Goral ethnolect
| Goral | |
|---|---|
| Highlander Polish, Highland Polish | |
| górolsko gwara góralsko gwara | |
| Pronunciation | Slavic pronunciation: [ˈɡorɔlskɔ ˈɡvara] |
| Native to | Poland (Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Silesian Voivodeship) Slovakia (Žilina Region, Prešov Region) Czech Republic (Moravian-Silesian Region) Hungary, Ukraine, Romania |
| Region | Goral Lands |
| Ethnicity | Gorals |
Native speakers | 50,307 in Slovakia (2023 study) |
| Dialects | |
| Latin script | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
Goral, less frequently called Highlander or Highland Polish, is an ethnolect of the Lechitic group, more specifically of the Lesser Poland dialect group spoken by the Gorals. Its vocabulary was significantly influenced by many languages like Slovak, Rusyn, Hungarian, Romanian and German, being common vocabulary of the Carpathian region. Some consider Goral to be a microlanguage, alongside Silesian and to a lesser extent Masurian.
The term Goral derives from the Slavic word for mountain (góra, hora) and the noun-forming suffix denoting people -al.
The Goral ethnolect is often equated to the Podhale dialect; however, this is only one of the many Goral dialects.