Final comments
Owing to Zawiliński’s persistence and determination, as well as the support received by Poradnik Językowy from both individuals and government institutions, the publication could establish itself in the awareness of the Polish society. The journal’s concept presented in 1901 proved to be right – its evolution involved changing the focus (practical–theoretical) and responding to contemporary challenges on an ongoing basis. The communication with readers revealed the extent of ignorance about the language and thus the enormous need to educate the society, as well as the importance of school in improving the ability to use the Polish language properly (hence repeated appeals to teachers for collaboration and, from 1934 on, collaboration with the Polish Teachers’ Union (Związek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego)).
Poradnik went through particular hardships after the First World War, in 1919–1923, not only due to financial problems and those related to personnel (the team built by the editor in the previous period fell apart), but also – as Jan Rzewnicki put it – because of disregarding the journal’s assumptions by influential circles*. The next attempt at resuming the publication of the periodical taken in 1925 failed as well. Contacts with the Warsaw circles, led by Adam Antoni Kryński, determined the future of the journal.
The following topics were handled in replies to specific queries and in separate papers: professional terminology (the need to provide Polish equivalents), loanwords from German and Russian, found in different variants of standard Polish, Germanisms and Russicisms (as well as Galicisms), female names of professions (adiunktka or adiunkt (assistant professor)), surnames of wives and daughters (ending with -owa; -ina; -ówna; -anka), inflection of Polish and foreign surnames, orthography, and language used in official documents, the press, books and textbooks. From its very beginning, the journal dealt with scholarly issues in the area of Polish linguistics and – to a lesser extent – also Slavic and general linguistics. Poradnik Językowy was thus a platform for sharing ideas, views and thoughts by linguists and other people (with different backgrounds) interested in the Polish language.