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Concept
Old Polish
Summary
The Old Polish language (język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language.
The sources for the study of the Old Polish language are the data of the comparative-historical grammar of Slavic languages, the material of Polish dialects, several Latin manuscripts with Polish glosses, as well as – most importantly – monuments written in Old Polish: the Holy Cross Sermons (Kazania świętokrzyskie), the Florian Psalter (Psałterz floriański), Bogurodzica (Bogurodzica), the Sharoshpatak Bible (Biblia szaroszpatacka or Biblia królowej Zofii) and some others.
The Old Polish language was spoken mainly on the territory of modern Poland. It was the main vernacular of medieval Polish states under the Piasts and early Jagiellons, although it was not the state language (that being Latin).
The Polish language started to change after the baptism of Poland, which caused an influx of Latin words, such as kościół "church" (Latin castellum, "castle"), anioł "angel" (Latin angelus). Many of them were borrowed via Czech, which, too, influenced Polish in that era (hence e.g. wiesioły "happy, blithe" (cf. wiesiołek) morphed into modern Polish wesoły, with the original vowels and the consonants of Czech veselý). Also, in later centuries, with the onset of cities founded on German law (namely, the so-called Magdeburg law), Middle High German urban and legal words filtered into Old Polish.
Around the 14th or the 15th centuries, the aorist and the imperfect became obsolete. In the 15th century the dual fell into disuse except for a few fixed expressions (adages and sayings). In relation to most other European languages, though, the differences between Old and Modern Polish are comparatively slight, and the Polish language is somewhat conservative relative to other Slavic languages.
Official source
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