Słowo się rzekło... obraz SŁOWA w językach indoeuropejskich

Abstract

The article demonstrates the three traditions which can be detected in the semantic space of the lexeme word and phraseological compounds which Indo-European languages construct with its presence. One of the traditions is pagan, the other two being Hebrew-Greek and Christian. The semantics of word contains both the archaic sense of a word understood as either a result or an object of some somatic action (speaking, hearing, breathing) but, at the same time, it also preserves the memory of the Hebrew and Greek meanings (both speaking and promise). The biblical origin of word accounts for the hieratic overtones is traceable in some of the uses, but neither the everyday discourse nor lexicographic practice allows for drawing a clear distinction between various meanings coming from diverse sources and traditions. As we well know, the equivocal character of the lexemes, the meaning of which is determined each time by a context, is an inherent feature of language.