Lexical Polonisms in Old-Belarusian religious polemic

Abstract

The article deals with lexical Polonisms in Old Belarusian (starabielaruskaja mova) religious polemical texts. Traditional interpretations of lexical Polonisms often ignore the pan-Slavic language base and the possibility of independent formation of words based on the existence of similar word-building models in both languages. The article presents criteria for classifying Slavic and non-Slavic lexemes as lexical Polonisms, names several types of lexical Polonisms and discusses some examples of lexemes that cannot be legitimately defined as such.