On linguistic relations in Silesia

Bogusław Wyderka

Uniwersytet w Białymstoku

Abstract

The author presents a very interesting and complex linguistic situation in Silesia, revealing its linguistic and non-linguistic causes, such as people’s migrations, German language influence, and general Polish and folk Polish speech impact. Taking the most important Silesian linguistic features into consideration, he distinguishes five regions of distinctly formed communication systems: Lower Silesia, Opole Silesia, Upper Silesia, Cieszyn Silesia and Zaolzie.