Wymysorys language

Wymysorys (Wymysiöeryś), also known as Vilamovian or Wilamowicean, is a West Germanic micro-language actively used in the small town of Wilamowice, Poland (Wymysoü in Wymysorys), on the border between Silesia and Lesser Poland, near Bielsko-Biała. It is considered an endangered language. At present, there are probably between 70 and 100 native users of Wymysorys, virtually all bilingual; the majority are elderly.

History

In origin, Wymysorys appears to derive from 12th-century Middle High German, with a strong influence from Low German, Dutch, Frisian, Polish and Old English. The inhabitants of Wilamowice are thought to be descendants of German, Flemish and Scottish settlers who arrived in Poland during the 13th-century. However, the inhabitants of Wilamowice always denied any connections with Germany and proclaimed their Flemish origins. Although related to German, Wymysorys is not mutually intelligible with standard German (this is however also the case for most German dialects).