Influence of Belarusian on the Polish Language of Poles in the Hrodna Region: Generation of the 1920s and the 1940s (with Examples of Recordings and Interviews from Hrodna, Lida and Vawkavysk)

Abstract

The article discusses the influence of the Belarusian language on the Polish language of Poles born in the interwar period and still living in the three cities of the Hrodna Region in Belarus (in Hrodna, Lida and Vawkavysk). The basis for the linguistic analysis was comprised of recordings of interviews conducted by the author in 2015. Based on the analysis of the Polish language of the generation born in the period between the 1920s and 1940s, it can be said that the biggest influences are connected with phonetics, the most numerous examples of which are associated with akanye. Also, the influence of Belarusian may be justified by the occurrence of phonemes [ṷ], [ɣ], the occurrence of sounds prothesis (v-, u-, j-) and mixed articulation of certain consonants. Certain features of inflection that are subject to changes due to the influence of the Belarusian language are closely linked to changes which cause akanye. This does not lead to a paradigm shift, but rather to blurring the ending of the word due to the pronunciation incomepatible with the real written word. The syntax and word formation could not be observed in terms of a typical Belarusian influence. Only the influence of East Slavic languages can be noticed. In vocabulary the most frequent examples are borrowings (foreign and loan words).