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).[1][2] They are:
Masovian, spoken throughout the central and eastern parts of the country
Silesian[3][4] 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 became 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.[5]
These varieties have been put at risk of extinction due to historic geopolitical population movements. They are:
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.[6][7][8][9] 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 Ukraine.[citation needed] Both dialect groups have been in decline since World War II as a result of expulsions of millions of Poles from Kresy.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
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 East Slavic velarised L where standard Polish has it already vocalised (/w/) and of elongated vowels.
Silesian
Many linguistic sources relating to the Slavic languages describe Silesian as a dialect of Polish.[1][2] 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.[10] See: Agnieszka Pianka, Alfred F. Majewicz, Tomasz Wicherkiewicz[11][12]) 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.[13][14][15] In 2007, Silesian was assigned its language code szl within the ISO 639-3 standard.
Silesian (Polish: język śląski, dialekt śląski), descended from the language of the Slavic tribe called, Ślężanie,[citation needed] 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.[3][4]
Those who regard Silesian as a separate language tend to include the Lach dialects (Polish: 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,[19][20] or sometimes as transitional Polish–Czech dialects.
^ abRoland Sussex and Paul Cubberley (2006). The Slavic Languages. Cambridge University Press. P. 530.
^ abRobert A. Rothstein (1994). "Polish". The Slavonic Languages, edited by Bernard Comrie and Greville G. Corbett. Routledge. Pp. 754–756.
^ abDillingham, William Paul; Folkmar, Daniel; Folkmar, Elnora (1911). Dictionary of Races or Peoples. United States. Immigration Commission (1907–1910). Washington, D.C.: Washington, Government Printing Office. p. 105.
^ abDillingham, William Paul; Folkmar, Daniel; Folkmar, Elnora (1911). Dictionary of Races or Peoples. Washington, D.C.: Washington, Government Printing Office. p. 128.
^Zofia Kurzowa (2007). Szpiczakowska Monika, Skarżyński Mirosław (ed.). Z przeszłości i teraźniejszości języka polskiego (in Polish). Kraków: Universitas. p. 726. ISBN978-83-242-0691-9.
^Jadwiga Wronicz (March–April 2007). "Pozycja dialektu wobec innych odmian polszczyzny". Język polski (in Polish). LXXXVII (2): 91–96.
^Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley (2006). The Slavic Languages. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 531–532.
^Gerald Stone (1994). "Cassubian". The Slavonic Languages, edited by Bernard Comrie and Greville G. Corbett. Routledge. Pp. 759–794.
^"Silesia and Central European Nationalisms", 2007. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press ISBN978 1 55753 371 5
^[Języki świata i ich klasyfikowanie"] (en: "Languages of the world and their classification"), Polish Scientific Publishers, Warszawa 1989
^"Ekspertyza naukowa dr Tomasza Wicherkiewicza", Language Policy and the Laboratory for Research on Minority, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, 2008
^Stanisław Urbańczyk, ed. (1992). "Dialekt małopolski". Encyklopedia języka polskiego (in Polish) (II ed.). Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków: Ossolineum. p. 60.
^Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley (2006). The Slavic Languages. Cambridge University Press. P. 533.
^David Short (1994). "Czech". The Slavonic Languages, edited by Bernard Comrie and Greville G. Corbett. Routledge. P. 530.
^ abZofia Kurzowa (2007). Szpiczakowska Monika, Skarżyński Mirosław (ed.). Ze studiów nad polszczyzną kresową (in Polish). Kraków: Universitas. p. 518. ISBN978-83-242-0683-4.
^Zofia Kurzowa (2006). Szpiczakowska Monika, Skarżyński Mirosław (ed.). Język polski Wileńszczyzny i kresów północno-wschodnich (in Polish). Kraków: Universitas. ISBN83-242-0738-4.
^ abZofia Kurzowa (2006). Szpiczakowska Monika, Skarżyński Mirosław (ed.). Polszczyzna Lwowa i kresów południowo-wschodnich do 1939 (in Polish). Kraków: UNIVERSITAS. p. 439. ISBN83-242-0656-6.
