Polszczyzna w transmisji międzypokoleniowej w rodzinach jednolitych i mieszanych we Lwowskiem
The Polish language in intergenerational transmission in homogeneous and mixed families in the Lviv region

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to analyse the conditions of intergenerational transmission of the Polish language in homogenous and mixed families in Sambir and Dobromyl in Ukraine. 21 families took part in the survey: 13 Polish couples, 6 Polish-Ukrainian and 2 Ukrainian of Ukrainian-Polish origin. The study is based on four layers of data: firstly, semi-structured interviews and unstructured interviews with children and young people from each family (7–25 years of age); secondly, interviews with parents and grandparents; thirdly, family observation and, additionally, interviews with neighbours and friends of the families. The database of analysed audio recordings consists of conversations with 92 respondents (approximately 120 hours). The comparison shows that in Polish families the home language is Polish. Mixed couples, in turn, adopt one of two solutions: parents either apply the one parent – one language strategy (5 couples), or talk to their children in Ukrainian (1 couple). In families who rely on the former principle, in conversations among more household members and among the children themselves the Ukrainian language usually has an advantage. In the case of two Ukrainian couples of Ukrainian-Polish origin, the transmission of the Polish language was discontinued in previous generations: in one case the young participants of the study learned Polish in their childhood from their great-grandmother, in the other – on their own. Children from the presented families (with the exception of the family from Nyzhankovychi near Dobromyl) attended Polish Saturday schools; they also take part in the life of the local Roman Catholic parishes.

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