Editing Wymysorys language (section)

== History ==
[[File:Bielsko-Biała Language Island.png|alt=Map of the Bielsko-Biała German language island before WW2|left|thumb|Bielsko-Biała German language island before WW2 (blue line), with some possible [[Walddeutsche]] settlements from the Middle Ages and later.]]

In origin, Wymysorys is considered to derive from 12th-century [[Middle High German]], with a strong influence from [[Polish language|Polish]], and presumably also some influence from [[Low German]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Old English]] and perhaps [[Frisian languages|Frisian]].<ref name="ELOW" /><ref>{{cite thesis |last=Ritchie |first=Carlo J. W. |title=Some Considerations on the Origins of Wymysorys |date=November 2012 |degree=BA |publisher=[[University of Sydney]] |url=https://www.academia.edu/8290384}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Andrason |first=Alexander |title=Zarys gramatyczny współczesnego języka wilamowskiego |url=http://www.malopolska.org/images/pliki/roczniki/rm_16_2014/rm_16_2014_p09.pdf |language=pl |trans-title=A grammatical outline of the contemporary Wymysorys language |journal=[[Małopolska]] |year=2014 |volume=16 |pages=119–135}}</ref> The inhabitants of Wilamowice are thought to be descendants of [[Kingdom of Germany|German]], [[Flanders|Flemish]] and Scottish settlers who arrived in Poland during the 13th century.<ref>{{citation |date=12 June 2014 |title=Język wilamowski pomoże zachować mowę Azteków |language=pl |trans-title=The Wymysorys language will help preserve the speech of the Aztecs |publisher=[[Polskie Radio]] |url=https://www.polskieradio.pl/7/179/Artykul/1150127,Jezyk-wilamowski-pomoze-zachowac-mowe-Aztekow |access-date=}}</ref> Many of the inhabitants claim that they are descended from the people of Flanders, Friesland, and Holland, with others claiming to be descended from the [[Anglo-Saxons]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Andrason |first1=Alexander |last2=Król |first2=Tymoteusz |title=A Grammar of Wymysorys |url=https://slaviccenters.duke.edu/sites/slaviccenters.duke.edu/files/wymysorys-grammar.original.pdf |year=2016 |publisher=[[Duke University]] |department=Slavic and East European Resource Center |publication-place=[[Durham, North Carolina]]}}</ref> Although historically derived from the [[German dialects|German dialect continuum]], Wymysorys is not [[mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] with Standard German.<ref name="Wicherkiewicz">Wicherkiewicz, op. cit.</ref>{{rp|p=15}} Unlike in other West Germanic enclave communities in Polish-speaking territory, where closely related dialects (e.g. [[Halcnovian]]) were spoken, Wymysorys speakers did not self-identify as Germans and used Polish, not German, as ''[[Dachsprache]]''.<ref name=Metrak>{{Cite book|last=Mętrak|first=Maciej|date=2019|chapter=Wymysorys (Vilamovicean) and Halcnovian: Historical and Present-Day Sociolinguistic Situation of Microlanguages in a Southern-Polish Language Island|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/37917808|editor1=Rezoničnik, Lidija|editor2=Zavašnik, Nina|title=Slovani od preloma 19. in 20. stoletja do danes: jezikovne, zgodovinsko-politične spremembe in književni doprinos (The Slavs from the Turn of 19th and 20th Centuries Until Now: Linguistic, Historical and Political Changes and Literature)|url=http://www.dlib.si/stream/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-L5NNZ633/44e3ea47-c1fa-4945-afd8-3f991facf951/PDF|location=Ljubljana|publisher=Zveza društev Slavistično društvo Slovenije (Študentska sekcija)|language=en|pages=7–19}}</ref>{{rp|12}}
[[File:Bielitz-Bialaer Sprachinsel 1855.jpg|alt=Map showing Wymysorys in 1855|thumb|Wymysorys on a map from 1855]]
Wymysorys was the [[vernacular]] language of Wilamowice until [[World War II]]. However, it seems it has been in decline since the late 19th century. In 1880 as many as 92% of the town's inhabitants spoke Wymysorys (1,525 out of 1,662 people), in 1890 – only 72%, in 1900 – 67%, in 1910 – 73% again.<ref name="Wicherkiewicz"/>{{rp|p=10}} Although Wymysorys was taught in local schools (under the name of "local variety of German"), since 1875 the basic language of instruction in most schools in Austro-Hungarian [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] was Polish.<ref name="Wicherkiewicz"/>{{rp|p=10}} During [[World War II]] and the [[History of Poland (1939–1945)|German occupation of Poland]], Wymysorys was openly promoted by the Nazi administration, but after the war the tables turned: local [[communism|communist]] authorities forbade the use of Wymysorys in any form.<ref name="Wicherkiewicz"/>{{rp|p=10}}<ref>{{citation |last=Żak |first=Andrzej |title=Wpływ języka polskiego na zagrożony wymarciem wilamowski etnolekt wymysiöeryś |language=pl |trans-title=The influence of the Polish language on the endangered Wymysorys ethnolect wymysiöeryś |page=3 |url=http://inne-jezyki.amu.edu.pl/Editor/files/AZak%20wymysioerys.pdf |access-date=}}</ref> The widespread bilingualism of the people saved most local residents from being [[flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II|forcibly resettled]] to Germany, but many of them stopped teaching their children their language or even using it in daily life.<ref name="Wicherkiewicz"/>{{rp|p=12}} Although the ban was lifted after 1956, Wymysorys has been gradually replaced by Polish, especially among the younger generation. Most of the inhabitants have the same surnames (Mozler, Rozner, Figwer, Biba, Foks, Sznajder), which led to the use of nicknames (Fliöer-Fliöer, Hȧla-Mockja, i.e. Florian, son of Florian or Maciej, son of Elżbieta).

Nowadays, as part of saving the Wymysorys culture, new songs and lyrics are written in this language. The play {{lang|wym|Hobbit. Hejn ȧn cyryk}} was written in Wymysorys, based on the prose of [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], and was staged, among others, at the [[Polish Theatre in Warsaw]] in February 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.teatrpolski.waw.pl/pl/cykle_i_wydarzenia/wydarzenia/?id_act=539 |title=Cykle i wydarzenia – Wydarzenia – Teatr Polski im. Arnolda Szyfmana w Warszawie |date=26 February 2016 |language=pl |trans-title=Cycles and events – Events – Polish Theatre named after Arnold Szyfman in Warsaw |access-date=23 February 2016}}</ref>
[[File:Bezirk Bielitz Sprachinsel 1910.jpg|alt=Census map from 1910 showing Wilamowice as a German majority|left|thumb|1910 census map identifying Wilamowice as a majority ethnic German settlement.]]
Acting on a proposal by Tymoteusz Król, the [[Library of Congress]] added the Wymysorys language to the register of languages on 18 July 2007.<ref name="Jeszcze">{{cite AV media |last=Golik |first=Darek |year=2010 |title=Wymysiöeryś – jeszcze mowa nie zginęła |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfg3jHV1TzE |trans-title=Wymysiöeryś – the language has not yet perished |publisher=Agencja Fotograficzna Fotorzepa, [[Rzeczpospolita (newspaper)|Rzeczpospolita]] |location=Warsaw |time=7:25 |language=pl}}</ref> It was also registered in the [[International Organization for Standardization]], where it received the ''wym'' [[ISO 639-3]] code.<ref name="ISO639" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.revitalization.al.uw.edu.pl/eng/Wymysorys/63/47/how-i-started-to-revitalize-my-language |title=How I started to revitalize my language |last=Król |first=Tymoteusz |website=Revitalizing Endangered Languages |date=27 January 2014 |access-date=14 August 2016}}</ref> In a 2009 [[UNESCO]] report Wymysorys has been reported as "severely endangered" and nearly extinct.<ref name="Jeszcze"/>

Members of the [[Wikimedia Polska]] association were also involved in saving this dying language. As part of the "Wilamowice" project,<ref>{{citation |title=Wilamowice – Wikimedia Polska|access-date=3 November 2018 |publisher=pl.wikimedia.org |url=https://pl.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wilamowice |language=pl}}</ref> Wymysorys words read by [[Józef Gara]] were recorded, and the Wymysorys dictionary in [[Wiktionary]] was supplemented (in 2018, the dictionary consisted of over 7,000 words).<ref>{{citation |last=Jarosz |first=Monika |title=Świąteczne kolędowanie |language=pl |trans-title=Christmas caroling |date=4 January 2013 |access-date=3 November 2018 |publisher=Website of the Municipal and Communal Cultural Centre in Wilamowice |url=https://mgok.wilamowice.pl/artykul/%C5%9Bwi%C4%85teczne-kol%C4%99dowanie}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Józef Gara nagrodzony przez Wikimedia Polska – Blog Stowarzyszenia Wikimedia Polska |language=pl |trans-title=Józef Gara awarded by Wikimedia Polska – Wikimedia Polska Association Blog |magazine=Wikimedia Polska Association Blog |date=27 December 2012 |access-date=3 November 2018 |url=http://blog.wikimedia.pl/blog/2012/12/27/jozef-gara-nagrodzony-przez-wikimedia-polska/}}</ref>