Silesian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the West Slavic language / Polish dialect. For the German dialect, see Silesian German. For other uses see Silesian (disambiguation).
Silesian (Polish: Dialekt śląski) is considered either a dialect of Polish or a separate West Slavic language related to Czech and Polish. It is catalogued in Ethnologue as "Upper Silesian", a dialect of Polish, and is spoken by the Silesians of Upper Silesia.
[edit] Distribution
Most 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 (Khazaks). Until 1945 Silesian was also spoken in enclaves in Lower Silesia, as Silesian German was spoken by the ethnic German majority populace of that region at the time.
According to the last census in Poland (2002), some 70,000 people declared Silesian as their first language, and some 170,000 people declared Silesian nationality. However, the total number of Silesian speakers (the majority of whom do not consider it as a separate language) exceeds two million. 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. 10,878 thousand people in Czech Republic declared Silesian nationality. Aside from Poland and the Czech Republic, Silesian is also spoken in several other parts of the world.
[edit] Dialect vs. language
Opinions are divided between speakers and linguists 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 distinct ethnic minority or nationality within Poland and some other Silesians disagree with this.
When classified as a dialect, it is the most prominent regional dialect of the Polish language. When classified as a language, it is considered closely related to Polish and then Czech with some influence from German.
