Talk:Silesian language

Semi-protected edit request on 14 February 2026

I believe ethnicity in the Silesian language should be changed. There should be added "Poles" in addition to "Silesians".

It's logical when reading the rest of the article. Just above it there's written that some people in Silesia using the language/dialect consider themselves Poles. ~2026-10088-92 (talk) 13:00, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

Please give the code to me to edit. ---Carf--- Walkie-talkie The Editz 18:32, 22 February 2026 (UTC)

 Not done The article makes clear that the subject of the article also applies to other nationalities in the region. Additionally, we're generally unhappy about adding statements to contentious topics without a reliable, third-party source being provided in advance. • a frantic turtle 🐢 20:40, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 April 2026

In the "Example" section under Czech language there is an spelling mistake right at the start of the second sentance: "Na jego planetě rostly....". The word "jego" should be "jeho" (jego doesnt exist, jeho means his, which makes sense in the context) Bimbulin1234 (talk) 15:51, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

 Done ―Tosca-the-engineer (talk) 05:02, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Requested move 24 May 2026

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. Consensus is to not move per WP:COMMONNAME. (closed by non-admin page mover) ⹃Maltazarian ^{ᚾparley$\lor$investigateᛅ} 21:33, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

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Silesian language → Upper Silesian languageUpper Silesian language – I think the current name is misleading, per WP:PRECISION and WP:NATURAL. First of all, take a look at the language map, and compare it to the historical map of Silesia. You can clearly see the language is mostly spoken in the historic region of Upper Silesia, which includes parts of the modern-day Silesian and Opole voviodeships. "Silesian language" would refer to the whole region of Silesia, but almost nobody actually speaks the language in other parts of the region, such as Lower Silesia.
Second of all, it appears to be the common name: many sources refer to the language as "Upper Silesian" (Polish: Górnośląski)

References

Fortek67 (talk) 23:51, 24 May 2026 (UTC)

Comment: the name Upper Silesian is (obviously) typically contrasted with Lower Silesian, an alternative name for Silesian German. Glottolog supports both names (with and without Upper) though currently lists as just Silesian; SIL's Ethnologue and ISO 639-3 databases also use just Silesian; ELP uses Upper Silesian. I therefore have no particular opinion which way the title of our page should lean, but strongly suggest that if it is moved, Silesian language should become a DAB for both here and Silesian German. ~ oklopfer (💬) 00:11, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

@Oklopfer I think the name Silesian German is better than Lower Silesian, as someone who lives and grew up in the region, I have never met anyone who speaks it... likely only the German side does, and it's a very faint difference between German. That language is probably almost dead actually. Anyways, this will probably be a difficult move... Fortek67 (talk) 00:20, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

The reason you never met anyone that speaks it is history, it was commonly spoken for 500 years, even what you call "Upper" Silesian was spoken there, however after ww2, the locals were forced to move/killed

ttps://www.german-tragedy-of-destiny.lorincz-veger.hu/silesia.html

I'd suggest asking your grandparents where they come from, as commonly people from Lower Silesia are not native to Lower Silesia, but to old eastern poland - curious matter, really - but that's the same as being shocked as to why people in America speak English commonly and not native languages. Gutzalat (talk) 00:08, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

I already knew that. Everything changed after World War II, and what you said, where Poles from Eastern Poland moved to the former German territories, such as Lower Silesia, the New mixed dialects began to develop. Some Germans did manage to stay in the region, but then they died, and their children/grandchildren grew up speaking Polish.

As I mentioned before, Lower Silesian is probably still spoken in the German side of Silesia, such as in the Gorlitz area. However, it is probably only known among elderly people, where the language is dying as it is not widely spoken. And actually, the Lower Silesian Wikipedia was proposed around 18 years ago! Some 1,000 articles were created, goes to show that people still speak Lower Silesian! Fortek67 (talk) 00:20, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

And yeah, what you said, the name seems to be quite split. Although when I hear Polish people refer to the language they usually refer to it as "Upper Silesian", but obviously I can't back that up, it would be own research. Fortek67 (talk) 00:22, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

Most commonly from what I've heard, polish people say "Mowisz po Slasku?" "znasz slaski?" "slaski", "slaski", "slaski"

Translating as, "Do you speak Silesian?" "Do you know Silesian?" "Silesian", "silesian", silesian

Even in the Polish legal aspect, it's not "upper silesian dialect", it's more commonly "silesian dialect" as the Lower Silesian dialect has been dead ever since the slaughter and expulsion of the locals from their homes. Gutzalat (talk) 00:09, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Exactly, I've never heard the precise "upper" part being used (I am from Silesia...). _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 06:26, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

The cause for this assumption is that the Lower Silesian dialect group is extinct. Vininn126 (talk) 12:08, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

Don't you mean Silesian German, the German dialect? I thought the Lower Silesian dialect group was a dialect of Polish... Fortek67 (talk) 12:11, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

Silesian German is the one that all of Glottolog, Ethnologue & ISO 639-3, and ELP refer to as Lower Silesian, ISO code sli. ~ oklopfer (💬) 12:18, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

There's no Lower Silesian dialect group of Polish, as Poles have only settled in the region 80 years ago, which is practically a single lifetime. Gutzalat (talk) 00:10, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

That's not exactly correct, there was Lower Silesian dialect group, whose speakers were almost fully Germanised by the 19th century. Przemub (talk) 20:09, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

That was not of Polish, it was a Lower Silesian dialect of Slavic Silesian, named that due to the geographical location, and it was dead in the 1700s, not 19th century, as Schlasian started to be more common in the region.

Calling it a dialect of Polish, is like calling Scouse a dialect of German. Gutzalat (talk) 01:37, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

I find the comparison you draw a little absurd. The distance between the two is nowhere near that far. It is not too different from drawing a comparison between two British neighboring dialects. Especially if you consider the features shown in the dialect shared with Upper Silesian. Debating whether it belongs to a larger "Silesian language" is still open, but not based on the fact that the chasm between the two is so large that it's uncrossable. Given that both are East Lechitic and share tons of features with other dialect regions, the question still stands. You recently removed the political aspect, which leaves only linguistic features, so what features are you going to use as proof that Lower Silesian is not Silesian? It shares Masuration with Northern Upper Silesian and diphthongization with Western Upper Silesian, and plenty of shared German borrowings as well as grammatical features. Yes, truly, the distance between them is that like you described. Vininn126 (talk) 15:39, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

What?

I'm stating that Lower Silesian dialect of Upper Silesian is a dialect of Upper Silesian, why are you further trying to prove the point, however framing it as if it was not a dialect of it? I have no need to "use features as proof that Lower Silesian is not Silesian", as I never stated that, I reckon you might need to reread the message you're replying to. Gutzalat (talk) 18:23, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

Also, German to Scouse is a linguistic observation in history connecting to the statement that Lower Silesian is a Polish dialect - German is connected to English through the language it comes from, just like Polish and Silesian, East Lechitic - and a dialect of English - scouse - is linguistically connected the same way to German and Lower Silesian dialect is connected to Polish. Gutzalat (talk) 18:24, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

My apologies then. Vininn126 (talk) 18:39, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

I think we're getting a little carried away now... can we get a consensus? Fortek67 (talk) 19:29, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

Consensus is, page stays as "Silesian", can't see a single message that gives their final consensus that doesn't say "oppose" Gutzalat (talk) 12:44, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose. This doesn't seem to be a common name; I note pl wiki doesn't even mention it as a name at all in the lead, while our article sais this term is used "occasionally". COMMONAME>PRECISION in this case, IMHO. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 06:26, 26 May 2026 (UTC)
• Oppose, WP:COMMONNAME polish ✹ kurd 18:43, 27 May 2026 (UTC)
• Oppose "Upper Silesian" is one of the rarest terms for Silesian, even amongst Polish speakers, it's called "Slaski", even when referred to as a dialect - https://anylang.net/en/articles/pl/etnolekt-slaski Germans call it either Schlesisch, or Schlonsakisch - still not Oberschlesisch, czechs, Slezsky Jazyk, Silesians, Slunsko Godka - and the argument that now it's spoken in Upper Silesia only doesn't make sense, as it was historically spoken to regions going near to even modern day Gruss-Brassel, you don't change a language name because of what it is now, Mandarin Chinese isn't just called "The Great Chinese" lol. GutZalat (talk) 16:02, 29 May 2026 (UTC)
• Oppose, quick check on Scholar clearly shows that "Upper Silesian" isn't in fact a common name Marcelus (talk) 07:08, 28 May 2026 (UTC)

  Honestly I over exaggerated with saying "common name". Fortek67 (talk) 15:40, 31 May 2026 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

IPA and Transliterations

The alphabetic section might benefit from IPA to show the sound or sound range each letter makes for each of the alphabets used for this language. Expansion from the current lists to tables like the one in Polish alphabet would be instructive, or else splitting to a separate page for Silesian alphabet(s) (currently a redirect back to this article) as necessary.

Similarly, Latin alphabet transliterations or approximations would be useful alongside the Cyrillic in the Belarusian and Russian columns in the current language comparison table. I could make an educated guess at these, but would not want to put errors into the article. Cyrek (talk) 19:34, 1 July 2026 (UTC)