Kashubian Informational Site

Last week, a Beta version of Kashubian Firefox was released. It can be downloaded from the Kashubian Channel on the Mozilla portal:

http://www.mozilla.org/csb/firefox/channel/

The final version is not yet available (although the icon for it is there). However, judging by the speed at which the most recent Firefox updates were offered, we may see the final version of this popular Web browser very soon. Let Mark, Michôł, Jarek, and Jurk know what you think.

Arguably, one of the greatest challenges Kashubian language is faced with today is its diminishing speaker base. Different estimates provide less or more optimistic counts of the number of those who still use it (Mordawski, 2005), and undoubtedly the 2011 census will shed more light on the current state of the matter (Narodowy Spis Powszechny, 2011). However, one cannot dismiss the fact that popularity of Kashubian language is in an unremitting decline. Whereas it can be argued that the world knows examples of language revivals (i.e., Hebrew in Israel), the gloomy truth is that the vast majority of such attempts fail miserably (Mechura, 2007). Recognizing language as the most important aspect of any culture (Xiulan, 2007), the fact remains that once the Kashubs forfeit their language, there will have very little left to distinguish them from their close relatives: the Polish. Unlike the Irish, who have adapted English as the functional language of the state and still maintained their identity, the Kashubs do not have their own country, and retaining their own language is an imperative necessity, if they are to survive as the distinct group of people.

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Kashubian Firefox (Aurora)

The Kashubian Linux Team has been working toward a release of the Kashubian version of Firefox, which recently became available for testing under Mozilla’s Aurora – a new channel between the nightly builds from mozilla-central and beta versions from mozilla-beta (read more about Firefox release process here).

Mark Kwidzińsczi and Michôł Òstrowsczi had released version 3xx of the browser a couple of years ago, which was available to (K)ubuntu Linux users (read more about Kashubian Linux here). In 2010, Yurek Hinz has joined the Kashubian Linux Team, focusing mostly on the development of the Kashubian Spell Checker add-on for Mozilla products.

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27 May 11

Link to the add-on was updated. As of this week, efforts of Vinicius Della Libera and mine were combined into one project.

Important: Please delete any old versions of the add-on and install the newest version. Once installed, Firefox will automatically update the add-on, as new versions become available. Although still in its developmental state, this version contains 62k+ k terms. Although Michôł Òstrowsczi and Mark Kwidzińsczi of linuxscb. org provide advice on word spellings, etc. correcting the inconsistencies will take a long time. Anyone interested in helping with the development of the Kashubian dictionary should contact me, Michôł, or Mark.

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On April 9, a new version (0.4) of the Kashubian Spell Checker was released. It includes over 53,000 words, while the previous version (0.3d) featured roughly 10,000 words. Although contemporary spellings were favored, older forms are also included (mostly from Ramułt’s dictionary). Since this Spell Checker is not meant to be normative in nature, such spelling variance is permitted. Functionally, this add-on remains compatible with the newest versions of Thunderbird, Firefox, and SeaMonkey.

The add-on can be downloaded from:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/kashubian-spell-checker-poland/

Make sure, you download the most recent version (0.4). Enjoy!

Yurek

From time to time, all of us can benefit from a spelling utility. Electronic dictionaries are available for most major languages. Although there are attempts of creating a dictionary for Kashubian language, such an undertaking is resource demanding and more time will have to pass before a full-blown Kashubian dictionary is available. Thus the most recent release of the Kashubian Spell Checker as a Mozilla add-on is very useful.

This version of the “Werifikator Kaszëbsczégò Pisënkù“ (version 03.d) is an effort of linuxcsb.org and contains over 12K terms. Although work at correcting spelling inconsistencies contained in the tool’s dictionary must continue,  this release (works well with Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, and Firefox 3 & 4) is noteworthy.

A direct link to the add-on:
Kashubian Spell Checker 0.3d

Prof. Gerard Labuda

On Friday, October 1, 2010, at the age of 94, Professor Gerard Labuda has died – a prominent Kashub and former rector of the Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) in Poznań. Prof. Labuda was a historian specializing in medieval and Slavic history. He was a member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (pol. Polska Akademia Umiejętności),  the Polish Academy of Sciences (pol. Polska Academia Nauk), and many other societies around the world.

Gerard Labuda was born in 1916, in Nowa Huta near Kartuzë (pol. Kartuzy). In 1936, he enrolled at the University of Poznań to study history, publishing his first historical work soon thereafter. In 1944, Labuda earned a Master’s degree from the University of the Western Territories in Warsaw, based on his 1937 work entitled “Polish and the Teutonic Knights’ Mission in Prussia”. He defended his PhD in 1945 habilitating his degree merely a year later. In 1950, Labuda became a Professor at the University of Poznań.

Professor Labuda authored over 1600 historical works, including countless articles, often serving as a subject matter expert for his peers.

Linuxcsb2

Since 29 August 10, second release of Kashubian Linux (Linuxcsb2) is available for download. This Kubuntu-based distribution includes many of the open-source flagship programs such as OpenOffice , GIMP, Firefox, Thunderbird, FileZilla, 7zip, and many more.

Users will appreciate the included codecs enabling playback of most popular audio/video formats. The Ndiswrapper also comes preinstalled enabling configuration of the wireless cards for which Linux-native drivers are currently unavailable. Kashubian and Polish languages are the two languages directly supported by this distribution (Kashubian keyboard is set as default.)

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Stolem's Medal (source: www.pomorania.pl)

The Student Club “Pomerania” invites all to Staromiejski City Hall in Gdańsk, Korzenna St. 33/35 on 31 May 2010, at 6 p.m. to honor father Adam Sikora and Zbigniew Jankowski, the recipients of the 2010 Stolem’s Medal.

Attendees will also have a chance to enjoy performance by Witosława Frankowska, who will add to the festivities of this important occasion.

From its inception in 1967, the Stolem Medal was awarded in recognition of organizations and individuals who have distinguished themselves by popularizing, or otherwise advancing the development of the Pomerania region, including Kashubia.

Please, accept our sincere congratulation!

The Kashubians’ Unity Day is held annually on March 19th to commemorate Pope Gregory IX’s promotion of the Dukes of Pomerania to the title of the “dux Slavorum et Cassubia” (Duke of the Slavs and the Kashubs), which dates back to 19 March 1238.

The tradition of the Kashubians’ Unity Day was established in 2004. Since 2006, thanks to Marek Wantoch-Rekowski, as part of the celebrations, accordion players from around the country meet for a mass performance.  This year, the organizers hope to break the Poland’s record in concurrent accordion playing. Thousands of accordion players are expected to arrive, including the Koszalińska Orkiestra Akordeonowa “Akord.”

The main celebrations will take place at the Secondary School Chain Nr. 2,  located in the Wybicki housing area in Kartuzy. If this year’s festivities resemble those of yester years, you can rest assured that leaving your house and mingling with the crowds will be worthwhile. A performance by Weronika Korthals (known from the “Szansa na sukces” (A chance for success) singing talent show) and a concert of Niwa Modrego Lnu (a music group from Smoldzino) are some of the perks for those who decide to show up.

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Mark Kwidzińsczi has compiled, and made available as an ISO, Kubuntu 9.10 Linux distribution optimized for the Kashubian language. This repackaged distribution defaults to the Kashubian language K Desktop Environment (KDE), as localized by Mark Kwidzińsczi and Michôł Òstrowsczi. Because many Linux programs are yet to be localized into Kashubian, Polish language menus will appear in the untranslated applications. Arguably, a bonus feature of this distribution are the video and audio codecs normally unavailable in a CD-based distribution. Thanks to these codecs, users will be able to play files encoded in the most popular video/audio formats.

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