Poland dates to Stanisław Bąk (1974), inspired by early 19th century work by Jerzy Samuel Bandtkie. He recognised the Cieszyn Silesian dialect as a distinct subgroup of Silesian, followed by other linguists (Zaręba, Wyderka), who occasionally omitted the Czech part of the region from the territory of the Silesian dialects. Phonology Vowels Cieszyn Silesian has the following vowel phonemes: This system has been attested on both sides of the border, but some speakers on the Czech side do not have the close-mid vowel . Unlike in Standard Polish, there are no nasal vowels, and the vowel can appear soft (palatalized) consonants, as well as hard ones. Unlike in Czech and Slovak, vowel length is not phonemically distinctive. Consonants The basic system of consonant phonemes of the Cieszyn Silesian dialect is as follows: The dialect as spoken in the area around Jablunkov merges the postalveolar and pre-palatal fricatives, realising both as alveo-palatal. Vocabulary The native Slavic vocabulary of the Cieszyn Silesian dialect consists of some words shared with modern Czech and some words shared with modern Polish. It also contains words which has become obsolete in modern Polish but whose cognates are still used in Czech. Cieszyn Silesian has borrowed heavily from German, specifically the Silesian German dialects spoken in the area, and also contains some "Carpathianisms" of Romance, Albanian, Hungarian and East Slavic origin, which are mostly words relating to the pastoral lifestyle of shepherds in the highlands. Literature The main standard languages used in Cieszyn Silesia are Czech and Polish; in the past, German and Latin were also used. However, several writers and poets wrote in the dialect, including Adolf Fierla, Paweł Kubisz, Jerzy Rucki, Władysław Młynek, Józef Ondrusz, Karol Piegza, Adam Wawrosz and Aniela Kupiec. Poets who wrote in Cieszyn Silesian generally regarded their work as part of the Polish literary tradition, rather than belonging to a new standard language, by contrast to Ondra Łysohorsky, who wrote in a Lachian literary standard of his own creation. Example text The Lord's Prayer in the Cieszyn Silesian dialect, with Czech and Polish for comparison: See also Cieszyn Vlachs Tutejszy Notes References Footnotes Further reading External links Cieszyn Silesian-Czech Dictionary Polish dialects Languages of the Czech Republic Languages of Poland