Editing Silesian language (section)

== Dialect vs. language ==
[[File:Requiescat ponaszymu.JPG|thumb|[[Monumental inscription|Grave inscription]] at Lutheran cemetery in [[Střítež (Frýdek-Místek District)|Střítež]] near [[Český Těšín]]. The inscription, which says "Rest in Peace", is in the Cieszyn Silesian dialect.]]
[[File:Marsz Równości 2022 Katowice - język śląski.jpg|thumb|The Silesian language in public space: a banner at the 2022 gay [[Pride parade|pride]] in [[Katowice]]. "We want Silesia, where every boy can take a vow to his chosen one in the Silesian language."]]
[[File:Dej pozōr na banka - napis po śląsku (Chorzów).jpg|thumb|The Silesian language in public space: a warning sign "Watch for trams" on the sidewalk in [[Chorzów]]]]
[[File:Gorolski Święto 2019 - alcohol sign.jpg|thumb|Goral Silesian lect and Czech in [[Cieszyn]], Poland. The text notifies readers that people under the age of 18 will not be served alcohol.]]

===Politicization===
Opinions are divided among [[linguistics|linguists]] regarding whether Silesian is a distinct language, a dialect of Polish, or, in the case of [[Lach dialects|Lach]], a variety of Czech. The issue can be contentious, because some Silesians consider themselves to be a distinct nationality within Poland. When Czechs, Poles, and Germans each made claims to substantial parts of Silesia as constituting an integral part of their respective [[nation-state]]s in the 19th and 20th centuries, the language of Slavic-speaking Silesians became politicized.

Slavicist of Upper Silesian extraction, [[:de:Rudolf Abicht|Rudolf Abicht]], who worked at the University of Breslau and proposed an early standardization of the [[Belarusian language]], clearly recognized that standardizing and making Silesian into a language is a socio-political process. In 1920, he expressed his opinion on the subject in an extensive essay on the 'Upper Silesian language question.'<ref>[https://www.sbc.org.pl/dlibra/publication//11147/edition/10317 Rudolf Absicht. 1920. Die oberschlesische Sprachenfrage
im Lichte der Sprachwissenschaft (Part 1) (p. 1). ''Der Oberschlesier'', Vol. 2, No. 34, 21 August.]</ref><ref>[https://www.sbc.org.pl/dlibra/publication/11174/edition/10333/content Rudolf Absicht. 1920. Die oberschlesische Sprachenfrage
im Lichte der Sprachwissenschaft (Part 2) (pp. 2-3). ''Der Oberschlesier'', Vol. 2, No. 36, 4 September.]</ref>

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". Silesian inhabitants supporting the cause of each of these ethnic groups had their own robust network of supporters across Silesia's political borders which shifted over the course of the 20th century prior to the large-scale [[ethnic cleansing]] in the aftermath of [[World War II]].

In 2011, [[Tomasz Kamusella]] and [[:pl:Andrzej Roczniok|Andrzej Roczniok]] published a Silesian-language article on the standardization of the Silesian language.<ref>[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/79116851.pdf T. D. Kamusella & A. Roczniok. 2011. Sztandaryzacyjo ślōnski godki / Standaryzacja języka śląskiego (pp. 288-294). In ''Lingvokul’turnoe prostranstvo sovremennoi Evropy cherez prizmu malykh i bolshikh iazykov. K 70-letiiu professora Aleksandra Dimitrievicha Dulichenko''. ''Slavica Tartuensis'', Vol. 9. Tartu, Estonia: Tartu University.]</ref>

===Views===
Some linguists from Poland, such as Jolanta Tambor,<ref>"''Ekspertyza naukowa prof. UŚ Dr hab. Jolanty Tambor''" (en: "''Scientific expertise by Juan Lajo''"), 2008</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2014}} Juan Lajo,<ref>"''Ekspertyza naukowa pana Juana Lajo''" (en: "''Scientific expertise by Juan Lajo''"), 2008</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2014}} [[Tomasz Wicherkiewicz]],<ref>"''Ekspertyza naukowa dra Tomasza Wicherkiewicza''" (en: "''Scientific expertise by Tomasz Wicherkiewicz''"), 2008</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2014}} philosopher Jerzy Dadaczyński,<ref>"''Ekspertyza naukowa ks. dra hab. Jerzego Dadaczyńskiego''") (en: "''Scientific expertise by Jerzy Dadaczyński''"), 2008</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2014}} sociologist Elżbieta Anna Sekuła,<ref>"''Ekspertyza naukowa dr Elżbiety Anny Sekuły''" (en: "''Scientific expertise by Elżbieta Anna Sekuła''"), 2008</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2014}} and sociolinguist [[Tomasz Kamusella]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Schlonzska mowa – Język, Górny Śląsk i nacjonalizm |trans-title=Silesian speech – language, Upper Silesia and nationalism |author=Tomasz Kamusella |isbn=83-919589-2-2 |language=pl|year=2005 |publisher=Narodowa Oficyna Śląska }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/1351/HEC03-01.pdf?sequence=1 |title=The Szlonzoks and their Language: Between Germany, Poland and Szlonzokian Nationalism |author=Tomasz Kamusella |publisher=[[European University Institute]] — Department of History and Civilization and [[Opole University]] |year=2003 }}</ref> support its status as a language. According to Stanisław Rospond, it is impossible to classify Silesian as a dialect of the contemporary Polish language because he considers it to be descended from [[Old Polish]].<ref>"''Polszczyzna śląska''" – Stanisław Rospond, [[Ossolineum]] 1970, p. 80–87</ref>{{Original research inline|date=November 2014}} According to Kamusella, "between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, several popular Silesian-Polish dictionaries were published, some of which were quite extensive. Initially, they referred to Silesian as a gwara (dialect) but then increasingly termed it a language."<ref>{{cite journal |author-link=Tomasz Kamusella |first=Tomasz |last=Kamusella |page=101 |title=Silesian: From Gwara to Language after 1989 |doi=10.35757/RPN.2016.24.05 |year=2016 |url=https://czasopisma.isppan.waw.pl/rpn/article/view/783 |volume=24 |issue=1 |journal=Rocznik Polsko-Niemiecki|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Other Polish linguists, such as [[Jan Miodek]] and [[Edward Polański]], do not support its status as a language.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}} Jan Miodek and [[Dorota Simonides]], both of Silesian origin, prefer to see the preservation of the entire range of Silesian dialects rather than [[language standardization|standardization]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abstract.xlibx.com/a-history/74611-8-the-silesian-language-the-early-21st-century-speech-community.php|title=The Silesian Language in the Early 21st Century: A Speech Community on the Rollercoaster of Politics Tomasz Kamusella|work=xlibx.com|date=11 December 2012|access-date=11 June 2015}}</ref>
The German linguist [[Reinhold Olesch]] was greatly interested in the "Polish vernaculars" of Upper Silesia and other Slavic [[variety (linguistics)|varieties]] such as [[Kashubian language|Kashubian]] and [[Polabian language|Polabian]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Neue deutsche Biographie |trans-title=New German biography |author=Ernst Eichler |year=1999 |page=519|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Zur schlesischen Sprachlandschaft: Ihr alter slawischer Anteil |trans-title=On the Silesian language landscape: their old Slavic share |author=Reinhold Olesch |year=1987 |pages=32–45 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Śląski był jego językiem ojczystym: Reinhold Olesch, 1910–1990 |trans-title=Silesian was his mother tongue: Reinhold Olesch, 1910–1990 |author=Joanna Rostropowicz |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Śląsk bogaty różnorodnością – kultur, narodów i wyznań. Historia lokalna na przykładzie wybranych powiatów, miast i gmin |trans-title=Silesia, a rich diversity – of cultures, nations and religions. Local history, based on selected counties, cities and municipalities |author=Krzysztof Kluczniok, Tomasz Zając |publisher=Urząd Gm. i M. Czerwionka-Leszczyny, Dom Współpracy Pol.-Niem., Czerwionka-Leszczyny |year=2004 |isbn=83-920458-5-8 }}</ref> Miodek argues that "there is no major grammatical feature within Silesian, which would not function simultaneously in the dialects of Lesser Poland or Greater Poland, Mazovian or Kashubian".<ref name="jarosz"/>

The United States Immigration Commission in 1911 classified it as one of the dialects of Polish.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofrace00unitrich#page/105/mode/1up|title=Dictionary of Races or Peoples|last1=Dillingham|first1=William Paul|last2=Folkmar|first2=Daniel|last3=Folkmar|first3=Elnora|publisher=Washington, Government Printing Office|others=United States. Immigration Commission (1907–1910)|year=1911|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=104–105}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofrace00unitrich#page/128/mode/1up/search/Silesian|title=Dictionary of Races or Peoples|last1=Dillingham|first1=William Paul|last2=Folkmar|first2=Daniel|last3=Folkmar|first3=Elnora|publisher=Washington, Government Printing Office|year=1911|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=128}}</ref> In their respective surveys of Slavic languages, most linguists writing in English, such as Alexander M. Schenker,<ref>Alexander M. Schenker, "Proto-Slavonic", ''The Slavonic Languages'' (1993, Routledge), pages 60–121.</ref> Robert A. Rothstein,<ref>Robert A. Rothstein, "Polish", ''The Slavonic Languages'' (1993, Routledge), pages 686–758.</ref> and Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley<ref>Roland Sussex & Paul Cubberley, ''The Slavic Languages'' (2006, Cambridge University Press).</ref> list Silesian as a dialect of Polish, as does ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica, Silesian">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/544121/Silesian |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |title=Silesian }}</ref> 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" ("{{lang|de|Das Schlesische ... kann somit ... ohne Zweifel als Dialekt des Polnischen beschrieben werden}}").<ref name="Hentschel">{{cite web |url=https://wwwg.uni-klu.ac.at/eeo/Schlesisch.pdf |author=Gerd Hentschel |title=Schlesisch |language=de}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |author=Gerd Hentschel |title=Mitteleuropa – Osteuropa. Oldenburger Beiträge zur Kultur und Geschichte Ostmitteleuropas |year=2001 |chapter=Das Schlesische – eine neue (oder auch nicht neue) slavische Sprache? |publisher=P. Lang |isbn=3-631-37648-0}}</ref><ref>Gerd Hentschel: Das Schlesische – eine neue (oder auch nicht neue) slavische Sprache?, Mitteleuropa – Osteuropa. Oldenburger Beiträge zur Kultur und Geschichte Ostmitteleuropas. Band 2, 2001 {{ISBN|3-631-37648-0}}</ref>

In contrast, Silesian linguist [[:pl:Henryk Jaroszewicz|Henryk Jaroszewicz]] who codified Silesian, argues that Silesian constitutes a separate language, and bases his view on the need to prioritize extralinguistic factors of the intralinguistic ones:
{{blockquote|text=The narrative discussed above, according to which the Silesian ethnolect is currently a dialect of the Polish language, is not acceptable in the light of contemporary linguistic theories. 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. Among these, the self-consciousness of the users, ‘the will of the users and the respect for this will expressed by their fellow citizens’ (Czesak 2008a: 22), plays a key role, secondarily the steps taken by a given community to codify its own ethnolect.<ref name="jarosz">{{cite journal |year=2019 |journal=Slavia Occidentalis |volume=76 |issue=1 |doi=10.14746/so.2019.76.2 |issn=0081-0002 |first=Henryk |last=Jaroszewicz |author-link=:pl:Henryk Jaroszewicz |publisher=[[Uniwersytet Wrocławski]] |title=Krytyka prób emancypacji śląszczyzny. Płaszczyzna naukowa (lingwistyczna) |pages=21–47 |url=https://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/so/article/view/25134}}</ref>}}

Polish linguist [[:pl:Kazimierz Polański|Kazimierz Polański]] wrote: "The problem of distinguishing languages from dialects is not a purely linguistic problem, it is rather a sociological, psychological problem. To a certain extent, it is also political. It is not possible to establish linguistic criteria to distinguish between a language and a dialect. The main issue here is linguistic awareness, which causes a linguistic community to mature at a certain point and decide to become independent: it develops a dictionary of its language, codifies the rules of its use, its spelling, choice of alphabet, etc. From this point onwards, it is possible to speak of a separate language. From this point onwards, it is possible to speak of a distinct language."<ref>{{cite journal |department=O nauce i języku |year=1997 |title=Rozmowa Piotra Żmigrodzkiego z prof. Kazimierzem Polańskim
|journal=Śląsk |volume=6 |issue=20 |pages=37–38 |language=pl}}</ref> 

Among the linguists who argue that Silesian is a language, [[Witold Mańczak]] wrote that "the defining feature between ethnolects is lexical, not grammatical, convergence".<ref>{{cite book |last=Mańczak |first=Witold |author-link=Witold Mańczak |year=1996 |title=Problemy językoznawstwa ogólnego |location=Wrocław |publisher=Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich |language=pl |page=173}}</ref> In this context, Silesian has a lexical similarity of 53% with Polish;<ref name="jarosz"/> similarly, [[English language]] was evaluated to have a lexical similarity of 60% with the German language.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morrison |first1=Cassandra |first2=Vanessa |last2=Taler |year=2023 |title=ERP Differences between Monolinguals and Bilinguals: The Role of Linguistic Distance |journal=Bilingualism: Language and Cognition |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=293–306 |doi=10.1017/S1366728922000657 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Percentages higher than 85% usually indicate that the two languages being compared are likely to be related dialects.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-21 |title=Methodology |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/methodology/#Dialects |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=Ethnologue |language=en}}</ref>

In Czechia, disagreement exists concerning the [[Lach dialects]] which rose to prominence thanks to [[Óndra Łysohorsky]] and his translator [[Ewald Osers]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Silesian Idiom and Language |author=Ewald Osers |location=New York |year=1949 }}</ref> While some have considered it a separate language, most now view Lach as a dialect of Czech.<ref name="Tschechisch">{{cite web |url=https://wwwg.uni-klu.ac.at/eeo/Tschechisch.pdf |title=Tschechisch |author=Dušan Šlosar |language=de}}</ref><ref name="uni-klu.ac.at">{{cite web|url=https://wwwg.uni-klu.ac.at/eeo/Maehrisch.pdf|title=Lexikon der Sprachen des europäischen Ostens|trans-title=Encyclopedia of Languages of Eastern Europe|language=de|author=Aleksandr Dulichenko|author-link=Aleksandr Dulichenko}}</ref><ref name="osu.cz">{{cite web |url=https://www.osu.cz/fpd/kcd/dokumenty/cestinapositi/igstema1.htm |title=Útvary českého národního jazyka |trans-title=Structures of the Czech National Language |author=Pavlína Kuldanová |year=2003 |language=cs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902040929/https://www.osu.cz/fpd/kcd/dokumenty/cestinapositi/igstema1.htm |archive-date=2 September 2012 }}</ref>