2025/08/25 by Marszałek, Marek
#Northern Borderland phrasematics #Post-war Northern Borderland Polish #deformed phrasemes
paper · doi:10.34858/polilog.15.2025.451
Zeszło płazem. On Deformed Phrasemes in Northern Borderland Polish This study analyzes 48 Northern Borderland phrasemes collected from post-war Vilnius press and publishing sources to investigate their formation and classifi cation. Adopting a methodological approach that combines structural analysis, comparative linguistics, and contextual evaluation, the research distinguishes between deformed phrasemes shaped under foreign language infl uence and those formed independently of clear external impact. The phrasemes are described using a formalized analytic framework that examines lexical structure, syntactic patterns, and semantic shifts. The analysis identifi es 27 units with evident East Slavic infl uence (e.g., ktośi bogiem prosi kogośj), 15 with probable inspiration from Russian, Belarusian, or Lithuanian patterns (e.g., organizatorka kobiet), two likely infl uenced by Belarusian (e.g., ktośi powiesił kogośj na czyjąśk szyję), and one shaped by Russian (e.g., dołowy zespół sportowy). The remaining phrasemes show no clear signs of foreign interference and are attributed to disrupted linguistic awareness in linguistically mixed communities. Findings highlight the complexity of linguistic contact in border regions, demonstrating that even subtle structural borrowing can reshape native phraseme patterns. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of language contact phenomena, off ering insights valuable for lexicographers, historical linguists, and scholars of Slavic and Baltic sociolinguistic interactions.