The Institute was formed in connection with the need to popularise knowledge of languages, dialects, the vernacular and linguistic variations present on Polish territory, and responsibilities arising for Poland from the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, National and Ethnic Minorities and Regional Language Law, and Polish Language Law.

“We should be proud of our formative roots and traditions. Our grandmothers’ and grandfathers’ language is an extraordinary value we ought to cherish,” Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz emphasised when signing Institute foundation documents. “The vernacular and contemporary language variations are our heritage. We would like our regional languages to be visible and socially perceptible. Our wish would be for them to remain viable, handed over from generation to generation”.

The Institute’s primary duties include campaigns designed to popularise linguistic diversity in Poland, especially with regard to languages and linguistic variations in use on Polish territory today. Institute staff members will document Polish linguistic heritage while protecting language rights. The institution will also be a source of language policy recommendations and guidelines on the national and European level.