▁dialect ▁of ▁Polish . ▁However , ▁many ▁S iles ians ▁regard ▁it ▁to ▁be ▁a ▁separate ▁language ▁belonging ▁to ▁the ▁West ▁S lav ic ▁branch ▁of ▁S lav ic ▁languages , ▁together ▁with ▁Polish ▁and ▁other ▁Le ch it ic ▁languages , ▁such ▁as ▁Upper ▁and ▁Lower ▁S orb ian , ▁Czech ▁and ▁Slov ak . ▁In ▁July ▁ 2 0 0 7 , ▁the ▁S iles ian ▁language ▁was ▁officially ▁recognized ▁by ▁the ▁Library ▁of ▁Congress ▁and ▁S IL ▁International . ▁The ▁language ▁was ▁attributed ▁an ▁ISO ▁code : ▁S Z L . ▁The ▁first ▁official ▁dict ation ▁contest ▁of ▁the ▁S iles ian ▁language ▁took ▁place ▁in ▁August ▁ 2 0 0 7 . ▁ ▁Although ▁the ▁German ▁language ▁is ▁still ▁spoken ▁in ▁S iles ia , ▁as ▁it ▁has ▁a ▁s izable ▁minor ity ▁of ▁speak ers ▁in ▁the ▁O pole ▁Vo iv od ship ▁in ▁Poland , ▁the ▁vast ▁majority ▁of ▁native ▁speak ers ▁were ▁exp elled ▁during ▁or ▁after ▁ 1 9 4 5 . ▁Therefore , ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁German ▁speak ers ▁in ▁the ▁region ▁was ▁rad ically ▁and ▁significantly ▁decre ased ▁after ▁World ▁War ▁II , ▁even ▁though ▁the ▁Germ ans ▁had ▁settled ▁there ▁for ▁centuries . ▁The ▁S iles ian ▁German ▁dialect ▁is ▁a ▁distinct ▁variety ▁of ▁East ▁Central ▁German , ▁with ▁some ▁West ▁S lav ic ▁influence ▁likely ▁caused ▁by ▁centuries ▁of ▁contact ▁between ▁Germ ans ▁and ▁S lav s ▁in ▁the ▁region ; ▁the ▁dialect ▁is ▁related ▁to ▁contemporary ▁Sax on ▁in ▁some