Studia Językoznawcze

The topic of the article is the individualization of the characters’ language in the novel W pustyni i w puszczy by Henryk Sienkiewicz. The purpose of the study was to find out what features of the language and style were ascribed to the characters of the novel, and what linguistic means were used by the author to characterize the created characters both as members of an ethnic/ cultural community and particular individuals, endowed with the specific personality traits. The language of three groups of characters has been analysed. The language of fourteen years old Staś is the language of a grown-up man, who describes the surrounding reality, explains it and comments on it. He possesses a large knowledge an the rhetoric skills. The language of Nel reveals primarily numerous features of a child language – emotionality and tendency to asking questions. Kali is a suggestively portrayed member of an exotic culture – a simple, somewhat naive boy, who at the end of the novel changes into the king of the Wa-hima. In order to individualize the language of the characters Sienkiewicz used not only the specific lexis (including the genuine Swahili words), but also the inflection and syntax. In the language of the Arabs there appear foreign words, characteristic of the Arab/Islamic culture. One feature of their language is the tendency to hyperbolizing. The negative expression of their utterances indirectly characterizes them as violent and cruel persons. In the language of a Sudanese Fatma the feminine style features can be observed – the tendency to speak with emphasis and exaggeration. The author was also capable of adjusting the characters’ way of speaking to their momentary moods or affective states.