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Polish dialects are regional
vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
varieties of the Polish language. Four major dialect groups are typically recognized, each primarily associated with a particular geographical region, and often further subdivided into
subdialect Subdialect (from Latin , "under", and Ancient Greek , "discourse") is a linguistic term designating a dialectological category between the levels of dialect and idiolect. Subdialects are basic subdivisions of a dialect. Subdialects can be divid ...
al groups (termed ''gwara'' in Polish).Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley (2006). ''The Slavic Languages''. Cambridge University Press. P. 530.Robert A. Rothstein (1994). "Polish". ''The Slavonic Languages'', edited by
Bernard Comrie Bernard Sterling Comrie, (; born 23 May 1947) is a British-born linguist. Comrie is a specialist in linguistic typology, linguistic universals and on Caucasian languages. Early life and education Comrie was born in Sunderland, England on 23 M ...
and Greville G. Corbett. Routledge. Pp. 754–756.
They are: * Greater Polish, spoken in the west * Lesser Polish, spoken in the south and southeast * Masovian, spoken throughout the central and eastern parts of the country * Silesian spoken in the southwest (sometimes also considered a separate language, see comment below) The regional differences correspond mainly to old ethnic or tribal divisions from around a thousand years ago. As a result of 19th century measures taken by occupying powers, of expulsions plus other displacements of Poles during and after World War II, as well as language policy in the
Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million near ...
, supplemented by broadcast media, the Polish language has become more homogeneous than ever before in the second half of the 20th century. Traditionally two additional dialect groups were treated alongside the aforementioned, adding to a total of six. These varieties have been put at risk of extinction due to historic geopolitical population movements. They are: * Northern Kresy, spoken along the border between Lithuania and Belarus * Southern Kresy, spoken in isolated pockets in Ukraine


Dialect and language distinctions

Although traditional linguistic divisions continue to be cited, especially in Polish sources, the current linguistic consensus tends to consider Kashubian a separate language, or at least as a distinct lect that cannot be grouped at the same level as the four major modern Polish dialects. Prior to World War II, Kashubian speakers were mainly surrounded by
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
speakers, with only a narrow border to the south with Polish speakers. Kashubian contains a number of features not found in other Polish dialects, e.g. nine distinct oral vowels (vs. the six of standard Polish), evolution of the Proto-Slavic TorT group to TarT (a feature not found in any other Slavic language) and (in the northern dialects) phonemic word stress, an archaic feature preserved from
Common Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium B.C. through the 6th ...
times and not found anywhere else among the
West Slavic languages 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 encompas ...
. The two
Kresy dialects Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic, it ...
are spoken in Kresy, the former eastern Polish territories annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945 and currently absorbed into Lithuania, Belarus and the Ukraine. Both dialect groups have been in decline since World War II as a result of expulsions of millions of Poles from Kresy. Poles living in Lithuania (particularly in the Vilnius region), in Belarus (particularly in the northwest), and in northeast Poland continue to speak the Northern Kresy dialect, which sounds (in Polish described as ''zaciąganie z ruska'') as if speaking with a Russian drawl, and is quite distinctive. The majority of Poles expelled from Kresy were settled in newly annexed regions in northern and western Poland, and thereby their manner of speech evolved into so-called ''new mixed dialects''. However, among the declining older generation there are still traces of Kresy dialect with its characteristic Ukrainian or
Rusyn Rusyn may refer to: * Rusyn people, an East Slavic people ** Pannonian Rusyn people, a branch of Rusyn people ** Lemkos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people ** Boykos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people * Rusyn language, an East Slavic l ...
sounds, especially in the use of the Russian "L" where standard Polish uses "Ł" and of elongated vowels.


Silesian

Many linguistic sources relating to the Slavic languages describe Silesian as a dialect of Polish. However, many Silesians consider themselves a separate ethnicity and have been advocating the recognition of Silesian as a distinct language. According to the last official census in Poland in 2011, over 500 thousand people declared Silesian as their native language. Many sociolinguistic sources (e.g. Tomasz Kamusella assert that the determination between a language or a dialect is ultimately a matter of extralinguistic criteria, such as national attachment or the political attitudes of its users, and this changes over time. See: Agnieszka Pianka, Alfred F. Majewicz,
Tomasz Wicherkiewicz Tomasz Wicherkiewicz (born 1967) is a Polish linguist who is Professor of Linguistics and Chair at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań The Adam Mickiewicz University ( pl, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu; Latin: ''Universitas Stu ...
) Language organizations such as SIL International and various linguistic resources such as Ethnologue, and Poland's Ministry of Administration and Digitization, recognize Silesian as a distinct language.Dz.U. 2012 nr 0 poz. 309
– Internet System of Legal Acts
In 2007, Silesian was assigned its language code szl within the ISO 639-3 standard.


List of dialects


Greater Polish dialect

Derived from the Western Slavic language spoken by the Polans, the subdialects are: :*
Krajna Krajna is a forested historical region in Poland, situated in the border area between the Greater Poland, Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Pomeranian Voivodeships. The region consists of parts of Złotów, Piła, Sępólno, Nakło, Bydgoszcz and Cz� ...
dialect ( pl, gwara krajniacka) :*
Tuchola Tuchola (german: Tuchel; csb, Tëchòlô) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. The Pomeranian town, which is the seat of Tuchola County, had a population of 13,418 . Geographical location Tuchola lies about ...
dialect ( pl, gwara tucholska) :*
Kociewie Kociewie is an ethnocultural region in the eastern part of Tuchola Forest, in northern Poland, Pomerania, south of Gdańsk. Its cultural capital is Starogard Gdański, the biggest town is Tczew, while other major towns include Świecie, Pelpl ...
dialect ( pl, gwara kociewska) :*
Chełmno Chełmno (; older en, Culm; formerly ) is a town in northern Poland near the Vistula river with 18,915 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of the Chełmno County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Due to its regional importa ...
- Dobrzyń ( pl, gwara chełmińsko-dobrzyńska) :*
Cuyavia Kuyavia ( pl, Kujawy; german: Kujawien; la, Cuiavia), also referred to as Cuyavia, is a historical region in north-central Poland, situated on the left bank of Vistula, as well as east from Noteć River and Lake Gopło. It is divided into three t ...
n dialect ( pl, gwara kujawska) :* Chojno (Southern Greater Poland) dialect ( pl, gwara chazacka)


Mazovian dialect

Derived from the language of the
Mazovians Masovians, also spelled as Mazovians, and historically known as Masurians, is an ethnographic group of Polish people that originate from the region of Masovia, located mostly within borders of the Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. They speak the Masov ...
Halina Karas, ''Gwary Polskie''
Dialects and gwary in Poland
:* Białystok dialect ( pl, gwara białostocka) :* Suwałki dialect ( pl, gwara suwalska) :* Warmia dialect ( pl, gwara warmińska) :* Kurpie dialect ( pl, gwara kurpiowska) :*
Masurian dialect The Masurian ethnolect (Masurian: ''mazurská gádkä''; pl, mazurski; german: Masurisch), according to some linguists, is a dialect group of the Polish language; others consider Masurian to be a separate language, spoken by the Masurian people ...
( pl, gwara mazurska) :* Malbork-Lubawa dialect ( pl, gwara malborsko-lubawska) :* Ostróda dialect ( pl, gwara ostródzka) :* Near Mazovian dialect ( pl, gwara mazowsze bliższe) :* Far Mazovian dialect ( pl, gwara mazowsze dalsze)


Lesser Polish dialect

Derived from the language of the Vistulans, is the most numerous dialectal group in modern Poland. It includes the following sub-groups :*
Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,896 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a m ...
dialect ( pl, gwara łowicka) :* Sieradz- Łęczyca dialect ( pl, gwara sieradzko-łęczycka) :*
Holy Cross Mountains Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
dialects ( pl, gwary świętokrzyskie), often associated with the ancient tribe of the Lędzianie :* Lasowian dialect ( pl, gwara lasowska) The Goral dialects (the colloquial name for the many dialects spoken by Gorals) which include mainly: :* Orawa dialect ( pl, gwara orawska) :* Spisz dialect ( pl, gwara spiska) :* Podhale dialect ( pl, gwara podhalańska) :* Żywiec dialect ( pl, gwary żywieckie)


Silesian dialect

Silesian ( pl, język śląski, dialekt śląski), derived from the language of the Slavic tribe called,
Ślężanie The Silesians ( pl, Ślężanie) were a tribe of West Slavs, specifically of the Lechitic/ Polish group, inhabiting territories of Lower Silesia, near Ślęża mountain and Ślęza river, on both banks of the Oder, up to the area of modern city ...
, in modern times spoken in the regions of
Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...
. The United States Immigration Commission in its "Dictionary of races or peoples" published in 1911 counted Silesian as one of the dialects of Polish. :*
Cieszyn Silesian dialect The Cieszyn Silesian dialect or Teschen Silesian dialect (Cieszyn Silesian: ''cieszyńsko rzecz''; pl, gwara cieszyńska or '; cs, těšínské nářečí; Silesian: ''ćeszyński djalekt'') is one of the Silesian dialects. It has its roots ...
:* Niemodlin Silesian dialect :*Gliwice Silesian dialect :*Jabłonków Silesian dialect :*Kluczbork Silesian dialect :*Prudnik Silesian dialect :*Opole Silesian dialect :* Sulkovian Silesian dialect Those who regard Silesian as a separate language tend to include the
Lach dialects The Lach dialects, also known as Lachian dialects ( cs, lašská nářečí, laština, pl, gwary laskie), are a group of West Slavic dialects that form a transition between the Polish and Czech language. They are spoken in parts of Czech Siles ...
( pl, gwary laskie) of the Czech Republic as part of this language. However, the standard linguistic sources on Slavic languages normally describe them as dialects of the
Czech language Czech (; Czech ), historically also Bohemian (; ''lingua Bohemica'' in Latin), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 10 million people, it serves as the official language of the Czech ...
,or sometimes as transitional Polish–Czech dialects.David Short (1994). "Czech". ''The Slavonic Languages'', edited by
Bernard Comrie Bernard Sterling Comrie, (; born 23 May 1947) is a British-born linguist. Comrie is a specialist in linguistic typology, linguistic universals and on Caucasian languages. Early life and education Comrie was born in Sunderland, England on 23 M ...
and Greville G. Corbett. Routledge. P. 530.


Northern Borderlands dialect

In modern times the dialect is still spoken mainly by the Polish minorities in Lithuania and in northwestern Belarus. :* Wilno dialect ( pl, gwara wileńska)


Southern Borderlands dialect

Often considered a derivative of a mixture of
Old Polish The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the ...
and Old Ruthenian, as was spoken in Red Ruthenia in the Middle Ages. See especially, the ''Lwów dialect'', pl, gwara lwowska.


New mixed dialects

* Northern new mixed dialect * Northwestern new mixed dialect * Southern new mixed dialect


References

{{Language varieties