This paper concludes a research project on Belarusian-Russian Mixed Speech (BRMS), which is commonly referred to disrespectfully as ‘Trasjanka’. BRMS is practised as a subvariety by millions of people in Belarus, usually in addition to Russian. The findings of the project will be presented in a question and answer format. At issue are 11 questions, which have been widely discussed during the last two decades: 1. When did BRMS / Trasjanka come into existence? 2. How did Trasjanka arise and how is it acquired? 3. Is Trasjanka a form of speech of the uneducated? 4. Does Trasjanka have anything in common with pidgin or creole languages or other ‘mixed languages’? 5. Is Trasjanka an instance of code switching, of code mixing or a mixed (‘fused’) lect? 6. Does Trasjanka have a usus or usage norm? 7. Is it possible to distinguish a Belarusian-based Trasjanka from a Russian-based one? 8. Is Trasjanka a Belarusian or Russian ‘dialect’? 9. Can we comprehend Trasjanka with the help of old concepts like ‘diglossia’ and ‘bilingualism’? 10. Is Trasjanka a transient epiphenomenon in the language shift from Belarusian to Russian? 11. What role does Trasjanka play for the maintenance or revitalisation of Belarusian?

Jolanta Tambor, Mowa Górnoślązaków oraz ich świadomość językowa i etniczna, wyd. 2, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego, Katowice 2008, ss. 316

Eleven questions and answers about Belarusian-Russian Mixed Speech (‘Trasjanka’)

The speech of the Silesians: subdialect, dialect or a regional language (with reference to the attempted change of the legal status) 
The paper discusses a bill submitted to the Polish Parliament on recognition of the speech of the inhabitants of Upper Silesia as a regional language, and demonstrates that the said speech is a subdialect of the Silesian dialect of Polish.

/pdf/mowa-slazakow-gwara-dialekt-czy-jezyk-regionalny-w-zwiazku-z-3qqodyrlfk.pdf

Mowa Ślązaków – gwara, dialekt czy język regionalny (w związku z próbą zmiany statusu prawnego)

Aldona Skudrzyk, Krystyna Urban Małe ojczyzny. Świadomość językowo-kulturowa społeczności lokalnych

The article embarks on a critical analysis of the issue, recently reverberating across the country, of granting a status of a regional language to the Silesian ethnolect. Within the relevant public space, the problem interlocks the three following types of discourse: legal, political and scientific. Onto thus formulated discourse superimposesthe common perception of the unresolved tension of the augmented efforts for revival of the self-identity and political positioning in the Silesian society. These efforts are, in turn, related to a very strong feeling of ethnic identity of the Silesians, who like to emphasize their cultural distinctiveness in everyday communicative situations. The notion of the regional language is a special legal category in EU legislation and has been introduced to Polish legislative discourse after this particular language status has been granted to Kashubian. Currently, a number of political and social initiatives are being undertaken in Upper Silesia that are aimed at the administrative recognition and the application of the same legal category to the Silesian ethnolect. As these actions are mainly undertaken by organizations that demand political autonomy for Silesia and put forward demands for the recognition of the Silesian nationality, academic circles are in the main wary, if not apprehensive. As a result, the role of the elite seeking to work out grammatical standards and spelling convention for the Silesian language in the making, being created in a top-down fashion, has been largely taken over by local associations of people wishing to revive the Silesian regional dialect, with a little support of professional and academic staff. Future fortunes of the would-be Silesian language depend on many factors: on whether the legal status of a regional language will be granted or not, on the quality of work of those who have embarked on attempts to carry out agenda that includes works on the standard spelling convention for the language, and on the Silesians themselves and their acceptance of the solutions that are to be imposed in a top-down fashion. Another contributing factor will undoubtedly be the elevation of the Silesian language status through a creation of the language corpus (literature, dictionaries, course books) and broadening of its functional scope.

/pdf/czy-w-najblizszym-czasie-powstanie-jezyk-slaski-306f4t5ckm.pdf

Czy w najbliższym czasie powstanie język śląski

Celem artykułu jest przybliżenie etnolingwistycznej koncepcji kulturemów. W takim ujęciu kulturemy są pokrewne słowom kluczom Anny Wierzbickiej, słowom sztandarowym Walerego Pisarka, symbolom kolektywnym Michała Fleischera i konceptom kulturowym opisywanym przez lubelską szkołę etnolingwistyczną Jerzego Bartmińskiego. W Polsce inicjatorką badań nad kulturemami jest Alicja Nagórko. Wciąż niezrealizowanym celem jest wskazanie i opracowanie listy polskich kulturemów – jest to jedno z pilniejszych zadań etnolingwistyki.

http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-73e487ff-8395-4ee3-b35c-f3995c4e765b/c/11_Rak.pdf

Kulturemy – nowa perspektywa badań etnolingwistycznych

/pdf/jolanta-tambor-mowa-gornoslazakow-oraz-ich-swiadomosc-16jxi3jw6y.pdf