Semantic oscillation as the expression of linguistic potential

The phenomenon of semantic oscillation described by V. Mathesius in his paper De potentialité des phénomènes linguistiques (1911) should be understood as an expression of linguistic potential at the level of the sense of lexical unity. Indeed, semantic oscillation accompanies the state of flexible stability of meaning, during a given period. Linguistic potential includes two aspects: on the one hand, variations between individual ways of expression within the same linguistic community; on the other hand, variations in the code of the same person. At the semantic level, such variations (oscillations) may refer to: 1. neological fragility situation, when a new word stabilises its meaning through individual uses, often with semantic differences; 2. conceptual fragility situation, when the same form, depending on the intentions of the speaker, acquires different meanings.
Both situations will be analysed through the example of the "young" variant of the Polish language, which is already established but still under construction. This analysis will be carried out: 1) taking into account that a large number of new lexical creations do not have a clear semantic boundary, and "oscillate" within the linguistic community for a certain period of time; 2) taking into account that a large number of diminutives can also represent an augmentative, i.e. pejorative value, and conversely, some augmentative forms can express a diminutive, i.e. hypocoristic value, depending on the intentions of the speaker.

Keywords: semantic oscillation; linguistic potential; lexical unity; semantic level