The Polish dialects from Poiana Micului and Bulai

(South Bukowina)- a comparative sociolinguistical perspective

based on ALAB

The Polish comunities from Bukowina, which have been present in this multicultural area for 2
centuries, have been studied in the last period through many research projects, initiated by both
Polish and Romanian researchers. One of them is Atlasul lingvistic audiovizual al Bucovinei
(ALAB), which wants to make a multimedia radiography of the ethnolinguistical diversity of
Bukowina, researching the main ethnic minorities from this area: Hutsuls, Ukrainians, Russians,
Lipovans and Poles  (http://www.philippide.ro/alab/) .
Regarding this last ethnic minority, in 2016 2 field studies have been carried out, in 2 localities:
Bulai and Poiana Micului. We used a dialectal survey and we recorded ethnotexts. After the analysis
of the obtained material, we could capture some linguistic and sociolinguistic characteristics which
individualise the two communities. From a linguistical point of view, the two dialects differ at a
phonetic and lexical level, the Bulai dialect being more similar to the literary Polish language. At a
sociolinguistic level, based on the answers of the ALAB survey, the following relevant aspects
regarding the ethnolinguistical dynamics of the two communities have been observed: a) the
influence of the Romanian language, due to the situation of linguistical contact which lasted 2
centuries b) the presence of the generational linguistical variation, observed in the both researched
communities, which reflects the existence of a process of linguistical change c) the presence of a
strong epilinguistical component in the Polish people speech, based on the representations, attitudes
and the motivations which Poles have regarding both the status and the vitality of their own dialects
and the languages superordinating their own: on the one hand, the literary Polish, on the other hand,
the Romanian language.