The Council for the Polish Language at the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences
The Status of the Council
The Council for the Polish Language (Rada Języka Polskiego, RJP) was formed by the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) by decree no. 17/96 passed on 9 September 1996. The Council’s activities were outlined in the Polish Language Act of 1999.
The Objectives of the Council
As stipulated in the Polish Language Act and the Council’s rules, the Council’s main responsibility is to provide valuations and assessments on matters concerning the use of the Polish language in public communication.
The Council’s objectives include:
- promoting knowledge about the Polish language, its variants, norms and criteria for its correct use, as well as advising about the correct language forms suitable in various communicational situations;
- dispelling doubts concerning the correct use of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, spelling and punctuation, as well as doubts concerning the stylistic appropriateness of a given utterance;
- developing the use of Polish in branches of science and technology, particularly in new disciplines (e.g. IT);
- evaluating the language of public communication, particularly in the media, government and public institutions;
- assessing the rules for spelling and punctuation;
- giving opinions about the names suggested for new products and services, including grammar and spelling;
- promoting teaching of the Polish grammar and style in school curricula.
Cooperation with Other Institutions
The Council cooperates with other national institutions (in particular with the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Interior and Administration, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, and the National Trading Inspectorate, as well as the Sejm). Its main task is to provide expertise concerning the use of the Polish language in public communication.
In accordance with the Polish Language Act, the Council presents a report on the condition of the Polish language to the Polish Sejm and Senate once every two years.
The Council reviews Polish language dictionaries. Those that receive a positive opinion are then recommended by the Council.
The Council’s Procedures
New members of the Council are elected every three years. The Council meets twice a year.
Since May 2019, in the Council there have been working 9 thematic commissions gathering also scholars coming from outside the Council:
- the Didactic Commission
- the Religious Language Commission
- the Legal Language Commission
- the IT Language Commission
- the Medical Language Commission
- the Commission of the Polish Language outside of the Country
- the Commission of the Polish Language outside of the Country
- the Commission of Speech Development and Disorders
- the Commission of Rhetoric and Public Communication.
The Council’s Academic Activities
The Council organizes conferences of which the most important is the “Forum Kultury Słowa” (Forum for Good Usage of Polish).
Publications
Books are published under the aegis of the Council.
To 2005 the Council published a newsletter entitled “Komunikaty Rady Języka Polskiego przy Prezydium Polskiej Akademii Nauk” (Announcements of The Council for the Polish Language at the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences), which was sent to interested persons and institutions.
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The Polish Language Act of 7 September 1999
Translated by Marta Usiekniewicz and Dagmara Banasiak