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

Prof. Dr. hab. Danuta Buttler took over the function of the editor of Poradnik Językowy being not fully prepared to this role, as the change was forced by Prof. Szymczak’s sudden death. Therefore, she decided to accept this role on condition of appointing a deputy editor, recommending Doc. Dr. Jerzy Podracki for this position.

The composition of the Editorial Committee, as indicated in the imprint in Issue 1 of 1986, was as follows: editor and chair of the Editorial Committee – Prof. Dr. Danuta Buttler, deputy editor – Doc. Dr. Jerzy Podracki, 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 continued to be performed by Ewa Markowska.

In the period 1986–1991, the composition of the Committee changed; in 1987, Doc. Dr. Jerzy Podracki resigned from the function of the deputy editor (due to a long stay abroad); another three members of the Committee died: Prof. Dr. Hubert Górnowicz (1986), Prof. Dr. Stanisław Skorupka (1988; member of the Committee from 1948) and Prof. Alfred Zaręba (1988). No new members joined the Committee.

No major formal changes were introduced. Poradnik Językowy remained a body of the Society for Language Culture and continued to be published by the Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe publishing house.

2. Contents of the journal

No significant modifications were introduced either as regards the arrangement of the sections of Poradnik Językowy headed by Prof. Danuta Buttler. Only one section name – “Reports, comments, polemics” (“Sprawozdania, uwagi, polemiki”) – was introduced to replace Additions – comments – observations." It encompassed the “Reports” section, which had been a separate one until then. A new section – “Divagations” (“Roztrząsania”) – was also introduced but the editorial board quickly abandoned it (only one paper was published in that section).

In 1986–1991, Poradnik Językowy was arranged into the following sections:

• “Papers” (1986: 45; 1987: 51; 1988: 53; 1989: 57; 1990: 65; 1991: 37);
• “Polish in schools” (1986: 5; 1987: 1; 1988: 1; 1990: 1; 1991: 2);
• “Polish abroad” (1986: 5; 1987: 7; 1988: 3; 1989: 4; 1990: 1; 1991: 1);
• “Reviews” (1986: 19; 1987: 18; 1988: 19; 1989: 18; 1990: 6; 1991: 10);
• “Reports” (1986: 2);
• “Reports, comments, polemics” (1986: 3; 1987: 5; 1988: 3; 1989: 9; 1990: 3; 1991: 3);
• “Divagations” (1989: 1);
• “What is being written about language?” (1986: 7; 1987: 9; 1988: 9; 1989: 8; 1990: 7; 1991: 5);
• “Explanations of words and expressions” (1986: 10; 1987: 10; 1988: 12; 1989: 8; 1990: 10; 1991: 7);
• “Bibliography” (1986: 1; 1987: 1; 1988: 1; 1989: 2; 1990: 1; 1991: 1);
• “Editorial board” (1986: 1; 1989: 1; 1991: 1).

Over the 5 years in question, the following number of texts were published in the individual sections: “Papers” – 308; “Polish in schools” – 10; “Polish abroad” – 21; “Reviews” – 90; “Reports” – 2; “Reports, comments, polemics” – 26; “Divagations” – 1; “What is being written about language?” – 45; “Explanations of words and expressions” – 57; “Bibliography” – 7; “Editorial board” – 2.

Regular columns filled with material outsourced by the editorial board, i.e. “What is being written about language?”, “Explanations of words and expressions” and “Bibliography” – were prepared basically by the same authors. The case was similar with the “What is being written about language?” section, which was prepared by R.S. (Roxana Sinielnikoff), and “Bibliography”, prepared by Krystyna Długosz-Kurczabowa and Władysław Kupiszewski. There was a change, however, as regards preparation of material to be published in “Explanations of words and expressions.” Prof. Buttler tried to continue the tradition of running this section by the editor-in-chief only for a short time after her appointment. In practice – given her deteriorating health condition – this proved to be difficult. She was therefore relieved by other authors: Andrzej Markowski, Halina Satkiewicz, Barbara Klebanowska, Wanda Budziszewska, Krzysztof Wróblewski and Elżbieta Wierzbicka.

Texts published in Poradnik Językowy in the discussed period continued to deal with the topics handled in earlier periods, although new ones were also introduced. There were publications concerning old traditional issues, which had become primary objectives of Poradnik in a way, such as language culture and a new diversified approach to a standard (cf. 1990, Issue 3; Danuta Bartol-Jarosińska, “Zróżnicowanie społeczeństwa a norma językowa” (“Social diversity and the linguistic standard”), 1990, Issue 4, pp. 253–259). The new topics comprised i.a. initiation of a discussion on the colloquial style (cf. Jerzy Bartmiński, “Styl potoczny jako centrum systemu stylowego języka” (“The colloquial style as the centre of the language style system”), 1991, Issue 1/2, pp. 10–23); a new proposal as regards research on homonymy (cf. Hanna Jadacka, “O przydatności opisu gniazdowego w badaniach nad polisemią i homonimią” (“On the usefulness of the nest description in research on polysemy and homonymy”), 1987, Issue 1, pp. 11–39), as well as texts dedicated to the language of politics (cf. Jerzy Bartmiński, “Prawica — lewica. Sposoby profilowania pojęć” (“The right wing — the left wing. Methods of profiling notions”), 1991, Issue 5/6, pp. 160–166), and the continuation of research on the language of Polish communities abroad, yet with respect to the lexical system (cf. Elżbieta Sękowska, “Słowotwórstwo wyrazów polonijnych na tle sposobów adaptacji leksemów obcego pochodzenia w dialekcie polonijnym” (“Word formation in the language of Polish communities abroad in the context of adaptation methods of lexemes of foreign origin in the dialect used by Polish communities abroad”), 1987, Issue 1, pp. 54–60).

The time when Poradnik Językowy was headed by Prof Danuta Buttler was a difficult period. By designating Prof. Buttler as the editor-in-chief, the academic circles which recommended her candidacy for this prestigious function expressed their appreciation for the scholar’s academic achievements. Unfortunately, Danuta Buttler’s continuously deteriorating health condition prevented her from implementing the plans that are clearly visible when analysing the contents published in the journal of that period.