Vilamovian language

Vilamovian or Wilamowicean (Wymysiöeryś) is a West Germanic language spoken in the small town of Wilamowice (Wymysoj in Vilamovian) near Bielsko-Biała, on the border between Silesia and Lesser Poland in the historical region of Galicia. At present, there are about 70 native users of Vilamovian, the majority of them elderly people; Vilamovian is therefore a moribund language.

History

In origin, Vilamovian appears to derive from 12th century Middle High German, with a strong influence from Low German, Dutch, Frisian, Polish and Old English. The inhabitants of Wilamowice are thought to be descendants of German, Dutch and Scottish settlers who arrived in Poland in the 13th century. However, the inhabitants of Wilamowice always denied any connections with Germany and proclaimed their Dutch origins.

Vilamovian was the vernacular language of Wilamowice until 1939–1945. After World War II, local communist authorities forbade the use of the language. Although the ban was lifted after 1956, Vilamovian has been gradually replaced by Polish, especially amongst the younger generations.

Because of the proposal by Tymoteusz Król, who was 14 years old in that time, the Library of Congress added the Vilamovian language to the register of languages on July 18, 2007. It was also registered in the International Organization for Standardization, where it got the wym ISO code.^[1]

Vilamovian was the language in which the poetry of Florian Biesik was written, during the 19th century.

Wilamowicean alphabet

The Vilamovian alphabet, created by Józef Gara, consists of 34 letters derived from the Latin alphabet:

Wilamowicean orthography includes the digraph "AO", which is treated as a separate letter.

Sample words and relation to other languages

A sample of Vilamovian words with German, Dutch and English translations. Note that ł is read in Vilamovian like English w (as in Polish), and w like v (as in Polish and German):

Sample texts

Lord's Prayer in Vilamovian

Ynzer Foter, dü byst ym hymuł,

Daj noma zuł zajn gywajt;

Daj Kyngrajch zuł dö kuma;

Daj wyła zuł zajn ym hymuł an uf der aot;

dos ynzer gywynłichys brut gao yns haojt;

an fercaj yns ynzer siułda,

wi wir aoj fercajn y ynzyn siułdigia;

ny łat yns cyn zynda;

zunder kaonst yns reta fum nistgüta.

[Do Dajs ej z Kyngrajch an dy maocht, ans łaowa uf inda.]

Amen

A lullaby in Vilamovian with English translation:

Śłöf maj buwła fest!

Skumma fremdy gest,

Skumma muma ana fettyn,

Z' brennia nysła ana epułn,

Śłöf maj Jasiu fest!

Sleep, my boy, soundly!

Foreign guests are coming,

Aunts and uncles are coming,

Bringing nuts and apples,

Sleep, my Johnny, soundly!

Further reading

• Ludwik Młynek, "Narzecze wilamowickie", Tarnów. 1907: J.Pisz.
• Józef Latosiński, "Monografia miasteczka Wilamowic", Kraków, 1909.
• Hermann Mojmir, "Wörterbuch der deutschen Mundart von Wilamowice" (Słownik niemieckiej gwary Wilamowic), Kraków, 1930-1936: Polska Akademia Umiejętności.
• Adam Kleczkowski, "Dialekt Wilamowic w zachodniej Galicji. Fonetyka i fleksja". Kraków, 1920: Polska Akademia Umiejętności.
• Adam Kleczkowski, "Dialekt Wilamowic w zachodniej Galicji. Składnia", Poznań, 1921: Uniwersytet Poznański.
• Maria Katarzyna Lasatowicz, "Die deutsche Mundart von Wilamowice zwischen 1920 und 1987". Opole, 1992: Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna.
• Tomasz Wicherkiewicz, The Making of a Language: The Case of the Idiom of Wilamowice, Mouton de Gruyter, 2003, ISBN 3-11-017099-X

References

External links

• Wymysiöeryś – jeszcze mowa nie zginęła at YouTube. Agencja Fotograficzna Fotorzepa. Rzeczpospolita