Cieszyn Silesian dialect
The Cieszyn Silesian dialect or Teschen Silesian dialect (Cieszyn Silesian: cieszyńsko rzecz; Polish: gwara cieszyńska or narzecze cieszyńskie; Czech: těšínské nářečí; Silesian: ćeszyński djalekt) is one of the Silesian dialects. It has its roots mainly in Old Polish and also has strong influences from Czech and German and, to a lesser extent, from Vlach and Slovak. It is spoken in Cieszyn Silesia, a region on both sides of the Polish-Czech border. It remains mostly a spoken language. The dialect is better preserved today than traditional dialects of many other West Slavic regions.
| Cieszyn Silesian | |
|---|---|
| Teschen Silesian | |
| cieszyńsko rzecz | |
| Native to | Poland (Silesian Voivodeship, Cieszyn & Bielsko), Czech Republic ([Frýdek-Místek & Karviná districts) |
| Region | Cieszyn Silesia |
| Ethnicity | Silesians (Vlachs) |
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
Cieszyn dialect (7) within Silesian dialects (according to Alfred Zaręba) | |
On the Czech side of the border (in Trans-Olza) it is spoken mainly by the Polish minority, where it was and still is strongly influenced mainly by Czech (mainly lexicon and syntax). It is used to reinforce a feeling of regional solidarity.
Polish and Czech linguists differ in their views on the classification of the dialect. Most Czech linguists make a distinction between the dialect as spoken in Czechia and in Poland, and classify the dialect spoken on the Czech side of the border as a "mixed Czech-Polish dialect", a designation already used in the 19th century. Polish linguists tend to classify the language on both sides of the border under the Silesian dialects of Polish. Although the dialect has its roots mainly in Polish (phonology and morphology are consistently shared with Polish), the diachronic development of the dialect is of a transitional nature.