The grammar of the Silesian language is characterized by a high degree of inflection, and has relatively free word order, although the dominant arrangement is subject–verb–object (SVO). There commonly are no articles, and there is frequent dropping of subject pronouns. Distinctive features include the different treatment of masculine personal nouns in the plural, and the complex grammar of numerals and quantifiers.
Regular morphological alternation Silesian exhibits regular consonant and vowel alteration that can be found across Slavic languages and more specifically Lechitic languages. These include the Slavic palatalizations, as well as vowel alterations result from historic "pochylone" or "slanted" vowels, which were the result from historically long vowels.
Nouns Silesian retains the Slavic system of cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives. There are seven cases: nominative , genitive , dative , accusative , vocative , locative , and instrumental .
Number Silesian has two number classes: singular and plural.
A few nouns display irregularities resulting from a fossilized dual form, namely in:
body parts that naturally come in pairs have synchronically irregular plural and other forms ("eye") – pl. ("hand, arm") – pl. ("ear") – pl.
Gender Silesian, like other Lechitic languages, has three genders in the singular (masculine , feminine , and neuter ). The masculine gender can be divided into three subgenders, masculine personal (), masculine animal (), and masculine inanimate (). "Tantum plurale" or "plural only" nouns can be divided into virile () and non-virile ().
The following tables show this distinction using as examples the nouns syn 'son' (masc. personal), ptŏk 'bird' (masc. animate), cios 'hit, blow' (masc. inanimate), drōga 'road' (feminine), ciasto 'cake' (neuter). The following table presents examples of how a determiner tyn/ta/to ("this") agrees with nouns of different genders in the nominative and the accusative, both singular and plural. Adjectives inflect similarly to this determiner. +singularpluralnom.acc.nom.acc.masculinepersonaltyn syn tyn ptŏk
tyn ciostego syna tego ptŏkaci synowietych synōwanimatete psy te ciosy
te drōgi
te ciastainanimatetyn ciosfeminineta drōgatã drōgãneuterto ciasto For verbs, the distinction is only important for past forms in the plural, as in the table below: singularpluralmasculinepersonalsyn leżoł ptŏk leżoł
cios leżołsynowie leżelianimateptŏki leżały ciosy leżały
drōgi leżały
ciasta leżałyinanimatefemininedrōga leżałaneuterciasto leżało The numeral dwa ("two"), on the other hand, behaves differently, merging masculine non-personal with neuter, but not with feminine: pluralnom.acc.masculinepersonaldwa synowiedwōch synōwanimatedwa ptŏki dwa ciosy
dwa ciastainanimateneuterfemininedwie drōgi
Gender can usually be inferred from the ending of a noun.
Masculine: masculine nouns typically end in a consonant some nouns, describing people, end in -a, specifically: all nouns ending in -sta, equivalent to English "-ist", e.g. ("guardsman") Feminine: feminine nouns typically end in -a some nouns end in a soft or hardened consonant: all abstract nouns ending in -ść, e.g. ("love") some concrete nouns ending in -ść: kiść ("bunch") -c: ("power"), ("night") -cz ("thing") -ć: ("sex, gender") -dź: ("boat") -j: ("railway") -l: ("thought") -ń: ("autumn, fall") -rz: ("face") -sz: ("mouse") -ś: ("goose") -ź: ("branch") -ż: ("youth") -w: ("blood") words ending in -niŏ and -ni are feminine, e.g. ("goddess"); also ("Mrs") Neuter: neuter nouns typically end in -o verbal nouns, which are always neuter, end in -e, e.g. etc. Baby animals ending in -ã are always neuter, e.g. ("calf") Latin loanwords ending in -um : invariable in the singular, declinable in the plural by removing the -um ending and replacing it by neuter plural endings; the genitive plural is in -ōw contrary to other neuters that have no ending → , (N. pl.), (G. pl.)
Semantic membership The distinction between personal, animate and inanimate nouns within masculine nouns is largely semantic, although not always.
Personal nouns are comprised by human nouns such as 'man' or chop 'man'.
Animate nouns are largely comprised by animals such as pies ("dog"), many members from other life domains, as well as a number of objects associated with human activity. On the morphological level however, such nouns are only partially similar to animate nouns, having their accusative identical to their genitive only in the singular.
Masculine personal nouns can be "downgraded" to masculine animate nouns, called the deprecative form. → (sons were walking).
Plants and objects ending in a consonant are masculine inanimate.
Declension Declensions are generally divided into hard and soft declensions. Soft declensions are used when the stem of the noun ends in a soft (postalveolar or palatal-like) consonant in all forms, while hard declensions are used by nouns with stems ending in a hard consonant in some (but not necessarily all) forms.
The following generalizations can be made for the inflection of all nouns: The nominative and vocative plural are always identical. For neuter nouns, the nominative, accusative and vocative are always identical in both singular and plural. The accusative of masculine nouns is identical to either the nominative or the genitive. The locative, dative and instrumental plural almost always have the same endings (-ach, -ōm, -ami/-ōma) no matter how the noun is declined. The form -ōma is used mostly in the north-western part of Silesia.
Declension I This group comprises nouns ending in -a and -ŏ. This is predominantly feminine nouns, with a few masculine nouns (in the singular).
Class 1 Hard declension Soft declension Singular Plural Singular Plural Nominative (mianownik) gŏdka, poeta gŏdki, poety/poeci kuźnia, granica kuźnie, granice Genitive (dopołniŏcz) gŏdki, poety gŏdek∅, poetōw kuźnie, granice kuźniōw/kuźni, granic∅ Dative (cylownik) gŏdce, poecie godkōm, poetōm kuźni, granicy kuźniōm, granicōm Accusative (biernik) gŏdkã, poety/poetã gŏdki, poetōw kuźniã, granicã kuźnie, granice Vocative (wołŏcz) gŏdko, poeto gŏdki, poety/poeci kuźnio, granico kuźnie, granice Locative (miyjscownik) gŏdce, poecie gŏdkach, poetach kuźni, granicy kuźniach, granicach Instrumental (nŏrzyndnik) gŏdkōm, poetōm gŏdkami/gŏdkōma, poetami/poetōma kuźniōm, granicōm kuźniami/kuźniōma, granicami/granicōma
Class 2 -ijŏ -yjŏ -ŏ Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural Nominative (mianownik) armijŏ armije historyjŏ historyje mszŏ msze Genitive (dopołniŏcz) armije armijōw historyje historyjōw mszy/msze mszōw Dative (cylownik) armiji armijōm historyji historyjōm mszy mszōm Accusative (biernik) armijõ armije historyjõ historyje mszõ msze Vocative (wołŏcz) armijo armije historyjo historyje mszo msze Locative (miyjscownik) armiji armijach historyji historyjach mszy mszach Instrumental (nŏrzyndnik) armijōm armijami/armijōma historyjōm historyjami/historyjōma mszōm mszami/mszōma
Declension II This group comprises nouns ending in -o, -e, and -ã. This group is comprised without exception of neuter nouns.
Class 1 Hard declension Soft declension Singular Plural Singular Plural Nominative (mianownik) gniŏzdo, pole gniŏzda, pola czytanie, życie czytania, życia Genitive (dopołniŏcz) gniŏzda, pola gniŏzd∅/gniŏzdōw, pōl∅ czytaniŏ, życiŏ czytań∅, żyć∅ Dative (cylownik) gniŏzdu, polu gniŏzdōm, polōm czytaniy, życiu czytaniōm, życiōm Accusative (biernik) gniŏzdo, pole gniŏzda, pola czytanie, życie czytania, życia Vocative (wołŏcz) gniŏzdo, polo gniŏzdy, poly czytanio, życio czytanie, życie Locative (miyjscownik) gniŏździe, polu gniŏzdach, polach czytaniu, życiu czytaniach, życiach Instrumental (nŏrzyndnik) gniŏzdym, polym gniŏzdami/gniŏzdōma, polami/polōma czytaniym, życiym czytaniami/czytaniōma, życiami/życiōma
Class 2 -t- stems -n- stems Singular Plural Singular Plural Nominative (mianownik) cielã cielynta ramiã ramiōna Genitive (dopołniŏcz) cielyncia cielynt∅ ramiynia ramiōn∅ Dative (cylownik) cielynciu cielyntōm ramiyniu ramiōnōm Accusative (biernik) cielã cielynta ramiã ramiōna Vocative (wołŏcz) cielã cielynta ramiã ramiōna Locative (miyjscownik) cielynciu cielyntach ramiyniu ramiōnach Instrumental (nŏrzyndnik) cielynciym cielyntami/cielyntōma ramiyniym ramiōnami/ramiōnōma
Declension III This group comprises nouns ending in consonants and have -u or -a in the genitive singular. This pattern is exclusively masculine nouns, including masculine person, animal, and inanimate.
Class 1 Hard stems Masculine personal Masculine animal Singular Plural Singular Plural Nominative (mianownik) bajtel∅ bajtle kot∅ koty Genitive (dopołniŏcz) bajtla bajtli/bajtlōw kota kotōw Dative (cylownik) bajtlowi bajtlōm kotu kotōm Accusative (biernik) bajtla bajtli/bajtlōw kota koty Vocative (wołŏcz) bajtlu bajtle kocie koty Locative (miyjscownik) bajtlu bajtlach kocie kotach Instrumental (nŏrzyndnik) bajtlym bajtlami/bajtlōma kotym kotami/kotōma
Soft stems Masculine personal Masculine animal Singular Plural Singular Plural Nominative (mianownik) złodziyj∅ złodzieje kōń∅ kōnie Genitive (dopołniŏcz) złodzieja złodzieji/złodziejōw kōnia kōni Dative (cylownik) złodziejowi złodziejōm kōniowi kōniōm Accusative (biernik) złodzieja złodziejōw kōnia kōnie Vocative (wołŏcz) złodzieju złodzieje kōniu kōnie Locative (miyjscownik) złodzieju złodziejach kōniu kōniach Instrumental (nŏrzyndnik) złodziejym złodziejami/złodziejōma kōniym kōniami/kōniōma
Class 2 Hard stems Masculine inanimate Singular Plural Singular Plural Nominative (mianownik) gniyw∅ gniywy ancug∅ ancugi Genitive (dopołniŏcz) gniywu gniywōw ancuga ancugōw Dative (cylownik) gniywowi gniywōm ancugowi ancugōm Accusative (biernik) gniyw∅ gniywy ancug∅ ancugi Vocative (wołŏcz) gniywie gniywy ancugu ancugi Locative (miyjscownik) gniywie gniywach ancugu ancugach Instrumental (nŏrzyndnik) gniywym gniywami/gniywōma ancugiym ancugami/ancugōma
Soft stems Masculine inanimate Singular Plural Singular Plural Nominative (mianownik) grzebiyn∅ grzebiynie kafyj∅ kafyje Genitive (dopołniŏcz) grzebiynia grzebiynii kafyju kafyjōw Dative (cylownik) grzebiyniowi grzebiyniōm kafyjowi kafyjōm Accusative (biernik) grzebiyń∅ grzebiynie kafyj∅ kafyje Vocative (wołŏcz) grzebiyniu grzebiynie kafyju kafyje Locative (miyjscownik) grzebiyniu grzebiyniach kafyju kafyjach Instrumental (nŏrzyndnik) grzebiyniym grzebiyniami/grzebiyniōma kafyjym kafyjami/kafyjōma
Declension IV This group comprises nouns ending in -∅ have -i/-y or -e in the genitive singular. This is exclusively feminine nouns.
Soft declension Singular Plural Nominative (mianownik) jakość∅, jesiyń∅, mysz∅, krew∅ jakości, jesiynie, myszy, krwie Genitive (dopołniŏcz) jakości, jesiyni, mysz∅, krwie jakości, jesiyni, myszy, krwi Dative (cylownik) jakości, jesiyni, myszy, krwi jakościōm, jesiyniōm, myszōm, krwiōm Accusative (biernik) jakość∅, jesiyń∅, mysz∅, krew∅ jakości, jesiynie, myszy, krwie Vocative (wołŏcz) jakości, jesiyni, myszy, krwi jakości, jesiynie, myszy, krwie Locative (miyjscownik) jakości, jesiyni, myszy, krwi jakościach, jesiyniach, myszach, krwiach Instrumental (nŏrzyndnik) jakościōm, jesiyniōm, myszōm, krwiōm jakościami/jakościōma, jesiyniami/jesiyniōma, myszami/myszōma, krwiami/krwiōma
Declension V This group comprises nouns with adjectival declension, and can be masculine or feminine, taking the appropriate gender ending. See adjectives and adverbs.
Declension VI This group comprises nouns ending in -um in the singular and neuter declensions in the plural. Nouns in this group are neuter.
Class I