Wymysorys language
| Wymysorys | |
|---|---|
| Vilamovian | |
| Wymysiöeryś | |
| Native to | Poland |
| Region | Wilamowice |
|
Native speakers
|
70 (2006) |
|
Indo-European
|
|
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
| Regulated by | no official regulation |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | wymy1235 |
Wymysorys (Wymysiöeryś), also known as Vilamovian or Wilamowicean, is a West Germanic language, actively used in the small town of Wilamowice, Poland (Wymysoü in Wymysorys), on the border between Silesia and Lesser Poland, near Bielsko-Biała. It is considered an endangered language. There are probably between 70 and 100 native users of Wymysorys, virtually all bilingual; the majority are elderly.
In origin, Wymysorys appears to derive from 12th-century Middle High German, with a strong influence from Low German, Dutch, Frisian, Polish and Old English. The inhabitants of Wilamowice are thought to be descendants of German, Flemish and Scottish settlers who arrived in Poland during the 13th-century. However, the inhabitants of Wilamowice always denied any connections with Germany and proclaimed their Flemish origins. Although related to German, Wymysorys is not mutually intelligible with Standard German (that is the case for most other German dialects as well).
Wymysorys was the vernacular language of Wilamowice until 1939–1945. However, it seems it has been in decline since the late 19th century. In 1880 as many as 92% of the town's inhabitants spoke Wymysorys (1525 out of 1662), in 1890 - only 72%, in 1900 - 67%, in 1910 - 73% again. Although Wymysorys was taught in local schools (under the name of "local variety of German"), since 1875 the basic language of instruction in most schools in Austro-Hungarian Galicia was Polish. During World War II and the German occupation of Poland Wymysorys was openly promoted by the Nazi administration, but after the war the tables turned: local communist authorities forbade the use of Wymysorys in any form. The widespread bilingualism of the people saved most local residents from being forcibly resettled to Germany, many of them stopped teaching their children their language or even using it in daily life. Although the ban was lifted after 1956, Wymysorys has been gradually replaced by Polish, especially amongst the younger generation.
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Wikipedia