw i peryfraz słowotwórczych” (“On relations of derivatives to their roots and morphological periphrases”), 1978, Issue 3, pp. 93–98; Jadwiga Puzynina, “Transpozycja, mutacja, modyfikacja” (“Transposition, mutation, modification”), 1978, Issue 5, pp. 193–199; Alicja Nagórko–Kufel, “Statystyczna struktura słownictwa motywowanego” (“Statistical structure of motivated vocabulary”), 1978, Issue 3, pp. 99–105);
• phraseology (e.g. Stanisław Bąba, “Ograniczenia w zakresie kategorii liczby komponentu a stabilność struktury formalnej związku frazeologicznego” (“Restrictions as regards the category of the component number and the stability of the formal structure of an idiomatic expression"), 1982, Issue 3, pp. 141–151.
• etymology (e.g. Andrzej Bańkowski, “Szkice z polskiej etymologii onomastycznej” (“The outline of the Polish onomastic etymology”), 1978, Issue 6, pp. 269–281; 1979, Issue 10, pp. 365–371);
• linguistic stylisation (cf. e.g. Stanisław Dubisz, “Uwagi o dialektyzacji w Konopielce Edwarda Redlińskiego” (“Comments on dialectisation in Konopielka by Edward Redliński”), 7/1977, pp. 293–304);
• research on the language of Polish communities abroad (cf. Stanisław Dubisz, “Z metodologii badań języka środowisk polonijnych” (“On the methodology of research on the language of Polish communities abroad”), 1983, Issue 5, pp. 292–301);
• teaching Polish as a foreign language (cf. Jan Lewandowski, “Z dziejów nauczania języka polskiego jako obcego” (“On the history of teaching Polish as a foreign language”), 1978, Issue 3, pp. 125–130).