10. Dzień Języka Ojczystego w Wilamowicach, 21 lutego 2026
11 February 2026
W imieniu społeczności wilamowskiej serdecznie zapraszamy na 10. Dzień Języka Ojczystego w Wilamowicach!
Multilingual worlds – neglected histories. Uncovering their emergence, continuity and loss in past and present societies (MULTILING-HIST)
ERC Consolidator Grant
Grant agreement ID: 101002696
Start date: 1 March 2022
End date: 28 February 2027
Principal Investigator: prof. Justyna Olko
Partner Institutions: MPI-EVA & Cape Town University
The project addresses the complex, multi-level dimensions of historical and contemporary multilingualism:
(1) the presence of individual multilingualism in local and regional settings;
(2) the characteristics and dynamics of such multilingual settings, in other words, societal multilingualism. The fundamental aim of the project is to reconstruct, explain and better understand the mechanisms and causality of the processes behind the emergence, continuity, reduction and loss (as well as possible re-emergence) of multilingualism in differing historical, geographical, social, political and cultural contexts. These goals address not only essential gaps in the state of knowledge, but also significant questions about the past and the present of human development.
The project embraces historical and contemporary multilingual milieux from four regions relevant for understanding the causal frameworks underlying multilingual trajectories: selected historical multilingual hotspots from Central-Eastern Europe, Mesoamerica, South Africa and the Archipelago of Vanuatu. They represent a diversity of pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial contexts, ensuring a meaningful comparison. The case studies also offer a novel possibility to study the ‘invisibility’ of multilingualism and uncover its neglected history(ies).
A multidisciplinary approach combines in novel ways historical and present data, qualitative and quantitative methods as well as mathematical modeling, data-driven mapping and GIS mapping. Its expected results will provide informed diagnoses and predictions with huge potential for improving existing language policies and educational strategies oriented toward the preservation of linguistic-cultural diversity and sustainable multilingualism.
The project MULTILING-HIST has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 101002696)
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101002696
https://www.uw.edu.pl/erc-consolidator-grant-dla-dr-hab-justyny-olko/
https://en.uw.edu.pl/second-erc-grant-awarded-to-professor-justyna-olko/
News
Project News & Events
New Publication: “Eisa Rēzeknis viesture. A Brief History of Rēzekne”
24 November 2025
Nowa Publikacja pt. “Eisa Rēzeknis viesture, A Brief History of Rēzekne”, to dwujęzyczna latglasko-angielska książka autorstwa Andrisa Uškānsa. Jest to
Uniwersytet Wileński- Międzynarodowy Kongres Bałtystów, 22-25 października 2025
5 November 2025
W dniach 22-25 października Uniwersytet Wileński był gospodarzem najważniejszego wydarzenia naukowego poświęconego językom bałtyckim, czyli organizowanego co 5 lat Międzynarodowego
Justyna Olko “Language and well-being. In search of decolonial paradigms” at the African Studies Global Virtual Forum / Decoloniality and Southern Epistemologies, October 24, 2025
23 October 2025
Justyna Olko will have an opportunity to share our team research on the relationships between speaking heritage languages and different
Badacze i aktywiści języka kaszubskiego spotkali się w Wejherowie
20 October 2025
Prezentując wyniki badań dotyczących przekazu międzypokoleniowego i użycia języka kaszubskiego Justyna Olko, Bartłomiej Chromik, Artur Jabłoński i Brunon Ceszke z
“Nowe perspektywy badawcze” zapowiedź Mateusza Szuby konferencji poświęconej Kaszubom i Pomorzu na tle Słowiańszczyzny,
15 October 2025
“Nowe perspektywy badawcze” – tak zapowiada konferencję w Wejherowie Mateusz Szuba z Muzeum Piśmiennictwa i Muzyki Kaszubsko-Pomorskiej, z którym Centrum
Ogólnopolska konferencja Kaszuby–Pomorze–Słowiańszczyzna, 17-18 października 2025
15 October 2025
Muzeum Piśmiennictwa i Muzyki Kaszubsko-Pomorskiej w Wejherowie oraz nasze Centrum Zaangażowanych Badań nad Ciągłością Kulturową, Wydział “Artes Liberales”, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Studiuj język kaszubski na Uniwersytecie Warszawskim!
8 October 2025
Dołącz do lektoratu, który od podstaw nauczy Cię języka kaszubskiego i wprowadzi w świat kultury oraz literatury Kaszubów. Poznaj fascynującą
Conference “On the side of agency – how to affirm linguistic diversity in Poland” June 5-6, 2025
29 May 2025
We would like to warmly invite you to the conference “On the side of agency – how to affirm linguistic
Ogólnopolska konferencja naukowa: Kaszuby -Pomorze -Słowiańszczyzna – historia, kultura, języki, 17-18.10.2025
26 May 2025
Zapraszamy do udziału we współorganizowanej z Muzeum Piśmiennictwa i Muzyki Kaszubsko-Pomorskiej w Wejherowie ogólnopolskiej konferencji naukowej pt.
Prof. Justyna Olko Ambasadorką ERC
5 May 2025
Prof. Maria Leptin, prezydentka ERC oficjalnie zainaugurowała w dniu 28.04.2025 program „Ambasadorowie ERBN”. Na ambasadorkę konkurencyjną w Polsce została wybrana
Literacy workshop with Nahua students
26 March 2025
Cuacualtzen tiquitl itich nahuatlahcueloliztli ihuan nahuatlapohualiztli axxan oticchiuhqueh zancihca! Today at the Universidad Interserrana del Estado de Puebla in Ahuacatlan
Prof. Justyna Olko “możemy mieć kilka języków ojczystych, w tym też te lokalne i oficjalnie nieuznane” – Serwis Nauka w Polsce
21 February 2025
Dziś świętujemy Dzień Języka Ojczystego. Zachęcamy do lektury wywiadu z prof. Justyna Olko dla Polskiej Agencji Prasowej: „Każdy język, z
Zapraszmy na promocję książki „Dzieje Kaszubów / Dzeje Kaszëbów” 20.02.2025
18 February 2025
Centrum Zaangażowanych Badań nad Ciągłością Kulturową serdecznie zaprasza na promocję książki „Dzieje Kaszubów / Dzeje Kaszëbów” autorstwa dr. Michała Hinca
Dzień Języka Ojczystego w Muzeum Kultury Wilamowskiej w Wilamowicach 22.02.2025
18 February 2025
W dniu 22.02.2025 r. zapraszamy na obchody Dnia Języka Ojczystego w Muzeum Kultury Wilamowskiej w Wilamowicach, w ramach których odbędą
Zapraszamy na warsztaty “Tu dzieje się historia. Oddolne i rdzenne paradygmaty dekolonialnej mikrohistorii” 20.02.2025
4 February 2025
Centrum Zaangażowanych Badań nad Ciągłością Kulturową serdecznie zaprasza na warsztaty: Tu dzieje się historia. Oddolne i rdzenne paradygmaty dekolonialnej mikrohistorii wydarzenie
New publication: “Kamanalixkopinkayotl tlen nauatlajtoli uan koxtekatlajtoli (Huasteca Potosina) Lejkix káw k’al i t’iplab, ti dhakchám ani ti Tének kawintaláb (Huasteca Potosina)”
3 February 2025
Dictionary with pictures in the Nahuatl and Tének languages: Kamanalixkopinkayotl tlen nauatlajtoli uan koxtekatlajtoli (Huasteca Potosina) / Lejkixkáw k’al i t’iplab, ti dhakchám ani ti Tének kawintaláb (Huasteca Potosina) The Nahuatl-Tének dictionary with
MULTI-LING project at the annual meeting of Linguistic Society of America in Philadelphia
20 January 2025
The results of our study of contemporary multilingualism in the Huasteca Potosina in Mexico were presented at the LSA (Linguistic
Collaboration agreement with UIEPA
26 November 2024
Today at the Universidad Interserrana del Estado de Puebla en Ahuacatlán (UIEPA) Prof. Justyna Olko (on behalf of the University
MULTILING-HIST project presented in the Congreso del Mundo Totonaco in Totonac, Nahuatl and Spanish
22 November 2024
Kitalamakgamakgtayalh Valentina Sánchez Victor, yuma jmasiu kitaskujutka xpalakata xa makgan tachiwin nakg Ahuacatlan chu Tepango de Rodríguez nakg tutunaku, español
Prof. Justyna Olko w debacie z prof. Marią Leptin, Przewodniczącą ERC
26 September 2024
Prof. Justyna Olko wzięła udział w debacie z Przewodniczącą ERC prof. Marią Leptin ramach wydarzenia “Focus on Frontier Research with
Zapraszamy na otwarcie wystawy „Z historii wielojęzycznego Sławoszyna” w dniu 28.09.2024
18 September 2024
Rôczomë! / Zapraszamy! Wystawa złożona z 16 tablic pod wspólnym tytułem „Z historii wielojęzycznego Sławoszyna” powstała w ramach współpracy społeczności
WYJŌNTKOWY LITERACKI TREF ŚLŌNSKO POEZYJO PO UKRAJIŃSKU / ВИНЯТКОВА ЛІТЕРАТУРНА ЗУСТРІЧ СІЛЕЗЬКА ПОЕЗІЯ УКРАЇНСЬКОЮ
17 September 2024
Wydzioł «Artes Liberales» Warszawskigo Uniwersytetu zaproszo na prōmocyjo tōmiku «Myśli Ukryte. Приховані думки» ôd ślōnskigo poety Karola Gwoździa we ukrajińskim
Team
Project Team
Justyna Olko
Professor at the Faculty of “Artes Liberales” at the University of Warsaw; director of its Center for Research and Practice in Cultural Continuity; she obtained a doctoral degree in the humanities in 2005 at the UW’s Faculty of History and habilitation in ethnology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań in
Bartłomiej Chromik
has degrees in Quantitative Methods in Economics and Information Systems from the Warsaw School of Economics and in Ethnology from the University of Warsaw. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, with the dissertation, “Micro- and macro linguistic ideologies. The case of Wilamowice”. He
Piotr Grablunas
has an undergraduate degree (1999) and a Ph.D. (2004) in Lithuanian Philology from the Adam Mickiewicz University’s Faculty of Modern Languages and Literature. He specializes in Lithuanian dialectology, Baltic language translation studies, and legal linguistics. He is the author of several articles as well as teaching materials for Lithuanian. He
Gregory Haimovich
has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Warsaw (2022) and an M.A. degree in Linguistics and Ibero-American Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2015). His doctoral dissertation, “Using and Expanding the Use of the Nahuatl Language in Health Care”, is based on an ongoing participatory action research
Artur Jabłoński – Artúr Jablonskji
has an MA in history from the University of Gdańsk. He obtained a PhD in linguistics at the University of Silesia in Katowice. Today he is a Kashubian activist, but he has also worked as a journalist and a local government politician. From 2008 to 2012, Jabłoński was the co-chairman
Justyna Majerska-Sznajder- Jüśja Fum Biöetuł
has degrees in Culture Management and Ethnology from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of “Artes Liberales”. Since childhood, she has been involved in the revitalization of Wymysiöeryś culture in her hometown of Wilamowice, and now she is the
Joanna Maryniak
has a BA in French Philology and Classics from the University of Łódź and an MA in Liberal Arts from the University of Warsaw. She has co-authored three pictorial dictionaries of Modern Nahuatl – with more forthcoming – and has co-translated The Little Prince into Wymysorys. She is employed full time
Zuzanna Rosłaniec
is an Administrator in the COLING/MSCA RISE and LCure/FNP Team projects, with managerial and financial experience (SGH Warsaw School of Economics). Her role is to plan and organize project events as well as manage day to day communication with partners and the Warsaw University administration.
Elwira Dexter-Sobkowiak
Has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Warsaw, an MA in Ethnolinguistics from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and an MA in Language Documentation and Description from SOAS, University of London. Her doctoral dissertation was on Nahuatl and Tének, two indigenous languages of the Huasteca Potosina in Mexico,
Melchior Jakubowski
has degrees in history and art history from the University of Warsaw. In 2020, he defended his PhD dissertation, “Religious and Ethnic Landscape of the Bukovina, Latgale, and the Suwałki Region at the Turn of the Eighteenth Century: State and Church Institutions Facing Local Communities,” in the University of Warsaw’s
Publications
Kamanalixkopinkayotl tlen nauatlajtoli uan koxtekatlajtoli (Huasteca Potosina) Lejkix káw k’al i t’iplab, ti dhakchám ani ti Tének kawintaláb (Huasteca Potosina)
Dictionary with pictures in the Nahuatl and Tének languages: Kamanalixkopinkayotl tlen nauatlajtoli uan koxtekatlajtoli (Huasteca Potosina) / Lejkixkáw k’al i t’iplab, ti dhakchám ani ti Tének kawintaláb (Huasteca Potosina) The Nahuatl-Tének dictionary with pictures is the result of
Приховані думки. Myśli ukryte
Hidden Thoughts The debut book of poetry of the Silesian poet Karol Gwóźdź, whose poems amaze the readers with their maturity and transfer them to
Xtalakgtsokgni tipahluva talivan xla lakgtakgonsikgni, Tepango de Rodríguez, Puebla
This trilingual Totonac-Nahuatl-Spanish collaborative book of traditional food recipies was created by teachers of the Totonac kindergarden in Tepango de Rodríguez, Puebla, along with children’s
- Majerska-Sznajder, J., Maryniak, J., Olko, J. (2025). Wymysorys revitalisation theatre: identity and community (re)building. In: Cogent Arts & Humanities
- Olko, J., Wicherkiewicz, T., Chromik, B., Jabłoński, A. (2025). Decolonizing and revoicing multilingual spaces in a nation-state. The case of minority languages in Poland. W: Bagga-Gupta S, red. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Decolonising the Educational and Language Sciences. Palgrave Macmillan; 2025:99–127. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-80322-2_6
- Olko, J., Ignacio Reyes Abasolo, J., Sánchez Víctor, V. (2025). Viure en la teva llengua: relació, comunicació i benestar a la regió multilingüe d’Ahuacatlan, W: Sierra Norte de Puebla, Mèxic. Llengua, Societat & Comunicació, (23) https://doi.org/10.1344/LSC-2025.23.6
- Olko, J. (2025). Decolonising Approaches to Language Diversity and Reclamation. In: Contemporary Linguistics: Integrating Languages, Communities, and Technologies. eds. David Bradley, Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, Camiel Hamans, Ik-Hwan Lee and Frieda Steurs. Pp. 445–457; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004715608_037
- Dexter-Sobkowiak, E. & Dexter-Sobkowiak, P. (2025). “We speak a topsy-turvy language”: Self-declared language purism versus language use among the speakers of Western Huasteca Nahuatl. In: International Journal of the Sociology of Language, Volume 2025 Issue 295 “We speak a topsy-turvy language”: Self-declared language purism versus language use among the speakers of Western Huasteca Nahuatl
- Andrason, A. (2025). Reclaiming multilingualism: African languages in the linguistic landscape of Cape Town (Observatory, Salt River and Woodstock). In: Asian and African Studies 34/1: 91-139.
- Andrason, A. & Karani, M. (2025). Maasai in its linguistic landscape: The case of the Arusha region (Tanzania). In: Kervan: International Journal of Afro-Asiatic Studies 29/2 (2025).
- Olko, J. (2024). Ethnolinguistic Vitality, Multilingual Communication and Speakers of Contested Languages, Handbook of Communication and Prejudice Research, Edward Elgar Publishing, https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/research-handbook-on-communication-and-prejudice-9781802209655.html
- Orozco Luis, R., Sánchez Víctor, V., González Pérez, M., Miramón Salvador, A., Cortes Hernández, E., Orozco Barragán, I., Reyes Abasolo, I. (2024). Xtalakgtsokgni tipahluva talivan xla lakgtakgonsikgni xa lak kachikin, Tepango de Rodríguez, Puebla / Mintlacualehcuilol tename tlen chanchihua Tepango de Rodríguez, Puebla / Recetas de las abuelas de la comunidad de Tepango de Rodriguez, Puebla. Wydział “Artes Liberales” Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
- Andrason, A. (2024). Language repertoire as radical queer love: A boy’s journey. In: Boyhood Studies (2024) 1-31.
- Andrason, A. and Matutu, H.( 2024). Reflections on (our research on) human-to-animal communication (in Africa): Anthropocentrism, Posthumanism, and White Crisis. In: Journal of Postcolonial Linguistics. Andrason & Matutu (Journal of Postcolonial Linguistics).pdf
- Andrason, A. (2023). Grammaticalization in Fanagalo – Simplification, complexification, and acceleration. Studies in African Linguistics 52 (1): 1-32. https://journals.flvc.org/sal/article/view/135719/140010;
- Olko, J., Andrason, A. (2023). Introduction. Heritage Languages and the Well-Being of Speakers. Linguapax Review 11. Heritage Languages and the Well-Being of Speakers (pp 5-11) https://www.linguapax.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Linguapax-2023-baixa.pdf;
- Majerska-Szajder, J., Chromik, B. (2023). Relational well-being in Wilamowice in the context of recent language revival activities. In: Linguapax Review 11. Heritage Languages and the Well-Being of Speakers (pp 79-91) https://www.linguapax.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Linguapax-2023-baixa.pdf;
- Olko, J. ( 2023). Language as a curse, language as a cure. Between ill-being and well-being of minority language speakers. In: Linguapax Review 11. Heritage Languages and the Well-Being of Speakers (pp 143-155) https://www.linguapax.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Linguapax-2023-baixa.pdf;
FORTHCOMING:
- Olko, J., Sullivan, J., Borges, R. (2026). Nahuatl and its speakers across time. A multilidisciplinary account of language contact, change and continuity. Cambridge University Press.
- Olko, J. (2027). Other forms of violence. A self-reflective approach to the past and present of Indigenous America. Cambridge University Press
- Chromik, B., J. Maryniak, J. Olko, O. Duć-Fajfer i W. Hernandez (2026): Historical trauma and language loss among Indigenous and ethnic minority groups. Between quantitative and qualitative paradigms. W: Routledge Handbook of Language and Trauma, red. Judith Purkarthofer, Brigitta Busch and Marcelyn Oostendorp, Routledge.Andrason, A. & Matutu, H. Forthcoming. Reflections on (our research on) human-to-animal communication (in Africa): Anthropocentrism, Posthumanism, and White Crisis. In: Journal of Postcolonial Linguistics
- Andrason, A..Radical Homo-scapes | The linguistic landscape of a ‘gay’ sauna in Africa In: Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics PLUS
- Andrason, A. & A. Harvey. Consonantality of conative animal calls | Vocalicity of interjections. Accidental or motivated? The case of Gorwaa. STUF – Language Typology and Universals (De Gruyter). ANDRASON & HARVEY Consonantality of CACs vs.vocalicity of interjections (STUF).pdf
- Andrason, A. & A. Phiri. Nearly extinct African languages in their linguistic landscape: Tjwao of Zimbabwe. Sustainable Multilingualism. Nearly extinct African languages in LL (SusMult) Anonymized (Accepted).pdf
- Andrason, A.. A language of resistance | The pro-Palestinian linguistic landscape of Cape Town (South Africa) and its physical, lingual, and functional complexity. Public Journal of Semiotics. A language of resistance (Final de-anonymized).pdf
