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Polish

Polish is spoken by about 43 million people, 36.5 million of whom live in Poland, where it is the official language. After the end of Word War II, following border readjustments, Poland became more linguistically and ethnically homogeneous; over 98% of the population spoke Polish. Another 2.5 million Polish speakers live in the USA; 1 million in Ukraine; about 100,000 or so each in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Israel, and Canada; and lesser numbers in Australia and Romania.

Polish is a Slavic--or Slavonic--language, and it belongs to the West Slavic subgroup.  This subgroup also includes Czech, Slovak, Cassubian (or Kashubian, spoken in the Baltic coast region in northern Poland), Sorbian (Saxony and Brandenburg, Germany), and Polabian, which is now extinct.

Polish uses a Latin-based alphabet, which was introduced along with Christianity in the tenth century. It uses numerous diagraphs, as well as diacritics on certain consonants and vowels. Some variation exists in the spelling of some sounds.  The Polish language also borrows extensively from German and Yiddish, and slightly from East Slavic languages. Other languages that have contributed lexis include Latin, Czech, Lithuanian, French, and Italian.

In the fourteenth century, entire texts began to appear in Polish, with the earliest being religious in nature.  For example, this included a collection of sermons and a translation of the Psalms.

The sixteenth century--the Golden Age of Polish literature--saw the first printings of dictionaries, grammar guides, and spelling guides. Poland was first partitioned in 1772, and with this event, its language entered a crisis period as various occupying powers, primarily Germany and Russia, attempted to replace Polish with their own languages.

 

Source: UCLA Language Materials Project Language Profiles

Current Course Offerings:

Term A = Spring

Term B = Summer

Term C = Fall


Course Title Term Time
SLAV 502-680 SLAV502 - ELEMENTARY POLISH II 2020A MW 0630PM-0830PM
SLAV 506-680 SLAV506 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK II 2020A MW 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 502-680 SLAV502 - ELEMENTARY POLISH II 2019A MW 0630PM-0830PM
SLAV 504-680 SLAV504 - INTERMEDIATE POLISH II 2019A MW 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 501-680 SLAV501 - ELEMENTARY POLISH I 2018C MW 0630PM-0830PM
SLAV 505-680 SLAV505 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK I 2018C MW 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 502-680 SLAV502 - ELEMENTARY POLISH II 2018A MW 0630PM-0830PM
SLAV 504-680 SLAV504 - INTERMEDIATE POLISH II 2018A MW 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 501-680 SLAV501 - ELEMENTARY POLISH I 2017C MW 0630PM-0830PM
SLAV 503-680 SLAV503 - INTERMEDIATE POLISH I 2017C MW 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 502-680 SLAV502 - ELEMENTARY POLISH II 2017A MW 0500PM-0700PM
SLAV 506-680 SLAV506 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK II 2017A MW 0700PM-0830PM
SLAV 501-680 SLAV501 - ELEMENTARY POLISH I 2016C MW 0630PM-0830PM
SLAV 505-680 SLAV505 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK I 2016C MW 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 502-680 SLAV502 - ELEMENTARY POLISH II 2016A MW 0630PM-0800PM
SLAV 506-680 SLAV506 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK II 2016A MW 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 501-680 SLAV501 - ELEMENTARY POLISH I 2015C MW 0630PM-0800PM
SLAV 505-680 SLAV505 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK I 2015C MW 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 501-680 SLAV501 - ELEMENTARY POLISH I 2015A MW 0630PM-0800PM
SLAV 506-680 SLAV506 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK II 2015A MW 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 501-680 SLAV501 - ELEMENTARY POLISH I 2014C CANCELED
SLAV 505-680 SLAV505 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK I 2014C MW 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 502-680 SLAV502 - ELEMENTARY POLISH II 2014A MW 0630PM-0815PM
SLAV 506-680 SLAV506 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK II 2014A MW 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 501-680 SLAV501 - ELEMENTARY POLISH I 2013C MR 0645PM-0815PM
SLAV 503-680 SLAV503 - INTERMEDIATE POLISH I 2013C MW 0500PM-0700PM
SLAV 505-680 SLAV505 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK I 2013C MR 0500PM-0630PM
SLAV 502-680 SLAV502 - ELEMENTARY POLISH II 2013A MW 0200PM-0330PM
SLAV 506-680 SLAV506 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK II 2013A MW 0330PM-0500PM
SLAV 501-680 SLAV501 - ELEMENTARY POLISH I 2012C F 0200PM-0400PM
T 0600PM-0800PM
SLAV 505-680 SLAV505 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK I 2012C F 0400PM-0530PM
T 1200PM-0130PM
SLAV 504-680 SLAV504 - INTERMEDIATE POLISH II 2012A MW 0600PM-0800PM
SLAV 506-680 SLAV506 - POLISH/HERITAGE SPEAK II 2012A CANCELED