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Language
The cultural heritage of the Kashubian people is very rich. They have their own unique traditions established over centuries and they speak their own mother tongue, the most conspicuous and unifying aspect of ethnic membership. There are still many misconceptions concerning the status of Kashubian language. The fact that Kashubia was politically and economically dependent on the German states for a long period of time resulted in some German loan words to be incorporated into the Kashubian language. Therefore, the language is often thought of as having its origins in the Germanic family of languages, which is not true. In reality, Kashubian language belongs to the Western Slavonic family of languages. Apart from the 24 letters of the Latin alphabet, Kashubian language has several additional ones: ć, ń, ô, ó,ł, ż, ź, ą, a, ę, é, and ë. Kashubian language differs considerably from Polish language and people from other parts of Poland do not understand Kashubian at all. It is even more difficult when it comes to pronunciation. Kashubian lexis is also very rich and diversified.
The diversity results from the fact that within the Kashubian language there are several dialects and also loan words. It is no wonder then that the Kashubian language is so difficult to understand by people from other parts of Poland. At present, one of the principal threats to the unification of the Kashubian language is that the teaching of it is not very common. However, the interestingly enough some people who settle down in Kashubia from distant parts of Poland pick up the local language and customs. It is also worth mentioning that some of the most distinguished local writers like Róza Ostrowska or Izabella Trojanowska learnt Kashubian as a second language.
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Since 1993 the language has been taught at the University of Gdansk, which gives students the opportunity to learn the local language even if they come to the Kashubian land just for the period of their studies. Kashubian is also taught to children in 68 schools in Kashubia: in primary schools, gymnasiums, and also in the Kashubian Secondary School in Brusy. Students learn from specially prepared textbooks and teachers are encouraged to take special methodology and language courses. Law states that if there are seven primary school children or 14 secondary school students, the headmaster is obliged to provide Kashubian lessons for them. A major contribution to the popularisation of the local language and culture is the media: the radio, television, and press. Polish radio broadcasts Na botach e w borach on Radio Weekend Chojnice, Radio Koszalin and Radio Gdansk.
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The programmes popularise Kashubian language and music and give broad information about local problems. On TV Rodno zemia broadcasts once a week on Channel 2 and 3 of Polish Television. Short lessons of Kashubian language are offered to the viewers as well as interviews with local people who contribute to the development and promotion of Kashubian culture. The most important Kashubian magazine edited partly in Kashubian is the monthly "Pomerania", the oldest magazine devoted to Kashubia. It is written mainly in Polish but thematically Pomerania is entirely devoted to Kashubian issues. It is an invaluable source of information about the recent artistic events in the region, local history, and a whole variety of other topics concerning the Kashubian land.
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Apart from Pomerania there is also Odroda - a monthly edited entirely in Kashubian language, Nasz tygodnik Kartuzy, and Norda. The native language of the Kashubian people is also present in churches. One of the originators of the project was the Reverend Antoni Peplinski, who, apart from being a priest, was also a Kashubian patriot and a writer. At present there are several churches in which the Kashubian liturgy is present. There are two separate translations of The New Testament, one by Eugeniusz Golabek and the other one by the late Reverend Franciszek Grucza. The status of Kashubian language has been questioned for a long time but thanks to ardent activists the number of people consciously identifying themselves with Kashubian culture and language is increasing.
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The text was written by our frind Pawel Szczypta. Photos from www.kfhs.com.pl
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