Lechitic | |
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Geographic distribution | Poland |
Linguistic classification | Indo-European
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Subdivisions |
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Glottolog | lech1241 |
The Lechitic (or Lekhitic) languages are a West Slavic language subgroup consisting of Polish and several other languages and dialects that were once spoken in the area that is now Poland and eastern Germany. [1] It is one of the branches of the larger West Slavic subgroup; the other branches of this subgroup are the Czech–Slovak languages and the Sorbian languages.
The Lechitic languages are:
Common West Slavic features that are also present in Lechitic: [3]
There was no Proto-Lechitic language, but rather Lechitic languages are a group of dialects with many shared features. [4] The central and eastern territories came under the control of the Piasts, which created a political, cultural (especially religious) unit, which caused the Pomeranians and Polabians to have weaker contact, as the Pomeranians were absorbed into the state by Mieszko I and began integrating with the Eastern Lechites. [5]
Common Lechitic features include: [6]
The following is the Lord's Prayer in several of the Lechitic languages:
Polish | Upper Silesian [7] | Kashubian [8] | Polabian [9] |
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Ojcze nasz, któryś jest w niebie, | Fatrze nŏsz, kery jeżeś we niebie, | Òjcze nasz, jaczi jes w niebie, | Nôße Wader, ta toy giß wa Nebisgáy, |
The term Lechitic is applied both to the languages of this group and to Slavic peoples speaking these languages (known as Lechites). The term is related to the name of the legendary Polish forefather Lech and the name Lechia by which Poland was formerly sometimes known. For more details, see Lechites .
Kashubian or Cassubian is a West Slavic language belonging to the Lechitic subgroup.
Polish is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group within the Indo-European language family written in the Latin script. It is primarily spoken in Poland and serves as the official language of the country, as well as the language of the Polish diaspora around the world. In 2024, there were over 39.7 million Polish native speakers. 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, from which the term Polabian comes from. 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 an extinct language formerly spoken by the Slovincians living between lakes Gardno and Łebsko near Słupsk in Pomerania.
The West Slavic languages are a subdivision of the Slavic language group. They include Polish, Czech, Slovak, Kashubian, Silesian, 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.
The history of the Slavic languages stretches over 3000 years, from the point at which the ancestral Proto-Balto-Slavic language broke up into the modern-day Slavic languages which are today natively spoken in Eastern, Central and Southeastern Europe as well as parts of North Asia and Central Asia.
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 group, also Mazovian, is a dialect group of the Polish language spoken in Mazovia and historically related regions, in northeastern Poland. It is the most distinct of the Polish dialects and the most expansive.
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages. They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic languages diversified into their historically attested forms over the 10th to 14th centuries.
Ukrainian grammar is complex and characterised by a high degree of inflection; moreover, it has a relatively free word order, although the dominant arrangement is subject–verb–object (SVO). Ukrainian grammar describes its phonological, morphological, and syntactic rules. Ukrainian has seven grammatical cases and two numbers for its nominal declension and two aspects, three tenses, three moods, and two voices for its verbal conjugation. Adjectives agree in number, gender, and case with their nouns.
Lechites, also known as the Lechitic tribes, is a name given to certain West Slavic tribes who inhabited modern-day Poland and eastern Germany, and were speakers of the Lechitic languages. Distinct from the Czech–Slovak subgroup, they are the closest ancestors of ethnic Poles and of Pomeranians, Lusatians and Polabians.
The Slavic liquid metathesis refers to the phenomenon of metathesis of liquid consonants in the Common Slavic period in the South Slavic and West Slavic area. The closely related corresponding phenomenon of pleophony occurred in parallel in the East Slavic languages.
The Polish language is a West Slavic language, and thus descends from Proto-Slavic, and more distantly from Proto-Indo-European. More specifically, it is a member of the Lechitic branch of the West Slavic languages, along with other languages spoken in areas within or close to the area of modern Poland: including Kashubian, Silesian, and the extinct Slovincian and Polabian.
The Lesser Polish dialect group is a of dialect group of the Polish language used in Lesser Poland. The exact area is difficult to delineate due to the expansion of its features and the existence of transitional subdialects.
Proto-Slavic is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium BC through the 6th century AD. As with most other proto-languages, no attested writings have been found; scholars have reconstructed the language by applying the comparative method to all the attested Slavic languages and by taking into account other Indo-European languages.
Greater Poland dialect group is a dialect group of the Polish language used in the Greater Poland. It is used in the area, on the south from the cities of Koło, Kalisz, Ostrów Wielkopolski, Rawicz, and Babimost, from the west from Międzychód and Krzyż Wielkopolski, and along the line of the rivers of Noteć and Warta.
The West Lechitic dialects are a group of extinct Lechitic dialects, used by the Slavic peoples of Pomerania, Margraviate of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg and the lands on the lower and middle Elbe. At the same time, the dialects of Central Pomerania and Gdańsk Pomerania are usually considered transitional between West Lechitic and East Lechitic and are called the Middle Lechitic dialect group.
The Marcho-Magdeburgian dialect, Old March and Magdeburg dialect is an extinct Slavic Lechitic dialect spoken by Slavic tribes living in the Old March and around Magdeburg. Linguistically, the dialect was particularly related to the Drevani language used until the 18th century in Wendland and belonged to the West Lechitic dialects.
The Chwalim dialect was a Lechitic dialect spoken up to first half of 20th century in Chwalim in present-day western Poland. Historically, the village belongs to Lower Silesia. Although the dialect features are typical for Silesian, the speakers believed that they were descendants of Sorbs. The dialect is classified as a Silesian dialect, and more specifically, the Lower Silesian dialect group, but displays some Greater Polish influence.