Polish Underground State
92-555: Operation Tempest ( Polish : akcja „Burza” , sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home Army ( Armia Krajowa , abbreviated AK ), the dominant force in the Polish resistance . Operation Tempest's objective was to seize control of German-occupied cities and areas while
184-499: A / (spelled a ), / ɔ / (spelled o ) and / u / (spelled u and ó as separate letters). The nasal vowels are / ɛ w̃ / (spelled ę ) and / ɔ w̃ / (spelled ą ). Unlike Czech or Slovak, Polish does not retain phonemic vowel length — the letter ó , which formerly represented lengthened /ɔː/ in older forms of the language, is now vestigial and instead corresponds to /u/. The Polish consonant system shows more complexity: its characteristic features include
276-759: A dialect of Polish. Many Silesians consider themselves a separate ethnicity and have been advocating for the recognition of Silesian as a regional language in Poland . The law recognizing it as such was passed by the Sejm and Senate in April 2024, but has been vetoed by President Andrzej Duda in late May of 2024. According to the last official census in Poland in 2011, over half a million people declared Silesian as their native language. Many sociolinguists (e.g. Tomasz Kamusella , Agnieszka Pianka, Alfred F. Majewicz, Tomasz Wicherkiewicz ) assume that extralinguistic criteria decide whether
368-656: A few culturally and linguistically related tribes from the basins of the Vistula and Oder before eventually accepting baptism in 966. With Western Christianity , Poland also adopted the Latin alphabet , which made it possible to write down Polish, which until then had existed only as a spoken language . The closest relatives of Polish are the Elbe and Baltic Sea Lechitic dialects ( Polabian and Pomeranian varieties). All of them, except Kashubian , are extinct. The precursor to modern Polish
460-475: A heavy battle, the unit was destroyed by the enemy. Survivors managed to cross the frontline, which at that time was along the Biebrza river. In the area of Łomża , the 33rd Home Army Infantry Regiment was created, with three battalions. It fought rear German units, breaking communication links between frontline and East Prussia . Near the village of Czarnowo-Undy , some 150 Soviet prisoners of war were released by
552-511: A large number of branches in all of these areas) offers services available in Polish at all of their cash machines in addition to English and Spanish . According to the 2011 census there are now over 500,000 people in England and Wales who consider Polish to be their "main" language. In Canada , there is a significant Polish Canadian population : There are 242,885 speakers of Polish according to
644-533: A lect is an independent language or a dialect: speakers of the speech variety or/and political decisions, and this is dynamic (i.e. it changes over time). Also, research organizations such as SIL International and resources for the academic field of linguistics such as Ethnologue , Linguist List and others, for example the Ministry of Administration and Digitization recognized the Silesian language. In July 2007,
736-454: A nasal consonant, rather than a nasal vowel. For example, ą in dąb ("oak") is pronounced [ɔm] , and ę in tęcza ("rainbow") is pronounced [ɛn] (the nasal assimilates to the following consonant). When followed by l or ł (for example przyjęli , przyjęły ), ę is pronounced as just e . When ę is at the end of the word it is often pronounced as just [ɛ] . Depending on
828-515: A partisan attack, the Germans declared a state of emergency in the town of Augustów . During Operation Tempest in this part of Białystok Province, over 30 raids of different kinds took place, in which 4 military transports were blown up, along the rail line from Augustow to Grodno. Home Army forces cooperated with the Red Army . On August 6, a unit of 300 soldiers managed to get through German lines, and into
920-402: A reversed diacritic hook called an ogonek . Polish is a synthetic and fusional language which has seven grammatical cases . It has fixed penultimate stress and an abundance of palatal consonants . Contemporary Polish developed in the 1700s as the successor to the medieval Old Polish (10th–16th centuries) and Middle Polish (16th–18th centuries). Among the major languages, it
1012-491: A single word. This applies in particular to many combinations of preposition plus a personal pronoun, such as do niej ('to her'), na nas ('on us'), prze ze mnie ('because of me'), all stressed on the bolded syllable. The Polish alphabet derives from the Latin script but includes certain additional letters formed using diacritics . The Polish alphabet was one of three major forms of Latin-based orthography developed for Western and some South Slavic languages,
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#17328552087701104-405: A verse by Jan Brzechwa ) is W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie [fʂt͡ʂɛbʐɛˈʂɨɲɛ ˈxʂɔw̃ʂt͡ʂ ˈbʐmi fˈtʂt͡ɕiɲɛ] ('In Szczebrzeszyn a beetle buzzes in the reed'). Unlike languages such as Czech, Polish does not have syllabic consonants – the nucleus of a syllable is always a vowel. The consonant /j/ is restricted to positions adjacent to a vowel. It also cannot precede
1196-478: A vowel when it precedes another vowel (it represents /j/ , palatalization of the preceding consonant, or both depending on analysis). Also the letters u and i sometimes represent only semivowels when they follow another vowel, as in autor /ˈawtɔr/ ('author'), mostly in loanwords (so not in native nauka /naˈu.ka/ 'science, the act of learning', for example, nor in nativized Mateusz /maˈte.uʂ/ 'Matthew'). Some loanwords , particularly from
1288-636: Is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group within the Indo-European language family written in the Latin script . It is primarily spoken in Poland and serves as the official language of the country, as well as the language of the Polish diaspora around the world. In 2024, there were over 39.7 million Polish native speakers. It ranks as the sixth most-spoken among languages of the European Union . Polish
1380-419: Is also spoken as a second language in eastern Germany , northern Czech Republic and Slovakia , western parts of Belarus and Ukraine as well as in southeast Lithuania and Latvia . Because of the emigration from Poland during different time periods, most notably after World War II , millions of Polish speakers can also be found in countries such as Canada , Argentina , Brazil , Israel , Australia ,
1472-427: Is most closely related to Slovak and Czech but differs in terms of pronunciation and general grammar. Additionally, Polish was profoundly influenced by Latin and other Romance languages like Italian and French as well as Germanic languages (most notably German ), which contributed to a large number of loanwords and similar grammatical structures. Extensive usage of nonstandard dialects has also shaped
1564-447: Is possible to say ko goście zoba czy li? – here kogo retains its usual stress (first syllable) in spite of the attachment of the clitic. Reanalysis of the endings as inflections when attached to verbs causes the different colloquial stress patterns. These stress patterns are considered part of a "usable" norm of standard Polish - in contrast to the "model" ("high") norm. Some common word combinations are stressed as if they were
1656-595: Is subdivided into regional dialects and maintains strict T–V distinction pronouns, honorifics , and various forms of formalities when addressing individuals. The traditional 32-letter Polish alphabet has nine additions ( ą , ć , ę , ł , ń , ó , ś , ź , ż ) to the letters of the basic 26-letter Latin alphabet , while removing three (x, q, v). Those three letters are at times included in an extended 35-letter alphabet. The traditional set comprises 23 consonants and 9 written vowels , including two nasal vowels ( ę , ą ) defined by
1748-512: Is the Old Polish language . Ultimately, Polish descends from the unattested Proto-Slavic language. The Book of Henryków (Polish: Księga henrykowska , Latin : Liber fundationis claustri Sanctae Mariae Virginis in Heinrichau ), contains the earliest known sentence written in the Polish language: Day, ut ia pobrusa, a ti poziwai (in modern orthography: Daj, uć ja pobrusza, a ti pocziwaj ;
1840-518: Is the most widely-used minority language in Lithuania's Vilnius County , by 26% of the population, according to the 2001 census results, as Vilnius was part of Poland from 1922 until 1939. Polish is found elsewhere in southeastern Lithuania. In Ukraine, it is most common in the western parts of Lviv and Volyn Oblasts , while in West Belarus it is used by the significant Polish minority, especially in
1932-430: The kropka (superior dot) over the letter ż , and the ogonek ("little tail") under the letters ą, ę . The letters q, v, x are used only in foreign words and names. Polish orthography is largely phonemic —there is a consistent correspondence between letters (or digraphs and trigraphs ) and phonemes (for exceptions see below). The letters of the alphabet and their normal phonemic values are listed in
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#17328552087702024-401: The ś in święty ("holy") all represent the sound / ɕ / . The exceptions to the above rule are certain loanwords from Latin, Italian, French, Russian or English—where s before i is pronounced as s , e.g. sinus , sinologia , do re mi fa sol la si do , Saint-Simon i saint-simoniści , Sierioża , Siergiej , Singapur , singiel . In other loanwords
2116-579: The Brest and Grodno regions and in areas along the Lithuanian border. There are significant numbers of Polish speakers among Polish emigrants and their descendants in many other countries. In the United States , Polish Americans number more than 11 million but most of them cannot speak Polish fluently. According to the 2000 United States Census , 667,414 Americans of age five years and over reported Polish as
2208-565: The Curzon Line they were defending their country's right to exist as a national entity. They were determined that Russo-Polish relations should be restored on the basis of the pre-1939 territorial arrangements." From its inception, the Home Army had been preparing a national armed rising against the Germans. The basic framework of the future rising was created in September 1942. According to the plan,
2300-463: The Home Army chief, General Stefan Rowecki , amended the plan. The Uprising would take place in three stages. The first stage would be an armed uprising in the east (with main centers of resistance at Lwów and Vilnius ) in advance of the approaching Red Army . In preparation, the " Wachlarz " organization was formed. The second stage would be an armed struggle in the zone between the Curzon Line and
2392-720: The Kielce and Radom area, the 2nd Polish Home Army Division was formed and took control of the entire area except for the cities. Other units were also mustered in Kraków, Łódź and Greater Poland . Operation Tempest in Białystok and its area began in the second half of July 1944 and lasted until late September. The Home Army recreated here four units, based on interbellum Polish Army : 18th and 29th Infantry Divisions, also Suwalki and Podlaska Cavalry Brigades. All together, some 7,000 soldiers fought in over 200 battles and skirmishes. The operation
2484-647: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 's influence gave Polish the status of lingua franca in Central and Eastern Europe . The process of standardization began in the 14th century and solidified in the 16th century during the Middle Polish era. Standard Polish was based on various dialectal features, with the Greater Poland dialect group serving as the base. After World War II , Standard Polish became
2576-553: The Red Army had entered prewar Polish territory east of the town of Sarny on January 4. The operation, which was mainly carried out by the 27th Home Army Infantry Division (Poland) (some 6500 soldiers) was aimed at the Wehrmacht units, still operating in the region. All together, between January and June 1944, the 27th Volhynian ID of the Home Army took part in over 100 skirmishes, losing over 600 soldiers. German and Hungarian losses are estimated at up to 750 KIA and 900 wounded. In
2668-511: The United Kingdom and the United States . Polish began to emerge as a distinct language around the 10th century, the process largely triggered by the establishment and development of the Polish state. At the time, it was a collection of dialect groups with some mutual features, but much regional variation was present. Mieszko I , ruler of the Polans tribe from the Greater Poland region, united
2760-515: The Vistula River; and the third stage would be a national uprising throughout the rest of Poland. On April 25, 1943, Polish-Soviet diplomatic relations were broken off by Joseph Stalin due to Polish inquiries about the Katyn massacres , and it became clear that the advancing Red Army might not come to Poland as a liberator but rather, as General Rowecki put it, "our allies' ally." On November 26, 1943,
2852-474: The classical languages , have the stress on the antepenultimate (third-from-last) syllable. For example, fizyka ( /ˈfizɨka/ ) ('physics') is stressed on the first syllable. This may lead to a rare phenomenon of minimal pairs differing only in stress placement, for example muzyka /ˈmuzɨka/ 'music' vs. muzyka /muˈzɨka/ – genitive singular of muzyk 'musician'. When additional syllables are added to such words through inflection or suffixation ,
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2944-569: The flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–50) , as well as the expulsion of Ukrainians and Operation Vistula , the 1947 migration of Ukrainian minorities in the Recovered Territories in the west of the country, contributed to the country's linguistic homogeneity. The inhabitants of different regions of Poland still speak Polish somewhat differently, although the differences between modern-day vernacular varieties and standard Polish ( język ogólnopolski ) appear relatively slight. Most of
3036-524: The prewar Polish order of battle . Home Army units were to be turned into regular divisions. Initially to be created were 16 infantry divisions, three cavalry brigades and one motorized brigade, to be equipped with captured weapons or with arms and supplies delivered by the Allies . The second phase was to see the re-building of an additional 15 divisions and 5 cavalry brigades which, before World War II , had been stationed in eastern and western Poland. The plan
3128-404: The standard language ; considerable colloquialisms and expressions were directly borrowed from German or Yiddish and subsequently adopted into the vernacular of Polish which is in everyday use. Historically, Polish was a lingua franca , important both diplomatically and academically in Central and part of Eastern Europe . In addition to being the official language of Poland, Polish
3220-416: The 16th century, which is also regarded as the " Golden Age of Polish literature". The orthography was modified in the 19th century and in 1936. Tomasz Kamusella notes that "Polish is the oldest, non-ecclesiastical, written Slavic language with a continuous tradition of literacy and official use, which has lasted unbroken from the 16th century to this day." Polish evolved into the main sociolect of
3312-481: The 2006 census, with a particular concentration in Toronto (91,810 speakers) and Montreal . The geographical distribution of the Polish language was greatly affected by the territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II and Polish population transfers (1944–46) . Poles settled in the " Recovered Territories " in the west and north, which had previously been mostly German -speaking. Some Poles remained in
3404-459: The Corps saved residents of the village of Antoniów, which was raided by Germans. Even though Kielce Corps began its march towards Warsaw, it did not reach the Polish capital. After careful analysis of German forces concentrated around Warsaw, Home Army leaders decided to halt the operation, as it was too risky. Poles did not have heavy weapons and tanks to face the enemy on equal terms. Operation Revenge
3496-726: The Division crossed the Bug River , where they were attacked by Soviet partisan units. After liberating the towns of Lubartów and Kock , the Division (reduced to some 3,200 men) was surrounded by the Red Army and taken prisoner. Operation Tempest began in Volhynia , a region which until 1939 had belonged to the Second Polish Republic (see Wołyń Voivodeship (1921–1939) ), in January 1944, after
3588-572: The Germans took place near the village of Wyzary. On July 30, 1944, Polish forces made contact with Red Army 's 65th Army : Soviet officers ordered the Poles to merge with First Polish Army . Poles disobeyed this order, and headed towards Biała Podlaska , where they decided to march to Warsaw and fight in the Warsaw Uprising . Near Otwock , the division was surrounded and disarmed by the Soviets. Seeing
3680-501: The Germans were preparing their defenses against the advancing Soviet Red Army . The Polish Underground State hoped to take power before the Soviets arrived. A goal of the Polish government-in-exile in London was to restore Poland's 1939 borders with the USSR, rejecting the Curzon Line border. According to Jan Ciechanowski , "The [exiled] Polish Cabinet believed that by refusing to accept
3772-578: The Henryków monastery, noted that "Hoc est in polonico" ("This is in Polish"). The earliest treatise on Polish orthography was written by Jakub Parkosz [ pl ] around 1470. The first printed book in Polish appeared in either 1508 or 1513, while the oldest Polish newspaper was established in 1661. Starting in the 1520s, large numbers of books in the Polish language were published, contributing to increased homogeneity of grammar and orthography. The writing system achieved its overall form in
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3864-587: The Poles. As a reprisal, the Germans burned the village, shooting all its residents (July 22, 1944). On August 20, the 5th Home Army Uhlan Regiment, which operated in the area of Ostrołęka , attacked a German artillery battery near the village of Labedy. Operation Tempest in the area of Lublin took place in the final two weeks of July 1944. The Home Army created there such units, as 3rd Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Division, 15th Infantry Regiment, also units of Bataliony Chłopskie and other resistance organizations, plus 27th Home Army Infantry Division (Poland) from
3956-521: The Polish forces, soon showed its real colours. Almost half of the Polish soldiers who took part in Operation Tempest were arrested. They were forcibly conscripted into Berling's army, deported deep into Russia, or simply murdered. Polish language Polish ( endonym : język polski , [ˈjɛ̃zɘk ˈpɔlskʲi] , polszczyzna [pɔlˈʂt͡ʂɘzna] or simply polski , [ˈpɔlskʲi] )
4048-457: The Polish government-in-exile issued instructions that, if diplomatic relations did not resume with the Soviet Union before the Soviets entered Poland, Home Army forces were to remain underground pending further decisions. The Home Army's commander on the ground, however, took a different approach, and on November 30, 1943, a final version of the plan was drafted. The plan was to cooperate with
4140-671: The Silesian language was recognized by ISO , and was attributed an ISO code of szl. Some additional characteristic but less widespread regional dialects include: Polish linguistics has been characterized by a strong strive towards promoting prescriptive ideas of language intervention and usage uniformity, along with normatively-oriented notions of language "correctness" (unusual by Western standards). Polish has six oral vowels (seven oral vowels in written form), which are all monophthongs , and two nasal vowels . The oral vowels are / i / (spelled i ), / ɨ / (spelled y and also transcribed as /ɘ/ or /ɪ/), / ɛ / (spelled e ), /
4232-632: The Soviet NKVD . Colonel Władysław Filipkowski 's men were forcibly conscripted into the Red Army, sent to forced-labor camps , or went back underground. Operation Tempest in Polesia took place in the final days of the German occupation of this region. Due to rapid Soviet advance westwards (see Operation Bagration ), it lasted for two weeks (July 15–30, 1944), mainly in the western part of Polesie, near Brześć nad Bugiem , Kobryn and Bereza Kartuska , but also in
4324-526: The Soviets, and began cooperating with them. In Kozienice and Sandomierz, Polish units supported the advancing Soviets: on the night of July 31 / August 1, 1944, a German counterattack was halted by the Polish 2nd Infantry Regiment of Captain Michal Mandziara, which helped the Soviets keep their positions in the Sandomierz Bridgehead. On August 3, Polish and Soviet forces liberated Staszów ; in
4416-699: The Uprising was to be ordered by the Polish Commander-in-Chief in exile when the defeat of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front became apparent. The Uprising was to begin in Central Poland : in the General Government , Dąbrowa Basin , Kraków Voivodeship , and the Białystok and Brześć areas. The Uprising's basic objectives were to: Reconstruction of a Polish regular army was to be based on
4508-651: The advancing Red Army on a tactical level, while Polish civil authorities came out from underground and took power in Allied-controlled Polish territory. This plan was approved by the Delegate of the government-in-exile and by the Polish underground parliament, the Home Political Representation . On January 2, 1944, Red Army forces of the 2nd Belorussian Front crossed the prewar Polish border and Operation Tempest began. The Division managed to contact
4600-516: The area of Bransk and Hajnówka . This unit destroyed the rail line between Hajnówka and Czeremcha , including a rail bridge, which was blown up. The 76th Home Army Infantry Regiment fought in the area of Ciechanowiec and Lapy . Three Home Army regiments were formed in the Augustów Primeval Forest : 1st Home Army Uhlan Regiment (with 300 soldiers), 41st Home Army Infantry Regiment and 3rd Regiment (all together: 700 soldiers). Fearing
4692-453: The area of Pinsk . The Home Army headquarters gave orders for the 30th Home Army Infantry Division to be created in Polesia. This unit was tasked with capturing the areas north and east of Brześć. The division concentrated in forested areas along the Nurzec river, with some 1000 soldiers. On July 17, a Wehrmacht motorized transport was attacked near the folwark of Adampol, and a skirmish with
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#17328552087704784-534: The area of the city of Łódź took place in summer and autumn of 1944, lasting from August 14 until November 26. Local Home Army mobilized here several units, such as the 25th Infantry Regiment under Major Rudolf Majewski. This regiment was stationed in forests near Przysucha : in August 1944, it carried out a number of attacks on German forces, destroying rail lines. The last battle of the 25th regiment took place on November 8, all together it lost 130 men. Among other units
4876-457: The areas controlled by the Soviets. By autumn 1944, most regiments had ceased operations. The last skirmish in this area took place on November 2 near the village of Nowinka. In the forests surrounding the Osowiec Fortress , 9th Home Army Mounted Rifles were concentrated under Wiktor Konopka. In July and August 1944, this regiment fought the Germans in several locations. On September 8, after
4968-485: The cases mentioned above, the letter i if followed by another vowel in the same word usually represents / j / , yet a palatalization of the previous consonant is always assumed. The reverse case, where the consonant remains unpalatalized but is followed by a palatalized consonant, is written by using j instead of i : for example, zjeść , "to eat up". The letters ą and ę , when followed by plosives and affricates, represent an oral vowel followed by
5060-533: The commanders of the advancing Red Army and began successful joint operations against the Wehrmacht. Together they retook Kowel (April 6) and Włodzimierz . However, the Division was soon forced to retreat west, and in Polesia was attacked by both German and Soviet forces. Polish soldiers taken prisoner by the Soviets were given the choice of joining the Red Army or being sent to Soviet forced-labor camps . The remnants of
5152-687: The corresponding sentence in modern Polish: Daj, niech ja pomielę, a ty odpoczywaj or Pozwól, że ja będę mełł, a ty odpocznij ; and in English: Come, let me grind, and you take a rest ), written around 1280. The book is exhibited in the Archdiocesal Museum in Wrocław, and as of 2015 has been added to UNESCO 's " Memory of the World " list. The medieval recorder of this phrase, the Cistercian monk Peter of
5244-479: The disappearance of yers . Polish can have word-initial and word-medial clusters of up to four consonants, whereas word-final clusters can have up to five consonants. Examples of such clusters can be found in words such as bezwzględny [bɛzˈvzɡlɛndnɨ] ('absolute' or 'heartless', 'ruthless'), źdźbło [ˈʑd͡ʑbwɔ] ('blade of grass'), wstrząs [ˈfstʂɔw̃s] ('shock'), and krnąbrność [ˈkrnɔmbrnɔɕt͡ɕ] ('disobedience'). A popular Polish tongue-twister (from
5336-430: The distinction between regular penultimate and exceptional antepenultimate stress. Another class of exceptions is verbs with the conditional endings -by, -bym, -byśmy , etc. These endings are not counted in determining the position of the stress; for example, zro biłbym ('I would do') is stressed on the first syllable, and zro bi libyśmy ('we would do') on the second. According to prescriptive authorities ,
5428-520: The eastern parts of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth wrote Polish in the Arabic alphabet. The Cyrillic script is used to a certain extent today by Polish speakers in Western Belarus , especially for religious texts. The diacritics used in the Polish alphabet are the kreska (graphically similar to the acute accent ) over the letters ć, ń, ó, ś, ź and through the letter in ł ;
5520-420: The end of words (where devoicing occurs) and in certain consonant clusters (where assimilation occurs). For details, see Voicing and devoicing in the article on Polish phonology. Most Polish words are paroxytones (that is, the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable of a polysyllabic word), although there are exceptions. Polish permits complex consonant clusters, which historically often arose from
5612-469: The entire country. Polish has traditionally been described as consisting of three to five main regional dialects: Silesian and Kashubian , spoken in Upper Silesia and Pomerania respectively, are thought of as either Polish dialects or distinct languages , depending on the criteria used. Kashubian contains a number of features not found elsewhere in Poland, e.g. nine distinct oral vowels (vs.
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#17328552087705704-512: The fate of the Home Army forces that had taken part in Operation Tempest, the Polish government in exile and the Home Army's current commander, General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski , decided that the last chance for regaining Poland's independence was to open an uprising in Warsaw. On July 21, 1944, Bór-Komorowski ordered that the Warsaw Uprising begin at 17:00 hours on August 1, 1944. The political goal
5796-473: The following days, Poles, helped by Soviet tanks, captured Stopnica and Busko . On August 14, 1944, General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski ordered all units of the Kielce – Radom area to march towards Warsaw and join the Warsaw Uprising. Operation Revenge, as it was called, resulted in the creation of Kielce Corps of the Home Army, under Colonel Jan Zientarski, with 6,430 soldiers. On August 21, during its concentration,
5888-462: The following table. The following digraphs and trigraphs are used: Voiced consonant letters frequently come to represent voiceless sounds (as shown in the tables); this occurs at the end of words and in certain clusters, due to the neutralization mentioned in the Phonology section above. Occasionally also voiceless consonant letters can represent voiced sounds in clusters. The spelling rule for
5980-538: The language spoken at home, which is about 1.4% of people who speak languages other than English , 0.25% of the US population, and 6% of the Polish-American population. The largest concentrations of Polish speakers reported in the census (over 50%) were found in three states: Illinois (185,749), New York (111,740), and New Jersey (74,663). Enough people in these areas speak Polish that PNC Financial Services (which has
6072-439: The letter y . The predominant stress pattern in Polish is penultimate stress – in a word of more than one syllable, the next-to-last syllable is stressed. Alternating preceding syllables carry secondary stress, e.g. in a four-syllable word, where the primary stress is on the third syllable, there will be secondary stress on the first. Each vowel represents one syllable, although the letter i normally does not represent
6164-431: The middle aged and young speak vernaculars close to standard Polish, while the traditional dialects are preserved among older people in rural areas. First-language speakers of Polish have no trouble understanding each other, and non-native speakers may have difficulty recognizing the regional and social differences. The modern standard dialect , often termed as "correct Polish", is spoken or at least understood throughout
6256-460: The most widely spoken variant of Polish across the country, and most dialects stopped being the form of Polish spoken in villages. Poland is one of the most linguistically homogeneous European countries; nearly 97% of Poland's citizens declare Polish as their first language . Elsewhere, Poles constitute large minorities in areas which were once administered or occupied by Poland, notably in neighboring Lithuania , Belarus , and Ukraine . Polish
6348-465: The name Tarzan . Home Political Representation Home Political Representation ( Polish : Krajowa Reprezentacja Polityczna , KRP ) was the representation of the four major Polish political parties continuing their activities underground ( PPS-WRN , SL , SN and Labor Party ). It was the political arm of the Polish Secret State in occupied Poland during World War II . It
6440-631: The nobles in Poland–Lithuania in the 15th century. The history of Polish as a language of state governance begins in the 16th century in the Kingdom of Poland . Over the later centuries, Polish served as the official language in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , Congress Poland , the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria , and as the administrative language in the Russian Empire 's Western Krai . The growth of
6532-574: The north, on July 7, 1944, the forces of the Wilno [ pl ] and Nowogródek Home Army districts [ pl ] (some 13,000 men under Colonel Aleksander Krzyżanowski ) launched an attack on German-occupied Vilnius , although the attack stalled until the arrival of Soviet forces. The AK and Soviet armies then jointly occupied the city on July 13. Prior to the assault, the surrounding countryside had also been seized by Polish and Soviet partisans. Cooperation ended almost immediately after Vilnius
6624-514: The operation was to aid the Red Army with its capture of the eastern bank of the Vistula and cities of the region. Polish partisans planned to defend the Vistula bridges, and armament factories in Starachowice and Skarżysko-Kamienna . After the Red Army had managed to cross the Vistula and capture bridgeheads at Sandomierz and Magnuszew (see Lublin–Brest Offensive ), Home Army got in touch with
6716-659: The others being Czech orthography and Croatian orthography , the last of these being a 19th-century invention trying to make a compromise between the first two. Kashubian uses a Polish-based system, Slovak uses a Czech-based system, and Slovene follows the Croatian one; the Sorbian languages blend the Polish and the Czech ones. Historically, Poland's once diverse and multi-ethnic population utilized many forms of scripture to write Polish. For instance, Lipka Tatars and Muslims inhabiting
6808-401: The palatal sounds / ɕ / , / ʑ / , / tɕ / , / dʑ / and / ɲ / is as follows: before the vowel i the plain letters s, z, c, dz, n are used; before other vowels the combinations si, zi, ci, dzi, ni are used; when not followed by a vowel the diacritic forms ś, ź, ć, dź, ń are used. For example, the s in siwy ("grey-haired"), the si in siarka ("sulfur") and
6900-511: The previously Polish-ruled territories in the east that were annexed by the USSR , resulting in the present-day Polish-speaking communities in Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine, although many Poles were expelled from those areas to areas within Poland's new borders. To the east of Poland, the most significant Polish minority lives in a long strip along either side of the Lithuania - Belarus border. Meanwhile,
6992-502: The province of Volhynia . All together, Polish forces in the region had some 20,000 men. The partisans attacked retreating German forces along railways and roads in the whole district of Lublin. In several cases, they defended villages pacified by the Wehrmacht and the SS . Poles cooperated with Red Army guerillas, which also operated in the area. In the south (the region of Zamość ), 9th Infantry Regiment under Major Stanislaw Prus liberated
7084-508: The region were: Independent Battalion of Major Jan Panczakiewicz and Operational Group Kraków under Colonel Edward Godlewski. The Home Army considered an armed insurrection in the city of Kraków, but this plan was abandoned (see Kraków Uprising (1944) ). Operation Tempest in Radom and Kielce began on August 1, 1944, and lasted until October 6. The Home Army here created 2nd, 7th and 28th Infantry Divisions, with several other units. The purpose of
7176-540: The same applies to the first and second person plural past tense endings -śmy, -ście , although this rule is often ignored in colloquial speech (so zro bi liśmy 'we did' should be prescriptively stressed on the second syllable, although in practice it is commonly stressed on the third as zrobi li śmy ). These irregular stress patterns are explained by the fact that these endings are detachable clitics rather than true verbal inflections: for example, instead of ko go zoba czy liście? ('whom did you see?') it
7268-410: The series of affricate and palatal consonants that resulted from four Proto-Slavic palatalizations and two further palatalizations that took place in Polish. The full set of consonants, together with their most common spellings, can be presented as follows (although other phonological analyses exist): Neutralization occurs between voiced – voiceless consonant pairs in certain environments, at
7360-500: The six of standard Polish) and (in the northern dialects) phonemic word stress, an archaic feature preserved from Common Slavic times and not found anywhere else among the West Slavic languages . However, it was described by some linguists as lacking most of the linguistic and social determinants of language-hood. Many linguistic sources categorize Silesian as a regional language separate from Polish, while some consider Silesian to be
7452-494: The stress normally becomes regular. For example, uniwersytet ( /uɲiˈvɛrsɨtɛt/ , 'university') has irregular stress on the third (or antepenultimate) syllable, but the genitive uniwersytetu ( /uɲivɛrsɨˈtɛtu/ ) and derived adjective uniwersytecki ( /uɲivɛrsɨˈtɛt͡skʲi/ ) have regular stress on the penultimate syllables. Loanwords generally become nativized to have penultimate stress. In psycholinguistic experiments, speakers of Polish have been demonstrated to be sensitive to
7544-646: The town of Bełżec (July 21). Together with the Soviets, they captured Tomaszów Lubelski . German forces were attacked in several locations, including Frampol and Zwierzyniec . On July 21 and 22, Volhynian 27th Division captured Kock , Lubartów and Firlej . In western part of the province, 8th and 15th Infantry Regiments liberated a number of towns: Kurów , Urzędów , Nałęczów , Garbów , Wąwolnica , Sobolew , Ryki , Końskowola . On July 26, Polish units cooperated with Soviet forces fighting for Puławy . Several German rail transports were destroyed, and Polish soldiers saved Końskowola from Germans, who planned to set
7636-497: The town on fire. Home Army District of Kraków was one of the largest districts of the organization. It spread from Przemyśl to Kraków itself, and the first fighting in the area took place in the east. In Rzeszow and Przemysl, 22nd and 24th Home Army Divisions were mobilized. In Rzeszów, Mielec and Krosno , 10th Home Army Cavalry Brigade was created. In the west, 6th and 106th Home Army Infantry Divisions were created, also Kraków Brigade of Motorized Cavalry. Other units active in
7728-563: The vowel i is changed to y , e.g. Syria , Sybir , synchronizacja , Syrakuzy . The following table shows the correspondence between the sounds and spelling: Digraphs and trigraphs are used: Similar principles apply to / kʲ / , / ɡʲ / , / xʲ / and /lʲ/ , except that these can only occur before vowels, so the spellings are k, g, (c)h, l before i , and ki, gi, (c)hi, li otherwise. Most Polish speakers, however, do not consider palatalization of k, g, (c)h or l as creating new sounds. Except in
7820-443: The word, the phoneme / x / can be spelt h or ch , the phoneme / ʐ / can be spelt ż or rz , and / u / can be spelt u or ó . In several cases it determines the meaning, for example: może ("maybe") and morze ("sea"). In occasional words, letters that normally form a digraph are pronounced separately. For example, rz represents /rz/ , not / ʐ / , in words like zamarzać ("freeze") and in
7912-451: Was 29th Kaniow Rifles Regiment, which operated near Brzeziny . On September 14, it captured a German warehouse at the station of Słotwiny near Koluszki . The Germans' suppression of the Warsaw Uprising, in the absence of Soviet assistance to the insurgents, marked the end of Operation Tempest. In military terms it was a success, in political terms a defeat. The Red Army, with the NKVD following
8004-462: Was abandoned, and the Corps was dissolved. In early September 1944, local units of the Home Army planned to capture either Kielce or Radom, also there were plans to seize Częstochowa and Skarzysko. 7th Infantry Division was transferred westwards, to the area of Częstochowa. 2nd Infantry remained near Kielce, actively fighting the enemy until November. In late October 1944, Operation Tempest was cancelled. All units were dissolved. Operation Tempest in
8096-607: Was commanded by Colonel Wladyslaw Liniarski . The first unit to enter the fighting was 81st Home Army Infantry Regiment, which operated in the forests around Grodno . Armed with light weapons, the regiment was too weak to capture the city of Grodno and limited its activities to fighting German outposts and police stations. In the outskirts of Białystok, among Polish forces concentrated in the Knyszyn Wilderness were: 42nd Home Army Infantry Regiment, and 10th Home Army Uhlan Regiment. The 2nd Home Army Uhlan Regiment operated in
8188-451: Was formed from the existing Political Consultative Committee ( Polityczny Komitet Porozumiewawczy ) based on the agreement before the four parties signed on 15 August 1943. Failing to reach agreement with the pro- Soviet Polish Workers' Party ( Polska Partia Robotnicza ) and faced with the communist creation of the pseudo-parliament of State National Council ( Krajowa Rada Narodowa ) on 31 December 1943, on 9 January 1944 it would become
8280-525: Was occupied; on July 14, Krzyżanowski and his officers were disarmed and imprisoned, and AK units who resisted disarmament were violently crushed by Soviet forces, with dozens of Polish fatalities. On July 23, Home Army forces in Lwów (now Lviv ) began an armed rising in cooperation with advancing Soviet forces. In four days the city was taken over. The Polish civil and military authorities were then summoned to "a meeting with Red Army commanders" and taken prisoner by
8372-493: Was partly implemented. Beginning in 1943, Home Army units were grouped into larger units bearing the names and numbers of prewar Polish divisions, brigades and regiments. In early 1943, after the German defeat at Stalingrad , it became clear that the Soviets would be the force the Home Army would most likely have to deal with, and that the planned Polish uprising would face a still-powerful German army, rather than units retreating to an already defeated homeland. In February 1943,
8464-602: Was to emphasize for the Allies the existence of the Polish government and Polish civil authorities. Warsaw was to be taken in order to allow the legitimate Polish government to return from exile to Poland. At the same time, other Home Army districts were also mobilized. Units of the Kraków area were preparing an uprising, similar to the one in Wilno, Lwów and Warsaw, but it was cancelled due to several reasons (see: Kraków Uprising (1944) ). In
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