Dialects of the Polish language

Polish dialects are regional vernacular 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 subdialectal 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 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, 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 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 times and not found anywhere else among the West Slavic languages.

The two Kresy dialects 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 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) 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 dialect ( pl, gwara krajniacka)
:* Tuchola dialect ( pl, gwara tucholska)
:* Kociewie dialect ( pl, gwara kociewska)
:* Chełmno- Dobrzyń ( pl, gwara chełmińsko-dobrzyńska)
:* Cuyavian dialect ( pl, gwara kujawska)
:* Chojno (Southern Greater Poland) dialect ( pl, gwara chazacka)

Mazovian dialect

Derived from the language of the MazoviansHalina 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 ( 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 dialect ( pl, gwara łowicka)
:* Sieradz-Łęczyca dialect ( pl, gwara sieradzko-łęczycka)
:* Holy Cross Mountains 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 , in modern times spoken in the regions of Upper Silesia. 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
:*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 ( 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,or sometimes as transitional Polish–Czech dialects.David Short (1994). "Czech". ''The Slavonic Languages'', edited by Bernard Comrie 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 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