Kashubians

The paper relates the results of an ethnolinguistic vitality (ELV) survey among the Kashubs in Poland. The results reveal two interrelated layers of ELV: (1) an individual ELV reflected in language use and shaped by personal experience, emotions, and language proficiency; (2) a more collective ELV associated with the perception of the group’s language strength, its status and utility. The most surprising predictor of linguistic praxis in our study, in addition to language skills, was the positive impact of experienced discouragement on language use. This remained significant when controlling for proficiency. We argue that the correlation between experiencing discouragement and increased language use is best explained by the self-empowerment of speakers who, earlier in their lives, met with negative attitudes toward their heritage language. Rather than succumbing to this discouragement and assimilating to the dominant language, their response was to develop an emotional link to Kashubian and increase their use of this minority language as a conscious act of self-determination and engagement.

"God out in the field. The iconosphere of the Kashubian shrines"

The article focuses on the Kashubian small sacred architecture. Out in the field God has a face of the Blessed Virgin Mary (most of the shrines are dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus). The interpretation of the chapels’ iconosphere is inspired by Hans Belting’s theory. Their decorations and iconographic motifs are understood as a specific medium of beliefs, norms and social activities. Focusing on their communicative aspect allows to see the religious sensitivity and imagination of the founders and builders which is shown in the shrines.

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"Bóg w terenie. Ikonosfera kaszubskich kapliczek"

Artykuł poświęcony jest małej architekturze sakralnej na Kaszubach. W „terenie” Bóg ma twarz Marii – kapliczek poświęconych matce Jezusa jest bowiem najwięcej. Autorka interpretuje ikonosferę analizowanych kapliczek w duchu Hansa Beltinga. Ich zdobienia i motywy ikonograficzne rozumiane są jako nośniki przekonań, norm i działań społecznych. Przez wyeksponowanie komunikacyjnego aspektu kapliczek można uchwycić odzwierciedlającą się w nich religijną wrażliwość i wyobraźnię ich fundatorów i budowniczych.

The paper is devoted to the development of the nasal vowels in the Kashubian dialect of Strzepcz. Taking modern analyses of their pronunciation in other Kashubian dialects, one can assume that older description are highly outdated. The paper is based on an auditory analysis of over 450 realisation of the original nasal vowels in various contexts with a support of visual analyses of spectrograms and auxiliary acoustic measurements. Two speakers (man and woman) represented the middle generation and two (man and woman) the older generation. A synchronous nasality occurred in only 1,9% of realisations (without taking account of *[ɑ̃] at the end of the word where it is denasalized without exception) and only in the case of *[õ] in the front of fricative consonants. In 3,7% of realizations a full denasalisation was observed. In 94,4% of cases occurred an asynchronous nasality with a vowel and following nasal consonant or glide. The vocalic (syllabic) segment is in over 80% of asynchronous realisations fully denesalised. The observed situation is diametrically different from those presented in the older descriptions. From the phonological point of view on should analyse the original nasal vowels as sequences of /V/ and underlying glide /w̃/.

Przesuwanie się nazwy "Kaszuby" w kierunku wschodnim to powszechnie znany fakt historyczny, jednak znaczenie tego ruchu nie doczekało się stosownego wyjaśnienia. Uważam, że kwestia ta pozostaje nierozwiązana z powodu ograniczeń paradygmatu naturalistycznego czy też obiektywistycznego, dlatego też proponuję poszukać rozwiązania problemu w ramach paradygmatu antynaturalistycznego, co oznacza nadanie Kaszubom statusu konstruktu społecznego. Odwołując się do badań antropologicznych staram się wykazać, że lokalizacja Kaszub w przestrzeni geograficznej, jak i sama ich konceptualizacja, miały podłoże społeczno-kulturowe, konkretnie zaś uwarunkowane były punktem widzenia Niemca. Tym samym zmiany położenia Kaszub na mapie stanowiły wyraz dynamiki procesów tożsamościowych na terenie szeroko pojętego Pomorza i Meklemburgii.

Słowa kluczowe: tożsamość, etnocentryzm, Inność, etnonim, Pomorze, Kaszuby

The shift of the name Kashubia towards the east is a commonly known historical fact, but the significance of this change has not been properly explained. I believe that the problem remains unsolved due to limitations of the naturalistic or objectivist paradigm. Therefore, I propose looking for the solution to the problem within the framework of the anti-naturalistic paradigm, which means giving Kashubia the status of a social construct. Using anthropological findings, I set out to prove that the location of Kashubia in the geographical space, as well as its conceptualisation, had a social and cultural basis; specifically that it was conditioned by the German point of view. As such, the changes of Kashubia's location on the map were a reflection of the dynamics of identity processes in the territory of broadly defined Pomerania and Mecklenburg.

Key words: identity, ethnocentrism, Pomerania, Kashubia, Kashubians

This article presents current situation of Kashubian language, (Upper)-Silesian dialect and
Podhalean dialect of Polish in Poland.
The author describes the current status of the above-mentioned ethnolects / regional languages
both from a generał and a more particular perspective (case studies: Silesians and
Kashubians in Wehrmacht during WWII, collaboration charges, language persecution and discrimination).
Also, some thought is given to the prospects for development and/or autonomy of languages,
dependent as they are on the policy adopted by the Polish state (regarding the level of centralization
and the choice between the ethnic and the civic definition of nation) as well as the
evolution of the European law (European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Charter
of Fundamental Rights of the European Union).