Ekspresywność konstytucji Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w ujęciu lingwistycznym

Abstract

The analysis proposed in this paper focuses on the linguistic expression signals present in the Polish basic law. Particular attention is paid to the ways of expressing emotions and influencing the readers' attitude, as well as to the functions of the expressiveness of the constitution. The author briefly discusses the stylistic form of the Polish constitution to show its difference from the accepted norms of formulating the legal documents, and delineates forms of expression found in the act. The signals of expression are analyzed at three levels of text organization: grammatical (capital letters in words "People" and "Homeland"), semantic (connotative meanings of words and word combinations) and pragmatic (characteristic profile of the addresser and the specific addresser-addressee relation that is atypical of legal texts). Communicative effects of emotionally marked units seem to be particularly interesting. The article ends with a conclusion that such expressive units play a complementary persuasive function and foster the viewpoint proposed by the legislator; they also express special attitude towards the constitution: that of reverence and respect towards the state, people and tradition.