Linguistic overview

Silesian German dialects are inflectional; that is, they share the grammatical feature of inflection, the alternation of verbs according to tense and person, the alternation of nouns and adjectives according to number, case, etc. with the language they have all emerged from - German.

Mass settlement in Silesia, divergent ethnic structure, frequent migrations and changes of the governing state made it impossible for any unified Silesian German variety to emerge; quite the contrary, some of the dialects were so different they became mutually unintelligible at times. These differences are most easily sought in their phonological systems. Karl Weinhold (1853: 122, 125, 126, 144Weinhold 1853 / komentarz/comment/r /
Weinhold, Karl 1853. Ueber deutsche Dialectforschung. Die Laut- und Wortbildung und die Formen der schlesichen Mundart mit Rücksicht auf verwantes in deutschen Dialecten. Wien: Verlag von Carl Gerold u. Sohn.

) conducted research on the Silesian German dialect as a whole, without differentiating between the smaller linguistic units. In his work, he listed such features as, for example, the preservation of the strong and weak conjugations and the rare usage of the conditional mood relating to the present. The simple past conditional was used much more often. When it comes to inflection, he noticed that the suffix -e for the 1st person singular was rejected, e.g. ich gönne - ich ginn (‘I can’). Another interesting phenomenon is the dative form of the numeral eins ('one') while telling time, e.g. zwischen zwölften und einssen (‘between twelve and one’). Yet another feature of the Silesian German dialect is the forming of diminutives, even in the case of the personal pronoun du ('you') - dule. There was also a tendency to use borrowings and words of foreign origin; most of them were French, some of them Italian or Latin (Menzel 1976: 51, 54, 57Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
). Words were formed to be French-like by adding the -age suffix, for example, on the basis of he French bagage ('baggage') the Silesian Pakkasche. Many French loans were transferred directly to Silesian without much change, e.g. Garderobe (‘wardrobe’) or Krawatte (‘tie’) (Menzel 1976: 51Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
). Words such as Uffgoata ('advocate') or Dukkter ('doctor') were borrowed from Latin (advocatus, doctor) (Menzel 1976: 54, 55Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
). Italian elements were borrowed through German 'educated' language (Bildungsdeutsch). That is why it was possible for the following words to appear in Silesian: Pujjazz/Poiazz (pagliaccio - 'clown, jester') and Sulloate (salata - 'salad' ) (Menzel 1976: 58Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
).
The following subdialects can be listed as a part of the Silesian German dialect (cf. Kryszczuk 1999: 79-82Kryszczuk 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kryszczuk, Grażyna 1999. Świadomość językowa i kompetencja komunikacyjna Niemców na Dolnym Śląsku. Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie.
, Jungandreas 1928: 12Jungandreas 1928 / komentarz/comment/r /
Jungandreas, Wolfgang 1928. Beiträge zur Erforschung der Besiedlung Schlesiens und zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der schlesischen Mundart. Breslau: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.
, von Unwerth 1908: 6Unwerth 1908 / komentarz/comment/r /
Unwerth, Wolf von 1908. Die schlesische Mundart in ihren Lautverhältnissen grammatisch und geographisch dargestellt. Breslau: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.
, Menzel 1976: 22-37Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
):

• base dialect (Stammmundart):
• Highland dialect (Gebirgsmundart)
• Glatz/Kladsko/Kłodzko dialect (Glätzisch)
• Silesian-Lusatian dialect (Schlesisch-Lausitzisch)
• Diphthongizing dialects (Diphtongierungsmundarten)
• Diphthongizing dialect proper (the so called Neiderländisch)
• Herbal(ists') dialect (Kräutermundart)
• Brieg/Brzeg & Grottkau/Grodków dialect (Brieg-Grottkauer Mundart)
• Breslau/Wrocław dialect (Breslauisch)
• Upper Silesian dialect (Oberschlesisch)
• Upper Lusatian dialect (Oberlausitzer Mundart)
• High Prussian dialect (Hochpreußisch)

Additionally, it might have been possible for types of transitional dialects to emerge between some pairs of the aforementioned dialects. They would partially retain the features of the neighbouring dialect or employ these features to a different end (cf. von Unwerth 1908: 79Unwerth 1908 / komentarz/comment/r /
Unwerth, Wolf von 1908. Die schlesische Mundart in ihren Lautverhältnissen grammatisch und geographisch dargestellt. Breslau: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.
).

Brief overviews

♦   The base dialect (Stammmundart)

The base dialect was comprised of the Highland dialect (Gebirgsmundart), the Glatz/Kłodzko dialect (Glätzisch) and the Silesian-Lusatian dialect (Schlesisch-Lausitzisch) (Kryszczuk 1999: 80Kryszczuk 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kryszczuk, Grażyna 1999. Świadomość językowa i kompetencja komunikacyjna Niemców na Dolnym Śląsku. Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie.
).
In the Highland dialect suffix -en takes the form of -a in nouns and verbs, e.g. die Menscha (standard High German die Menschen - people), die Tauba (die Tauben - doves), loofa (laufen – to run), mer wulln assa (wir wollen essen – we want to eat) (Menzel 1976: 23Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
). Diminutives use the suffix -la, e.g. mei Voaterla (my daddy), mei Mutterla (my mummy), mei Grußmutterla (my granny). Proper names can be also put into their diminutive forms, e.g. a Richla (Richard), a Heedia (Hedwig); it is important to note that the suffix a can also be used as an indefinite article.
The Highland (and, to a certain extent, the Glatz) dialect is closely related to the dialect of the German language enclave around Gościęcn/Kostenthal. It is the eldest Silesian language enclave as its name is first mentioned in a document from the 22th of November 1221 (Księżyk 2008: 12, 26Księżyk 2008 / komentarz/comment/r /
Księżyk, Felicja 2008. Die deutsche Sprachinsel Kostenthal. Geschichte und Gegenwart. Berlin: trafo Verlag.
). The typical feature of this dialect is that the standard i and u are replaced with e or o, e.g. Kerche (Kirche - church), Jonge (Junge - boy), Dorscht (Durst - yearning). Gościęcin was probably inhabited by the Franks (Księżyk 2008: 27Księżyk 2008 / komentarz/comment/r /
Księżyk, Felicja 2008. Die deutsche Sprachinsel Kostenthal. Geschichte und Gegenwart. Berlin: trafo Verlag.
). There is a legend that explains the origins of the German name of this town. It is connected to the salt route that ran from Wieliczka to Bohemia through Gościęcin. It is said that once a number of carts transporting salt became stuck in a puddle of mud. The transporters were left with no other choice but to seek the assistance of the villagers nearby. When asked about the cost of their help, the inhabitants of Gościęcin answered using their own dialect: Es kost’a Tholer! ('it costs a taler'). That is how the name Kostenthal was created (Księżyk 2008: 12Księżyk 2008 / komentarz/comment/r /
Księżyk, Felicja 2008. Die deutsche Sprachinsel Kostenthal. Geschichte und Gegenwart. Berlin: trafo Verlag.
). Some features of the Highland dialects can be found in the dialect of the German language enclave around Bojków (Ger. Schönwald) (cf. von Unwerth 1908: 94Unwerth 1908 / komentarz/comment/r /
Unwerth, Wolf von 1908. Die schlesische Mundart in ihren Lautverhältnissen grammatisch und geographisch dargestellt. Breslau: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.
).
Kladsko dialect was a variety of the Highland dialect spoken in and around the former County of Glatz. The dialect was divided into its Northern (Nordglätzisch) and Southern varieties (Südglätzisch). Its characteristic feature was to pronounce rounded vowels with one's lips broadened, e.g. assa Fläsch ( Fleisch essen – to eat meat) or schitteln de Bäme (schütteln die Bäume – to shake trees). Moreover, i and u were replaced with e and o which is visible in such words as: Milch – melch (milk), Junge – jonge (boy) (Meznel 1976: 25Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
).
The Silesian-Lusatian dialect's realization of short [y]=<ü> was more similar to short [i], similarly as in the Highland dialect. Thus: bitnr (Büttner – cooper), nise (Nüsse – nuts), knipln (knüpfen – to weave) (von Unwerth 1908: 19Unwerth 1908 / komentarz/comment/r /
Unwerth, Wolf von 1908. Die schlesische Mundart in ihren Lautverhältnissen grammatisch und geographisch dargestellt. Breslau: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.
). Furthermore, long a transformed into long o as in the words: do (da - there), amol (einmal - once), brota (braten - to bake). The same process occurred in each of the dialects belonging to the base dialect (von Unwerth 1908: 20Unwerth 1908 / komentarz/comment/r /
Unwerth, Wolf von 1908. Die schlesische Mundart in ihren Lautverhältnissen grammatisch und geographisch dargestellt. Breslau: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.
). The consonant cluster n+d which occurred following i or u was replaced with a single n (the same process took place in the case of Diphthongizing dialects), which can be exemplified by the words fin (finden - to find) and bun (binden - to tie, bind) (von Unwerth 1908: 39Unwerth 1908 / komentarz/comment/r /
Unwerth, Wolf von 1908. Die schlesische Mundart in ihren Lautverhältnissen grammatisch und geographisch dargestellt. Breslau: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.
).

♦    Diphthongizing dialects (Diphtongierungsmundarten)

One example of such dialects is the Diphthongizing dialect proper, also known as Neiderländisch spoken in Northern Silesia. The term for this type of dialect stems from its tendency to realize vowels as diphthongs. It is commonplace in this dialect to pronounce ei in contexts where i and e are used in the standard variety (cf. Weinhold 1853: 20Weinhold 1853 / komentarz/comment/r /
Weinhold, Karl 1853. Ueber deutsche Dialectforschung. Die Laut- und Wortbildung und die Formen der schlesichen Mundart mit Rücksicht auf verwantes in deutschen Dialecten. Wien: Verlag von Carl Gerold u. Sohn.

). The German Neiderländisch may originate from the word nieder ('low') and may be associated with the low level of the territory where the dialect was spoken (Weinhold 1853: 19Weinhold 1853 / komentarz/comment/r /
Weinhold, Karl 1853. Ueber deutsche Dialectforschung. Die Laut- und Wortbildung und die Formen der schlesichen Mundart mit Rücksicht auf verwantes in deutschen Dialecten. Wien: Verlag von Carl Gerold u. Sohn.

). It is put forward that these distinct features were connected with the Silesian German dialect unification process that had taken place during the Reformation in Lower and Mid Silesia. Also, the origins of the distinctive vowel inventory of this dialect cannot be ascribed to either the Highland or Lusatian dialects (Jungandreas 1928: 12, 13Jungandreas 1928 / komentarz/comment/r /
Jungandreas, Wolfgang 1928. Beiträge zur Erforschung der Besiedlung Schlesiens und zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der schlesischen Mundart. Breslau: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.
). The dialect, spoken from Oleśnica/Oels to Sława/Schlawa as well as around Głogów/Glogau, was characterised by the l sound realized palatally which, as a result, disappeared if preceded by long vowels or changed into a short o if preceded by a short vowel: Taio (Teil - part), faio (viel - much,many), foago (Vogel - bird) (Kryszczuk 1999: 82Kryszczuk 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kryszczuk, Grażyna 1999. Świadomość językowa i kompetencja komunikacyjna Niemców na Dolnym Śląsku. Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie.
). Menzel (1976: 29Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
) distinguishes a number of typical features for this dialect, for example: the change of i to ai and long a in such words as 'table' - taisch or teesch (Tisch); the change of long u to au and long o as in Stube ('chamber') transforming into schtaube or schtoobe; and, also, the change of long o to au as in Kohle ('coal') - kaule. It should be remember, however, that these vowels developed from the vocalic inventories of the base dialects.
The Herbal(ists') dialect can be included in the collective term of Diphthongizing dialects; it is in transition between the Diphthongizing and base dialects. In its southern variety, as in the base dialect, the sufix -la was used to form diminutives and, also, the suffix -en was changed into -a in verbs, e.g. beissa (beissen – to bite). (Kryszczuk 1999: 82Kryszczuk 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kryszczuk, Grażyna 1999. Świadomość językowa i kompetencja komunikacyjna Niemców na Dolnym Śląsku. Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie.
). The term "Herbal(ists') dialect" comes from its speakers, Wrocław farmers who used to grow herbs, vegetables and fruits for later selling (cf. von Unwerth 1908: 86Unwerth 1908 / komentarz/comment/r /
Unwerth, Wolf von 1908. Die schlesische Mundart in ihren Lautverhältnissen grammatisch und geographisch dargestellt. Breslau: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.
, Kryszczuk 1999: 153Kryszczuk 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kryszczuk, Grażyna 1999. Świadomość językowa i kompetencja komunikacyjna Niemców na Dolnym Śląsku. Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie.
).

♦  Upper Silesian dialect (Oberschlesisch)

This variety was used in Upper Silesia alongside the Silesian Polish dialect which was named Wasserpolnisch by the German population (Kneip 1999: 37Kneip 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kneip, Matthias 1999. Die deutsche Sprache in Oberschlesien. Untersuchungen zur politischen Rolleder deutschen Sprache als Minderheitssprache in den Jahren 1921-1998. Dortmund: Forschungsstelle Ostmitteleuropa an der Universität Dortmund.
). As these dialects were constantly in touch, the miners and workers in steelworks would use a mixture of both varieties. Upper Silesia was the home of such figures as der Antek and der Franzek which were often objects of regional humour. More often than not Upper Silesian Germans were taken for Poles due to the amount of borrowings from Polish in their language; more often than not, they were offended by the assumption (Menzel 1976: 31, 32Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
).

♦ Breslau/Wrocław dialect (Breslauisch)

The dialect is known as an "urban dialect" which served the function of a colloquial language on the peripheries of Silesian towns. As every colloquial language, the Wrocław dialect was a mixture of the literary standard and a dialect. The majority of its users would clearly believe that it is the standard German language that they utter, and the fact that they had been born in an urban setting implied that they spoke clear and pure German. The characteristic feature of this dialect was that the particle nu would be used at the beginning of a sentence. Even if combined with a completely standard German sentence, such as Nu bei mir könn’ Sie bestimmt nicht raushören, dass ich ein Breslauer bin (obviously I don't sound as if I am from Wrocław), paradoxically, the particle would immediately give away one's origins. Additionally, rounded vowels would be fronted with the lips being broadened in pronunciation, e.g. hübsch (pretty) sounded as hibsch, Künster (artist) – Kinstler, Dörfer (villages) – Derfer (Menzel 1976: 33Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
). The dialect was developed mainly by the literary achievements of Silesian poet Karl Eduard von Holtei (cf. Weinhold 1853: 19Weinhold 1853 / komentarz/comment/r /
Weinhold, Karl 1853. Ueber deutsche Dialectforschung. Die Laut- und Wortbildung und die Formen der schlesichen Mundart mit Rücksicht auf verwantes in deutschen Dialecten. Wien: Verlag von Carl Gerold u. Sohn.

).

♦ Upper Lusatian dialect (Oberlausitzer Mundart)

The eastern variety of the dialect would use the same vowels as the Highland dialect did (cf. von Unwerth 1908: 89Unwerth 1908 / komentarz/comment/r /
Unwerth, Wolf von 1908. Die schlesische Mundart in ihren Lautverhältnissen grammatisch und geographisch dargestellt. Breslau: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.
). Moreover, the suffix -en was reduced to -e as evidenced by the sentence wir assn, trinkn, schlofn (wir essen, trinken, schlafen – we eat, drink and sleep) (Menzel 1976: 27Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
). Another characteristic feature was the way r and l were articulated at the back of the oral cavity, a feature influenced by the Polish pronunciations of these sounds. The suffix -nt transformed often into -ng, and, hence, hinten (in/from the back) became hinge, while gefunden (past participle form 'found') changed into gefung. The -age and -oge sound combinations would be replaced by the Upper Lusatian -oi; sagen (to say) – soin, gezogen (past participle 'pulled') – gezoin. The Brieg&Grottkau dialect had a nearly identical way of pronunciation, hence Wolf von Unwerth describes it as Upper Lusatian (Menzel 1976: 27Menzel 1976 / komentarz/comment/r /
Menzel, Wilhelm 1976. Mundart und Munadrtdichtung in Schlesien”, 2. Auflage, München: Delp’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
).

♦ High Prussian dialect (Hochpreußisch)

According to The Ethnologue the already extinct dialect was used in the former East Prussia. It had developed under the heavy influence of Silesian settlers that began to colonize this territory in the 13th century (cf. Jungandreas 1928: 294Jungandreas 1928 / komentarz/comment/r /
Jungandreas, Wolfgang 1928. Beiträge zur Erforschung der Besiedlung Schlesiens und zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der schlesischen Mundart. Breslau: Verlag von M. & H. Marcus.
, Brzezina 1989: 20Brzezina 1989 / komentarz/comment/r /
Brzezina, Maria 1989. Polszczyzna Niemców. Warszawa, Kraków: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
). It was the sole Middle German language enclave among the other Low German dialects spoken in Northern Poland (as can be seen in the map below)


Map of the German dialects' around 1910. [source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Deutsche_Dialekte_1910.png]