# Minority Slavic languages and archaic dialects



## Karton Realista

I would like to just showcase some rather not mentioned languages and archaic dialects that don't seem to have representation on this forum:
*Kashubian (kaszëbsczi jãzëk, język kaszubski) - *minority language in Poland (as written in Polish law), by linguists described as a separate language or dialect of Polish. It's spoken in a part of northern Poland (Pomerania) and sprung from Pomerian language (now extinct), it is a lechitic language with influences of modern Polish and German.
Kashubian Wikipedia: https://csb.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Przédnô_starna
Kashubian music:
Rock *[....]*

Silesian - archaic dialect of Polish, by some Silesians called a language. It is used by people in Silesia, region in Poland, Czech Republic and Germany. Silesians in Germany use different dialect, of German language this time.
Silesian Wikipedia: https://szl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Przodńo_zajta
*[....]*
Can anyone bring other examples of minority speech among Slavic languages?

_Mod note: YouTube liks removed - please see this sticky_


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## Panceltic

*Resian* springs to mind. It is a dialect of Slovenian (some consider it a language in its own right) spoken in Resia (Italy), but having been so isolated from the rest of Slovenian, it is today almost incomprehensible in spoken form. Written Resian can quite easily be understood, though. There are around 1,000 speakers.


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## Karton Realista

Panceltic said:


> There are around 1,000 speakers.


So I guess it doesn't have a modern culture, like music, internet sites, new poems etc.? 
It's sad in a way.


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## Panceltic

Very sad indeed. There is some music and people speaking it on youtube.

I think there are some recent poems and they have a (monthly?) newsletter in this language.


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## bardistador

There are some scholarly articles written on Resian, particularly on its use of the definitive article.  It's different from the Bulgarian or Northern Russian post-posed -to, -ta, -te, even though it uses to, ta, te.  Oddly enough, the usage is strange.   Comparing it to English, it does not map 1:1 to English "the" like French does.  It's sometimes used when you wouldn't expect it and sometimes not used when you expect it to be there.

With 1000 speakers, there may be fewer Resian speakers than speakers of Šatrovački or Banjački.


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## marco_2

There are also Ruthenian dialects (close to Ukrainian) mostly in the Carpathian Mountains (Poland, Slovakia, Zakarpattja in Ukraine) and in Serbian Vojvodina (they moved there in the 18th century from the north). They have at least three literary standards (Lemko language in Poland, Ruthenian in Slovakia and _ruski jezik _in Vojvodina). And on Ukrainian-Belorussian border you can find transitional dialects in Polish southern Podlasie and Belorussian Polissya - people who use them consider themselves mostly Belorussian, but their dialects have more Ukrainian features.


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## Stan Jan

There are plenty, including but not limited to:
Wymysiöeryś (Vilemovian,Wilmesaurisch) - a local language in today's southern Poland, with Germanic elements,
Niedersorbisch (dolnoserbšćina) - in Lower Lusatia
Obersorbisch (hornjoserbšćina) - in Higher Lusatia

but these are endangered, small minority languages, that I'm not sure we can find speakers of in this forum. I would be hopeful for Ruthenian.
Considering the linguistic status of Kashubian or Silesian has always been a political issue. They are both pretty different from Polish, but the latter is not recognized as a minority language by governmental institutions. Sometimes, a compromise term of a "Silesian ethnolect" is being used. (That's just a fun fact, I don't think it should bar this site from having a Silesian subforum.)

It's interesting what marco_2 writes about Lemko in the Balkans. I think I heard something about the Balkan origin of some Carpatian dialects, but never the other way round.


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## Awwal12

Karton Realista said:


> Can anyone bring other examples of minority speech among Slavic languages?


Well, the Russian language has (or maybe rather had) very different dialects, some of them being as different as two East Slavic dialects can be. The problem is that Russia lacks any pronounced Russian-speaking minorities who would be calling them "their languages".  Sure there are some Cossack ethnic goups (whose identity is largely based on historical estate privileges and who experience some kind of renaissance in the last decades - it's cool and fashionable and things like that), but they just speak normal South Russian dialects (or Ukrainian, if it comes to Kuban Cossacks), not any different from surrounding Russian peasants.

I must, however, remind of Rusyn/Ruthenian, which is technically a Ukrainian dialect (or a group of dialects), spoken by Rusyns. (P.S.: sorry, marco_2 has got ahead. )


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## Karton Realista

Stan Jan said:


> Niedersorbisch (dolnoserbšćina) - in Lower Lusatia
> Obersorbisch (hornjoserbšćina) - in Higher Lusatia


They are called Upper and Lower Sorbian in English. 
I am aware of them, but thanks for bringing them up anyways, this is an old thread and I forgot it even existed.


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