Kashubian or Cassubian is a West Slavic language belonging to the Lechitic subgroup along with Polish and Silesian. Although often classified as a language in its own right, it is sometimes viewed as a dialect of Polish.
Polish is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group within the Indo-European language family written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In addition to being the official language of Poland, it is also used by the Polish diaspora. There are over 50 million Polish speakers around the world. It ranks as the sixth most-spoken among languages of the European Union. Polish is subdivided into regional dialects and maintains strict T–V distinction pronouns, honorifics, and various forms of formalities when addressing individuals.
The Pomeranian language is in the Pomeranian group of Lechitic languages within the West Slavic languages.
The Polabian language, also known as Drevanian–Polabian language, Drevanian language, and Lüneburg Wendish language, is a West Slavic language that was spoken by the Polabian Slavs in present-day northeastern Germany around the Elbe. It was spoken approximately until the rise to power of Prussia in the mid-18th century – when it was superseded by Low German – in the areas of Pomoré, central (Mittelmark) part of Branibor (Brandenburg) and eastern Saxony-Anhalt, as well as in eastern parts of Wendland and Dravänia (Schleswig-Holstein), Ostholstein and Lauenburg). Polabian was also relatively long spoken in and around the cities of Bukovéc (Lübeck), Starigard (Oldenburg) and Trava (Hamburg). The very poorly attested Slavic dialects of Rügen seemed to have had more in common with Polabian than with Pomeranian varieties. In the south, it bordered on the Sorbian language area in Lusatia.
Slovincian is the extinct language formerly spoken by the Slovincians living between lakes Gardno and Łebsko near Słupsk in Pomerania.
Slovincians, also known as Łeba Kashubians, is a near-extinct ethnic subgroup of the Kashubian people, who originated from the north western Kashubia, located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, from the area around the lakes of Łebsko and Gardno. In the aftermath of World War II, Slovincians emigrated en masse to Germany, with the last families emigrating there in the 1980s. They originally spoke the Slovincian language, which went extinct in the early 20th century, as well as Kashubian, Polish, and German.
Silesian or Upper Silesian is a West Slavic ethnolect of the Lechitic group spoken by a small percentage of people in Upper Silesia. Its vocabulary was significantly influenced by Central German due to the existence of numerous Silesian German speakers in the area prior to World War II and after. Some regard it as one of the four major dialects of Polish, while others classify it as a separate regional language, distinct from Polish. The first mentions of Silesian as a distinct lect date back to the 16th century, and the first literature with Silesian characteristics to the 17th century.
Tutejszy was a self-identification of Eastern European rural populations, who did not have a clear national identity. The term means "from here", "local" or "natives". This was mostly in mixed-lingual Eastern European areas, including Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia, in particular, in Polesia and Podlachia. As a self-identification, it persisted in Lithuania’s Vilnius Region into the late 20th century. For example, in 1989, a poll of persons whose passports recorded their ethnicity as Polish revealed that 4% of them regarded themselves as tuteišiai, 10% as Lithuanians, and 84% as Poles.
The West Slavic languages are a subdivision of the Slavic language group. They include Polish, Czech, Slovak, Kashubian, Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian. The languages have traditionally been spoken across a mostly continuous region encompassing the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, the westernmost regions of Ukraine and Belarus, and a bit of eastern Lithuania. In addition, there are several language islands such as the Sorbian areas in Lusatia in Germany, and Slovak areas in Hungary and elsewhere.
Wymysorys, also known as Vilamovian or Wilamowicean, is a West Germanic language spoken by the Vilamovian ethnic minority in the small town of Wilamowice, Poland, on the border between Silesia and Lesser Poland, near Bielsko-Biała. It is considered an endangered language, possibly the most so of any of the Germanic languages. There are probably fewer than 20 native users of Wymysorys, virtually all bilingual; the majority are elderly.
The Warsaw subdialect, or Warsaw dialect, is a regional subdialect of the Masovian dialect of the Polish language, centered on the city of Warsaw. It evolved as late as the 18th century, under notable influence of several languages spoken in the city. After the destruction of Warsaw in the aftermath of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 the subdialect has been in decline. It is estimated that in modern times it is almost extinct as the native language and is preserved mostly in literary works.
Silesians is a geographical term for the inhabitants of Silesia, a historical region in Central Europe divided by the current national boundaries of Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Historically, the region of Silesia has been inhabited by Polish, Czechs, and by Germans. Therefore, the term Silesian can refer to anyone of these ethnic groups. However, in 1945, great demographic changes occurred in the region as a result of the Potsdam Agreement leaving most of the region ethnically Polish and/or Slavic Upper Silesian. The Silesian dialect is one of the main dialects of the Polish language and based on Polish/Lechitic grammar. The names of Silesia in different languages most likely share their etymology—Polish: ; German: ; Czech: Slezsko ; Lower Silesian: Schläsing; Silesian: Ślōnsk ; Lower Sorbian: Šlazyńska ; Upper Sorbian: Šleska ; Latin, Spanish and English: Silesia; French: Silésie; Dutch: Silezië; Italian: Slesia; Slovak: Sliezsko; Kashubian: Sląsk. The names all relate to the name of a river and mountain in mid-southern Silesia, which served as a place of cult for pagans before Christianization.
The Cieszyn Silesian dialect or Teschen Silesian dialect is one of the Silesian dialects. It has its roots mainly in Old Polish and also has strong influences from Czech and German and, to a lesser extent, from Vlach and Slovak. It is spoken in Cieszyn Silesia, a region on both sides of the Polish-Czech border. It remains mostly a spoken language. The dialect is better preserved today than traditional dialects of many other West Slavic regions.
The Masovian dialect, also written Mazovian, is the dialect of Polish spoken in Mazovia and historically related regions, in northeastern Poland. It is the most distinct of the Polish dialects and the most expansive.
The Gorals, also known as the Highlanders are an ethnographic subgroup primarily found in their traditional area of southern Poland, northern Slovakia, and in the region of Cieszyn Silesia in the Czech Republic, where they are known as the Silesian Gorals. There is also a significant Goral diaspora in the area of Bukovina in western Ukraine and in northern Romania, as well as in Chicago, the seat of the Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America.
The Lwów dialect is a subdialect (gwara) of the Polish language characteristic of the inhabitants of the then Polish city of Lviv, now in Ukraine. Based on the substratum of the Lesser Polish dialect, it was heavily influenced by borrowings from other languages spoken in Galicia, notably Ukrainian (Ruthenian), German and Yiddish,
The Languages of Poland include Polish – the language of the indigenous population – and those of immigrants and their descendants. Polish is the only official language recognized by the country's constitution and the majority of the country's population speak it as a native language or use it for home communication. Deaf communities in Poland use Polish Sign Language, which belongs to the German family of Sign Languages.
Chełmnian–Kocievian–Warmian dialect is a group of dialects of Polish language used in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Pomeranian, and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeships. It is considered by some linguists as the branch of Greater Poland dialect, while also, as the separate dialect, by others.
Northern Borderlands dialect is a dialect of the Polish language, spoken by the Polish minorities in Lithuania and in northwestern Belarus.
Southern Borderlands dialect is a dialect of the Polish language, spoken by the Polish minority in Ukraine. It is considered a branch of the Lesser Poland dialect by Zofia Kurzowa.
