Polish Dialectology and the Challenges of the Changing Linguistic Situation in Villages – Earlier Research and a New Description of Dialects in New Conditions (Outline of the Problem)

Abstract

Dynamic changes in the linguistic situation in Polish villages necessitate a different approach to the role of dialects in linguistic research. Until now, dialectology has exposed two factors: rurality and geographic differentiation, but it has remained independent from sociolinguistics. Today, dialectology focuses on generational, situational and gender diversity of dialects, that is, on strictly sociolinguistic factors. Dialectology in the new linguistic conditions of the Polish village has evolved into a sub-discipline of sociolinguistics, utilising sociolinguistic methods.