Pomeranian language
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Pomeranian | |
---|---|
Native to | Poland, Germany |
Region | Pomerania |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
The Pomeranian language (Polish: pomorszczyzna or język pomorski; German: Pomoranisch or die pomoranische Sprache) is in the Pomeranian group of Lechitic languages (Polish: grupa pomorska języków lechickich; German: die pomoranische Gruppe der lechischen Sprachen) within the West Slavic languages.
In medieval contexts, it refers to the dialects spoken by the
The name Pomerania comes from Slavic po moře, which means "[land] by the sea".[1]
Ancient Pomeranian
During the
Slovincian and Kashubian
Influence on other dialects
The Pomeranian language influenced the formation of other Polish language dialects, such as the Kociewski, Borowiacki and Krajniacki dialects. Undoubtedly, they belong to the Polish language, but they also have some features in common with the Pomeranian language, which proves their character was transitional.
Friedrich Lorentz supposed that the Kociewski and Borewiacki dialects first belonged to the Pomeranian language and were then Polonized as a result of the Polish colonization of these territories. According to Lorentz, the Krajniacki dialect most probably was originally a part of the Polish language.
The common feature of the Kociewski dialects and the Kashubian language is, for example, the partial preservation of the so-called "TarT" group and a part of its lexis. For the Borowiacki dialects and the Pomeranian language, the common feature was affrication of dorsal consonants.
The Pomeranian language also influenced the Low German dialects, which were used in Pomerania. After Germanisation, the population of Western Pomerania started to use the Low German dialects. Those dialects, though, were influenced by the Pomeranian language (Slavic). Most words originating from Pomeranian can be found in vocabulary connected with fishery and farming. The word Zeese / Zehse may serve as an example. It describes a kind of a fishing net and is still known in the Low German dialects of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern today. The word comes from the old Pomeranian word of the same meaning: seza. It moved to Kashubian and Slovincian dialects through Low German, and appeared in Pomeranian dictionaries as ceza meaning "flounder and perch fishing net". Thus, it is a "reverse loan-word" as the Pomeranian language borrowed the word from Low German in which it functioned as a "Pomoranism" (a borrowing from the Pomeranian language).
A borrowing from the Pomeranian language which has been used in everyday German language and has appeared in dictionaries is the phrase "dalli, dalli" (it means: come on, come on). It moved to the German language through the German dialects of West Prussia, and is also present in the Kashubian language (spelled: dali, dali).
Assessment
The classification of the Pomeranian ethnolect is problematic. It was classified by Aleksander Brückner as one of the Old Polish dialects. At the same time, he classified the extant Kashubian and Slovincian dialects as belonging to the Modern Polish language. Other linguists relate the Pomeranian language to the Polabian group of dialects (forming the Pomeranian-Polabian group).
After Slovincian and all the Pomeranian dialects (except Kashubian) became extinct, the Kashubian language is the term most often used in relation to the language spoken by the
While
The word dialect was probably used by Ceynowa because he was a follower of Pan-Slavism, according to which all the Slavic languages were dialects of one Slavic language. In his later works, though, he called his language kaszébsko-słovjinsko móva.
In 1893, Stefan Ramułt, the Jagiellonian University linguist, referred to the early history of Pomerania, publishing the Dictionary of the Pomoranian i.e. Kashubian Language. In the preface, Ramułt wrote:
- As Kashubians are the direct descendants of Pomeranians, it is right to use the words Pomeranian and Kashubian as synonyms. Especially as there are other reasons for it as well...
and
- Kashubians and Slavs are what remains of the once powerful Pomeranian tribe and they are the only inheritors of the name Pomeranians.
Friedrich Lorentz (the author of Pomeranian Grammar and The History of Pomeranian/Kashubian Language) referred in his works to Ramułt's dictionary. After Lorentz died, Friedhelm Hinze published a Pomeranian dictionary in five volumes (Pomoranisches Wörterbuch), which was based on Lorentz's writing.
The status of Kashubian today
The Pomeranian language, and its only surviving form, Kashubian, traditionally have not been recognized by the majority of Polish linguists, and have been treated in Poland as "the most distinct dialect of Polish". However, there have also been some Polish linguists who treated Pomeranian as a separate language. The most prominent of them were Stefan Ramułt, and Alfred Majewicz, who overtly called Kashubian a language in the 1980s.
Following the collapse of
See also
- East Pomeranian
- Kashubian-Pomeranian Association
- Jerzy Treder
References
Footnotes
- ^ German: Der Name Pommern (po more) ist slawischer Herkunft und bedeutet so viel wie „Land am Meer“. (German: Pommersches Landesmuseum, German)
- ^ Zemła, M. (2002). "Pomoranisch". In Okuka, M. (ed.). Lexikon der Sprachen des europäischen Ostens (in German). Klagenfurt. pp. 965–966.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Lubaś, W. (2002). "Kaschubisch". In Okuka, M. (ed.). Lexikon der Sprachen des europäischen Ostens (in German). Klagenfurt. pp. 265–273.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "whatamieating.com – Kashubian". www.whatamieating.com. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
- ^ "whatamieating.com – Kashubian". www.whatamieating.com. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
General
- Yurek K. Hinz, Exploring the localization requirements for Kashubian Linux: Opening new markets for open-source development projects[1]
- Friedhelm Hinze, Wörterbuch und Lautlehre der deutschen Lehnwörter im Pomoranischen (Kaschubischen), Berlin 1965
- Friedrich Lorentz, Geschichte der Pomoranischen (Kaschubischen) Sprache, Berlin and Leipzig, 1925
- Friedrich Lorentz, Pomoranisches Wörterbuch, Band I-V, Berlin 1958–1983
- Stefan Ramułt, Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego, Kraków, 1893
- Jan Trepczyk, Słownik polsko-kaszubski, Gdańsk 1994