Silesian German

Infobox Language
name = Lower Silesian language
nativename = Schlesisch [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sli Ethnologue entry] ]
familycolor = Indo-European
states = Poland Czech Republic, Germany
region = Dolny Śląsk (Lower Silesia). Also spoken in Czech Republic, eastern Germany (Görlitz).
speakers = unknown
fam1 = Indo-European
fam2 = Germanic
fam3 = West Germanic
fam4 = High German
fam5 = East Middle German
nation =
iso2 = gem
iso3 = sli

Lower Silesian language or simply Silesian ( _de. Schlesisch), is a German dialect/language spoken in Lower Silesia. Today, the area is mainly in southwestern Poland, but as well as in northeastern Czech Republic and in eastern Germany.

The group of dialects is nearly extinct.

The German Silesian dialect is part of the East Central German language area with some West Slavic influences. After the expulsion of the Germans east of the Oder-Neisse line, German Silesian culture and language nearly died out when Silesia came under Polish administration. Authorities banned the remaining persecuted German minority from speaking their native language. There are still unresolved feelings on the sides of both Poles and Germans, largely because of Nazi Germany's atrocities committed against the Poles and the forced Expulsion of Germans from Poland after World War II from areas that presently constitute roughly the western half of modern Poland, but were historical eastern Germany for many centuries.

The German Silesian dialect is not recognized by the Polish State in any way, although the status of the German minority in Poland has improved much since 1991.

ee also

* Silesian language
* Gerhart Hauptmann

References

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sli Ethnologue report for Lower Silesian]