Poznańskie "album civium" – charakterystyka właściwości graficznych i językowych dokumentu

Abstract

The present article, though far from being exhaustive, makes a contribution to support the standpoint, expressed by many researchers, that there is the growing need for an inclusion of elements of paleography to studies on the history of the Polish language. The article should be viewed as an attempt at an examination of the graphical and linguistic properties of the text under scrutiny (libri iuris civilis or alba civilian of the city of Poznan from the years 1575–1793) that constitutes onomastic material excerpted from historical sources. The present article demonstrates typical characteristics of linguistic features of the document; diversity of the texts is highlighted, writing ductus instantiated in the flow of writing the text is discusses, as well as individual styles of handwriting and the tendency of the city’s scribes to differentiate letters and signs graphically (multi-functionality of signs, the influence of non-Polish handwriting styles, abbreviations).