Editing Pomeranian language (section)

== Assessment ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2022}}
The classification of the Pomeranian [[ethnolect]] is problematic. It was classified by [[Aleksander Brückner]] as one of the Old [[Polish language|Polish]] dialects. At the same time, he classified the extant Kashubian and [[Slovincian language|Slovincian]] dialects as belonging to the Modern Polish language. Other linguists relate the Pomeranian language to the [[Polabian language|Polabian]] group of dialects (forming the Pomeranian-Polabian group).

After Slovincian and all the Pomeranian dialects (except Kashubian) became extinct, the Kashubian language is the term most often used in relation to the language spoken by the [[Pomeranians (Slavic tribe)|Pomeranians]]. However, it is still not clear from where the words "Kashubians" and "Kashubian" ({{langx|pl|Kaszubi}} and {{lang|pl|Kaszubski}}, {{langx|csb|Kaszëbi}} and {{lang|csb|kaszëbsczi}}) originated and how they were brought from the area near [[Koszalin]] to Pomerelia. None of the theories proposed has been widely accepted so far. There is also no indication that Pomeranians wandered from the area of Koszalin to Pomerelia.

While [[Western Pomerania]] was being Germanized, the Germans (both colonizers and Germanized descendants of [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] Pomeranians) started using the words "Pomeranian" ({{langx|de|Pommersch}}; {{langx|pl|pomorski|links=no}}) and "Pomeranians" ({{langx|de|Pommern|nocat=y}}; {{langx|pl|Pomorzacy|nocat=y}}) referring to their own population. The part of the Pomeranian population which kept their Slavic language was called the Wends ({{langx|de|Wenden|nocat=y}}) or the Kashubians ({{langx|de|Kaschuben|nocat=y}}). As the West lost its Slavic character, those two terms were more often used in the East. In 1850, in the preface to his Kashubian-Russian dictionary, [[Florian Ceynowa]] wrote about the language of Baltic Slavic peoples: "Usually it is called the 'Kashubian language', although the 'Pomeranian-Slovenian dialect' would be a more proper term."

The word dialect was probably used by Ceynowa because he was a follower of [[Pan-Slavism]], according to which all the [[Slavic languages]] were dialects of one Slavic language. In his later works, though, he called his language {{lang|pl|kaszébsko-słovjinsko móva}}.

In 1893, [[Stefan Ramułt]], the [[Jagiellonian University]] linguist, referred to the early history of Pomerania, publishing the ''Dictionary of the Pomoranian i.e. Kashubian Language''. In the preface, Ramułt wrote:

: As Kashubians are the direct descendants of Pomeranians, it is right to use the words Pomeranian and Kashubian as synonyms. Especially as there are other reasons for it as well...

and

: Kashubians and Slavs are what remains of the once powerful Pomeranian tribe and they are the only inheritors of the name Pomeranians.

Friedrich Lorentz (the author of ''Pomeranian Grammar'' and ''The History of Pomeranian/Kashubian Language'') referred in his works to Ramułt's dictionary. After Lorentz died, [[Friedhelm Hinze]] published a Pomeranian dictionary in five volumes ({{lang|de|Pomoranisches Wörterbuch}}), which was based on Lorentz's writing.

=== Modern status of Kashubian ===
The Pomeranian language, and its only surviving form, Kashubian, traditionally have not been recognized by the majority of Polish linguists, and have been treated in Poland as "the most distinct dialect of Polish". However, there have also been some Polish linguists who treated Pomeranian as a separate language. The most prominent of them were [[Stefan Ramułt]], and [[Alfred Majewicz]], who overtly called Kashubian a language in the 1980s.

Following the collapse of [[communism in Poland]], attitudes on the status of Kashubian have been gradually changing.<ref>{{Cite web|title=whatamieating.com – Kashubian|url=http://www.whatamieating.com/Kashubian.htm|access-date=2021-05-17|website=www.whatamieating.com}}</ref> It is increasingly seen as a fully-fledged language, as it is taught in state schools and has some limited usage on public radio and television.<ref>{{Cite web|title=whatamieating.com – Kashubian|url=http://www.whatamieating.com/Kashubian.htm|access-date=2021-05-17|website=www.whatamieating.com}}</ref> A bill passed by the [[Sejm|Polish parliament]] in 2005 recognizes it as a [[regional language]] in the [[Republic of Poland]] and provides for its use in official contexts in 10 communes where its speakers constitute at least 20% of the population.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}