Silesian | |
---|---|
Upper Silesian | |
ślōnskŏ gŏdka ślůnsko godka [1] | |
Pronunciation | [ˈɕlonskɔˈɡɔtka] |
Native to | Poland (Silesian Voivodeship, Opole Voivodeship) Czech Republic (Moravia–Silesia, Jeseník) |
Region | Silesia |
Ethnicity | Silesians |
Native speakers | 457,900 (2021 census) [2] |
Dialects | |
Latin script (Steuer's alphabet and ślabikŏrzowy szrajbōnek) [3] | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | szl |
Glottolog | sile1253 |
ELP | Upper Silesian |
Linguasphere | 53-AAA-cck , 53-AAA-dam |
Silesian, [a] occasionally called Upper Silesian, is an ethnolect [4] [5] of the Lechitic group spoken by part 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. [6] 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. [7]
Linguistic distinctiveness of Silesian has long been a topic of discussion among Poland's linguists, especially after all of Upper Silesia was included within the Polish borders, following World War II. [8] Some regard it as one of the four major dialects of Polish, [9] [10] [11] [12] while others classify it as a separate regional language, distinct from Polish. [13] [14] [15] According to the official data from the 2021 Polish census, about 500 thousand people consider Silesian as their native language. [2] Internationally, Silesian has been fully recognized as a language since 2007, when it was accorded the ISO 639-3 registration code szl. [16]
Several efforts have been made to gain recognition for Silesian as an official regional language in Poland. In April 2024, the Polish Sejm took a significant step by passing a bill recognizing it as such, [8] however, the bill was vetoed by President Andrzej Duda on 29 May 2024. [17]
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 official census in Poland in 2021, about 460,000 [2] people declared Silesian as their native language, whereas in the country's census of 2011, the figure was about 510,000. [18] 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 speaking Polish in the Polish part and declaring themselves to be Poles and the vast majority speaking Czech in the Czech part and declaring themselves to be Czechs. [18] [19] [20] [21]
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.
According to Jan Miodek, standard Polish has always been used by Upper Silesians as a language of prayers. [22] The Lord's Prayer in Silesian, Polish, Czech, and English:
Silesian [23] | Polish | Czech | English |
---|---|---|---|
Fatrze nŏsz, kery jeżeś we niebie, | Ojcze nasz, któryś jest w niebie, | Otče náš, jenž jsi na nebesích, | Our Father who art in heaven, |
Silesian has many dialects:
Opinions are divided among linguists regarding whether Silesian is a distinct language, a dialect of Polish, or, in the case of Lach, a variety of Czech. The issue can be contentious, because some Silesians consider themselves to be a distinct nationality within Poland. When Czechs, Poles, and Germans each made claims to substantial parts of Silesia as constituting an integral part of their respective nation-states in the 19th and 20th centuries, the language of Slavic-speaking Silesians became politicized.
Slavicist of Upper Silesian extraction, de:Rudolf Abicht, who worked at the University of Breslau and proposed an early standardization of the Belarusian language, clearly recognized that standardizing and making Silesian into a language is a socio-political process. In 1920, he expressed his opinion on the subject in an extensive essay on the 'Upper Silesian language question.' [24] [25]
Some, like Óndra Łysohorsky (a poet and author in Czechoslovakia), saw the Silesians as being their own distinct people, which culminated in his effort to create a 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.
In 2011, Tomasz Kamusella and pl:Andrzej Roczniok published a Silesian-language article on the standardization of the Silesian language. [26]
Some linguists from Poland, such as Jolanta Tambor, [27] [ full citation needed ] Juan Lajo, [28] [ full citation needed ] Tomasz Wicherkiewicz, [29] [ full citation needed ] philosopher Jerzy Dadaczyński, [30] [ full citation needed ] sociologist Elżbieta Anna Sekuła, [31] [ full citation needed ] and sociolinguist Tomasz Kamusella, [32] [33] support its status as a language. According to Stanisław Rospond, it is impossible to classify Silesian as a dialect of the contemporary Polish language because he considers it to be descended from Old Polish. [34] [ original research? ] Other Polish linguists, such as Jan Miodek and Edward Polański, do not support its status as a language.[ citation needed ] Jan Miodek and Dorota Simonides, both of Silesian origin, prefer to see the preservation of the entire range of Silesian dialects rather than standardization. [35] The German linguist Reinhold Olesch was greatly interested in the "Polish vernaculars" of Upper Silesia and other Slavic varieties such as Kashubian and Polabian. [36] [37] [38] [39]
The United States Immigration Commission in 1911 classified it as one of the dialects of Polish. [40] [41]
In their respective surveys of Slavic languages, most linguists writing in English, such as Alexander M. Schenker, [42] Robert A. Rothstein, [43] and Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley [44] list Silesian as a dialect of Polish, as does Encyclopædia Britannica . [45]
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"). [46] [47] [48]
In Czechia, disagreement exists concerning the Lach dialects which rose to prominence thanks to Óndra Łysohorsky and his translator Ewald Osers. [49] While some have considered it a separate language, most now view Lach as a dialect of Czech. [50] [51] [52]
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Close-mid | ɪ | o | |
Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
Open | a |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Open-mid | ɔ̃ | ||
Open | ã |
Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Retroflex | (Alveolo-) palatal | Velar | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||
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 | ||
Trill | r | |||||
Approximant | ( w ) | l | j | w |
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 alphabet created by the Pro Loquela Silesiana organization to reflect the sounds of all Silesian dialects. It was approved by Silesian organizations affiliated in Rada Górnośląska. Ubuntu translation is in this alphabet [54] 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. [55]
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:
Based on the Steuer alphabet, in 2006 the Silesian Phonetic Alphabet was proposed:
Silesian's phonetic alphabet replaces the digraphs with single letters (Sz with Š, etc.) and does not include the letter Ł, whose sound can be represented phonetically with U. It is therefore the alphabet that contains the fewest letters. Although it is the most phonetically logical, it did not become popular with Silesian organizations, with the argument that it contains too many caron diacritics and hence resembles the 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. [55]
Part of a series on the |
Culture of Upper Silesia |
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Cuisine |
Literature |
Silesian has recently seen an increased use in culture, for example:
In 2003, the National Publishing Company of Silesia (Narodowa Oficyna Śląska) commenced operations. [63] 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
. [64]
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. [65]
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. [66] [67]
On 30 January 2008 and in June 2008, two organizations promoting Silesian language were established: Pro Loquela Silesiana and Tôwarzistwo Piastowaniô Ślónskij Môwy "Danga". [68]
On 26 May 2008, the Silesian Wikipedia was founded. [69] [70]
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?). [71]
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; [72] however, in a November 2013 amendment to the regulation, Silesian is not included. [73]
On 26 April 2024, the Sejm voted 236-186 with five abstentions to recognise Silesian as a regional language. [74] [75] [76] On 29 May 2024, President Andrzej Duda vetoed the bill. [77]
On 26 June 2024, Silesian was added to the languages offered in the Google Translate service. [78] [79] [80]
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.
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately 40,000 km2 (15,400 sq mi), and the population is estimated at 8,000,000. Silesia is split into two main subregions, Lower Silesia in the west and Upper Silesia in the east. Silesia has a diverse culture, including architecture, costumes, cuisine, traditions, and the Silesian language. The largest city of the region is Wrocław.
Silesian Voivodeship is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia, with Katowice serving as its capital.
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heavy industry.
Strumień is a town and the seat of Gmina Strumień, in Cieszyn County, in the Silesian Voivodeship (province) of southern Poland, on the Vistula River.
Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic. It covers an area of about 2,280 square kilometres (880 sq mi) and has about 810,000 inhabitants, of which 1,002 square kilometres (387 sq mi) (44%) is in Poland, while 1,280 square kilometres (494 sq mi) (56%) is in the Czech Republic.
Silesians is both an ethnic as well as a geographical term for the inhabitants of Silesia, a historical region in Central Europe divided by the current national boundaries of Poland, Germany, and Czechia. 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 language is one of the regional languages used in Poland alongside Polish as well as Kashubian and is structured with in a SVO format, however the grammar is quite often different to that of the other Lechitic languages. The names of Silesia in different languages most likely share their etymology—Polish: ; German: Schlesienpronounced[ˈʃleːzi̯ən] ; 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 Silesian Autonomy Movement, abbreviated as RAŚ, is a movement that seeks the restoration of interwar Silesian autonomy - including a separate Silesian Treasury, a Silesian Parliament, as well as a Silesian constitution and an elected president. The party envisions an autonomous Silesia either within Poland, or as part of the Europe of 100 Flags, where the competences and sovereignty of modern states will be transferred to the regions. RAŚ considers Silesians a separate nation and promotes Silesian nationalism. The party supports regionalist and separatist movements in Europe, and has also been described as separatist itself.
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.
Polish dialects are regional vernacular varieties of the Polish language, and often show developments starting from an earlier stage of the language, often Old Polish or Middle Polish, namely the development of the so-called "pitched" or "slanted" vowels.
Międzyświeć is a village in Gmina Skoczów, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.
The Silesian Wikipedia is the Silesian edition of Wikipedia. It was started on 26 May 2008.
Tomasz Kamusella is a Polish scholar pursuing interdisciplinary research in language politics, nationalism, and ethnicity.
Silesian National Publishing House is the first-ever publishing house specializing in producing books in the Silesian language and on all matters (Upper) Silesian. It was founded in 2003 in Zabrze, Poland, where it is registered under the Polish name, Narodowa Oficyna Śląska. Its owner and founder, Andrzej Roczniok was the initiator of to the codification of the Silesian language, and remains the main contributor to this process. He also applied for an ISO 639-3 code for Silesian, which was granted as szl in 2007. In the same year the Ślōnsko Nacyjno Ôficyno began publishing the first-ever periodical in Silesian and Polish, Ślůnsko Nacyjo. The publishing house's bestseller has been Dariusz Jerczyński’s extensive monograph, Historia Narodu Śląskiego, which actually commenced the publishing activities of the Ślōnsko Nacyjno Ôficyno.
The Union of Upper Silesians was an early 20th-century movement for the independence of Upper Silesia. The movement had its genesis during the revolutions of 1848. Allied with the Silesian People's Party, it dissolved in 1924 but has influenced the present-day Silesian Autonomy Movement.
Józef Kożdoń was a Silesian autonomist politician.
The Silesian People’s Party was a political organization in Cieszyn Silesia that existed from 1909 to 1938 in Austrian Silesia, which later became international plebiscite territory and finally part of Czechoslovakia. The party included mainly Slavic people, who saw themselves as members of a Silesian nation. The party is seen as part of the Szlonzakian movement or Silesian Separatist Movement.
Prstná is a village in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It was a separate municipality but became administratively a part of Petrovice u Karviné in 1952.
Nowy Testamynt po ślonsku [The New Testament in Silesian] was published in 2017 in Radzionków, Upper Silesia, Poland by Szymon Tobor's publishing house, Wydawnictwo Tobor. Gabriel Tobor translated the New Testament into the Silesian language from the 16th-century Polish language Jakub Wujek Bible. For the sake of this translation the translator developed a specific spelling fully based on Polish orthography, rather than follow the standard Silesian spelling system.
The Silesian Separatist Movement was a minor Silesian party that advocated for Silesian independence from Poland. The party was founded on 19 March 2007 by Silesian activists Dariusz Jerczyński, Grzegorz Kot and Marcela Tampa. The party was affiliated with a Silesian regionalist organisation People of the Silesian Nation and the Silesian Autonomy Movement, and Grzegorz Kot ran for the Senate of Poland in the 2007 Polish parliamentary election on behalf of this party. Silesian Separatist Movement listed "national and territorial separation of Silesia from Poland" and "the sanctioning of Silesian nationality" as its main goals. According to its program, the party was dedicated to the concept of an independent Silesian state in tradition of interwar Silesian movements such as Silesian People's Party (1908-1938) and the Union of Upper Silesians (1919-1924), which wanted to realise this concept. In May 2010, the movement was put into liquidation, and was removed from the Register of Associations on June 6th.
szl
". Ethnologue. Languages of the World.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.
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