Lechitic languages
Encyclopedia
The Lechitic languages include three languages spoken in Central Europe
, mainly in Poland
, and historically also in the eastern and northern parts of modern Germany
. This language group is a branch of the larger West Slavic
language family. The Lechitic group includes:
The characteristics of Lechitic languages are:
The term Lechitic derives from the most popular form of the name of the legendary forefather Lech (apparently a distorted form of *lęch).
Slavic people using those languages are also known as Lechites
.
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
, mainly in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and historically also in the eastern and northern parts of modern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. This language group is a branch of the larger West Slavic
West Slavic languages
The West Slavic languages are a subdivision of the Slavic language group that includes Czech, Polish, Slovak, Kashubian and Sorbian.Classification:* Indo-European** Balto-Slavic*** Slavic**** West Slavic***** Czech-Slovak languages****** Czech...
language family. The Lechitic group includes:
- PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
– (ISO 639-1 code: pl, ISO 639-2 code: pol)- Greater PolishGreater PolandGreater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
- Lesser PolishLesser PolandLesser Poland is one of the historical regions of Poland, with its capital in the city of Kraków. It forms the southeastern corner of the country, and should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only a small, southern part of Lesser Poland...
- Masovian
- Lwów dialectLwów dialectThe Lwów dialect is a local variety of the Polish language characteristic of the inhabitants of the city of Lviv , now in Ukraine. Based on the substratum of the Malopolonia dialect, it was heavily influenced by borrowings from other languages spoken in Central Europe, notably German and Yiddish,...
– nearly extinct
- Greater Polish
- PomeranianPomeranian languageThe Pomeranian language is a group of dialects from the Lechitic cluster of the West Slavic languages. In medieval contexts, it refers to the dialects spoken by the Slavic Pomeranians...
- KashubianKashubian languageKashubian or Cassubian is one of the Lechitic languages, a subgroup of the Slavic languages....
– (ISO 639-2 code: csb) - Slovincian – extinct
- Kashubian
- (Upper) Silesian (ISO 639-3 code: szl)
- PolabianPolabian languageThe Polabian language is an extinct West Slavic language that was spoken by the Polabian Slavs in present-day North-Eastern Germany around the Elbe river, from which derives its name...
– extinct – (SIL Code: pox)
The characteristics of Lechitic languages are:
- Mutation of Proto-Slavic ě, e, ę before alveolarAlveolar consonantAlveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...
s into a, o, ǫ. - Continuation of Proto-Slavic dj, gě2, gi2 as d͡z, d͡zě, d͡zi.
- Lack of g → ɣ transition.
- Preservation of nasal vowelNasal vowelA nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth. By contrast, oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation...
s. - the so-called fourth palatalization of velarsVelar consonantVelars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....
in Polish and Kashubian
The term Lechitic derives from the most popular form of the name of the legendary forefather Lech (apparently a distorted form of *lęch).
Slavic people using those languages are also known as Lechites
Lechites
Lechites – an ethnic and linguistic group of West Slavs, the ancestors of modern Poles and the historical Pomeranians and Polabians.-History:...
.
- The Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
says that "Lekhitic languages, also spelled Lechitic , group of West Slavic languages composed of Polish, KashubianKashubian languageKashubian or Cassubian is one of the Lechitic languages, a subgroup of the Slavic languages....
and its archaic variant Slovincian, and the extinct Polabian languagePolabian languageThe Polabian language is an extinct West Slavic language that was spoken by the Polabian Slavs in present-day North-Eastern Germany around the Elbe river, from which derives its name...
. All these languages except Polish are sometimes classified as a Pomeranian subgroup. In the early Middle AgesMiddle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, before their speakers had become Germanized, Pomeranian languages and dialects were spoken along the Baltic in an area extending from the lower Vistula River to the lower Oder River. Kashubian and Slovincian survived into the 20th century; there were still a considerable number of native speakers of Kashubian in Poland and Canada in the 1990s. The extinct Polabian language, which bordered the Sorbian dialects in eastern GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, was spoken by the Slavic population of the Elbe River region until the 17th or 18th century; a dictionary and some phrases written in the language exist".