The Polish speech of several villages in the neighborhood of Doсishki compared with the north-eastern peripheral dialect Cover Image

Polszczyzna kilku wsi z okolic Dociszek na tle polszczyzny północnokresowej
The Polish speech of several villages in the neighborhood of Doсishki compared with the north-eastern peripheral dialect

Author(s): Jadwiga Kozłowska-Doda
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Polish; peripheral dialect; Polish in Belarus; phonetics and phonology of dialects; morphology of dialects

Summary/Abstract: The scientific studies on the Polish language on the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania have focused mainly on specific regions and historical periods. Despite the large number of the recorded materials and their analyses, scientists were unable to establish joint research programs and perform regular investigations; they also failed to create a map of different settlements, so as to develop a holistic picture of the languages of the region. Today, it is difficult to compare the study results of dialectologists and other scholars, because there is no comprehensive analysis of the peripheral Polish dialects. The paper compares the features of the Polish dialect from the area of Docishki with Polish ethnic dialects, as well as with other eastern peripheral dialects. Some other phonetic and morphological features are characterized by the resulting substrate and linguistic contacts. The differences in the Polish dialect of Voronovo district in Belarus are also presented. The analysis of the material has yielded that the Polish speech in the neighbourhood of Doсishki is closely related to the north-eastern peripheral dialects, known as polszczyzna kresowa ‘borderland Polish’. It is mostly characterized by the same features as the Polish language of the area around Vilnius (including a part of the present-day Belarus). However, certain features of the local Polish dialect in villages near Doсishki are not attested in the neighbouring towns, but they are present in a few remote areas, such as the Kaunas region and only a complete description of a dialect will enable linguists to detect such features.

  • Issue Year: 2013
  • Issue No: 37
  • Page Range: 383-406
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: Polish