Silesian language
[13][14][15] 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] Silesian speakers currently live in the region of Upper Silesia, which is split between southwestern Poland and the northeastern Czech Republic.
[24] The Lord's Prayer in Silesian, Polish, Czech, and English: Fatrze nŏsz, kery jeżeś we niebie, bydź poświyncōne miano Twoje.
Przińdź krōlestwo Twoje, bydź wola Twoja, jako we niebie, tak tyż na ziymi.
'[26][27] Some, like Óndra Łysohorsky (a poet and author in Czechoslovakia), saw the Silesians as being their own distinct people, which culminated in his effort to create a literary standard which he called the "Lachian language".
In 2011, Tomasz Kamusella and pl:Andrzej Roczniok published a Silesian-language article on the standardization of the Silesian language.
[38] The German linguist Reinhold Olesch was greatly interested in the "Polish vernaculars" of Upper Silesia and other Slavic varieties such as Kashubian and Polabian.
[44][45] In their respective surveys of Slavic languages, most linguists writing in English, such as Alexander M. Schenker,[46] Robert A. Rothstein,[47] and Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley[48] list Silesian as a dialect of Polish, as does Encyclopædia Britannica.
[49] On the question of whether Silesian is a separate Slavic language, Gerd Hentschel wrote that "Silesian ... can thus ... without doubt be described as a dialect of Polish" ("Das Schlesische ... kann somit ... ohne Zweifel als Dialekt des Polnischen beschrieben werden").
The basic mistake committed by the quoted researchers - J. Miodek, J. Wronicz or A. Markowski - is to adhere to the view that the status of certain linguistic codes can be determined, solely on the basis of facts of intra-linguistic nature: genetic or structural.
Modern linguistics, however, proved as early as the 1960s that there are no intralinguistic criteria that would ‘stand the more serious test of verification’ and unquestionably allow one to separate languages from dialects (Haugen 1980: 169).
This is because it is not intralinguistic properties, but extralinguistic features that have a decisive influence on the final arrangement of linguistic typologies.
"[53] Among the linguists who argue that Silesian is a language, Witold Mańczak wrote that "the defining feature between ethnolects is lexical, not grammatical, convergence".
[56] In Czechia, disagreement exists concerning the Lach dialects which rose to prominence thanks to Óndra Łysohorsky and his translator Ewald Osers.
Ślabikŏrzowy szrajbōnek is the relatively new alphabet created by the Pro Loquela Silesiana organization to reflect the sounds of all Silesian dialects.
Although it is the most phonetically logical, it did not become popular with Silesian organizations, with the argument that it contains too many caron diacritics and hence resembles the Czech alphabet.
[63] Silesian has recently seen an increased use in culture, for example: In 2003, the National Publishing Company of Silesia (Narodowa Oficyna Śląska) commenced operations.
[72] On 6 September 2007, 23 politicians of the Polish parliament made a statement about a new law to give Silesian the official status of a regional language.
[18] The first official National Dictation Contest of the Silesian language (Ogólnopolskie Dyktando Języka Śląskiego) took place in August 2007.
[74][75] On 30 January 2008 and in June 2008, two organizations promoting Silesian language were established: Pro Loquela Silesiana and Tôwarzistwo Piastowaniô Ślónskij Môwy "Danga".
This conference was a forum for politicians, linguists, representatives of interested organizations and persons who deal with the Silesian language.
