Texas Silesian ( szl, Teksasko gwara;

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: ''Gwara teksaska'') is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

of the Silesian language used by descendants of immigrant

Silesians Silesians ( szl, Ślōnzŏki or Ślůnzoki; Silesian German: ''Schläsinger'' ''or'' ''Schläsier''; german: Schlesier; pl, Ślązacy; cz, Slezané) is a geographical term for the inhabitants of Silesia, a historical region in Central Euro ...

in American settlements from 1852 to the present. It is a variant of Silesian derived from the Opole dialect. The dialect evolved after Silesian exile around the village of Panna Maria. It contains a distinctive vocabulary for things which were unknown for

Silesians. Allegedly, Texas Silesian is less influenced by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

because its speakers emigrated before the '' Kulturkampf'', which added many Germanisms to the continental Silesian The language is tended by its speakers, but they know it only in the spoken form. Texas Silesian has not been replaced by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

because the Silesian community is strongly isolated. Nevertheless, Texas Silesian has adopted some words from English. One of the characteristic features of Texas Silesian

phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

is called

mazuration Mazurzenie () or mazuration is the replacement or merger of Polish's series of postalveolar fricatives and affricates (written ) into the dentialveolar series (written ). This merger is present in many dialects, but is named for the Masovian ...

, in which all ''cz'', ''sz'', ''ż'' are pronounced , whereas in the stereotypical Silesian of the

Katowice urban area The Katowice urban area ( pl, Konurbacja katowicka, ), also known as the Upper Silesian urban area ( pl, Konurbacja górnośląska, ), is an urban area/conurbation in southern Poland, centered on Katowice. It is located in the Silesian Voivode ...

they are pronounced . Texas Silesian has given the name for Cestohowa village in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

- the name is derived from

Częstochowa, but, due to this phonetic process, ''cz'' became ''c''.

Typical words unlike Silesian

References

{{authority control Silesian-American culture in Texas Silesian-American history Silesian language Silesian emigrants to the United States Diaspora languages Languages of Texas Slavic languages spoken in North America