Dialects of Polish
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Polish dialects are regional vernacular varieties of the Polish language.
Four major dialect groups are typically recognized, each primarily associated with a particular geographical region, and often further subdivided into subdialectal groups (termed gwara in Polish).[1][2] They are:
- Greater Polish, spoken in the west
- Lesser Polish, spoken in the south and southeast
- Masovian, spoken throughout the central and eastern parts of the country
- Silesian[3][4] spoken in the southwest (sometimes also considered a separate language, see comment below)
The regional differences correspond mainly to old ethnic or tribal divisions from around a thousand years ago. As a result of 19th century measures taken by occupying powers, of
Traditionally two additional dialect groups were treated alongside the aforementioned, adding to a total of six.[5] These varieties have been put at risk of extinction due to historic geopolitical population movements. They are:
- Northern Kresy, spoken along the border between Lithuania and Belarus[citation needed]
- Southern Kresy, spoken in isolated pockets in Ukraine[citation needed]
Dialect and language distinctions
Although traditional linguistic divisions continue to be cited, especially in Polish sources, the current linguistic consensus tends to consider
The two
The majority of Poles expelled from Kresy were settled in newly annexed regions in northern and western Poland, and thereby their manner of speech evolved into so-called new mixed dialects. However, among the declining older generation there are still traces of Kresy dialect with its characteristic Ukrainian or Rusyn sounds, especially in the use of the East Slavic velarised L where standard Polish has it already vocalised (/w/) and of elongated vowels.
Silesian
Many linguistic sources relating to the Slavic languages describe Silesian as a dialect of Polish.[1][2] However, many Silesians consider themselves a separate ethnicity and have been advocating the recognition of Silesian as a distinct language. According to the last official census in Poland in 2011, over 500 thousand people declared Silesian as their native language. Many sociolinguistic sources (e.g. Tomasz Kamusella assert that the determination between a language or a dialect is ultimately a matter of extralinguistic criteria, such as national attachment or the political attitudes of its users, and this changes over time.[10] See: Agnieszka Pianka, Alfred F. Majewicz, Tomasz Wicherkiewicz[11][12]) Language organizations such as SIL International and various linguistic resources such as Ethnologue, and Poland's Ministry of Administration and Digitization, recognize Silesian as a distinct language.[13][14][15] In 2007, Silesian was assigned its language code szl
within the ISO 639-3 standard.
List of dialects
Greater Polish dialect
Descended from the Western Slavic language spoken by the Polans, the subdialects are:
Mazovian dialect
Descended from the language of the
the sub dialects are:- Białystok dialect (Polish: gwara białostocka)
- Suwałki dialect (Polish: gwara suwalska)
- Warmia dialect (Polish: gwara warmińska)
- Kurpie dialect (Polish: gwara kurpiowska)
- Masurian dialects (Polish: gwara mazurska)
- Malbork-Lubawa dialect (Polish: gwara malborsko-lubawska)
- Ostróda dialect (Polish: gwara ostródzka)
- Near Mazovian dialect (Polish: gwara mazowsze bliższe)
- Far Mazovian dialect (Polish: gwara mazowsze dalsze)
Lesser Polish dialect
Descended from the language of the Vistulans, is the most numerous dialectal group in modern Poland.[18] It includes the following sub-groups:
The Goral dialects (the colloquial name for the many dialects spoken by Gorals), which include mainly:
Silesian dialect
Silesian (
- Cieszyn Silesian dialect
- Niemodlin Silesian dialect
- Gliwice Silesian dialect
- Jabłonków Silesian dialect
- Kluczbork Silesian dialect
- Prudnik Silesian dialect
- Opole Silesian dialect
- Sulkovian Silesian dialect
Those who regard Silesian as a separate language tend to include the Lach dialects (Polish: gwary laskie) of the Czech Republic as part of this language. However, the standard linguistic sources on Slavic languages normally describe them as dialects of the Czech language,[19][20] or sometimes as transitional Polish–Czech dialects.
Northern Borderlands dialect
In modern times the dialect is still spoken mainly by the
- Wilno dialect (Polish: gwara wileńska)[citation needed]
Southern Borderlands dialect
Often considered a derivative of a mixture of Old Polish and Old Ruthenian, as was spoken in Red Ruthenia in the Middle Ages.[21][23] See especially, the Lwów dialect, Polish: gwara lwowska.[23]
New mixed dialects
- Northern new mixed dialect
- Northwestern new mixed dialect
- Southern new mixed dialect
References
- ^ a b Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley (2006). The Slavic Languages. Cambridge University Press. P. 530.
- ^ a b Robert A. Rothstein (1994). "Polish". The Slavonic Languages, edited by Bernard Comrie and Greville G. Corbett. Routledge. Pp. 754–756.
- ^ a b Dillingham, William Paul; Folkmar, Daniel; Folkmar, Elnora (1911). Dictionary of Races or Peoples. United States. Immigration Commission (1907–1910). Washington, D.C.: Washington, Government Printing Office. p. 105.
- ^ a b Dillingham, William Paul; Folkmar, Daniel; Folkmar, Elnora (1911). Dictionary of Races or Peoples. Washington, D.C.: Washington, Government Printing Office. p. 128.
- ISBN 978-83-242-0691-9.
- ^ Jadwiga Wronicz (March–April 2007). "Pozycja dialektu wobec innych odmian polszczyzny". Język polski (in Polish). LXXXVII (2): 91–96.
- ^ Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley (2006). The Slavic Languages. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 531–532.
- ^ Gerald Stone (1994). "Cassubian". The Slavonic Languages, edited by Bernard Comrie and Greville G. Corbett. Routledge. Pp. 759–794.
- ^ Bronisław Jakubowski (1999). "Język czy dialekt?". Wiedza i Życie (in Polish) (4).
- ISBN 978 1 55753 371 5
- ^ [Języki świata i ich klasyfikowanie"] (en: "Languages of the world and their classification"), Polish Scientific Publishers, Warszawa 1989
- ^ "Ekspertyza naukowa dr Tomasza Wicherkiewicza", Language Policy and the Laboratory for Research on Minority, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, 2008
- ^ "ISO documentation of Silesian language". SIL International. Archived from the original on 2012-10-03.
- ^ "List of languages with ISO codes". Ethnologue. SIL International.
- ^ Dz.U. 2012 nr 0 poz. 309 – Internet System of Legal Acts
- ^ Bronisław Wieczorkiewicz (1968). Gwara warszawska dawniej i dziś (in Polish). Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy. p. 516.
- ^ Halina Karas, Gwary Polskie, Dialects and gwary in Poland Archived 2011-04-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Stanisław Urbańczyk, ed. (1992). "Dialekt małopolski". Encyklopedia języka polskiego (in Polish) (II ed.). Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków: Ossolineum. p. 60.
- ^ Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley (2006). The Slavic Languages. Cambridge University Press. P. 533.
- ^ David Short (1994). "Czech". The Slavonic Languages, edited by Bernard Comrie and Greville G. Corbett. Routledge. P. 530.
- ^ ISBN 978-83-242-0683-4.
- ISBN 83-242-0738-4.
- ^ ISBN 83-242-0656-6.