Słowa ważne i ważniejsze

Abstract

There are various reasons why some words are considered more important than others: first, because they are most frequently used, regardless of what, when, where and to whom is said or written; second, because in the text or a collection of texts they appear considerably more often (statistically) than in other texts (they are keywords); third, because (despite the lack of statistical verification) they are considered to be keywords of particular texts, as they are characteristic of them or imply their meaning; fourth, because they are considered (on a similar principle) to be keywords of particular literary periods or national cultures; fifth, because they were considered to be words of the day, words of the month or words of the year. In this context, a specific, sixth category of words more important than others are banner words, which name what is particularly important for some communities, because it is so valuable and friendly to them, or on the contrary, so disgusting and dangerous. Banner words, in contrast to keywords, “live” rather in language (in consciousness of its bearers) than in texts (although they are exhibited in texts).