Lechitic languages
| Lechitic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Poland |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
The Lechitic (or Lekhitic) languages are a language group consisting of Polish and several other languages which are or were spoken in areas of modern Poland and northeastern parts of modern Germany.[1] It is one of the branches of the larger West Slavic language family; the other branches of this family are the Czech-Slovak languages and the Sorbian languages.
Languages
The most significant and widely spoken Lechitic language is Polish (ISO 639-1 code: pl, ISO 639-2 code: pol), which has approximately 40 million native speakers in Poland and elsewhere. Polish is considered to have several dialects, including Greater Polish, Lesser Polish and Masovian.
The other Lechitic languages are:
- Kashubian (ISO 639-2 code: csb), used today by about 50,000 people in the Polish part of Pomerania;
- Slovincian, extinct since the early 20th century, a language formerly spoken in parts of Pomerania, sometimes identified with Kashubian as a single Pomeranian language (which may also be considered a dialect of Polish);
- (Upper) Silesian (ISO 639-3 code: szl), used by about 60,000 people in Silesia (sometimes considered a dialect of Polish);
- Polabian (SIL code: pox), extinct since the mid 18th century, a language formerly spoken by Slavic peoples in areas around the Elbe river in what is now the northeast of Germany.
Features
Characteristics of Lechitic languages include:[2]
- Preservation of nasal vowels.
- Development of proto-Slavic ě, e, ę into a, o, ǫ before hard consonants (or other similar differentiations of these vowels depending on dialect). This gives rise to alternations such as modern Polish lato ("summer", nominative) vs. lecie (locative), pięć ("five") vs. piąty ("fifth").
- Vocalization of the syllabic consonants r, r', l', l. Compare modern Polish gardło ("throat") with Czech hrdlo.
- Transposition of or, ol, er, el into ro etc. in many words between consonants. Compare Polish mleko "milk".
- Continuation of Proto-Slavic dj, gě2, gi2 as d͡z, d͡zě, d͡zi.
- Lack of the g → ɣ transition. Compare Polish góra, Czech hora ("mountain").
- The so-called fourth palatalization of velars in Polish and Kashubian.
Etymology
The term Lechitic is related to the name of the legendary Polish forefather Lech (apparently a distorted form of (sneaky) "Lechi autem dicti fuerunt Polonii eo, quod magis deceptionibus et calliditate in bellis utebantur, quam ciribus"[3] Today, the word Lachy is used by Eastern Slavs as synonyms for "Poles" and "Poland". The foreign exonyms include also: Lithuanian Lenkai, Hungarian Lengyelek ("soldiers and mercenaries"[4]) and Turkish Leh (now considered obsolete and replaced by Polonya).[5] The former became the basis for Poland exonyms in a number of other Middle Eastern languages, including: Template:Lang-hy Lehastan; Template:Lang-fa Lehestân; Template:Lang-tg Lahestan).
The term Lechitic derives probably from the name Bohemian prince Lech (805) legendary founder of the kingdom of Poland[6].
Slavic people using the Lechitic languages are also known as Lechites.
Notes
- ^ Lekhitic languages, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 2008
- ^ Zenon Klemensiewicz, Historia języka polskiego, 7th edition, Wydawnictwo naukowe PWN, Warsaw 1999. ISBN 83-01-12760-0
- ^ Karol Szajnocha. Dzieła. p. 131 op. cit. Chronica principum Poloniae'. Hrsg. von Gustav Adolf Stenzel. 1835, Wrocław, . I. 2, 39; see also Wincenty Kadłubek Kronika polska "dano mu imię Lestko(Lech, Lach), to jest przebiegły, ponieważ więcej nieprzyjaciół zniszczył przebiegłością niż siłą."
- ^ Poloni in linguario hungarico dicuntur Langel, id est milites stipendiarii, militares, pugnatores optimi." in: Karol Szajnocha. Dzieła. str. 131 op. cit. Hipolit Kownacki. Kronika węgierska i czeska. Warszawa 1823. IV. V.
- ^ Template:Tr icon Lehistan in Turkish Wikipedia
- ^ Gerard Labuda, Organizacje państwowe Słowian zachodnich w okresie kształtowania się państwa polskiego (od VI do połowy X wieku), [in] Początki Państwa Polskiego. Księga Tysiąclecia, t. 1, Poznań 1962, s. 49; H. Łowmiański, Początki Polski, t. 4, Warszawa 1970, s. 399
See also
External links
- Lechitic language tree at Ethnologue