Wymysorys is West Germanic language spoken in Wilamowice (Wymysoü), a small town in southern Poland. In 2006 there were about 70 native speakers Wymysorys, the majority of whom were elderly. Wymysorys is not mutually intelligible with Standard German.
Wymysorys is thought to have developed from the Middle High German of the 12th century, with influences from Low German, Dutch, Polish, Old English, and maybe Frisian. The ancestors of the people of Wilamowice migrated to Poland during the 13th century from German, Flanders and Scotland. However, they deny connections with Germany. Instead they insist that they have Flemish roots.
Wymysorys was the main language of Wilamowice until the early 20th century, after which the number of speakers declined. It was taught in local schools from 1875, although the main language of instruction was Polish. During World War II the language was promoted by the Nazi administation. After the war, it was banned by the communist government. The ban was rescinded in 1956, however by then many people had switched to Polish, and many parents had stopped passing on Wymysorys to their children.
During the 21st century efforts started to revive Wymysorys. These include lessons, the compliation of the first Wymysory dictionary, and the establishment of a standardized orthography.
The first author to write major literary works in Wymysorys was Florian Biesik (1849-1926), who used the Polish alphabet. A distinct Wymysorys alphabet, based on Polish, was devised by Józef Gara (1929-2013), another Wymysorys writer.
Download an alphabet chart for Wymysorys (Excel)
Śłöf maj buwła fest!
Skumma fremdy gest,
Skumma muma ana fettyn,
Z' brennia nysła ana epułn,
Śłöf maj Jasiu fest!
Sleep, my boy, soundly!
Foreign guests are coming,
Aunts and uncles are coming,
Bringing nuts and apples,
Sleep, my Johnny, soundly!
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wymysorys_language
Information about Wymysorys | Phrases | Numbers
Information about Wymysorys
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wymysorys_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/wym
http://www.revitalization.al.uw.edu.pl/eng/Wymysorys/63/71/language-revitalization-in-wilamowice--a-new
http://www.revitalization.al.uw.edu.pl/eng/Wymysorys
https://slaviccenters.duke.edu/uploads/media_items/wymysorys-grammar.original.pdf
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Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 14.11.23
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