Humanities and Social Sciences

LINGUISTICA SILESIANA

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LINGUISTICA SILESIANA | 2025 | vol. 46 | No 2

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Abstract

This paper addresses pre-verbal agreement in Polish dual copula clauses with the verbal copula być ‘to be’, the pronominal copula to and two third person nominative expressions, one pre-verbal and one post-verbal. It first shows that despite the common consensus in the literature, this agreement is perfectly grammatical in the construction under consideration. Then, it briefly outlines problems this NPNOM1-controlled agreement creates for the contemporary approaches to agreement in Polish dual copula clauses. Finally, it advances a way for the Agree relation to work in order to derive the pre-verbal agreement effect.
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Authors and Affiliations

Rafał Jurczyk
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. WSB Merito University Opole
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Abstract

This paper explores Civil War letters written by less literate Confederate soldiers based on the Private Voices corpus. While structure and form are addressed, the main focus is on content – an area often overlooked in linguistic research. Six central themes emerge: letters (exchange of correspondence), military life, health, hope, otherness, and civilian life. These topics reveal the expressive depth of marginalized voices and invite further study by linguists and cultural historians. Structurally, the letters follow a recognizable epistolary format – opening, body, and closing – and commonly feature conventional formulaic expressions. In terms of form, the letters display nonstandard grammar, irregular spelling, and inconsistent punctuation. Despite limited formal education, the writers show an intentional effort to engage with shared communicative norms, offering insight into everyday literacy practices during the Civil War. Overall, the paper calls for deeper scholarly engagement with the Private Voices corpus to better understand not only linguistic, but also cultural dimensions of Confederate epistolary practice, especially as expressed by those who, prior to the war, received limited (if any) formal education.
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Authors and Affiliations

Zuzanna Witt
1
ORCID: ORCID
Radosław Dylewski
1
ORCID: ORCID
Bartosz Adam Suchecki
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, Faculty of English
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Abstract

The paper explores the selection and distribution of moods in subordinate clauses in sermon samples representing two periods: late Middle and Early Modern English, transcribed from manuscripts housed in the Durham University Libraries and the Newberry Library. Specifically, the study relies on two samples from the mid-15th century and two from the 17th-century (ranging from 3,700 to 3,900 words), offering their synchronic and diachronic analysis. Since accounts of diachronic distribution of moods, particularly of the subjunctive, tend to view specific clause types as their typical contexts, this perspective also serves as the starting point of the paper. Given the instructional nature of sermons, they are especially conducive to the use of the subjunctive, although its presence was already waning at the time due to competition from the indicative and modal verbs. The percentage distribution of moods across clause types in the four samples is also discussed and analysed in relation to Moessner’s (2020) extensive corpus study, which serves as a reliable point of reference for observing general trends in the area in the relevant periods.
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Authors and Affiliations

Kinga Lis
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland, Institute of Linguistics
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Abstract

This paper explores bipolar constructions in German, such as ob Freund oder Feind or ob du willst oder nicht, which express concessive irrelevance without relying on prototypical connectives like obwohl or trotzdem. Within the framework of Construction Grammar, these structures are analyzed as idiomatic form–meaning pairings that neutralize contrasting alternatives through syntactic parallelism and scalar or categorical opposition. Drawing on the concept of the concessive triangle, the study models their semantic structure as a pragmatic suspension of expected inference. A corpus-based analysis of 241 examples from the Deutsches Referenzkorpus reveals a typology of bipolar constructions across different word classes and highlights their consistent function: the preemptive dismissal of potential objections. The findings broaden our understanding of concessive strategies in German beyond canonical conjunctions and show how irrelevance can serve as a distinct rhetorical and interactional resource.
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Authors and Affiliations

Ondřej Drobnik
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Západočeská univerzita v Plzni, Tschechische Republik, Katedra filologických studií, Fakulta filozofická
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Abstract

This article examines the concept of phraseological universals, understood as shared features of phraseological units (PUs) that reoccur across different languages. The analysis foregrounds the structural and functional similarities among PUs, supported by examples drawn from Italian, French, English, Polish, Turkish, and Korean. The phraseological universals addressed in this study encompass several phenomena: the coexistence of transparency and opacity within PUs, the systematic classification of PUs, the capacity for modification of otherwise fixed expressions, the notably high frequency of phraseological components within certain semantic fields, the occurrence of mono-collocational elements, the universality of sources from which PUs originate, their role as repositories of cultural and cognitive stereotypes, the presence of reciprocal relational patterns among PUs, and the convergence of their functional roles across languages.
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Authors and Affiliations

Paweł Golda
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Università della Slesia a Katowice, Polonia, Facoltà degli Studi Umanistici, Istituto di Linguistica
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Abstract

This study analyzes illocutionary speech acts in the 2024 U.S. presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, using Searle’s Speech Act Theory and a qualitative descriptive approach. A total of 124 speech acts were examined from transcripts and video sources. Both candidates predominantly used assertive acts, Trump in 91% of his utterances and Biden in 74% to project credibility. Biden used more commissives (17%) than Trump (4%) to foster trust. Directive and expressive acts were minimal, and declaratives were absent. The findings reveal distinct rhetorical strategies, emphasizing how speech act patterns shape public perception and influence political communication.
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Authors and Affiliations

Juntao Liu
1
Muhammad Ridha Ali Huddin
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Universiti Malaya, Malaysia, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics
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Abstract

Studies on suspects’ confessional statements during interrogations abound. However, sufficient attention has not been paid to suspects’ confessional statements as captured in newspaper reports, especially how suspects deploy discursive resources to frame inclusion and exclusion in crime. Thus, this study attempts to examine how suspects recruit context-sensitive linguistic devices in their confessional statements reported in Nigerian dailies and blogs. Seven inclusion/exclusion strategies are identified in this work. The study states that these linguistic strategies serve various functions, primarily to amplify or downplay the severity of the crime committed, and to de-emphasise the suspects' involvement in an attempt to pursue exoneration. Depending on the situation they find themselves in, suspects leverage these linguistic devices to construct narratives of guilt, ignorance, innocence, withdrawal, shared responsibility, self-defense, and remorse. It will be interesting to see how future studies would incorporate a corpus-aided approach into this study.
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Authors and Affiliations

Temitope Michael Ajayi
1
ORCID: ORCID
Oluwatosin Adebayo Adesope
1
ORCID: ORCID
Temidayo Akinrinlola
2
ORCID: ORCID

  1. University of Ibadan, Nigeria, Department of Linguistics and African Languages
  2. McPherson University, Seriki-Sotayo, Oyo-Ogun State, Nigeria, Department of English
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Abstract

Review article of Olena Synchak 2022. Vebslovnyk zhinochykh nazv ukrajinsjkoji movy. Peredmova [Web dictionary of female names of the Ukrainian language. Preface]. Ljviv. URL: https://r2u.org.ua/html/femin_details.html.
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Authors and Affiliations

Maksym Vakulenco

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Reviewers

The Linguistica Silesiana peer-referees 2017-2020

  • Beata Abdallah-Krzepkowska
  • Magdalena Bartłomiejczyk
  • Magdalena Bator
  • Monika Bielińska
  • Bogusław Bierwiaczonek
  • Krzysztof Bogacki
  • Jan Čermák
  • Bożena Cetnarowska
  • Magdalena Charzyńska-Wójcik
  • Grzegorz Drożdż
  • Radosław Dylewski
  • Henryk Fontański
  • Danuta Gabryś-Barker
  • Piotr Gąsiorowski
  • Łukasz Grabowski
  • Ireneusz Kida
  • Robert Kiełtyka
  • Marcin Krygier
  • Marcin Kuczok
  • Katarzyna Kwapisz-Osadnik
  • Czesław Lachur
  • Andrzej Łyda
  • Ewa Miczka
  • Ewa Myrczek-Kadłubicka
  • John G. Newman
  • Mikołaj Nkollo
  • Jerzy Nykiel
  • Ewa Piechurska-Kuciel
  • Tadeusz Piotrowski
  • Adam Pluszczyk
  • Andrzej Porzuczek
  • Hans Sauer
  • Czesława Schatte
  • Piotr Stalmaszczyk
  • Monika Sułkowska
  • Konrad Szcześniak
  • Krystyna Warchał
  • Halina Widła
  • Krzysztof Witczak
  • Adam Wojtaszek
  • Marcin Zabawa

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