# Chwalim dialect

The Chwalim dialect (Polish: gwara chwalimska; Silesian: chwalōm dialekt) was a Lechitic dialect spoken up to first half of 20th century in Chwalim in present-day western Poland. Historically, the village belongs to Lower Silesia. Although the dialect features are typical for Silesian, the speakers believed that they were descendants of Sorbs. The dialect is classified as a Silesian dialect, and more specifically, the Lower Silesian dialect group, but displays some Greater Polish influence.

## History

In the 19th century, the inhabitants of Chwalim were believed to be Wends who had migrated there from Lower Lusatia. Nevertheless, Kazimierz Nitsch, because of linguistic features of their dialect, believed that they were Silesians. From his visits to Chwalim in the early 20th century, he learned that the dialect is well known amongst elder people, while younger people had stopped learning it, instead opting for German, although they still understood it. According to a census in 1910, 117 natives in Chwalim still spoke the so-called "Wendish language".
These speakers were Protestants visiting church in neighbouring town Kargowa and praying with Polish books.

## Phonology

The phonological system of the Chwalim dialect has much in common with other Silesian dialects, with some influences from Greater Poland dialects.

### Consonants

The consonant system of Chwalim dialect is generally similar to that in Standard Polish, but there is a lack of the postalveolar/retroflex series due to mazuration, which is present in some other Silesian dialects as well. A weak prothetic [h] is usually inserted before initial /i/.

### Vowels and diphthongs

Below, the acute accent denotes that the sound is a reflex of the corresponding Old Polish long vowel. It is also difficult to determine whether diphthongized vowels are phonemic diphthongs or not.
Oral vowels: a, e, i, y, o, u, á, é, ó.
Nasal vowels: ã, õ.
Allophony:
* á is usually realised as a diphthong [ou̯] but is reduced to [o] before nasal consonants or to more open [ɔ] before /w/ or /j/;
* é is generally pronounced as [ɘ̟], like in other Silesian dialects;
* The pronunciation of o can vary between [u̯ɔ] and [ɔɛ̯] depending on the phonological context. Generally, u̯ is strongest in the beginning of the word and weakest at the end of the word: [ˈk$^{u̯}$ɔvou̯l] 'smith', [r$^{u̯}$ɔˈb$^{u̯}$ɔt̪ä] 'work' (noun), [u̯ɔd̪ˈlʲɛt͡ɕä] '(she) flew away', [ˈmɔɛ̯d̪ɘ̟ɪ̯] 'young', [ˈs̪$^{u̯}$ɔvɔɛ̯] 'word'. In this article, letter ô is used to indicate pronunciation [u̯ɔ];
* y can be realised as a diphthong [ɘ̟i̯~ɘ̟ɪ̯] or monophthong [ɘ̟~ɪ] depending on the phonological context (usually, at the end of a word it is a diphthong). Before /w/ it is realised as [u̞];
* ó is usually realised as a diphthong [u̞ɵ̯] but is often reduced to [u̞] in unaccented syllables or before /w/;
* u is generally [u] as in most of Polish and Silesian dialects, but can be a bit more open [u̞] before /l/ and nasals;
* ã is generally pronounced as [ä̃];
* The pronunciation of õ can vary between [ɔ̃] and [õ];
* i and a are generally pronounced as [i] and [ä] respectively, as in most of Polish and Silesian dialects.

### Evolution from Old Polish

In the list below, V denotes any vowel, C – any consonant, N – any nasal consonant, ogonek – nasal vowel and macron – long vowel.
* lack of final -aj > -ej, unlike in other Silesian dialetcs;
* ā > á, except in feminine noun endings -niā > -nia;
* ē > é, eN > éN. Sporadically ē, e > i: [ˈɲi‿mu̞k] '(he) couldn't', [ˈɲimʲɛt͡s̪] 'Protestant';
* ō > ó, oN > óN;
* y > i in few cases, mostly after /ts/;
* ą > ã, ą̄ > õ, ą̄ > õm word-finally;
* in comparative adverbs endings -ēj > -y
* irregular Silesian vowel changes: [ˈjɛgwä] – compare Polish igła 'needle', [ˈɲɛs̪ä̃] – compare Polish niosę '(I) carry', [ˈz̪ɛgʲɛr] : [ˈzɛgrä] (gen.) – compare Polish zegar : zegara 'clock', [vɛ ˈs̪ku̯ɔlɛ] – compare Polish w szkole 'in school', [vɛ ˈɔɛ̯strji] – compare Polish w Austrii 'in Austria';
* due to Greater Polish influence, -ew- after soft consonants is preserved: [ku̞ɵ̯ˈɲɛvʲi] 'horse (dative)', [ku̯ɔvou̯ˈlɛvʲi] 'smith (dative)', [vʲiɕˈɲɛvɛ] 'cherry (nueter)' (adjective);
* masuration is regular with a few exceptions: [ˈt͡ɕlɔvʲɛk] – compare Polish człowiek 'human', [ʑɛˈläz̪ɔ] – compare Polish żelazo 'iron'. /ʃ/ in recent German borrowings is adapted as /ɕ/;
* /ɫ/ > /w/ as in most of Polish and Silesian dialects;
* /w/ after consonants is often lost: /CwV/ > /CV/;
* between two vowels (unless first of them is o or á) /w/ is much weaker. If the vowels are the same or very similar, it can be even completely omitted, contracting the vowels: [ˈs̪u̯ɘ̟s̪ä] '(she) heard' – compare Polish słyszała, [ˈɲɛ‿brä] '(she) wasn't taking' – compare Polish nie brała, [ˈɲɛ‿z̪n̪ä] '(she) didn't know' – compare Polish nie znała, [u̯ɘ̟n̪ä s̪ä ˈbäː] 'she was here' – compare Polish ona tu była, [vʑä̃] '(she) took' – compare Polish wzięła;
* various simplifications of consonant clusters and palatalizations: [ˈs̪ɘ̟t͡ɕkɔɛ̯] 'all', [ˈps̪ɔwä] 'bee', [du̯ɔɕ] 'enough, fairly', [s̪ɛʑ‿ˈlou̯t̪] 'six years', [ˈʑbʲɘ̟räj] 'to collect' – compare Polish wszystko, pszczoła, dość, sześć lat, zbierać.

## Grammar

Many features common to Silesian dialects are present in the morphology, but some Sorbian influence may also be observed.

### Declension

The most dominant ending for the genitive masculine singular genitive of nouns is -u. An archaic masculine singular dative ending -ewi is preserved after roots ending with soft consonant. The feminine singular accusative is generally formed with -ã.
The masculine and neuter singular genitive of adjectives is formed with the ending -yk from -ēgo, which is the result of Sorbian influence.

### Conjugation

Verbs in the infinitive end in -j < -ć and -ś < -ść/-źć. Future forms of być ('to be') have d and dź simplified into corresponding nasal consonants n, ń as in other Silesian dialects: bãnõm, bãnie, – compare Polish będą, będzie.
Present tense endings are -ą/-ám for the first person singular, -my for the first person plural and -cie for the second person plural. The past tense is constructed from the l-participle and personal pronoun; in singular first person there can be added suffix -ch to personal pronoun ja, which is typical for Silesian: jach tam bół (I was there), jach słysa 'I heard (feminine)', my cytali (we were reading), bółś tam? (have you been there?/were you there (singular)). As in Polish and Silesian, special prefixes inform whether the aspect of the verb is perfective or imperfective. Future tense is constructed with 'to be' in future tense and infinitive form of verb: bãnõm piáj (they will be reading), my bãniemy piáj (we will be reading), or with a present-tense form of a perfective verb.
Conjugations of a few verbs:
* (h)iś 'to go' / pôj (perfective): (h)idõm (they go/they are going), (h)idźmy, (let's go (imperfective)), pódziémy (we will go), przisáł (he has come/he came);
* 'can': môgã (I can), móg (he could);
* 'to be': jes (he/she/it/there is), my sõm (we are), bãnie (he/she/it will), bãniemy (we will), bãnõm (they will), bół ((he) was), baa or bełe (she) was, beły (they were (feminine)).

## Vocabulary

| Word (simplified orthography) | Meaning | Nitsch's spelling | IPA transcription | Comment |
| baba | wife | baba | [ˈbäbä] | |
| biáły | white | b́ou̯yi̯ | [ˈbʲɔwɘ̟i̯] | |
| bible | liturgical books | b́ible | [ˈbʲiblɛ] | |
| bulce | potatoes | bulce | [ˈbult͡s̪ɛ] | |
| cyga | goat | ciga | [ˈt͡s̪igä] | |
| dãbôki | deep | dąb$^u$oḱi | [d̪ä̃ˈbu̯ɔkʲi] | Sorbian influence. |
| dugi | long | duǵi | [ˈd̪ugʲi] | Comparative form: dlysyi̯ or dusyi̯. |
| dôś | much, many | d$^u$oś | [d̪u̯ɔɕ] | Polish dość means 'enough'. |
| dziéwcã | daughter | ʒ́yfcą | [ˈd͡ʑɘ̟ft͡s̪ä̃] | Polish dziewczę means 'girl'. |
| gupy | dumb | gupy$^{i̯}$ | [ˈgupɘ̟ɪ̯] | |
| jachaj | to go (with a vehicle) | i̯aχai̯ | [ˈjäxäj] | |
| jegiáłka | pin | i̯eǵou̯ka | [jɛˈgʲɔwkä] | |
| jegła | needle | i̯egu̯a | [ˈjɛgwä] | Charachteristic Silesian word. |
| jeźdźôrô | lake | i̯eźʒ́$^u$or$^u$o | [jɛʑˈd͡ʑu̯ɔru̯ɔ] | Probably influenced by neighbouring Greater Polish dialects. |
| jezeli | if | i̯ezeľi | [jɛˈz̪ɛlʲi] | This word is used also to make questions. Thus, it replaced semantically Standard Polish czy. |
| knepa | button | knepa | [ˈkn̪ɛpä] | |
| kôkôt | rooster | k$^u$ok$^u$ot | [ˈku̯ɔku̯ɔt̪] | |
| latôś | this year | lat$^u$oś | [ˈlät̪u̯ɔɕ] | |
| ma | yes | ma | [mä] | |
| miałki | shallow | ḿau̯kȯ$^{u̯}$ (feminine form) | [ˈmʲäwkʲi] | |
| miãskaj | to live; to reside (somewhere) | ḿąskai̯ | [ˈmʲä̃s̪käj] | |
| nacõj | to begin | nacǫi̯ | [ˈn̪ät͡s̪ɔ̃j] | |
| nie | no | ńe | [ɲɛ] | |
| nimiec | Protestant | ńiḿec | [ˈɲimʲɛt͡s̪] | Polish Niemiec means 'German (man)'. |
| ôbiéraj | to collect, to gather | u̯ɔb́yrai̯ | [u̯ɔˈbʲɘ̟räj] | Polish uses prefix z-: zbierać. |
| ôciéń | shadow | u̯oćyń | [ˈu̯ɔt͡ɕɘ̟ɲ] | |
| ón | he | u̯yn | [u̯ɘ̟n̪] | |
| pára | a few | pȯ$^{u̯}$rą (accusative form) | [ˈpou̯rä] | Polish para means 'pair, two of something'. |
| piáj | to read | ṕoi̯ | [pʲɔj] | Semantic change from 'to sing' to 'to sing with a liturgical book' to 'to read from a liturgical book' to ultimately 'to read'. |
| pôdwórek | yard | p$^u$odvůy̯rek | [pu̯ɔd̪ˈvu̞ɵ̯rɛk] | |
| psoła | bee | psou̯a | [ˈps̪ɔwä] | |
| sa | here | sa | [s̪ä] | Greater Polish influence. |
| siachta | box | śaχta | [ˈɕäxt̪ä] | |
| skło, sklanô | glass bottle | sku̯o, sklan$^u$o | [s̪ku̯ɔ], [ˈs̪klänu̯ɔ] | |
| stára | grandma | stȯ$^{u̯}$rȯ$^{u̯}$ | [ˈs̪t̪ou̯rou̯] | Polish stara is feminine form for 'old'. |
| stáry | grandpa | stȯ$^{u̯}$ryi̯ | [ˈs̪t̪ou̯rɘ̟i̯] | Polish stary is masculine form for 'old'. |
| tata | father | tata | [ˈt̪ät̪ä] | |
| terá | now | terȯ$^{u̯}$ | [ˈt̪ɛrou̯] | |
| ôlica | door | u̯oľica | [u̯ɔˈlʲit͡s̪ä] | Polish ulica means 'street'. The semantic change probably influenced by southern Greater Polish dialects. |
| wadzi sie | to argue | vaʒ́i śe | [ˈväd͡ʑi‿ɕɛ] | |
| wielgi | big | v́elǵi | [ˈvʲɛlgʲi] | |
| zajitrô | day after tomorrow | zai̯itr$^u$o | [z̪äˈjitru̯ɔ] | |
| zawrzyj | to close | zavžyi̯ | [ˈz̪ävʒ̺ɘ̟j] | |
| zegier | clock | zeǵer | [ˈz̪ɛgʲɛr] | |
| zielazô | iron | źelaz$^u$o | [ʑɛˈläzu̯ɔ] | |