Język w procesie kształtowania nowych regionów w Polsce
Language in the Creation Process of the New Regions of Poland

Summary/Abstract: The article concerns the influence of state reform on the evolution of regional identity. The aim of the article is to describe the role of language in these changes. In 1999, sixteen large regions (voivodeships) were established; it is significant that the contemporary names of these voivodeships refer to historical choronyms. The boundaries between administrative divisions and traditional ethnographic regions are indistinct due to the use of variant names like Małopolska, Podkarpacie, Pomorze Zachodnie instead of the formal names województwo małopolskie, podkarpackie, zachodniopomorskie etc., as well as the creation of new names of inhabitants (e.g. Zachodniopomorzanie, Małopolanie, Ślązacy, Lubuszanie) and nominaabstracta (e.g. “małopolskość”, “podkarpackość”). The meaning of the Polish word region (‘area’, ‘territory’, also ‘private homeland’) became synonymous with województwo (‘voivodeship’, ‘province’). Furthermore, the blurred distinction between geographical and administrative names gives rise to the misconception that dialectal differentiation in Poland is related to the boundaries of voivodeships.

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