Podhale dialect
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Podhale dialect (Polish: gwara podhalaĊska) refers to the language spoken by the Gorals, or the highlanders living in the Tatra Mountains. The dialect, itself a part of the larger Lesser Polish dialectal group, is characterized as Proto-Slavic from the Eastern Lechitic, Old Polish area, superimposed by Slovak.
In other words, the language is of Polish origin, but has been influenced by Slovak in recent centuries. The language contains Polish words, specific words, Vlach respectively words, Slovak words and words that are peculiar to the Carpathian language area (Carpathisms). Moreover, typical Goral words such as those for mountain/hill such as magura or for fireplace such as vatra which are of Illyrian and Daco-Romanian origin, and which are in used to this day in both Albanian and Romanian languages, became now part of the Polish toponomy in the Highlands inhabited by Gorals.
