All Poles speak one, common language - Polish. It is the official language of the Polish Republic. The common language is used in educational institutions, in the media and in state institutions. However, the Polish language is diverse. Depending on the region, the vocabulary and pronunciation varies. If you have travelled around the country, you have probably noticed the differences. This is due to dialects.
What is a dialect?
It is a local dialect, a dialect of people living in the same territory. Dialect has its own distinctive features compared to the generally accepted norms of the literary language.
The Polish language has five dialects:
Mazowiecki dialect
Małopolski dialect
Wielkopolski dialect
Śląski dialect
Kaszubski dialekt
There are also so-called new mixed dialects in the west and north-east of Poland. They have emerged relatively recently as a result of population movements and the influence of other languages. Each of these dialects is characterised by its own phonetic, lexical, morphological and syntactic features.
The most discussed Polish dialect is Kashubian. Its status is still controversial to this day. Some linguists consider the Kashubian dialect a separate language. Other scholars argue that it is still a dialect, which differs significantly from the norms of the literary language. At the moment, textbooks on the study of the Kashubian dialect are produced and in some regions it is taught at school.
A few words on the differences of dialects from each other.
The Mazowieckie dialect is characterised by the pronunciation of "sz", "ż", "cz" and "dż" as "s", "z", "c" and "dz". For example, speakers of this dialect pronounce "capka" instead of "czapka" and "pszczoła" as "pscoła". In the same dialect, one can also find a mixture of "i" and "y" sounds. For example, the word "syn" is pronounced as "sin" and "chyba" as "chiba". In the Malopolskie dialect, on the contrary, there is a strong narrowing of vowels. In Kraków you can hear this distortion: siekuera (pr. siekiera), pińondze (pr. pińondze). pieniądze), pudłoga (pr. podłoga), dutykać (pr. dotykać), etc.
Now let's move on to the territory of Silesia. Here you will hear locals making the characteristic transition from "e" to "y". For example, "syr" instead of "ser". Among the most characteristic and interesting phenomena is the hard pronunciation of the compounds "li", "ki", "gi". And you will recognise the natives of Warsaw by the mixing of the sound groups "ke/kie" and "ge/gie". For example, they say "kielner" instead of "kelner", "szynkie" instead of "szynkę", "Polskie" instead of "Polskę".
We have listed only a small part of the differences between Polish dialects. But we left the most interesting part for dessert - the differences between the dialects in terms of vocabulary. Each one has its own characteristic words. Thanks to them you will be able to identify exactly which region of Poland your interlocutor is from.
For example, Mazowiecki dialect are characterised by words like:
dygiwać (tańczyć), kartofel (ziemniak), kur (kogut). na poklep (po kolei)
Polish dialect:
grysik (kasza manna), kostka (pestka), na pole (na dwór), sagan (czajnik)
to the Polish dialect:
dość (dużo), korbol (dynia), perki, pyry (ziemniaki), skład (sklep), sklep (piwnica)
the Silesian dialect:
gibko (szybko), kłobuk (kapelusz), synek (chłopiec)
to the Kashubian dialect:
białka (kobieta), snoża (piękna), stari tatk (dziadek), bula (byk)
In the end, we would like to point out that Poles are very proud of the diversity of the Polish language. They believe that the existence of dialects only enriches the language and allows them to better know and understand the inhabitants of different regions of the country.
And if you want to learn more interesting facts about the Polish language, come to the Litera Development and Education Centre.
