NATURE-RELATED LEXIS IN THE PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE OF HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ (A FORMAL-SEMANTIC ANALYSIS)

This paper analyses the nature-related lexis used in Henryk Sienkiewicz's private letters. The research was based on an extensive sample of letters - more than 1,400 - out of which 720 different names, in terms of form and meaning, from the semantic field of nature were selected. Lexis related to nature is an important element of the linguistic material of Sienkiewicz's private letters, especially those devoted to his travels. Apart from the strictly informative function, i.e. distinguishing and identifying the landscapes, animals and plants described, as well as natural, weather and meteorological phenomena, and the topography of the area, it emphasises the exotic and extraordinary scenery of the realities described, making the writer's statements more concrete and suggestive.