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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 is usually inserted before initial /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 but is reduced to before nasal consonants or to more open before /w/ or /j/;
• é is generally pronounced as , like in other Silesian dialects;
• The pronunciation of o can vary between and depending on the phonological context. Generally, u̯ is strongest in the beginning of the word and weakest at the end of the word: 'smith', 'work' (noun), '(she) flew away', 'young', 'word'. In this article, letter ô is used to indicate pronunciation ;
• y can be realised as a diphthong or monophthong depending on the phonological context (usually, at the end of a word it is a diphthong). Before /w/ it is realised as ;
• ó is usually realised as a diphthong but is often reduced to in unaccented syllables or before /w/;
• u is generally as in most of Polish and Silesian dialects, but can be a bit more open before /l/ and nasals;
• ã is generally pronounced as ;
• The pronunciation of õ can vary between and ;
• i and a are generally pronounced as and 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: '(he) couldn't', 'Protestant';
• ō > ó, oN > óN;
• y > i in few cases, mostly after /ts/;
• ą > ã, ą̄ > õ, ą̄ > õm word-finally;
• in comparative adverbs endings -ēj > -y
• irregular Silesian vowel changes: – compare Polish igła 'needle', – compare Polish niosę '(I) carry',  : (gen.) – compare Polish zegar : zegara 'clock', – compare Polish w szkole 'in school', – compare Polish w Austrii 'in Austria';
• due to Greater Polish influence, -ew- after soft consonants is preserved: 'horse (dative)', 'smith (dative)', 'cherry (nueter)' (adjective);
• masuration is regular with a few exceptions: – compare Polish człowiek 'human', – compare Polish żelazo 'iron'. /ʃ/ in recent German borrowings is adapted as /ɕ/;
• /ɫ/ > /w/ as in most of Polish and Silesian dialects;
• /w/ after consonants is often lost: /CwV/ > /CV/;
• between two vowels (unless first of them is o or á) /w/ is much weaker. If the vowels are the same or very similar, it can be even completely omitted, contracting the vowels: '(she) heard' – compare Polish słyszała, '(she) wasn't taking' – compare Polish nie brała, '(she) didn't know' – compare Polish nie znała, 'she was here' – compare Polish ona tu była, '(she) took' – compare Polish wzięła;
• various simplifications of consonant clusters and palatalizations: 'all', 'bee', 'enough, fairly', 'six years', '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

References

1. ^ Nitsch 1958, pp. 171–177.
2. ^ Nitsch 1958, pp. 183–188.
3. Nitsch 1958, pp. 172–173.
4. Nitsch 1958, pp. 177–179.
5. Nitsch 1958, pp. 179–180.
6. Nitsch 1958, pp. 180–183.

Bibliography

• Nitsch, Kazimierz (1958). Wybór pism polonistycznych. Vol. IV. Pisma dialektologiczne. Z 5 mapami. Wrocław-Kraków: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich. pp. 171–188.

• Silesian language