Dziewiętnastowieczna polszczyzna cieszyńska – w prasie, szkole, kościele

Abstract

The nineteenth century was extremely rich in political and cultural events for the inhabitants of Cieszyn Silesia. Cieszyn Silesia, under the rule of the Habsburg dynasty, was subjected to constant germanization from the first half of the 16th century. The national movements of the Springtime of the Peoples and the awareness of the Cieszyn community of the Polish nation and its traditions led to closer contacts with the Polish language and culture. This situation manifested itself in the popularization of Polish language among the inhabitants of Cieszyn Silesia, especially in written documents. The analyzed Polish documents from the 19th century contain foreign language elements, mainly Czech and German. On the other hand, the presence of elements of old Polish in all language levels proves the peripheral but also conservative character of the Cieszyn Polish language of the analyzed period.