| Languages of Poland | |
|---|---|
| Official | Polish |
| Regional | Silesian (467,145),German (216,342),Kashubian (89,198),Belarusian (17,325),Rusyn (8,444),Romani (7,284),Lithuanian (5,422),Czech (5,328),Polesian [pl;uk] (3,761) |
| Immigrant | English (737,276),Russian (63,271),Ukrainian (55,104),French (41,895),Italian (38,388),Spanish (29,480),Dutch (17,633),Norwegian (14,157),Swedish (10,318),Greek (5,339),Danish (4,787),Vietnamese (4,735),Arabic (3,848),Portuguese (3,686),Turkish (2,883),Japanese (2,455),Chinese (2,435),Slovak (2,382),Armenian (2,220), and others |
| Foreign | English,German,Russian,Spanish |
| Signed | Polish Sign Language,Signed Polish |
| Source | [1] |
Polish is the only official language recognized byPoland's constitution, and the majority of the country's population speak it as a native language or use it for home communication.[2][3] However, there are various regional languages and languages brought by immigrants.Deaf communities in Poland usePolish Sign Language, which belongs to theGerman family of Sign Languages.
Languages other than Polish that have existed in the region for at least 100 years can gain recognition as a regional or minority language, which have appropriate rules of use.[4] In areas where the speakers of these languages make up more than 20% of the population, the language can receive the status of auxiliary language, while Polish remains the official language.[5]
According to theAct of 6 January 2005 on national and ethnic minorities and on the regional languages,[6] 16 languages have been recognized as minority languages; 1 regional language, 10 languages belonging to 9 national minorities (minorities from another sovereign state) and 5 languages belonging to 4 ethnic minorities (minorities that do not belong to another sovereign state). Jewish and Romani minorities each have 2 recognized minority languages.
Language used in households by population as reported in the 2021 national census:[1]
Official recognition gives the representatives of the minority under certain conditions the right to education in their language, having their language established as a secondary administrative language or help language in theirmunicipality, financial support in the promotion of their language and culture, etc.
Official recognition as aregional language:
The bilingual status ofgminas (municipalities) inPoland is regulated by theAct of 6 January 2005 on National and Ethnic Minorities and on the Regional Languages, which permits certain gminas with significant linguistic minorities to introduce a second, auxiliary language to be used in official contexts alongsidePolish. The following is a list of languages by the number of gminas that have them as auxiliary languages.[8][9]
A settlement can use any officially recognised, regional, or minority languages in their name. Currently[when?] only 5 settlements have exercised this power. The following is a list of languages by their use in settlements dual language names.
These languages are not recognised as minority languages, as the Act of 2005 defines minority as "a group of Polish citizens (...) striving to preserve its language, culture or tradition, (...) whose ancestors have been living on the present territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 100 years":
ThePolish Sign Language is the language of thedeaf community inPoland. It descends fromGerman Sign Language. Itslexicon andgrammar are distinct from thePolish language, although there is amanually coded version of Polish known asSystem Językowo-Migowy (SJM, or Signed Polish), which is often used by interpreters on television and by teachers in schools. In 2012, under the "Sign Language Act", the language received official status and can be chosen as the language of instruction by those who require it.[10]
Among languages used in Poland, Ethnologue mentions[11] oneconstructed language – the International Auxiliary LanguageEsperanto (created in Poland), and onedead language –Prussian, but does not mention two other known defunct languages:Slovincian, which consists of dialects ofPomeranian, died out in the beginning of the 20th century, and is closely related to Kashubian, andYatvingian, which died around the mid-16th (or possibly end of 19th) century. As the result of post-WW2 border shift at Germany's expense andethnic cleansing, various dialects of German historically prevalent in Poland's western and northwestern regions have become endangered, such asLower Silesian[12] andLow German.[13]
Eurobarometer studies in 2012 showed that 33%, 19%, and 18% of Poles declared to be able to have a conversation inEnglish,German, andRussian, respectively.[14] As of 2015, around 32% of Polish citizens declared knowledge of theEnglish language according to theCentre for Public Opinion Research.[15] However, other surveys show that over 50% of Poles can speak English. Another study shows that 89% of Polish students are learning and/or can speak English.[16]
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minority languages |
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