Lechitic languages

File:Book of Henryków.PNG, containing what is claimed to be the first written Polish sentence]]

File:Zendzenie kaszebow leba kartuze.jpg in 2005 – banner showing the Kashubian name of Kartuzy County]]

The Lechitic languages are:

• Polish, used by approximately 38 million native speakers in Poland and several million elsewhere. Polish is considered to have several dialects, including Greater Polish, Lesser Polish, and Masovian, among others;
• Silesian, used today by over 530,000 people (2011 census) in Polish Silesia and by some more in Czech Silesia. The different varieties of Silesian are often considered to be dialects of Polish and Czech, and are sometimes seen as forming a distinct language;
• Pomeranian, spoken by Slavic Pomeranians, of which the only remaining variety is:
• Kashubian, used today by over 110,000 people (2011 census)[http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/LUD_raport_z_wynikow_NSP2011.pdf Narodowy Spis Powszechny Ludności i Mieszkań 2011. Raport z wyników] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221235509/http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/LUD_raport_z_wynikow_NSP2011.pdf |date=2012-12-21 }} – Central Statistical Office of Poland in the eastern part of Pomerania. Sometimes it is considered a dialect of Polish;
• Slovincian, extinct since the 20th century.
• Polabian, extinct since the mid-18th century, a West Lechitic language formerly spoken by Slavic peoples in areas around the Elbe river in what is now the northeast of Germany.

Common West Slavic features that are also present in Lechitic:{{cite book|title=Dialekty polskie|author= Karol Dejna|year=1973|pages=59–60}}

1. χ́ > š́ in front of ě₂, i₂
2. sk, zɡ > š́č́, ž́ǯ́ in front of ě₂, i₂
3. χ́ > š́ after i, ь, ę, ŕ̥
4. epenthetic l only in initial position after soft labials
5. -ě₃ in the nominative/accusative plural and genitive singular (duš́ě₃) and accusatieve plural of kon’ě₃ (instead of -ę)
6. replacement of the instrumental singular ending -omъ with -ъmъ
7. Creation of the nominative masculine/neuter singular ending/active preterite participle ending -a (reka, nesa instead of reky, nesy
8. õrt-, õlt- > rot-, lot- (rola, radło)
9. (ti̯, di̯ >) t́̄, d́̄; kt́ > ć, ʒ́
10. Extension of the pronoun tъ > tъnъ
11. Replacement of č́ьto with co via the genitive singular č́ьso
12. Use of the compound adjectival genitive and dative masculine/neuter singular endings -ego and -emu through analogy with jego, jemu
13. Temporal adverbs ending in -dy instead of -da
14. Creation of the conjunction of intent aby
15. Tendency for establishing a non-mobile accent
16. Tendency to raise long vowels

There was no Proto-Lechitic language, but rather Lechitic languages are a group of dialects with many shared features.{{cite book|title=Dialekty polskie|author= Karol Dejna|year=1973|pages=64–65}} The central and eastern territories came under the control of the Piasts, which created a political, cultural (especially religious) unit, which caused the Pomeranians and Polabians to have weaker contact, as the Pomeranians were absorbed into the state by Mieszko I and began integrating with the Eastern Lechites.{{cite book|title=Dialekty polskie|author= Karol Dejna|year=1973|pages=65}}

Common Lechitic features include:{{cite book|title=Dialekty polskie|author= Karol Dejna|year=1973|pages=65–81}}

1. Labiovelarization of *telt (but compare Polabian mlåkə and Kashubian/Slovincian młȯko; also czółn)
2. Replacement of *tort, tolt, tert, telt
3. In accented and preaccented syllables (i.e. under rising intonation): tórᵒt > tᵒrot > trot
4. In circumflex and post-accented syllables (i.e. under falling intonation) *tolt > tòlᵒt or ‘tolòt > talt
5. Softening of consonants before front vowels
6. Velarization of ŕ̥
7. Development of sonants (voiced consonants) into complex groups of a vowel and a consonant r, l
8. west and central ĺ̥ l̥ > oł > åu̯; Pĺ̥T (before a non-back hard consonant_ in the northeast > ‘el, in the south > ‘il; after TČKP and Pĺ̥T in the northeast ĺ̥ l̥ > oł
9. ŕ̥T, r̥ > ar (and then in Polabian > or); ŕ̥T́ > ir (Polabian) > er >ar, or > (Polish) ir, iř > er, eř (which hardens before labials and ch)
10. Hardening of consonants before r̥ < ŕ̥T
11. *ěT > ‘a (Lechitic ablaut)
12. *ęT > ǫ
13. eT >’o

The following is the Lord's Prayer in several of the Lechitic languages:

{{commons category}}The term Lechitic is applied both to the languages of this group and to Slavic peoples speaking these languages (known as Lechites). The term is related to the name of the legendary Polish forefather Lech and the name Lechia by which Poland was formerly sometimes known. For more details, see Lechites.

• Lech, Čech, and Rus
• West Lechitic dialects

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