Polish Learning Community and Resources

When I ask foreigners what surprises them about Poland, quite often I hear that they are shocked how homogenous the country is. Indeed, according to various sources a whopping 98% of the country’s population declares Polish national identity. As you can imagine, most, if not all, of the people who identify as Polish, speak Polish as their first language. The fact that the country is so homogeneous is reflected in a relatively low dialectal variety – yet another thing that shocks foreigners who come from countries where even the smallest towns have their distinct dialects. However, very few foreigners seem to know, that besides the national language and the languages of immigrants and minorities, Poland is home to three other languages not spoken elsewhere. 

Kashubian 

"Kashubian notes" - an illustrated prompt for a popular folk song [Source: Wikimedia Commons]

The only regional language recognised by the Polish government (in 2005) is Kashubian (język kaszubski or, in Kashubian, kaszëbsczi jãzëk). It is spoken in Pomorze (Pomerania) in the central North of Poland by around 108,000 people. Its status as a regional language allows its use in public institutions, it can be learned at schools, students can take exams in Kashubian and, in recent years, University of Gdansk has opened a course in Kashubian philology. 

Kashubian has distinct phonology, and although its grammar sometimes resembles that of Polish, both languages are mutually unintelligible, and to a Polish ear it sounds... well... foreign! But of course, some linguists are still debating whether it should be considered to be a dialect of Polish or a separate language. There’s a rich folk literature in the Kashubian language but despite being the only regional language with a special status, its presence in the media (for instance, Kashubian TV or radio) is rather limited, however, many towns use bilingual signs, which adds some exoticism to Pomeranian towns. 

As a side note – Kashubia region has very interesting culture, rich history and has lots of fascinating sites – both historical as well as natural, to visit. If you have some time, it’s definitely a must-go! 

Silesian 

A sign in Silesian: "Help us save our mothertongue" [Source: Wikimedia Commons]

The best known example of a regional language is Silesian (język śląski or, in Silesian, ślōnskŏ gŏdka or ślůnsko godka), spoken in southwestern Poland by almost 530,000 people. The status of Silesian is quite problematic and very often it is considered to be more of a political than a linguistic question. Many Polish linguists refuse to classify Silesian as a language in its own right and prefer to call it a dialect or an “ethnolect” (whatever that means), and that’s why it hasn’t received the status of a regional language. The facts are, however, that Silesian has its distinct history of language development (different and separate from Polish), it has its own dialectal variation and, even though it seems to resemble Polish more than Kashubian, it can, very often, be incomprehensible. Moreover, almost 810,000 people declare “Silesian” to be their national identity (not recognized by the government). Silesians are very proud of their language and culture and there are numerous groups promoting its usage. Silesian language is part of Internet culture – there are several pages where you can find memes in Silesian and, in general, it seems to be more present in the Polish consciousness. There are several websites (including news), YouTube channels and blogs that publish in Silesian, several films and theatre plays. If you’re brave enough, you may even set the language of Facebook to Silesian (the only Polish regional language to have this option)! 

Vilamovian 

Bilingual sign in Vilamovian (top) and Polish (bottom) "Welcome to the town of Wilamowice" [Source: Wikimedia Commons]

Finally, a language that even many Poles aren’t aware of – Vilamovian (język wilamowicki or, in Vilamovian – Wymysiöeryś) spoken in the South of Poland, in the small town of Wilamowice. Unlike the previous two – this language is unrelated to Polish. It has been brought to this region in 13th century by German and Flemish settlers, therefore it’s completely incomprehensible to the speakers of Polish but those who know German or Frisian may catch some familiar sounds. Vilamovian is now severely endangered with only around 20 native speakers – all elderly, and few dozens people who learned it as a second language (data from 2006 say there were around 70 total speakers). It is estimated that about 350 people have some passive knowledge of the language. Recently there have been some efforts to document and revive this language, since almost no one in the young generation was interested in learning Vilamovian, as it isn’t spoken outside of the small town. Despite various revitalisation efforts, Vilamovian remains unrecognised as a regional language by the government of Poland. Thanks to the interest in the language revival, some bilingual signs have been installed in Wilamowice and more young people gained some interest in learning the language of their ancestors. Wymysiöeryś, however, remains endangered and its future is in the hands of the young generation. 

I hope you’ve learned something new thanks to this short article. Now feel free to continue your research, Wikipedia (particularly Polish Wikipedia) has some good articles about these languages. On this Wikipedia page you can learn what other languages are spoken in Poland. If you’re curious about more details regarding these languages visit Omniglot.com, you can find there some basic facts regarding these languages – their alphabet, language samples and links with resources, here are the subpages for Kashubian, Silesian and Vilamovian. Head to the forums and tell us what you think – is the language situation similar or very different from your country? Do you want to know more but aren’t sure where to find information? Feel free to start a new thread where I can answer your questions.