Languages of Poland

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Languages of Poland
OfficialPolish
RegionalKashubian (108,000); German (96,000); Belarusian (26,000); Hungarian (1,000); Ruthenian (6,000); Lithuanian (5,000); Slovak (1,000); Czech (1,000);
Dispersed: Romani (14,000); Armenian (2,000)
ImmigrantRussian (20,000), Ukrainian (25,000), Vietnamese (3,000), Greek (2,000), Chinese (1,000), Bulgarian (1,000), Turkish (1,000), Hindi (1,000) and others[1]
ForeignEnglish (33%)[2]
Russian (26%)
German (19%)
SignedPolish Sign Language
Signed Polish
Sourceebs_243_en.pdf (europa.eu)

The Languages of Poland include Polish – the language of the indigenous population – and those of immigrants and their descendants. Polish is the only official language recognized by the constitution and the majority of the country's population speak it as a native language or use it for home communication.[3][4] Deaf communities in Poland use Polish Sign Language, which belongs to the German family of Sign Languages.

Languages other than polish which have existed in the region for at least 100 years can gain recognition as regional or minority languages, which have appropriate rules of use.[5] In areas where the speakers of these languages make up more than 20% of the population the language can have the status of an auxiliary language, while Polish remains the official language.[6]

According to the Act of 6 January 2005 on national and ethnic minorities and on the regional languages,[7] 16 other languages have been recognized as minority languages: 1 regional language, 10 languages belonging to 9 national minorities (minorities from another sovereign state) and 5 languages belonging to 4 ethnic minorities (minorities that do not belong to another sovereign state). Jewish and Romani minorities each have 2 recognized minority languages.

Languages used in households[]

Language used in households by population as of 2011.[8]

Languages with the status of national minority's language[]

Languages with the status of ethnic minority's language[]

Official recognition gives the representatives of the minority – under certain conditions – the right to: education in their language, having their language established as a secondary administrative language or help language in their municipality, financial support in the promotion of their language and culture, etc.

Languages with the status of regional language[]

Languages with auxiliary language status[]

The bilingual status of gminas (municipalities) in Poland is regulated by the Act of 6 January 2005 on National and Ethnic Minorities and on the Regional Languages, which permits certain gminas with significant linguistic minorities to introduce a second, auxiliary language to be used in official contexts alongside Polish. The following is a list of languages by the number of gminas that have them as auxiliary languages.[10]

Languages exercising bilingual settlement naming rights[]

A settlement can use any officially recognised, regional, or minority languages in their name. Currently[when?] only 5 settlements have exercised this power. The following is a list of languages by their use in settlements dual language names.

Languages of new diasporas and immigrant communities[]

These languages are not recognised as minority languages, as the Act of 2005 defines minority as "a group of Polish citizens (...) striving to preserve its language, culture or tradition, (...) whose ancestors have been living on the present territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 100 years":

  • Greek - language of the Greek diaspora in Poland of 1950s.
  • Vietnamese - the biggest immigrant community in Poland, since the 1960s, having their own newspapers, schools, churches etc.

Sign languages[]

The Polish Sign Language is the language of the deaf community in Poland. It descends from German Sign Language. Its lexicon and grammar are distinct from the Polish language, although there is a manually coded version of Polish known as System Językowo-Migowy (SJM, or Signed Polish), which is often used by interpreters on television and by teachers in schools. In 2012, under the "Sign Language Act", the language received official status and can be chosen as the language of instruction by those who require it.[11]

Unrecognised regional languages[]

  • Silesian - there is dispute whether the language is one of the four major dialects of Polish,[12][13][14][15] while others classify it as a separate language, distinct from Polish.[16][17][circular reference][18][19][20] Ethnologue distinguishes Silesian language from Upper Silesian dialect of Polish language. There are efforts by some Silesian groups advocating for legal recognition to be granted (similar to that of Kashubian) and the topic is considered a political issue.
  • Wymysorys - is an endangered language with very few speakers, native to Wilamowice, but unlike the similarly endangered Karaim language, it was practically unknown during the preparation of the aforementioned Act.

Dead and artificial languages[]

Among languages used in Poland, Ethnologue mentions:[21]

but does not mention two other known defunct languages:

  • Slovincian - dialects of Pomeranian, died out in the beginning of the 20th century, closely related to Kashubian,
  • Yatvingian, died around the mid-16th (or maybe end of 19th century).

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Nowak, Lucyna, ed. (2013). Ludność. Stan i struktura demograficzno-społeczna. Narodowy Spis Powszechny Ludności i Mieszkań 2011 (PDF). Główny Urząd Statystyczny. ISBN 978-83-7027-521-1. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  2. ^ "SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 386 Europeans and their Languages" (PDF). ec.europa.eu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-06.
  3. ^ "Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej". www.sejm.gov.pl. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  4. ^ "Ustawa z dnia 6 stycznia 2005 r. O mniejszościach narodowych i etnicznych oraz o języku regionalnym".
  5. ^ "Ustawa z dnia 6 stycznia 2005 r. O mniejszościach narodowych i etnicznych oraz o języku regionalnym".
  6. ^ "Ustawa z dnia 6 stycznia 2005 r. O mniejszościach narodowych i etnicznych oraz o języku regionalnym".
  7. ^ "Act of 6 January 2005 on national and ethnic minorities and on the regional languages" (PDF) – via GUGiK.gov.pl.
  8. ^ Struktura narodowo-etniczna, językowa i wyznaniowa ludności Polski, p. 70, p. 173
  9. ^ According to Ethnologue the following Romani languages are spoken in Poland: Romani Vlax, Romani Carpathian, Romani Sinte, Baltic Romani. See: Ethnologue. Languages of the World, Ethnologue report for Poland
  10. ^ "Map on page of Polish Commission on Standardization of Geographical Names" (PDF). Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  11. ^ AGH (2012-03-23). "Ustawa o języku migowym wchodzi w życie!" (in Polish). agh.edu.pl. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
  12. ^ Gwara Śląska – świadectwo kultury, narzędzie komunikacji. Jolanta Tambor (eds.); Aldona Skudrzykowa. Katowice: „Śląsk". 2002. ISBN 83-7164-314-4. OCLC 830518005.CS1 maint: others (link)
  13. ^ „Słownik gwar Śląskich". Opole, Bogusław Wyderka (eds.)
  14. ^ „Dialekt śląski" author: Feliks Pluta, publication: Wczoraj, Dzisiaj, Jutro. – 1996, no 1/4, pp 5–19
  15. ^ „Fenomen śląskiej gwary" author: Jan Miodek publication: Śląsk. – 1996, no 5, pp 52
  16. ^ Norman Davies, Europe: A History, Oxford 1996 pp 1233
  17. ^ Wikipedia:SDU/Kategoria:Śląska Wikipedia (2008) {Discussion on the inclusion of Silesian-language articles in the Polish Wikipedia. Main Opinion: Not, because Silesian is a separate language in its own right}
  18. ^ Ekspertyza naukowa dra Tomasza Wicherkiewicza
  19. ^ Ekspertyza naukowa dra Tomasza Kamuselli
  20. ^ Jolanta Tambor. Opinia merytoryczna na temat poselskiego projektu ustawy o zmianie Ustawy o mniejszościach narodowych i etnicznych oraz o języku regionalnym, a także niektórych innych ustaw, Warszawa 3 maja 2011 r.
  21. ^ Ethnologue. Languages of the World, Ethnologue report for Poland

External links[]

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