Silesian language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the West Slavic lect. For the German dialect, see Silesian German. For the ethnic group/nation, see Silesians.
Not to be confused with Sicilian language.

Silesian
Upper Silesian
ślōnskŏ gŏdka
ślůnsko godka
Pronunciation
Moravia–Silesia, Jeseník)
RegionSilesia
EthnicitySilesians
Native speakers
457,900 (2021 census)[1]
Dialects
Latin script (Steuer's alphabet and ślabikŏrzowy szrajbōnek)[3]
Language codes
ISO 639-3szl
Glottologsile1253
ELPUpper Silesian
Linguasphere53-AAA-cck, 53-AAA-dam
Range of Silesian on a map of East-Central Europe (marked as G1 and G2, in southern Poland and the eastern Czech Republic).
Distribution area of the Silesian language
A Silesian speaker, recorded in Poland

Silesian

lect date back to the 16th century, and the first literature with Silesian characteristics to the 17th century.[13]

Distribution

Silesian speakers currently live in the region of Upper Silesia, which is split between southwestern Poland and the northeastern Czech Republic. At present Silesian is commonly spoken in the area between the historical border of Silesia on the east and a line from Syców to Prudnik on the west as well as in the Rawicz area.

Until 1945, Silesian was also spoken in enclaves in Lower Silesia, where the majority spoke Lower Silesian, a variety of Central German. The German-speaking population was either evacuated en masse by German forces towards the end of the war or deported by the new administration upon the Polish annexation of the Silesian Recovered Territories after its end. Before World War II, most Slavic-language speakers also knew German and, at least in eastern Upper Silesia, many German speakers were acquainted with Slavic Silesian.

According to the last

country's census of 2011, the figure was about 510,000.[14] In the censuses in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, nearly 900,000 people declared Silesian nationality; Upper Silesia has almost five million inhabitants, with the vast majority in the Polish part speaking Polish and Czech in the Czech part and declaring themselves to be Poles in the former and Czechs in the latter.[14][15][16][17]

Grammar

Main article: Silesian grammar

Although the morphological differences between Silesian and Polish have been researched extensively, other grammatical differences have not been studied in depth.

A notable difference is in question-forming. In standard Polish, questions which do not contain interrogative words are formed either by using intonation or the interrogative particle czy. In Silesian, questions which do not contain interrogative words are formed by using intonation (with a markedly different intonation pattern than in Polish) or inversion (e.g. Je to na karcie?); there is no interrogative particle.

Example

According to Jan Miodek, standard Polish has always been used by Upper Silesians as a language of prayers.[18] The Lord's Prayer in Silesian, Polish, Czech, and English:

Silesian[19] Polish Czech English

Ôjcze nŏsz, kery jeżeś we niebie,
bydź poświyncōne miano Twoje.
Przińdź krōlestwo Twoje,
bydź wola Twoja,
jako we niebie, tak tyż na ziymi.
Chlyb nŏsz kŏżdodziynny dej nōm dzisiŏk.
A ôdpuś nōm nasze winy,
jako a my ôdpuszczōmy naszym winnikōm.
A niy wōdź nŏs na pokuszyniy,
nale zbŏw nŏs ôde złygo.
Amyn.

Ojcze nasz, któryś jest w niebie,
święć się imię Twoje,
przyjdź królestwo Twoje,
bądź wola Twoja
jako w niebie tak i na ziemi.
Chleba naszego powszedniego daj nam dzisiaj.
I odpuść nam nasze winy,
jako i my odpuszczamy naszym winowajcom.
I nie wódź nas na pokuszenie,
ale nas zbaw od złego.
Amen.

Otče náš, jenž jsi na nebesích,
posvěť se jméno Tvé
Přijď království Tvé.
Buď vůle Tvá,
jako v nebi, tak i na zemi.
Chléb náš vezdejší dej nám dnes
A odpusť nám naše viny,
jako i my odpouštíme naším viníkům
a neuveď nás v pokušení,
ale zbav nás od zlého.
Amen.

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our

daily
bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

Phonology of Silesian

Vowels

Non-Nasal Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u
Close-mid o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a
Nasal Vowels
Front Central Back
Open-mid ɔ̃
Open ã

Consonants

Labial Dental/

Alveolar

Retroflex (Alveolo-)

palatal

Velar
Nasal m
n
 		ɲ ŋ
Plosive voiceless p
t
 		k
voiced b
d
 		ɡ
Affricate
 voiceless
t͡s
 		t͡ʂ t͡ɕ
voiced
d͡z
 		d͡ʐ d͡ʑ
Fricative
 voiceless f
s
 		ʂ ɕ x
voiced v
z
 		ʐ ʑ
Flap ɾ
Approximant
 (w)
l
 		j w

Dialects of Silesian

Map showing the distribution of the Silesian dialects

Silesian has many dialects:

Dialect vs. language

Grave inscription at Lutheran cemetery in Střítež near Český Těšín. The inscription, which says "Rest in Peace", is in the Cieszyn Silesian dialect.
The Silesian language in public space: a banner at the 2022 gay pride in Katowice. "We want Silesia, where every boy can take a vow to his chosen one in the Silesian language."
The Silesian language in public space: a warning sign "Watch for trams" on the sidewalk in Chorzów
Goral Silesian lect and Czech in Cieszyn, Poland. The text notifies readers that people under the age of 18 will not be served alcohol.

Politicization

Opinions are divided among

nation-states
in the 19th and 20th centuries, the language of Slavic-speaking Silesians became politicized.

Some, like

literary standard which he called the "Lachian language". Silesian inhabitants supporting the cause of each of these ethnic groups had their own robust network of supporters across Silesia's political borders which shifted over the course of the 20th century prior to the large-scale ethnic cleansing in the aftermath of World War II
.

Views

Some linguists from Poland, such as Jolanta Tambor,

standardization.[28]
The German linguist Reinhold Olesch was greatly interested in the "Polish vernaculars" of Upper Silesia and other Slavic varieties such as Kashubian and Polabian.[29][30][31][32]

The United States Immigration Commission in 1911 classified it as one of the dialects of Polish.[33][34]

In their respective surveys of Slavic languages, most linguists writing in English, such as Alexander M. Schenker,[35] Robert A. Rothstein,[36] and Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley[37] list Silesian as a dialect of Polish, as does Encyclopædia Britannica.[38]

On the question of whether Silesian is a separate Slavic language, Gerd Hentschel wrote that "Silesian ... can thus ... without doubt be described as a dialect of Polish" ("Das Schlesische ... kann somit ... ohne Zweifel als Dialekt des Polnischen beschrieben werden").[39][40][41]

In Czechia, disagreement exists concerning the Lach dialects which rose to prominence thanks to Óndra Łysohorsky and his translator Ewald Osers.[42] While some have considered it a separate language, most now view Lach as a dialect of Czech.[43][44][45]

Writing system

Main article: Silesian orthography

There have been a number of attempts at codifying the language spoken by Slavophones in Silesia. Probably the most well-known was undertaken by Óndra Łysohorsky when codifying the

Lachian dialects
in creating the Lachian literary language in the early 20th century.

Ślabikŏrzowy szrajbōnek is the relatively new

Ubuntu translation is in this alphabet[46] as is some of the Silesian Wikipedia, although some of it is in Steuer's alphabet. It is used in a few books, including the Silesian alphabet book.[47]

Letters:
Ô, Õ, P, R, S, Ś, T, U, W, Y, Z, Ź, Ż.[47]

One of the first alphabets created specifically for Silesian was Steuer's Silesian alphabet, created in the Interwar period and used by Feliks Steuer for his poems in Silesian. The alphabet consists of 30 graphemes and eight digraphs:

Letters:
Ů, W, Y, Z, Ź, Ż
Digraphs:
Rz, Sz

Based on the Steuer alphabet, in 2006 the Phonetic Silesian Alphabet [szl] was proposed:

Letters:
Ů, W, Y, Z, Ź, Ž
.

Silesian's phonetic alphabet replaces the digraphs with single letters (

Czech alphabet
. Large parts of the Silesian Wikipedia, however, are written in Silesian's phonetic alphabet.

Sometimes other alphabets are also used, such as the "Tadzikowy muster" (for the National Dictation Contest of the Silesian language) or the Polish alphabet, but writing in this alphabet is problematic as it does not allow for the differentiation and representation of all Silesian sounds.[47]

Culture

Part of
Culture of Upper Silesia
History
People
Languages
Traditions
Cuisine
Festivals
  • Barbórka
  • Saint Florian Day
  • Marsz Autůnůmije
Art
Literature
Performing arts
Sport
Symbols

Silesian has recently seen an increased use in culture, for example:

Recognition

Examples of books in Silesian, e.g. translations of The Hobbit, The Little Prince or A Christmas Carol
Bilingual sign in Katowice (Katowicy): Polish Kwiaciarnia ("florist") and Silesian Blumy i Geszynki ("flowers and gifts"). The latter also exemplifies the Germanisms in Silesian (cf. German Blumen und Geschenke).

In 2003, the National Publishing Company of Silesia (Narodowa Oficyna Śląska) commenced operations.[55] This publisher was founded by the Alliance of the People of the Silesian Nation (Związek Ludności Narodowości Śląskiej) and it prints books about Silesia and books in Silesian language.

In July 2007, the Slavic Silesian language was given the ISO 639-3 code szl.[56]

On 6 September 2007, 23 politicians of the

Polish parliament made a statement about a new law to give Silesian the official status of a regional language.[57]

The first official National Dictation Contest of the Silesian language (Ogólnopolskie Dyktando Języka Śląskiego) took place in August 2007. In dictation as many as 10 forms of writing systems and orthography have been accepted.[58][59]

On 30 January 2008 and in June 2008, two organizations promoting Silesian language were established: Pro Loquela Silesiana and Tôwarzistwo Piastowaniô Ślónskij Môwy "Danga".[60]

On 26 May 2008, the Silesian Wikipedia was founded.[61]

On 30 June 2008 in the edifice of the Silesian Parliament in Katowice, a conference took place on the status of the Silesian language. This conference was a forum for politicians, linguists, representatives of interested organizations and persons who deal with the Silesian language. The conference was titled "Silesian – Still a Dialect or Already a Language?" (Śląsko godka – jeszcze gwara czy jednak już język?).[62]

In 2012, the Ministry of Administration and Digitization registered the Silesian language in Annex 1 to the Regulation on the state register of geographical names;[63] however, in a November 2013 amendment to the regulation, Silesian is not included.[64]

See also

Literature

Notes

  1. ^

References

  1. ^
    Central Statistical Office of Poland
     (in Polish). 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Ethnologue report for language code: szl". Ethnologue. Languages of the World.
  3. ^ Silesian language at Ethnologue (21st ed., 2018) Closed access icon
  4. ^ a b Ptak, Alicja (28 December 2022). "Supermarket introduces bilingual Polish-Silesian signs". Kraków: Notes from Poland. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  5. ^ Tilles, Daniel (13 April 2023). "New census data reveal changes in Poland's ethnic and linguistic makeup". Kraków: Notes from Poland. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  6. ^ Tomasz Kamusella. 2013. The Silesian Language in the Early 21st Century: A Speech Community on the Rollercoaster of Politics (pp 1–35). Die Welt der Slaven. Vol 58, No 1.
  7. OCLC 830518005.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  8. ^ „Słownik gwar Śląskich". Opole, Bogusław Wyderka (eds.)
  9. ^ „Dialekt śląski" author: Feliks Pluta, publication: Wczoraj, Dzisiaj, Jutro. – 1996, no 1/4, pp 5–19
  10. ^ „Fenomen śląskiej gwary" author: Jan Miodek publication: Śląsk. – 1996, no 5, pp 52
  11. ^ Norman Davies, Europe: A History, Oxford 1996 pp 1233
  12. ^ Jolanta Tambor. Opinia merytoryczna na temat poselskiego projektu ustawy o zmianie Ustawy o mniejszościach narodowych i etnicznych oraz o języku regionalnym, a także niektórych innych ustaw, Warszawa 3 maja 2011 r. (English: Substantive opinion on the parliamentary bill amending the Act on national and ethnic minorities and on the regional language, as well as some other acts, Warsaw, May 3, 2011.)
  13. ^ "Najstarszy zabytek śląskiej literatury? (Część 1)". Wachtyrz.eu (in Polish). 18 August 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2023. Najstarsze dokumenty będące świadectwem wyodrębniania się dialektów śląskich w oddzielną grupę pochodzą z XVI w. Należą do nich m. in. list Ambrożego Szklorza z Olesna opublikowany przez Władysława Nehringa (Nehring 1902 [1]) i rachunek ślusarza Matysa Hady opublikowany przez Leona Derlicha i Andrzeja Siuduta (Derlich, Siudut 1957). Są to jednak zabytki piśmiennictwa, a nie literatury – początków tej drugiej można się doszukiwać na Śląsku w najlepszym razie dopiero w wieku XVII.
  14. ^
    Central Statistical Office of Poland (in Polish). 2011. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 21 October 2012.
  15. ^ "Obyvatelstvo podle národnosti podle krajů" (PDF). Czech Statistical Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2012.
  16. ^ "Národnost ve sčítání lidu v českých zemích" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  17. ^ National Minorities in the Slovak Republic – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic
  18. ^ "Jan Miodek: Dyskusja o języku śląskim w piśmie jest żenująca". 26 March 2011.
  19. ^ "Endangered Languages Project – Upper Silesian – Ôjcze nasz". www.endangeredlanguages.com. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  20. ^ "Ekspertyza naukowa prof. UŚ Dr hab. Jolanty Tambor" (en: "Scientific expertise by Juan Lajo"), 2008
  21. ^ "Ekspertyza naukowa pana Juana Lajo" (en: "Scientific expertise by Juan Lajo"), 2008
  22. ^ "Ekspertyza naukowa dra Tomasza Wicherkiewicza" (en: "Scientific expertise by Tomasz Wicherkiewicz"), 2008
  23. ^ "Ekspertyza naukowa ks. dra hab. Jerzego Dadaczyńskiego") (en: "Scientific expertise by Jerzy Dadaczyński"), 2008
  24. ^ "Ekspertyza naukowa dr Elżbiety Anny Sekuły" (en: "Scientific expertise by Elżbieta Anna Sekuła"), 2008
  25. ISBN 83-919589-2-2
    .
  26. Opole University
    .
  27. ^ "Polszczyzna śląska" – Stanisław Rospond, Ossolineum 1970, p. 80–87
  28. ^ "The Silesian Language in the Early 21st Century: A Speech Community on the Rollercoaster of Politics Tomasz Kamusella". xlibx.com. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  29. ^ Ernst Eichler (1999). Neue deutsche Biographie [New German biography] (in German). p. 519.
  30. ^ Reinhold Olesch (1987). Zur schlesischen Sprachlandschaft: Ihr alter slawischer Anteil [On the Silesian language landscape: their old Slavic share] (in German). pp. 32–45.
  31. ^ Joanna Rostropowicz. Śląski był jego językiem ojczystym: Reinhold Olesch, 1910–1990 [Silesian was his mother tongue: Reinhold Olesch, 1910–1990] (in Polish).
  32. ISBN 83-920458-5-8
    .
  33. ^ 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. pp. 104–105.
  34. ^ Dillingham, William Paul; Folkmar, Daniel; Folkmar, Elnora (1911). Dictionary of Races or Peoples. Washington, D.C.: Washington, Government Printing Office. p. 128.
  35. ^ Alexander M. Schenker, "Proto-Slavonic", The Slavonic Languages (1993, Routledge), pages 60–121.
  36. ^ Robert A. Rothstein, "Polish", The Slavonic Languages (1993, Routledge), pages 686–758.
  37. ^ Roland Sussex & Paul Cubberley, The Slavic Languages (2006, Cambridge University Press).
  38. ^ "Silesian". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  39. ^ Gerd Hentschel. "Schlesisch" (PDF) (in German).
  40. ISBN 3-631-37648-0
    .
  41. ISBN 3-631-37648-0
  42. ^ Ewald Osers (1949). Silesian Idiom and Language. New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  43. ^ Dušan Šlosar. "Tschechisch" (PDF) (in German).
  44. ^ Aleksandr Dulichenko. "Lexikon der Sprachen des europäischen Ostens" [Encyclopedia of Languages of Eastern Europe] (PDF) (in German).
  45. ^ Pavlína Kuldanová (2003). "Útvary českého národního jazyka" [Structures of the Czech National Language] (in Czech). Archived from the original on 2 September 2012.
  46. ^ ""Silesian Ubuntu Translation" team". Launchpad.net. 5 July 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  47. ^
    ISBN 978-83-62349-01-2
  48. ^ "Home". wachtyrz.eu.
  49. ^ "Niklaus Pieron – YouTube". www.youtube.com.
  50. ^ "SlonskyRadio". SlonskyRadio.
  51. ^ "Po śląsku w kaplicy" [Once in the chapel of Silesia] (in Polish). e-teatr.pl. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  52. ^ "Stanisław Mutz – Polterabend" (in Polish). Silesian Theatre. Archived from the original on 24 June 2007.
  53. ^ Jednoaktówki po śląsku
  54. ^ (in Silesian) Przemysław Jedlicki, Mirosław Syniawa (13 February 2009). "Ślabikorz dlo Slůnzokůw". Gazeta Wyborcza Katowice. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009.
  55. ^ "Narodowa Oficyna Śląska" [National Publishing Company of Silesia] (in Silesian). Archived from the original on 4 September 2007.
  56. ^ "ISO documentation of Silesian language". SIL International.
  57. ^ Dziennik Zachodni (2008). "Śląski wśród języków świata" [Silesian Among the Languages of the World] (in Polish). Our News Katowice.
  58. ^ (in Silesian and Polish) "National Dictation contest of the Silesian language".
  59. ^ Orthography: diacritic, Czech, phonetic, Hermannowa, Polish, Polish plus, Steuer's, Tadzikowa, Wieczorkowa, multisigned.
  60. ^ "Śląski wśród języków świata" [The Silesian language is a foreign language]. Dziennik Zachodni (in Polish). 2008. Archived from the original on 20 June 2008.
  61. ^ "Śląska Wikipedia już działa" [Silesian Wikipedia already operating]. Gazeta Wyborcza-Gospodarka (in Polish). 2008.
  62. ^ (in Polish) "Katowice: konferencja dotycząca statusu śląskiej mowy" [Katowice: Conference concerning the status of the Silesian language]. Polish Wikinews. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  63. ^ Dz.U. 2012 nr 0 poz. 309 – Internet System of Legal Acts
  64. ^ Dz. U. z 2013 r. poz. 1346
  65. ^ "The Long Shadow of Borders: The Cases of Kashubian and Silesian in Poland"
  66. ^ Tomasz Kamusella (2013): "Ślōnsko godka. The silesian language" - Review by Mark Brüggemann

External links

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Silesian
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Silesian language.
Wikinews has related news:
Silesian edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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