Wymysorys
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Wymysorys (Template:Lang, Template:IPA),<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref> also known as Vilamovian, Wilamowicean, or Wilmesaurisch, is a West Germanic language spoken by the Vilamovian ethnic minority in the town of Wilamowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland (Template:Lang in Wymysorys), on the border between Silesia and Lesser Poland, near Bielsko-Biała.<ref name="ELOW">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ISO639">Template:Cite web</ref> It is considered an endangered language,<ref name="ELOW" /> possibly the most so of any of the Germanic languages.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> There are probably fewer than 20<ref name="Wicherkiewicz 2017">Template:Cite journal</ref> native users of Wymysorys, virtually all bilingual; the majority are elderly.<ref name="ELOW" />
The status of Wymysorys is complex because, genealogically, it belongs to the East Central dialect group of High German. Nevertheless, based on the self-identification of its users as a group separate from the Germans and the existence of a literary language, it can be considered a separate language.Template:Cn
It belongs to the dialect group of the former Template:Ill, which includes the Alzenau dialect.
History
Most scholars consider Wymysorys to derive from 12th-century Middle High German, with a strong influence from Polish.<ref name="ELOW" /><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref> The inhabitants of Wilamowice are thought to be descendants of German, Flemish and Scottish settlers who arrived in Poland during the 13th century.<ref>Template:Citation</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">Template:Cite book</ref> Although historically derived from the German dialect continuum, Wymysorys is not mutually intelligible with Standard German.<ref name="Wicherkiewicz">Wicherkiewicz, op. cit.</ref>Template:Rp 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 a Dachsprache.<ref name=Metrak>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
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"/>Template:Rp 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 was Polish.<ref name="Wicherkiewicz"/>Template:Rp During World War II and the German occupation of Poland, Wymysorys was openly promoted by the Nazi administration, but after the war the tables turned: local communist authorities forbade the use of Wymysorys in any form.<ref name="Wicherkiewicz"/>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The widespread bilingualism of the people saved most local residents from being forcibly resettled to Germany, but many of them stopped teaching their children their language or even using it in daily life.<ref name="Wicherkiewicz"/>Template:Rp 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 Template:Lang 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>Template:Cite web</ref>
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">Template:Cite AV media</ref> It was also registered in the International Organization for Standardization, where it received the wym ISO 639-3 code.<ref name="ISO639" /><ref>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Citation</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>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Revitalisation
Some new revitalisation efforts were started in the first decade of the 21st century, led by speaker Tymoteusz Król, whose efforts include private lessons with a group of pupils as well as compiling language records, standardising written orthography and compiling the first ever dictionary of Wymysorys. Additionally, a new project called The Wymysiöeryśy Akademyj – Accademia Wilamowicziana or WA-AW was established under the "Artes Liberales" program at the University of Warsaw with the intention of creating a unified scholastic body for the study of the Wymysorys language.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Phonology
Consonants
- Voiced stops, sibilant fricatives and affricates are regularly devoiced or voiceless in final position.
- The sounds of Template:IPA and Template:IPA are interchangeable among different speakers. The use of Template:IPA is typically heard at the beginning of a word, possibly due to the influence of Polish, even though historically in Germanic languages, the glottal fricative Template:IPA is typically heard.
- The series of palato-alveolar Template:IPA and alveolo-palatal Template:IPA fricative and affricate sounds, are heard interchangeably among various speakers.
- Template:IPA is heard in word-final position, as an allophone of Template:IPA.
- The voiced affricates Template:IPA are only heard in Polish loanwords.
- A series of flat post-alveolar sibilants and affricates Template:IPA, are also heard in Polish loanwords, interchangeably with alveolar-palatal sounds Template:IPA.
- The labial-velar approximant Template:IPA is pronounced with a lesser degree of lip rounding than in English, and is more similar to the Polish pronunciation of ł Template:IPA.<ref name=":0" />
Vowels
- The close-mid sound Template:IPA is phonetically more fronted as Template:IPA.
- Mid central vowel sounds Template:IPA are also heard close central sounds Template:IPA, among speakers.<ref name=":0" />
| Front | Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ascending | descending | ||
| Close | Template:IPA | ||
| Close-mid | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | |
| Open-mid | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | |
| Open | Template:IPA | ||
| Triphthong | Template:IPA | ||
Alphabet
Wymysorys has been for centuries mostly a spoken language. It was not until the times of Florian Biesik, the first author of major literary works in the language, that a need for a separate version of a Latin alphabet arose. Biesik wrote most of his works in plain Polish alphabet, which he considered better-suited for the phonetics of his language.<ref name="Wicherkiewicz"/>Template:Rp In recent times Józef Gara (1929–2013), another author of works in the local language, devised a distinct Wymysorys alphabet, consisting of 34 letters derived from the Latin script and mostly based on Polish as well:
| Majuscule forms (also called uppercase or capital letters) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | AO | B | C | Ć | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | Ł | L | M | N | Ń | O | Ö | P | R | S | Ś | T | U | Ü | W | X<ref name=":1">This letter is only used in proper names, even native ones – e.g. the surname Fox. The letters Q and V are not included in the alphabet because they only appear in non-native proper names.</ref> | Y | Z | Ź | Ż | |
| Minuscule forms (also called lowercase or small letters) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | ao | b | c | ć | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | ł | l | m | n | ń | o | ö | p | r | s | ś | t | u | ü | w | x<ref name=":1" /> | y | z | ź | ż | |
Wymysorys orthography includes the digraph "AO", which is treated as a separate letter.
Example words and their relationship to other languages
A sample of Wymysorys words with German, Dutch and English translations. Note that Template:Lang is read in Wymysorys like English w (as in Polish), and Template:Lang like v (as in Polish and German):
Sample texts
Lord's Prayer in Wymysorys Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 <poem> Template:Lang </poem> Template:Col-2 <poem> Our Father; English translation
Our Father, thou (who) art in heaven, Thy name shall be hallowed; Thy kingdom shall come here; Thy will shall be in heaven and on earth; give our daily bread to us today; and forgive us our debts/sins, as we, too, forgive our debtors/sinners; don't lead us to sin; but save us from evil. [For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.] Amen. </poem> Template:Col-end
A lullaby in Wymysorys with English translation: Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 <poem> Template:Lang </poem> Template:Col-2 <poem> Sleep, my boy, soundly! Foreign guests are coming, Aunts and uncles are coming, Bringing nuts and apples, Sleep, my Johnny, soundly! </poem> Template:Col-end
See also
Template:Wikisourcelang Template:Wikisource
Citations
General and cited references
- Template:Cite book
- Andrason, Alexander. Complexity of endangered minority languages: The sound system of Wymysiöeryś. Coler, Matt, and Andrew Nevins, eds. Contemporary research in minoritized and diaspora languages of Europe, p. 213-260. Vol. 6. Language Science Press, 2023. Open Access online.
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Further reading
- Adam Kleczkowski, Dialekt Wilamowic w Zachodniej Galicji. Fonetyka i Fleksja, 1920 (Google Books, full text)
External links
- YouTube videos:
- Template:In lang Wymysiöeryś – jeszcze mowa nie zginęła (Wymysiöeryś – the language has not yet perished) at YouTube. Agencja Fotograficzna Fotorzepa. Rzeczpospolita
- The founding ceremony of the Accademia Wilamowicziana at YouTube.
- A documentary about Wymysorys and the associated revitalization efforts at YouTube.
- About the Wymysorys language in a television magazine at YouTube. Template:Ill
- Omniglot page.
- Central Europe's Most Mysterious Language via Culture.pl.
- Template:In lang WYMYSOJER
- Revitalizing Endangered Languages – The portal is also available in Wymysorys.
- Template:In lang Wilamowice – przywracanie języka, przywracanie pamięci / Wilamowice – restoring the language, restoring the memory (PL). Maciej Mętrak, University of Warsaw. Warsaw (April 2016; pp. 127–134)
- Template:In lang Narzecze wilamowickie. (Wilhelmsauer Dialekt. Dy wymmysauschy Gmoansproch) (Wymysorys language) in the editorial office of Template:Ill at the Polish Wikisource
- Template:In lang wilamowicki czy wilamowski? – Poradnia językowa PWN (Wymysorys or Wymysorys?). Template:Ill, Polish Scientific Publishers PWN (13 January 2020)
- Ynzer łidła – nasze pieśni (Ynzer Łidła – Our Songs). Songs, Lullabies and Counting-out Rhymes from Wilamowice
- Wicherkiewicz, Tomasz. Language variation, language myths, and language ideology as constructive elements of the Wymysiöeryś ethnolinguistic identity. Coler, Matt, and Andrew Nevins, eds. Contemporary research in minoritized and diaspora languages of Europe, p. 261-280. Vol. 6. Language Science Press, 2023. Open Access online