Contrary to the position of linguists, the Polish Sejm passed a law recognising the Silesian language as a regional language. 236 Members voted against, 186 against and 5 abstentions. The bill was supported by all Members of the Civic Coalition, the 3rd Way and the Left, as well as the non-attached Adam Gomola and 2 MPs of Law and Justice from the Silesian state – Bolesław Piecha and Marek Merry.
Several another PiS members abstained. This is Andrzej Gawron, Jerzy Polaczek and Michał Woś from the Silesian Voivodeship, as well as Maria Kurowska from the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. Grzegorz Płaczek from the Confederacy voted the same way, who was elected from the Katowice district. Now the bill goes to the legislature of the Republic of Poland, in which the majority has the KO, the 3rd Road and the Left, and then – after obtaining its support – to president Andrzej Duda.
For the first time, the parliamentary task on designation of the Silesian language appeared in 2007. On the same day, it was decided to shorten the parliamentary term. Subsequent projects were submitted in 2010 and 2012, but were never discussed in the plenary. In 2014, a citizen's bill for the designation of Silesians as an cultural minority, signed by 140 000 citizens, was sent to the Sejm. He was directed to work in a committee whose proposal was to reject him. In 2018, the MP’s task “Slon mats” did not receive a print number, and in 2020 the first reading. In turn, in 2023 a parliamentary task on the designation of the Silesian cultural number was prepared, but before it was dealt with, the word of office ended.
According to the Council of Polish Language, which operates at the Bureau of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Silesian is not a separate language. This body of linguists in 2011 clearly concluded that from a strictly technological point of view it could not be said that Silesian dialects are a language another than Polish:
– Silesian dialects come from the same trunk as another Polish dialects. There are no linguistic facts that indicate that the language of the people of Silesia is something another than the language of Polish – translated then.
There is no Silesian language. It is simply a dialect in Polish 🇵🇱💬
🗨️Jan Miodek: "There is not a single feature of the Silesian dialect that would separate it from another dialects, in a historical-language aspect. Everything in Silesia is elsewhere. A masquerade? The whole... pic.twitter.com/AMrgmS4T9t
— Rafał Buca 🇵🇱 (@Rafal_Buca) April 26, 2024
On the linguistic distinctness of the Silesian dialect, the outstanding linguist prof. Jan Miodek has besides spoken repeatedly (from Chorzów!):
– There is not a single feature of the Silesian dialect that differs it from another dialects, in the historical-language aspect. Everything in Silesia is elsewhere. A masquerade? All of Opole, a crucial part of advanced Silesia masurrey to this day. Tarnowskie Gora do not mazura, and Radzionków mazuri, although it lies within 8 km. Mazowsze mazuri, almost all Małopolska, etc. Don't overdo it with any unimaginable silvanity. In fact, there is not 1 grammatical feature but a Silesian one. Not one. They are common to all dialects.
