Chwalim dialect explained

Chwalim dialect
States:	Poland
Region:	Lower Silesia
Familycolor:	Indo-European
Fam2:	Balto-Slavic
Fam3:	Slavic
Fam4:	West Slavic
Fam5:	Lechitic
Fam6:	Silesian
Fam7:	Lower Silesian dialect group
Isoexception:	dialect

The Chwalim dialect (Polish: gwara chwalimska) was a Lechitic dialect spoken up to first half of 20th century in Chwalim in present-day western Poland. Historically, the village belongs to Lower Silesia. Although the dialect features are typical for Silesian, the speakers believed that they were descendants of Sorbs. The dialect is classified as a Silesian dialect, and more specifically, the Lower Silesian dialect group, but displays some Greater Polish influence.

History

In the 19th century, the inhabitants of Chwalim were believed to be Wends who had migrated there from Lower Lusatia. Nevertheless, Kazimierz Nitsch, because of linguistic features of their dialect, believed that they were Silesians. From his visits to Chwalim in the early 20th century, he learned that the dialect is well-known amongst elder people, while younger people had stopped learning it, instead opting for German, although they still understood it. According to a census in 1910, 117 natives in Chwalim still spoke the so-called "Wendish language".

These speakers were Protestants visiting church in neighbouring town Kargowa and praying with Polish books.

Phonology

The phonological system of the Chwalim dialect has much in common with other Silesian dialects, with some influences from Greater Poland dialects.

Consonants

The consonant system of Chwalim dialect is generally similar to that in Standard Polish, but there is a lack of the postalveolar/retroflex series due to mazuration, which is present in some other Silesian dialects as well. A weak prothetic pronounced as /[h]/ is usually inserted before initial pronounced as //i//.

Vowels and diphthongs

Below, the acute accent denotes that the sound is a reflex of the corresponding Old Polish long vowel. It is also difficult to determine whether diphthongized vowels are phonemic diphthongs or not.

Oral vowels: a, e, i, y, o, u, á, é, ó.

Nasal vowels: ã, õ.

Allophony:

• á is usually realised as a diphthong pronounced as /[ou̯]/ but is reduced to [o] before nasal consonants or to more open pronounced as /[ɔ]/ before pronounced as //w// or pronounced as //j//;
• é is generally pronounced as [ɘ̟], like in other Silesian dialects;
• The pronunciation of o can vary between pronounced as /[u̯ɔ]/ and pronounced as /[ɔɛ̯]/ depending on the phonological context. Generally, u̯ is strongest in the beginning of the word and weakest at the end of the word: pronounced as /[ˈk^u̯ɔvou̯l]/ 'smith', pronounced as /[r^u̯ɔˈb^u̯ɔt̪ä]/ 'work' (noun), pronounced as /[u̯ɔd̪ˈlʲɛt͡ɕä]/ '(she) flew away', pronounced as /[ˈmɔɛ̯d̪ɘ̟ɪ̯]/ 'young', pronounced as /[ˈs̪^u̯ɔvɔɛ̯]/ 'word'. In this article, letter ô is used to indicate pronunciation [{{IPA|u̯ɔ}}];
• y can be realised as a diphthong pronounced as /[ɘ̟i̯~ɘ̟ɪ̯]/ or monophthong pronounced as /[ɘ̟~ɪ]/ depending on the phonological context (usually, at the end of a word it is a diphthong). Before pronounced as //w// it is realised as pronounced as /[u̞]/;
• ó is usually realised as a diphthong pronounced as /[u̞ɵ̯]/ but is often reduced to pronounced as /[u̞]/ in unaccented syllables or before pronounced as //w//;
• u is generally pronounced as /[u]/ as in most of Polish and Silesian dialects, but can be a bit more open pronounced as /[u̞]/ before pronounced as //l// and nasals;
• ã is generally pronounced as pronounced as /[ä̃]/;
• The pronunciation of õ can vary between pronounced as /[ɔ̃]/ and pronounced as /[õ]/;
• i and a are generally pronounced as pronounced as /[i]/ and pronounced as /[ä]/ respectively, as in most of Polish and Silesian dialects.

Evolution from Old Polish

In the list below, V denotes any vowel, C – any consonant, N – any nasal consonant, ogonek – nasal vowel and macron – long vowel.

• lack of final -aj > -ej, unlike in other Silesian dialetcs;
• ā > á, except in feminine noun endings -niā > -nia;
• ē > é, eN > éN. Sporadically ē, e > i: pronounced as /[ˈɲi‿mu̞k]/ '(he) couldn't', pronounced as /[ˈɲimʲɛt͡s̪]/ 'Protestant';
• ō > ó, oN > óN;
• y > i in few cases, mostly after pronounced as //ts//;
• ą > ã, ą̄ > õ, ą̄ > õm word-finally;
• in comparative adverbs endings -ēj > -y
• irregular Silesian vowel changes: pronounced as /[ˈjɛgwä]/ – compare Polish igła 'needle', pronounced as /[ˈɲɛs̪ä̃]/ – compare Polish niosę '(I) carry', pronounced as /[ˈz̪ɛgʲɛr]/ : pronounced as /[ˈzɛgrä]/ (gen.) – compare Polish zegar : zegara 'clock', pronounced as /[vɛ ˈs̪ku̯ɔlɛ]/ – compare Polish w szkole 'in school', pronounced as /[vɛ ˈɔɛ̯strji]/ – compare Polish w Austrii 'in Austria';
• due to Greater Polish influence, -ew- after soft consonants is preserved: pronounced as /[ku̞ɵ̯ˈɲɛvʲi]/ 'horse (dative)', pronounced as /[ku̯ɔvou̯ˈlɛvʲi]/ 'smith (dative)', pronounced as /[vʲiɕˈɲɛvɛ]/ 'cherry (nueter)' (adjective);
• masuration is regular with a few exceptions: pronounced as /[ˈt͡ɕlɔvʲɛk]/ – compare Polish człowiek 'human', pronounced as /[ʑɛˈläz̪ɔ]/ – compare Polish żelazo 'iron'. pronounced as //ʃ// in recent German borrowings is adapted as pronounced as //ɕ//;
• pronounced as //ɫ// > pronounced as //w// as in most of Polish and Silesian dialects;
• pronounced as //w// after consonants is often lost: pronounced as //CwV// > pronounced as //CV//;
• between two vowels (unless first of them is o or á) pronounced as //w// is much weaker. If the vowels are the same or very similar, it can be even completely omitted, contracting the vowels: pronounced as /[ˈs̪u̯ɘ̟s̪ä]/ '(she) heard' – compare Polish słyszała, pronounced as /[ˈɲɛ‿brä]/ '(she) wasn't taking' – compare Polish pronounced as /nie brała/, pronounced as /[ˈɲɛ‿z̪n̪ä]/ '(she) didn't know' – compare Polish nie znała, pronounced as /[u̯ɘ̟n̪ä s̪ä ˈbäː]/ 'she was here' – compare Polish ona tu była, pronounced as /[vʑä̃]/ '(she) took' – compare Polish wzięła;
• various simplifications of consonant clusters and palatalizations: pronounced as /[ˈs̪ɘ̟t͡ɕkɔɛ̯]/ 'all', pronounced as /[ˈps̪ɔwä]/ 'bee', pronounced as /[du̯ɔɕ]/ 'enough, fairly', pronounced as /[s̪ɛʑ‿ˈlou̯t̪]/ 'six years', pronounced as /[ˈʑbʲɘ̟räj]/ 'to collect' – compare Polish wszystko, pszczoła, dość, sześć lat, zbierać.

Grammar

Many features common to Silesian dialects are present in the morphology, but some Sorbian influence may also be observed.

Declension

The most dominant ending for the genitive masculine singular genitive of nouns is -u. An archaic masculine singular dative ending -ewi is preserved after roots ending with soft consonant. The feminine singular accusative is generally formed with -ã.

The masculine and neuter singular genitive of adjectives is formed with the ending -yk from -ēgo, which is the result of Sorbian influence.

Conjugation

Verbs in the infinitive end in -j < -ć and -ś < -ść/-źć. Future forms of być ('to be') have d and dź simplified into corresponding nasal consonants n, ń as in other Silesian dialects: bãnõm, bãnie, – compare Polish będą, będzie.

Present tense endings are -ą/-ám for the first person singular, -my for the first person plural and -cie for the second person plural. The past tense is constructed from the l-participle and personal pronoun; in singular first person there can be added suffix -ch to personal pronoun ja, which is typical for Silesian: jach tam bół (I was there), jach słysa 'I heard (feminine)', my cytali (we were reading), bółś tam? (have you been there?/were you there (singular)). As in Polish and Silesian, special prefixes inform whether the aspect of the verb is perfective or imperfective. Future tense is constructed with 'to be' in future tense and infinitive form of verb: bãnõm piáj (they will be reading), my bãniemy piáj (we will be reading), or with a present-tense form of a perfective verb.

Conjugations of a few verbs:

• (h)iś 'to go' / pôj (perfective): (h)idõm (they go/they are going), (h)idźmy, (let's go (imperfective)), pódziémy (we will go), przisáł (he has come/he came);
• 'can': môgã (I can), móg (he could);
• 'to be': jes (he/she/it/there is), my sõm (we are), bãnie (he/she/it will), bãniemy (we will), bãnõm (they will), bół ((he) was), baa or bełe (she) was, beły (they were (feminine)).

Vocabulary

Word (simplified orthography)	Meaning	Nitsch's spelling	IPA transcription	Comment
baba	wife	baba	[ˈbäbä]
biáły	white	b́ou̯yi̯	[ˈbʲɔwɘ̟i̯]
bible	liturgical books	b́ible	[ˈbʲiblɛ]
bulce	potatoes	bulce	[ˈbult͡s̪ɛ]
cyga	goat	ciga	[ˈt͡s̪igä]
dãbôki	deep	dąb^uoḱi	[d̪ä̃ˈbu̯ɔkʲi]	Sorbian influence.
dugi	long	duǵi	[ˈd̪ugʲi]	Comparative form: dlysyi̯ or dusyi̯.
dôś	much, many	d^uoś	[d̪u̯ɔɕ]	Polish dość means 'enough'.
dziéwcã	daughter	ʒ́yfcą	[ˈd͡ʑɘ̟ft͡s̪ä̃]	Polish dziewczę means 'girl'.
gupy	dumb	gupy^i̯	[ˈgupɘ̟ɪ̯]
jachaj	to go (with a vehicle)	i̯aχai̯	[ˈjäxäj]
jegiáłka	pin	i̯eǵou̯ka	[jɛˈgʲɔwkä]
jegła	needle	i̯egu̯a	[ˈjɛgwä]	Charachteristic Silesian word.
jeźdźôrô	lake	i̯eźʒ́^uor^uo	[jɛʑˈd͡ʑu̯ɔru̯ɔ]	Probably influenced by neighbouring Greater Polish dialects.
jezeli	if	i̯ezeľi	[jɛˈz̪ɛlʲi]	This word is used also to make questions. Thus, it replaced semantically Standard Polish czy.
knepa	button	knepa	[ˈkn̪ɛpä]
kôkôt	rooster	k^uok^uot	[ˈku̯ɔku̯ɔt̪]
latôś	this year	lat^uoś	[ˈlät̪u̯ɔɕ]
ma	yes	ma	[mä]
miałki	shallow	ḿau̯kȯ^u̯ (feminine form)	[ˈmʲäwkʲi]
miãskaj	to live; to reside (somewhere)	ḿąskai̯	[ˈmʲä̃s̪käj]
nacõj	to begin	nacǫi̯	[ˈn̪ät͡s̪ɔ̃j]
nie	no	ńe	[ɲɛ]
nimiec	Protestant	ńiḿec	[ˈɲimʲɛt͡s̪]	Polish Niemiec means 'German (man)'.
ôbiéraj	to collect, to gather	u̯ɔb́yrai̯	[u̯ɔˈbʲɘ̟räj]	Polish uses prefix z-: zbierać.
ôciéń	shadow	u̯oćyń	[ˈu̯ɔt͡ɕɘ̟ɲ]
ón	he	u̯yn	[u̯ɘ̟n̪]
pára	a few	pȯ^u̯rą (accusative form)	[ˈpou̯rä]	Polish para means 'pair, two of something'.
piáj	to read	ṕoi̯	[pʲɔj]	Semantic change from 'to sing' to 'to sing with a liturgical book' to 'to read from a liturgical book' to ultimately 'to read'.
pôdwórek	yard	p^uodvůy̯rek	[pu̯ɔd̪ˈvu̞ɵ̯rɛk]
psoła	bee	psou̯a	[ˈps̪ɔwä]
sa	here	sa	[s̪ä]	Greater Polish influence.
siachta	box	śaχta	[ˈɕäxt̪ä]
skło, sklanô	glass bottle	sku̯o, sklan^uo	[s̪ku̯ɔ], [ˈs̪klänu̯ɔ]
stára	grandma	stȯ^u̯rȯ^u̯	[ˈs̪t̪ou̯rou̯]	Polish stara is feminine form for 'old'.
stáry	grandpa	stȯ^u̯ryi̯	[ˈs̪t̪ou̯rɘ̟i̯]	Polish stary is masculine form for 'old'.
tata	father	tata	[ˈt̪ät̪ä]
terá	now	terȯ^u̯	[ˈt̪ɛrou̯]
ôlica	door	u̯oľica	[u̯ɔˈlʲit͡s̪ä]	Polish ulica means 'street'. The semantic change probably influenced by southern Greater Polish dialects.
wadzi sie	to argue	vaʒ́i śe	[ˈväd͡ʑi‿ɕɛ]
wielgi	big	v́elǵi	[ˈvʲɛlgʲi]
zajitrô	day after tomorrow	zai̯itr^uo	[z̪äˈjitru̯ɔ]
zawrzyj	to close	zavžyi̯	[ˈz̪ävʒ̺ɘ̟j]
zegier	clock	zeǵer	[ˈz̪ɛgʲɛr]
zielazô	iron	źelaz^uo	[ʑɛˈläzu̯ɔ]

Bibliography

• Nitsch. Kazimierz. Wybór pism polonistycznych. IV. Pisma dialektologiczne. Z 5 mapami. Wrocław-Kraków. Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich. 1958. 171-188.