Abstract:
Indirect communication channeled through various forms
of media is undoubtedly dominant in the modern world. This is
especially true in a situation when a minority language is no longer
the most important means of communication within a given community,
i.e. when most direct contact between representatives of
that minority take place in the dominant language. If the use of a
minority language therefore becomes impossible in direct situations,
it becomes increasingly eagerly used in forms of indirect
communication. Minority language can find natural niches where it
can be used in the contemporary world, the most important of
these being the mass media. During past 20 years the situation of
Kashubian language has changed. The very interesting, complex,
and not yet complete processes of standardization, codification,
and propagation of a literary language have enabled the Kashubian
language to establish its presence in schooling, literature, and the
media. Not only has the character of the language changed thanks
to these new niches of occurrence, but new cultural niches where
the language is used and groups which use it have also emerged.
