Majdan, czyliile treści kryją dzieje jednego słowa

Абстракт

The oldest denotation of the lexeme is 'the middle' (Old Iranic meydan) > 'the central city square' > 'place of talks', cf. The Greek agora, Roman Forum; or 'marketplace, bazaar'. The latter sense is that in which East Slavic population borrowed the word from Turko-Tatar peoples in early Middle Ages. Subsequently, theRuthenian ground gave rise to furtherspecialized meanings, e.g. 'clearing in a forest', 'cattle shed', 'exercise field', et al. During the 17th century Cossack wars, Poles borrowed the word again, denoting 'army camp' > 'army equipment' > 'someone's belongings' (with pejorative undertone). The diminutive Majdanek became a toponym for the Jewish death camp built by Nazis in Lublin in 1941-42. The word majdan has independently made its way into Polish with the socalled „orange revolution” in 2005, when idea majdanu, a particular political orientation based on struggle towards independence, was born; cf. phrases: “people of the Maidan”, “we will stand with the Maidan”, “Yanukovych afraid of the Maidan”, etc. These denotations were formed based on the proper name of the Kiev square. Semantic shifts to the word majdan/Majdan account for the emergence of a new way of thinking. The previous “association-based thinking” gave way to “symbolic thinking” hitherto reserved to art (cf. złoty róg, „the golden horn” in S. Wyspiański's The Wedding), conditioned by emotion. Majdan has become a symbol for higher value such as 'dignity', 'patriotism', and 'love of freedom'. They were transferred from Ukrainian onto the Polish ground via journalism and via accounts of those who came across these denotations in Kiev. In brief, majdan is a special word due to the unusual ways of borrowing, which lend itself to division into stages. Stage I is marked by the medieval appropriation denoting 'bazaar' by theRuthenian population from the Turko-Tatar (along with furthersemantic development) and the incidental transfer into Polish; stage II, by independent, mass-scale introduction of the word into Polish, meaning 'Cossack army camp', 'Cossack equipment'. Stage III (2010-2014) is the borrowing of the word's symbolic meanings via media coverage. Currently the word is an axiological expression, iconic even, its rank similar to that of motherland or freedom. It remains, however, strictly linked to specific political circumstances in Ukraine, and loses popularity along with political change – which is also part of its extraordinary nature.