Psiecko, kocierzyństwo i rodzina międzygatunkowa. Językowe przejawy zmian w postrzeganiu zwierząt domowych i relacji ludzie–zwierzęta

Abstrakt

PSIECKO, KOCIERZYŃSTWO, AND RODZINA MIĘDZYGATUNKOWA. LINGUISTIC MANIFESTATIONS OF CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF PETS AND HUMAN–ANIMAL RELATIONS

The article examines linguistic manifestations of a new type of relationship between humans and pets, in which animals are treated as full-fledged members of the family, most notably through being assigned the role of children. This shift is reflected in a set of relatively recent Polish lexical items, including psiecko (‘fur baby’), kociecko (‘cat baby’), psórka (‘dog daughter’), adopciny (‘adoption anniversary’), and rodzina międzygatunkowa (‘interspecies family’). The analysis is based on online texts – forums, blogs, social media posts, and websites for pet breeders and enthusiasts, particularly those focused on dogs and cats – which represent the perspective of caregivers. The concept of frame is employed as an analytical tool for organising the material. The study reconstructs a comprehensive interspecies family frame, understood as a reinterpretation of the general family frame and as evidence of broader sociocultural changes in attitudes toward pets. The analysed texts document a shift from a dominionistic to a humanistic perspective on human–animal relationships; however, this shift is achieved through anthropocentric conceptual categories and the corresponding vocabulary.