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Silesian
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Silesian or Upper Silesian (Silesian: Slunsko godka, , ) is a Slavic language or dialect spoken in the region of Silesia. The ISO 639-3 language code is szl.
Distribution
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 historical border of Silesia on the east, and a line from Syców to Prudnik on the west, as well as in the Rawicz area.
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Encyclopedia
Silesian or Upper Silesian (Silesian: Slunsko godka, , ) is a Slavic language or dialect spoken in the region of Silesia. The ISO 639-3 language code is szl.
Distribution
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 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, as Lower Silesian language was spoken by the ethnic German majority populace of that region at the time.
According to the last official census in Poland (2002), about 60,000 people declared Silesian as their native tongue, and over 173,000 people declared Silesian nationality. There are also about 100,000 Silesian (Cieszyn Silesian) speakers living in the Czech Republic; Cieszyn Silesian is also commonly spoken in the Polish part of Cieszyn Silesia. Speakers of Cieszyn Silesian dialect usually identify themselves on the nationality level as Poles. According to the last official census in Czech Republic, 10,878 people in declared Silesian nationality.
The recognition of Silesian
In 2003, the National Publishing Company of Silesia (Narodowa Oficyna Slaska) commenced operations. This publisher was started by the Alliance of People of the Silesian Nation (Zwiazek Ludnosci Narodowosci Slaskiej) and it prints books about Silesia and books in Silesian language.
In July 2007, the Slavic Silesian language was recognized by an ISO Joint Advisory Committee, Library of Congress, International Information Centre for Terminology and SIL International. Language was attributed ISO code: SZL.
On 6 September 2007, 23 politicians of the Polish parliament notified about a project of a new law to give the Silesian language the official status of a regional language.
The first official National Dictation contest of the Silesian language (Ogólnopolskie Dyktando Jezyka Slaskiego) took place in August 2007.
On 30 January 2008 and in June 2008, two organizations promoting Silesian language were started: Pro Loquela Silesiana and "Tôwarzistwo Piastowaniô Slónskij Môwy "Danga".
On 26 May 2008, Silesian Wikipedia was officially started.
On 30 June 2008 in the edifice of the Silesian Parliament in Katowice, a conference took place on the status of 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 - a dialect or however already a language?" ("Slasko godka - jeszcze gwara czy jednak juz jezyk"?).
Writing
Steuer's Silesian alphabet
The attempts at codification of Silesian are numerous. One of the first alphabets created specifically for Silesian was Steuer's Silesian alphabet, used by Feliks Steuer to write his poems in Silesian.
The alphabet consists of 30 graphemes and eight digraphs.
Letters: A, B, C, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, L, M, N, N, O, P, R, S, S, T, U, U, W, Y, Z, Z, Z
Digraphs: Au, Ch, Cz, Dz, Dz, Dz, Rz, Sz
Tadzikowy muster
This alphabet came into being in the '1990s. It was created by Ted Jeczalik (Tadzik Jeczalik, Tadeusz Jaczalik) from the USA (one of jurors of National Dictation contest of the Silesian language / Ogólnopolskie Dyktando Jezyka Slaskiego). This alphabet is based on the standard Latin alphabet/English alphabet (compatible with ISO) and consists of 26 graphemes and 15 digraphs. Instead of special diacritics, an apostrophe after a letter is used.
Phonetic Silesian alphabet
In 2006 a new Silesian alphabet was proposed. It consists of 32 graphemes and four digraphs.
Letters: A, B, C, C, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, N, O, P, R, R, S, S, Š, T, U, U, W, Y, Z, Z, Ž
Digraphs: Ch, Dz, Dz, Dž.
Polish alphabet for Silesian
Silesian is also written in an adaptation of the Polish alphabet. It contains 30 graphemes and 7 digraphs.
Letters: A, B, C, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, L, M, N, N, O, Ó, P, R, S, S, T, U, W, Y, Z, Z, Z
Digraphs: Ch, Cz, Dz, Dz, Dz, Rz, Sz
It is widely used, as Silesians in Poland are taught in Polish schools and they know only the Polish way of writing. This method is used in approximately half of Silesian-language web pages and books.
Writing in this alphabet is rather problematic, since there are many ways to write one sound, e.g. z ([?]) from the "phonetic alphabet" used inter alia on the Silesian Wikipedia can be written as z or zi, but zi in the phonetic script stands for [zi]. There's also the risk of losing the characteristic Silesian pronunciation - there is not one method of writing u ([o]) - the word Slunsk can be written as Slonsk, Slónsk, Slunsk and even Slask (despite there are no phonemic nasal vowels in Silesian).
The same thing is with the diphtong uo ([w?]). According to the Polish orthography it must be transcribed as lo, which is incorrect, because it destroys the rule that "l" comes from a velarized l. The alphabet is criticised by supporters of radical writings.
Example
The Lord's Prayer in Silesian, Polish and Czech.
| Silesian | Polish | Czech |
|---|
- Uojcze nasz, kery jezes we nebje,
- bydz poswjyncune mjano Twoje.
- Przindz krulestwo Twoje,
- bydz wola Twoja,
- jako we nebje, tak tyz na zymji.
- Chlyb nasz kozdodzynny dej num dzisej.
- A uodpusc num nasze winy,
- jako a my uodpuszczumy naszym winnikum.
- A ny wudz nos na pokuszyny,
- nale zbow nos uode zlygo.
- Amyn.
| Ojcze nasz, którys jest w niebie,swiec sie imie Twoje,przyjdz królestwo Twoje,badz wola Twoja jako w niebie tak i na ziemi.Chleba naszego powszedniego daj nam dzisiaj.
- I odpusc nam nasze winy,
- jako i my odpuszczamy naszym winowajcom.
- I nie wódz nas na pokuszenie,
- ale zbaw nas ode zlego. Amen.
| Otce náš, jenž jsi na nebesích,posvet se jméno TvéPrijd království Tvé.Bud vule Tvá, jako v nebi, tak i na zemi.Chléb náš vezdejší dej nám dnes
- A odpust nám naše viny,
- jako i my odpouštíme naším viníkum
- a neuved nás v pokušení,
- ale zbav nás od zlého. Amen.
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Dialects of Silesian language
The Silesian language has many local dialects:
Dialect vs language
Opinions are divided between Polish linguists whether Silesian is a distinct language or simply another dialect of Polish. The issue can be contentious as some Silesians consider themselves to be a nationality within Poland. Linguists from Poland, for example; Jan Niecislaw Baudouin de Courtenay (19th-20th century) Jolanta Tambor, Tomasz Wicherkiewicz and Tomasz Kamusella support its status as a language.
International linguists and other scientists such as Reinhold Olesch from Germany, Ewald Osers (1949) and Norman Davies from United Kingdom, Czech Óndra Lysohorsky also support the status of Silesian as a Slavic language.
Gerd Hentschel from Germany dissents. He wrote "(...) ohne Zweifel als Dialekt des Polnischen beschrieben werden" (engl.: is without doubt a dialect of Polish.).
Culture
The Silesian language has recently seen an increased use in culture, for example:
- TV and radio stations (for example: TV Silesia, Sfera TV, Slonsky Radio, Radio Piekary);
- music groups (for example: Hasiok, Dohtor Miód, FEET);
- theatre (for example: "Polterabend" in Silesian Theatre);
- film (for example: Grzeszny zywot Franciszka Buly (Sinful Life of Franciszek Bula));
- books (for example: Silesian Bible).
Curiosity
Book of Henryków (1270) is earliest document to include a sentence written in the Silesian language, though it be also recognised for Polish language and Czech language
See also
External links
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