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

Prof. Dr. Halina Satkiewicz took over the function of the editor-in-chief of Poradnik Językowy in mid-1991. The situation was unfavourable from the very onset, as due to the progressive illness of Prof. Buttler, difficulties in running the periodical could be seen already in 1990 (combined issues). The situation was even more difficult because the monthly [sic] was headed by the editor and the editorial assistant. This style of work was developed at the beginning of the journal’s existence, when its character was fundamentally different from that in the early 1990s. The one-person management of the journal was continued by Prof. Satkiewicz. This and the increasingly more acute vision impairment, which made it difficult for Prof. Satkiewicz to read texts while editing, coupled with an almost permanent lack of material (Prof. Satkiewicz was somehow timid as regards attracting authors), caused delays in releasing individual issues, which necessitated combining them. This had been done only exceptionally in the long post-war history of Poradnik Językowy until then. The situation got even worse when Prof. Satkiewicz started editing the journal by herself (due to the resignation by Ewa Markowska – the editorial assistant of the journal) at a point (about one year after Prof. Satkiewicz assumed the function of Poradnik’s editor-in-chief). She was relieved by Dr. Wanda Decyk, who performed the editorial assistant’s duties for many years – informally and against no additional compensation. The state of affairs existed until 1998, when the Board of the Society for Language Culture suggested the establishment of the Editorial Board. The situation improved after that, but not enough to allow it to continue given the radically changing rules of funding and publishing journals and new responsibilities imposed on the editor-in-chief, who was also required to have managerial skills.

Let us go back, however, to the main topic. Prof. Halina Satkiewicz became the editor-in-chief of Poradnik Językowy when it was still published by the Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe publishing house. In 1991, when state-owned publishing houses undergone privatisation, PWN resigned from releasing the unprofitable journal. Linguistic circles from Warsaw managed to persuade Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (the publishing house of the University of Warsaw) to release Poradnik Językowy. Thus the University of Warsaw became the owner of the journal.

The 1992 composition of the Editorial Committee – after the Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego publishing house took over the journal – was as follows: Prof. Dr. Halina Satkiewicz – editor and chair of the Editorial Committee, members: Prof. Dr. Jan Basara (Warsaw), Doc. Dr. Barbara Falińska (Warsaw), Dr. Magdalena Foland–Kugler (Warsaw), Mgr Anna Jóźwiak (Warsaw), Doc. Dr. Jerzy Maciejewski (Toruń), Prof. Dr. Leszek Moszyński (Gdańsk), Prof. Dr. Andrzej Sieczkowski (Warsaw), Prof. Dr. Teresa Skubalanka (Lublin). The function of the editorial assistant was performed by Ewa Markowska (however, she left the editorial board after a year and her responsibilities were assumed by Dr. Wanda Decyk). Doc. Dr. Jerzy Maciejewski died in 1992.

As has already been mentioned, at times of the Polish People’s Republic, each editor of Poradnik Językowy was appointed by the Minister of Education or, as the name of the ministry changed, the Minister of General and Higher Education (1966–1972), the Minister of Education and Upbringing (1972–1987), the Minister of National Education (1987–1989), respectively. This principle applied also at the beginning of the transformation of the political system in 1991: Prof. Halina Satkiewicz was appointed the editor-in-chief of Poradnik Językowy by the Minister of National Education. In 2000, under an agreement with the Director of the Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego publishing house – Mgr Elżbieta Nogowicz, acting on behalf of the Rector of the University of Warsaw, the formal owner of the journal – the editor-in-chief and the editorial board were designated by the President of the Board of the Society for Language Culture. The Editorial Board and the Advisory Board were also appointed that year. Their compositions were as follows:

• the Editorial Board: Prof. Dr. hab. Halina Satkiewicz – editor-in-chief; members: Prof. Dr. hab. Stanisław Dubisz, Dr. Włodzimierz Gruszczyński, Dr. hab. Józef Porayski-Pomsta, Dr. hab. Elżbieta Sękowska, Dr. Wanda Decyk – editorial assistant;
• the Advisory Board: Prof. Dr. hab. Halina Satkiewicz – chair; members: Prof. Dr. hab. Jan Basara, Prof. Dr. hab. Stanisław Dubisz, Dr. Włodzimierz Gruszczyński, Prof. Dr. hab. Barbara Falińska, Dr. Magdalena Foland-Kugler, Prof. Dr. hab. Andrzej Markowski, Prof. Dr. hab. Leszek Moszyński, Dr. hab. Józef Porayski-Pomsta, Dr. hab. Elżbieta Sękowska, Prof. Dr. hab. Teresa Skubalanka, Dr. Wanda Decyk – editorial assistant.

2. Contents of the journal

The arrangement of sections in Poradnik Językowy underwent further modifications. The most significant change involved the separation of a new section – “Memoirs, jubilees” (“Wspomnienia, jubileusze”) (until 2002, such texts had been published in the “Papers” section), which was later divided into two separate sections: “Jubilees” (“Jubileusze”), “Memoirs” (“Wspomnienia”). The name of the “Papers” section was changed into “Papers and dissertations” (“Artykuły i rozprawy”). A new section – “Communications from the Council for the Polish Language” (“Komunikaty Rady Języka Polskiego”) – was introduced. Other sections remained unchanged and were as follows:

• “Memoirs, jubilees” (2002: 1; 2003: 5; 2004: 5; 2005: 3);
• “Jubilees” (2006: 7; 2007: 2);
• “Papers” (1992: 55; 1993: 42; 1994: 44; 1995: 42);
• “Papers and dissertations” (1996: 51; 1997: 47; 1998: 32; 1999: 49; 2000: 43; 2001: 45; 2002: 50; 2003: 42; 2004: 56; 2005: 55; 2006: 68; 2007: 61);
• “Polish in schools” (1992: 1; 1993: 3; 1994: 1; 1997: 7; 2000: 3;2006: 2);
• “Polish abroad” (1992: 1; 1994: 2; 1995: 2; 1997: 2; 1998: 1; 1999: 1; 2000: 3; 2001: 1; 2003: 1; 2004: 1; 2006 :2);
• “Reviews” (1992: 13; 1993: 16; 1994: 17; 1995: 13; 1996: 13; 1997: 18; 1998: 10; 1999: 4; 2000: 18; 2001: 22; 2002: 24; 2003: 24; 2004: 29; 2005: 21; 2006: 16; 2007: 21);
• “Reports, comments, polemics” (1992: 9; 1993: 5; 1994: 6; 1995: 16; 1996: 7; 1997: 13; 1998: 4; 1999: 5; 2000: 14; 2001: 13; 2002: 12; 2003: 11; 2004: 6; 2005: 15; 2006: 9; 2007: 4);
• “What is being written about language?” (1992: 10; 1993: 2; 1994: 3; 1995: 8; 1996: 7; 1997: 7; 1998: 4; 1999: 3; 2000: 2; 2001: 1; 2002: 1; 2003: 1);
• “Explanations of words and expressions” (1992: 13; 1993: 9; 1994: 9; 1995: 8; 1996: 7; 1997: 9; 1998: 3; 1999: 3; 2000: 5; 2001: 8; 2002: 1; 2003: 1; 2004: 2; 2005: 1; 2006: 1; 2007: 7);
• “Communications from the Council for the Polish Language” (1998: 12; 2000: 9; 2001: 19; 2002: 16; 2003: 3; 2004: 10; 2005: 5; 2006: 3);
• “Bibliography” (1992: 1; 1993: 1; 1994: 1; 1995: 1; 1996: 1; 1997: 2; 1998: 2; 1999: 1; 2000: 1; 2001: 1; 2002: 1; 2003: 1; 2004: 1; 2005: 1; 2007: 2);
• “Editorial board” (2000: 1; 2001: 1).

The total number of texts published in the individual sections in 1991–2008 were as follows: “Jubilees” – 14; “Papers” – 9; “Papers and dissertations” – 599; “Polish in schools” – 17; “Polish abroad” – 17; “Reviews” – 279; “Reports, comments, polemics” – 149; “What is being written about language?”– 49; “Explanations of words and expressions” – 87; “Communications from the Council for the Polish Language” – 77; “Bibliography” – 18; “Editorial board” – 2.

As regards the regular columns, only “What is being written about language?” was edited by the same author, i.e. Roxana Sinielnikoff. The authors of “Bibliography” changed*. The “Explanations of words and expressions” section was also prepared by various authors*.

A certain novelty in the journal were issues dedicated to deceased linguists and jubilee issues dedicated to particular researchers. 7 such issues were published in total, with their greatest number (3) released in 2006.

It needs to be repeated that the time when Poradnik Językowy was headed by Prof. Halina Satkiewicz was a difficult period in the history of the journal. Probably the most difficult one after the 1920s, when Roman Zawiliński agreed to move Poradnik Językowy to Warsaw. When analysing the fate of the periodical in that period, two major crises can be identified – in 1996* and in 1998*, evidenced – as mentioned above – by a considerable number of combined issues*. Admittedly, however, once the editorial team had been enlarged, a clear improvement could be observed. Therefore, a large Polish nationwide conference could be organised with no major concerns about the future to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Poradnik Językowy*. The material from that conference was published in a volume edited by Włodzimierz Gruszczyński*. On this occasion, the bibliography of Poradnik Językowy of the period 1972–2000* was also prepared and a special issue of Poradnik Językowy was released.