Individuelle deutsch-polnische zweisprachigkeit in masuren unter ihren soziolinguistischen umständen

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present some results of the field research done to Masuria as a cultural and linguistic borderland in 2018 and 2019 within the framework of an international project Beethoven 2 and to analyse the consequences of the influences on the multilingualism in the region that are currently present in the speech of the bilingual persons. The interviews with representants of the generation born until 1945 in Masuria show their experiences in the face of the language policy in Poland and their language biographies as they were children or very young people. These factors have an effect in the individual character of the bilingualism in this region. The paper refers to authentic stories and statements that present also the phenomenon of the language contact and dialectal features of German.