Wymysorys language


Wymysorys, also known as Vilamovian, is a West Germanic language spoken by the ethnic Vilamovian minority in the small town of Wilamowice, Poland, on the border between Silesia and Lesser Poland, near Bielsko-Biała. It is considered an endangered language, possibly the most so of any of the Germanic languages. There are probably fewer than 20 native users of Wymysorys, virtually all bilingual; the majority are elderly.

History

In origin, Wymysorys appears to derive from 12th-century Middle High German, with a strong influence from Low German, Dutch, Polish, Old English and perhaps Frisian. 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.
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, in 1890 - only 72%, in 1900 - 67%, in 1910 - 73% again. Although Wymysorys was taught in local schools, 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.
Acting on a proposal by Tymoteusz Król, the Library of Congress added the Wymysorys language to the register of languages on July 18, 2007. It was also registered in the International Organization for Standardization, where it received the wym ISO 639-3 code. In a 2009 UNESCO report Wymysorys has been reported as "severely endangered" and nearly extinct.
Wymysorys was the language of the poetry of Florian Biesik, during the 19th century.

Revitalization

Some new revitalization efforts were started in the first decade of the 21st century, led by speaker Tymoteusz Król, whose efforts include private lessons with a group of pupils as well as compiling language records, standardizing written orthography and compiling the first ever dictionary of Wymysorys. Additionally, a new project called The Wymysiöeryśy Akademyj – Accademia Wilamowicziana or WA-AW was established under the "Artes Liberales" program at the University of Warsaw with the intention of creating a unified scholastic body for the study of the Wymysorys language.

Phonology

Consonants

Wymysorys has been for centuries mostly a spoken language. It was not until the times of Florian Biesik, the first author of major literary works in the language, that a need for a separate version of a Latin alphabet arose. Biesik wrote most of his works in plain Polish alphabet, which he considered better-suited for the phonetics of his language. In recent times Józef Gara, another author of works in the local language, devised a distinct Wymysorys alphabet, consisting of 34 letters derived from the Latin script and mostly based on Polish as well:
Wilamowicean orthography includes the digraph "AO", which is treated as a separate letter.

Example words and their relationship to other languages

A sample of Wymysorys words with German, Dutch and English translations. Note that ł is read in Wymysorys like English w, and w like v :
EnglishWymysorysMiddle High GermanGermanDutchComment
aloneałanaleinalleinalleen
andana, anund, untunden
bridgebrykbrücke, bruckeBrückebrug
doltdułtol, dol ‘foolish, nonsensical’toll ‘mad, fantastic, wonderful’dol ‘crazy’
hearfulgia< Frisian; WFris folgje, EFris foulgje ‘to follow’hörenhorencf. German folgen, Dutch volgen 'to follow'
whollygancganzganzgans
courtgyrychtgerihtGerichtgerechtcf. German Recht, Dutch recht '
doghundhuntHundhondcf. English hound
heavendyr hymułhimelHimmelhemel
lovełiwaliebeLiebeliefde
a bita mikiełamichel ‘much’ein bisscheneen beetjeScots mickle, English much; antonymic switch ‘much’ → ‘little’
mothermütermuoterMuttermoeder
middlemytułmittelMittemiddel
no onenimandaniemanniemandniemand
nonyne, nineinnee
breathödum< Middle GermanAtemademcf. obsolete German Odem, Middle Franconian Öödem
elephantolifant< DutchElefantolifant
eveningöwytābentAbendavond
writeśrajwaschrībenschreibenschrijven
sistersysterswesterSchwesterzuster
stoneśtaensteinSteinsteen
drinktrynkiatrinkentrinkendrinken
pictureobrozła< Slavic; Polish obrazBildbeeld
worldwełtwerltWeltwereld
winterwynterwinterWinterwinter
silverzyłwersilberSilberzilver
sevenzyjwa< Middle German sivensiebenzeven
welcomesgiöekumtwilkōmewilkommenwelkom

Sample texts

in Wymysorys
A lullaby in Wymysorys with English translation: