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Silesian


 
 


Silesian or Upper Silesian (Silesian: Slunsko godka, ) is an ethnic languageLanguage

A language is a system of s, such as voice sounds, gestures or written symbols that encode or decode information....
 of SilesiaSilesia Summary

Silesia is a historical region in central Europe....
. The ISO 639-3ISO 639-3

ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes....
 language code is szl.

Distribution

Silesian speakers currently live in the region of Upper SilesiaUpper Silesia

Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of Silesia, a historical and geographical region of Poland and of the Czech Republic....
, which is split between southwestern PolandPoland Overview

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country located in Central Europe....
 and the northeastern Czech RepublicCzech Republic

The Czech Republic , a member state of the European Union , is a landlocked country in Central Europe....
. At present Silesian is commonly spoken in the area between historical border of Silesia on the east, and a line from SycówSyców

Syc?w [] is a town in Olesnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland....
 to PrudnikFacts About Prudnik

Prudnik is a town in the South-Western Poland with 24,000 inhabitants located Southern part of Opole Voivodeship....
 on the west, as well as in the RawiczRawicz

Rawicz is a town in central Poland with 21,398 inhabitants....
 area. Until 1945 Silesian was also spoken in enclaves in Lower SilesiaLower Silesia

Lower Silesia is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of 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)Polish census of 2002

Polish census of 2002 was a census in Poland taken from 21 May to 8 June 2002....
, about 60,000 people declared Silesian as their native tongueFirst language

A person's first language, native language or mother tongue is the language that was learned first by the person...
, and over 173,000 people declared Silesian nationalitySilesians

Silesians are the West Slavic inhabitants of Silesia....
. However, the total number of Silesian speakers exceeds two million. There are also about 100,000 Silesian speakers living in the Czech Republic; Cieszyn Silesian is also commonly spoken in the Polish part of Cieszyn SilesiaCieszyn Silesia

Cieszyn Silesia is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, between the Vistula and Oder rivers....
. 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 its 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 Silesian language was recognized by an ISOInternational Organization for Standardization

The International Organization for Standardization is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives fr...
 Joint Advisory Committee, Library of CongressLibrary of Congress

The Library of Congress is the de facto national library of the United States and the research arm of the United States ...
, International Information Centre for Terminology and SIL InternationalSIL International

SIL International is a worldwide non-profit evangelical Christian organization whose main purpose is to study, develop and d...
. Language was attributed ISOInternational Organization for Standardization

The International Organization for Standardization is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives fr...
 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, was officially started.

On 30 June 2008, in the edifice of the Silesian ParliamentSilesian Parliament

Silesian Parliament or Silesian Sejm was the governing body of the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship, an autonomous voi...
 in KatowiceKatowice

Katowice is a city in Upper Silesia in southern Poland on the Klodnica and Rawa rivers....
, 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"?).

Alphabet

The attempts to codification of Silesian are numerous. One of the most know alphabetAlphabet

An alphabet is a complete standardized set of letters — basic written symbols — each of which roughly repres...
s is Steuer's Silesian alphabetSteuer's Silesian alphabet

Silesian Steuer's alphabet - modified Latin alphabet, developed in the interwar period by doctor Feliks Steuer, the director...
, used by Felix Steuer to write his poems in Silesian. In 2006 the new Silesian alphabet has been proposed. It is widely used on the InternetInternet

The Internet is the worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet ...
 as well as in the Silesian Wikipedia. It consists of 32 ISO 8859-2 (Latin-2) characters:
AA

The letter A is the first letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is a . ...
, BB

The letter B is the second letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is bee . ...
, CC

C or c is a consonant in Esperanto orthography, representing a voiceless postalveolar affricate, and is equivalent to ...
, CC

C or c is a consonant in Esperanto orthography, representing a voiceless postalveolar affricate, and is equivalent to ...
, CC

C or c is a consonant in Esperanto orthography, representing a voiceless postalveolar affricate, and is equivalent to ...
, DD

The letter D is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet. In English, it is pronounced "dee." . ...
, EE

The letter E is the fifth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, FF

The letter F is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, GG

The letter G is the seventh letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is gee . ...
, HH

The letter H is the eighth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, II

The letter I is the ninth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, JJ

J or j is a consonant in Esperanto orthography, representing a voiced postalveolar fricative, and is equivalent to or...
, KK

The letter K is the eleventh letter in the Latin alphabet....
, LL

L or l, described in English as L with stroke, is a letter of the Polish, Kashubian, Sorbian, Lacinka, and Navaj...
, MM

The letter M is the thirteenth letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is em . ...
, NN

The letter N is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, NN

The letter N is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, OO

The letter O is the fifteenth letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is o ....
, PP

The letter P is the sixteenth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, RR

The letter R is the eighteenth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, RR

The letter R is the eighteenth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, SS

S is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, SS Summary

S is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, ŠŠ

The grapheme ', ' is used in various contexts:...
, TT

The letter T is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, preceded by s and followed by u....
, UU

U is also the atomic symbol for Uranium....
, UU

U is also the atomic symbol for Uranium....
, WW

The letter W is the twenty-third letter in the Latin alphabet....
, YY

The letter Y is the twenty-fifth letter in the Latin alphabet....
, ZZ

The letter Z is the twenty-sixth and last letter in the Latin Alphabet....
, ZZ

The letter Z is the twenty-sixth and last letter in the Latin Alphabet....
, ŽŽ

? is:the 25th letter of the Slovenian alphabet, the 30th letter of the Bosnian and Croatian scripts; the 42nd letter of the...



also includes four digraphDigraph (orthography) Overview

A digraph or bigraph is a pair of letters used to write one sound or a combination of sounds that does not correspond ...
s: ChCH

CH can mean:* The 'ch' sound in English, called the Voiceless postalveolar affricate...
 DzDZ

DZ or dz can mean:*Algeria...
, DzDZ

DZ or dz can mean:*Algeria...
,

D? is the seventh letter of the Croatian and Bosnian alphabets, and the Latin forms of Serbian and Macedonian, after D and b...
.

Almost 50% of the Silesian webpages is written in the Polish alphabet adapted to SilesianPolish alphabet for Silesian

Polish alphabet for Silesian is a term used to describe a modification of Polish alphabet especially adapted to the Silesian...
.

Example

"Our Father" in Silesian, Polish and Czech.

Silesian
Uojce naš, kery ježes w nybje,
bydz poswjyncune mjano Twoje.
Prindz krulestwo Twoje,
bydz wola Twoja,
jako we nybje, tak tyž na zymji.
Chlyb naš každodzynny dej num dzisej.


A uodpusc num naše winy,
kej a my uodpušcumy našym winnikum.
A ny wudz nos na pokušyny,
nale zbow nos uode zuygo.
Amyn.


Polish
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,
jak i my odpuszczamy naszym winowajcom.
I nie wódz nas na pokuszenie,
ale zbaw nas ode zlego. Amen.


Czech
Otce náš, jenž jsi na nebesích,
posvet se jméno Tvé
Prijd 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.

Dialects of Silesian language

The Silesian language has many local dialects:
  • Cieszyn Silesian dialectCieszyn Silesian dialect

    Cieszyn Silesian dialect is one of the Silesian dialects of the Polish language with strong Czech and German influences and ...
  • Niemodlin Silesian dialect
  • Gliwice Silesian dialect
  • Jablonków Silesian dialect
  • Kluczbork Silesian dialect
  • Prudnik Silesian dialect
  • Opole Silesian dialect
  • Lach Silesian dialect

Dialect vs language

Opinions are divided between Polish linguistLinguistics Overview

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language....
s as to whether Silesian is a distinct language or another dialect of Polish. The issue can be contentious since some Silesians consider themselves to be a nationality within Poland. Linguists from Poland - example: Jan Niecislaw Baudouin de CourtenayJan Niecislaw Baudouin de Courtenay Overview

Jan Niecislaw Ignacy Baudouin de Courtenay was a Polish linguist and slavist, best known for his theory of the phoneme and ...
 (19th-20th century) Jolanta Tambor, Tomasz Wicherkiewicz, Tomasz Kamusella supports the status of language.

International linguists - example: germanys Reinhold OleschFacts About Reinhold Olesch

Reinhold Olesch was a linguist, Slavic studies Profesor of University of Vienna....
, germanys Gerd Hentschel, american Ewald Osers (1949), american Norman DaviesNorman Davies

Norman Davies is a British historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Poland, Europe and the B...
, czech Óndra LysohorskyOndra Lysohorsky

?ndra Lysohorsky was the pseudonym of Erv?n Goj , a Czech poet of Silesian origin and awareness....
 also supports the status of language or they define as one of Slavic languagesSlavic languages

The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages,...
.

Culture

The Silesian language has recently seen an increased use in culture, for example:
  • TV and radio stations (for example, TV Silesia, Slonsky Radio, Radio Piekary);
  • music groups (for example, HasiokHasiok

    Hasiok - hip hop and rapcore group from Metropolis Katowice, Silesia, Poland....
    , , FEET);
  • theatre (for example, "Polterabend" in Silesian TheatreSilesian Theatre

    Silesian Theatre dedicated to Stanislaw Wyspianski is the largest theatre in Silesia....
    );
  • film (for example, (Holly War), (Sinful Life of Franciszek Bula));
  • books (for example, ).

See also

  • Silesian alphabet
  • Lower Silesian language
  • Wymysorys
  • Silesiana

External links