The Spinner and Synonyms in Slavonic Dialects and Languages

Abstract

The paper depicts the names of women who deal with spinning linen against the broad comparative background. This is shown on the map included in the fifth volume of the General Slavonic Linguistic Atlas. The name spinner both in Polish and in all its dialects occurs among numerous tautonyms or synonyms present in Polish or other Slavonic languages, above all in those with the same root and also with various etymologies. The differentiation of the semantic range of names was connected mainly with the place of work (in a factory, in one's home, or in another home in the country), and with qualifications (“a woman who is a professional spinner”, “each woman who spins linen for her own use” and “a woman who spins better than others”).