What is Kashubian? 🤔
Kashubian belongs to the Pomeranian branch of Lechitic languages which is a branch of the wider Slavic language family. While it was once classed as a dialect of Polish, the end of the Soviet Union in the early nineties gave it more cultural importance. It was officially considered an ethnic-minority language in Poland in 2005.
Who are the Kashubians? 🧑🏼🤝🧑🏼
The very first records of the Kashubians can be found in the 13th century. They date back to the Middle Ages and are directly linked to the Baltic Slavs who lived in Pomerania at the time. The region of Kashubia has been occupied by many countries over the centuries up until 1454 when it became part of Poland. Today, there are more than 500,000 people who identify themselves as Kashubians and their recognised capital is Gdansk.
Kashubian or Polish? 🇵🇱
While Kashubians and Poles are distinct from one another in their language and culture, many Kashubians would still identify themselves as being Polish and would also be able to speak Polish. In the 2011 Polish census, just 16,377 outof the 232,547 people who identified themselves as Kashubian said that they would consider Kashubian as their sole nationality.
The influence of German 🇩🇪
As the Kashubian language derives from northern Poland, its vocabulary shares some similarities with German. It is thought that the language gets around 5% of its vocabulary from German, which is a figure quite similar to that of Polish. However, unlike Polish, the vast majority of these loanwords derive from Low German and just a small amount come from High German. While it is more uncommon today, in the past many Kashubians used to be trilingual, speaking Kashubian, Polish, and German in different settings.
A language or a dialect? 💬
One of the biggest debates surrounding the language is whether it should be recognised as a distinct language or a dialect of Polish. There are arguments to back up both sides but the majority of linguists consider it as different to Polishyet still a dialect of it. Despite this, there are many different dialects of Kashubian that make it difficult for speakers from different locations to understand each other. At the start of the 1900s, Friedrich Lorentz, a German historian and linguist, categorised 76 different dialects of Kashubian. For this reason, it is still very difficult for non-Kashubian Polish speakers to understand Kashubian in its written form due its spelling and grammar, including words that it borrows from Polish.
The Preservation of Kashubian ❤️
Considering that almost 97% speak of those living in Poland speak Polish, the Kashubian language is a way in which they can stand out from the other Poles. Consequently, the Kasubian Language Council was set up in 2006 providing newspapers, magazines, and local radio stations in the language. There is also the option for parents to give their consent for children to learn it as a second-language in school. In 2014, there were around 17,000 children taking part in Kashubian language lessons.
Poland 🇵🇱
Many sources give different statistics of the number of Kashubian speakers in Poland today. While some claim there are just 4,500 speakers, others claim that there is a much higher 366,000. However, there are very few Kashubians who don't also speak Polish. In most situations, Polish is the dominant language in formal settings for many Kashubians and Kashubian is reserved for more personal settings.
The Americas 🇺🇸
The emigration of the Kashubs which occurred in the second half of the 19th century saw over 100,000 Kashubians move to North America and another 15,000 to Brazil. It is commonly spoken amongst the Polish community of Renfrew County in Ontario and it used also be found in Winona in Minnesota before dying out in the 20th century.