Polish language

Polish language (język polski, polszczyzna) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group. It is the official language of Poland and is spoken by a majority of the population.

History

The Polish language has its roots in the Slavic languages, which themselves form part of the larger Indo-European family. The earliest recorded documents in Polish date back to the 12th century, although the language must have been in use for some centuries earlier.

Phonology

Polish has a complex phonological system, with a relatively high number of consonants and a series of distinctive vowel lengths. It is also notable for its phonemic orthography, meaning that words are written as they are pronounced.

Grammar

Polish grammar is highly inflected, with a complex system of cases, tenses, moods, and aspects. It also has a gender system with five genders: masculine personal, masculine animate, masculine inanimate, feminine, and neuter.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary of Polish is a mix of native Slavic words and borrowings from a variety of languages, especially Latin, German, and French. In recent years, there has been a significant influx of loanwords from English.

Writing system

Polish uses the Latin script, with a number of additional letters formed using diacritics. The Polish alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet but uses diacritics such as the kreska (graphically similar to an acute accent) and the ogonek (a "little tail").

Dialects

There are several dialects of Polish, often grouped into larger regional clusters. These include Greater Polish, Lesser Polish, Mazovian, Silesian, and Kashubian.

See also

• Polish literature
• Polish phonology
• Polish orthography
• Polish grammar
• Polish alphabet
• History of Polish

Polish language gallery

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  Book of Henryków
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  Curzon Line
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  Languages of Central and Eastern Europe
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  Map of the Polish language
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  Polish prayers printed in 1475
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  Polish alphabet
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  Polish vowel chart with allophones
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  Official style - Polish sign