Range of Silesian on a map of East-Central Europe (marked as G1 and G2, in southern Poland and the eastern Czech Republic).
Distribution area of the Silesian languageA Silesian speaker, recorded in Poland
Silesian,[a] occasionally called Upper Silesian, is the Silesian people's ethnolect[4][5]. Yet, Silesian is also the main first lect of the German minority in Poland.[6][7] The Silesian language, in Polish literature, is classified as belonging to the Lechitic group of languages. It is spoken by part of the popupulation in the historic region of Upper Silesia and among the Upper Silesian diaspora (mainly) in Germany.[8] Its vocabulary was significantly influenced by Central German due to the existence of numerous Silesian German speakers in the area prior to World War II and after.[9] The first mentions of Silesian as a distinct lect date back to the 16th century, and the first literature with Silesian characteristics to the 17th century.[10]
Linguistic distinctiveness of Silesian has long been a topic of discussion among Poland's linguists, especially after all of Upper Silesia was included within the Polish borders, following World War II.[11] Some regard it as one of the four major dialects of Polish,[12][13][14][15] while others classify it as a separate regional language, distinct from Polish.[16][17][18] According to the official data from the 2021 Polish census, about 500 thousand people consider Silesian as their native language.[2] Internationally, Silesian has been fully recognized as a language since 2007, when it was accorded the ISO 639-3 registration code szl.[19]
In April 2024, the Polish Sejm took a significant step by approving a bill that recognizes Silesian as an official regional language in Poland.[11] This recognition, if accepted by the Senate and signed by the president, would allow for the inclusion of Silesian in school curricula and its use within local administration in municipalities.[11] President Andrzej Duda vetoed the bill on 29 May 2024.[20]
^Niemcy w województwie opolskim w 2010 roku. Pytania i odpowiedzi. Badania socjologiczne członków Towarzystwa Społeczno-Kulturalnego Niemców na Śląsku Opolskim. Projekt zrealizowano na zlecenie Uniwersytetu Osaka w Japonii [Germans in Opole Province in 2010: Questions and Answers: The Sociological Poll Research on the Members of the Social-Cultural Society of Germans in Opole Silesia: The Project Was Carried Out on Behalf of Osaka University, Japan]. Opole and Gliwice: Dom Współpracy Polsko-Niemieckiej [House of Polish–German Cooperation], 2011.
^Ethnic Cleansing in Silesia 1950-89 and the Ennationalizing Policies of Poland and Germany (pp. 51–74). Patterns of Prejudice. Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 70-71.
^Tomasz Kamusella. 2013. The Silesian Language in the Early 21st Century: A Speech Community on the Rollercoaster of Politics (pp 1–35). Die Welt der Slaven. Vol 58, No 1.
^"Najstarszy zabytek śląskiej literatury? (Część 1)". Wachtyrz.eu (in Polish). 18 August 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2023. Najstarsze dokumenty będące świadectwem wyodrębniania się dialektów śląskich w oddzielną grupę pochodzą z XVI w. Należą do nich m. in. list Ambrożego Szklorza z Olesna opublikowany przez Władysława Nehringa (Nehring 1902 [1]) i rachunek ślusarza Matysa Hady opublikowany przez Leona Derlicha i Andrzeja Siuduta (Derlich, Siudut 1957). Są to jednak zabytki piśmiennictwa, a nie literatury – początków tej drugiej można się doszukiwać na Śląsku w najlepszym razie dopiero w wieku XVII.
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