Poland and the Poles reflected in local dialects

http://doi.org/10.26485/RKJ/2017/64/22

Abstract

The goal of this article is to present the understanding of the words: Polska, Polak, Polka, (język) polski in dialects. Local dialect quotes from the XIX and XX centuries show that not all of the inhabitants of our country called themselves Polacy (Poles). Also, not all regions were identified as parts of Poland. Concerning language itself, many utterances indicate a contradistinction of the speaker’s own dialect and the Polish language, understood as the literary variant. Local dialect proof of the persecution of Polish speakers has also been gathered, especially from areas under German rule in the interwar period. The article also presents synonyms of the ethnonym Polak (Pole), e.g. Polach, Polon, Polus, Polaczek, Polaczysko and variants of the name Polska (Poland), e.g. Polsko, Polszcza. Most examples of the word-formation family of the words Polska, Polak, polski were found in the border areas, whose presence within the borders of the Polish state was (is) changing.