The Kashubian language through time: the history of Kashubian studies in Russia
- DOI
- 10.5922/2225-5346-2026-1-12
- Pages
- 192-202
Abstract
This article examines linguocultural and linguistic research on the Kashubian substratum, drawing on materials collected by Russian scholars, primarily those affiliated with Saint Petersburg academic institutions, from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. These materials, derived from recordings of native speakers’ oral speech as well as from written, lexicographic, and ethnographic sources, constitute an invaluable empirical foundation for the study of Kashubian. The article offers an extensive review of the history of Kashubian studies within Slavic scholarship, situating this tradition within the broader development of Slavistics. In addition to linguistic data, the paper addresses cultural and extralinguistic issues related to contemporary Kashubia as a northern Polish (Baltic) Slavic periphery. Based on the authors’ own fieldwork in the Kashubian region and a critical analysis of the contributions of Russian linguists, the study seeks to re-evaluate and update key issues concerning Kashubian as a Slavic microlanguage and the Kashubians as a microethnos. Particular attention is paid to the current state of Kashubian studies and to the present ethnolinguistic situation of the region. The findings presented in the article contribute to a more nuanced understanding of Kashubian linguistic and cultural dynamics and are intended as a substantive addition to Slavic studies in the twenty-first century.