Tajemnicza "kukiełka"

The paper describes the concept of "kukiełka" "a type of bread" in Polish dialects and folk culture (based on materials from the card index of "Słownik gwar polskich" ["A dictionary of Polish dialects"] and selected dialectal dictionaries), as well as in the history of Polish. The author discusses the phonetic and morphological variants of the word, derivationally related forms, definitions found in the sources, established idiomatic expressions, phrases, and proverbs associated with it. She also analyses the various aspects of "kukiełka’s" polysemy, and examines contemporary uses of the word, and its current meaning in different regions of Poland.