Sorbian languages

Sorbian
	serbšćina, serbsce (Upper Sorbian); serbšćina, serbski (Lower Sorbian)
Ethnicity	Sorbs
Geographic; distribution	Lusatia
Linguistic classification	Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic West Slavic Sorbian; ; ; ;
Subdivisions	Upper Sorbian; Lower Sorbian;
ISO 639-2 / 5	wen
Glottolog	sorb1249[1]
	The Sorbian-speaking region in Germany

The Sorbian languages (Upper Sorbian: serbska rěč, Lower Sorbian: serbska rěc) are two closely related, but only partially mutually intelligible, West Slavic languages spoken by the Sorbs, a West Slavic minority in the Lusatia region of eastern Germany. They are classified under the West Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages and are therefore closely related to the other two West Slavic subgroups: Lechitic and Czech–Slovak.[2] Historically, the languages have also been known as Wendish (named after the Wends, the earliest Slavic people in modern Poland and Germany) or Lusatian. Their collective ISO 639-2 code is wen.

The two Sorbian languages and literary standards are Upper Sorbian (hornjoserbsce), spoken by about 40,000 people in Saxony, and Lower Sorbian (dolnoserbski) spoken by about 10,000 people in Brandenburg. The area where the two languages are spoken is known as Lusatia (Łužica in Upper Sorbian, Łužyca in Lower Sorbian, or Lausitz in German).

History

After the settlement of the formerly Germanic territories (the part largely corresponding to the former East Germany) by the Sorbs' Slavic ancestors in the fifth and sixth centuries, the Sorbian language (or its predecessors) had been in use in much of what was the southern half of East Germany for several centuries, and still had its stronghold in (Upper and Lower) Lusatia, where it enjoys national protection and fostering to the present day.

Outside Lusatia, it has been superseded by German. From the 13th century on, the language suffered official discrimination.[2] Bible translations into Sorbian provided the foundations for its writing system.

Geographic distribution

In Germany, Upper and Lower Sorbian are officially recognized and protected as minority languages.[3] In the home areas of the Sorbs, both languages are recognized as second official languages next to German.

A bilingual sign in Niesendorf/Niža Wjes near Bautzen

The city of Bautzen in Upper Lusatia is the centre of Upper Sorbian culture. Bilingual signs can be seen around the city, including the name of the city, "Bautzen/Budyšin". The city of Cottbus (Chóśebuz) is considered the cultural centre of Lower Sorbian; here, too, bilingual signs are found. Sorbian has also been spoken in the small Sorbian ("Wendish") settlement of Serbin in Lee County, Texas, and a few speakers possibly still remain there. Until 1949, newspapers were published in Sorbian there. The local dialect has been heavily influenced by surrounding speakers of German and English.

The German terms "Wends" (Wenden) and "Wendish" (wendisch/Wendisch) once denoted "Slav(ic)" generally; they are today mostly replaced by "Sorbs" (Sorben) and "Sorbian" (sorbisch/Sorbisch) with reference to Sorbian communities in Germany.

Linguistic features

Both Upper and Lower Sorbian have the dual for nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs; very few living Indo-European languages retain this as a productive feature of the grammar. For example, the word ruka is used for one hand, ruce for two hands, and ruki for more than two hands. As with most of the Slavic languages, Sorbian uses no articles.

Grammar

The Sorbian languages are declined in six or seven cases:

Case	nan father		štom tree	bom tree	wokno window
	Upper Sorb.	Lower Sorb.	Upper Sorb.	Lower Sorb.	Upper Sorb.	Lower Sorb.
Nom.	nan	nan	štom	bom	wokno	wokno
Gen.	nana	nana	štoma	boma	wokna	wokna
Dat.	nanej	nanoju	štomej	bomoju	woknu	woknoju, woknu
Acc.	nana	nana	štom	bom	wokno	wokno
Instr.	z nanom	z nanom	ze štomom	z bomom	z woknom	z woknom
Loc.	wo nanje	wó nanje	na štomje	na bomje	na woknje	na woknje
Voc.	nano	—	štomo	—	—	—

Case	ramjo shoulder	ramje shoulder, armpit	žona woman	žeńska woman, wife	ruka hand
	Upper Sorb.	Lower Sorb.	Upper Sorb.	Lower Sorb.	Upper Sorb.	Lower Sorb.
Nom.	ramjo	ramje	žona	žeńska	ruka
Gen.	ramjenja	ramjenja	žony	žeńskeje	ruki
Dat.	ramjenju	ramjenjeju, ramjenju	žonje	žeńskej	ruce
Acc.	ramjo	ramje	žonu	žeńsku	ruku
Instr.	z ramjenjom	z ramjenim	ze žonu	ze žeńskeju	z ruku
Loc.	wo ramjenju	wó ramjenju	wo žonje	wó žeńskej	w ruce

Vocabulary comparison

The following is selected vocabulary from the two Sorbian languages compared with other Slavic languages.

English	Lower Sorbian	Upper Sorbian	Serbo-Croatian	Bulgarian	Slovene	Czech	Polish	Polabian	Kashubian	Silesian	Slovak	Russian	Ukrainian
person, man	clowek/luź	čłowjek	човек / човјек (čovek / čovjek)	човек (čovek)	človek	člověk	człowiek	clawak	człowiek	czowiek	človek	человек (čelovek)	людина (l'udyna), чоловік (čolovik)
evening	wjacor	wječor	вече / вечер (veče / večer)	вечер (večer)	večer	večer	wieczór	vicer	wieczór	wieczōr	večer	вечер (večer)	вечір (večir)
brother	bratš	bratr	брат (brat)	брат (brat)	brat	bratr	brat	brot	brat	brat	brat	брат (brat)	брат (brat)
day	źeń	dźeń	дан (dan)	ден (den)	dan	den	dzień	dôn	dzéń	dziyń	deň	день (den')	день (den')
hand	ruka	ruka	рука (ruka)	ръка (rəka)	roka	ruka	ręka	ręka	rãka	rynka	ruka	рука (ruka)	рука (ruka)
snow	sněg	sněh	снег / снијег (sneg / snijeg)	сняг (snjag)	sneg	sníh	śnieg	sneg	sniég	śniyg	sneh	снег (sneg)	сніг (snih)
summer	lěśe	lěćo	лето / љето (leto / ljeto)	лято / лето (ljato / ljeto)	poletje	léto	lato	ljutü	lato	lato	leto	лето (leto)	літо (lito)
sister	sotša	sotra	сестра (sestra)	сестра (sestra)	sestra	sestra	siostra	sestra	sostra	siostra	sestra	сестра (sestra)	сестра (sestra)
fish	ryba	ryba	риба (riba)	риба (riba)	riba	ryba	ryba	raibo	rëba	ryba	ryba	рыба (ryba)	риба (ryba)
fire	wogeń	woheń	огањ (oganj)	огън (ogən)	ogenj	oheň	ogień	widin	òdżin	ôgyń	oheň	огонь (ogon')	вогонь (vohon')
water	wóda	woda	вода (voda)	вода (voda)	voda	voda	woda	wôda	wòda	woda	voda	вода (voda)	вода (voda)
wind	wětš	wětr	ветар / вјетар (vetar / vjetar)	вятър / ветер (vjatər / veter)	veter	vítr	wiatr	wjôter	wiater	wiater	vietor	ветер (veter)	вітер (viter)
winter	zyma	zyma	зима (zima)	зима (zima)	zima	zima	zima	zaima	zëma	zima	zima	зима (zima)	зима (zyma)

gollark: Great!

gollark: It has "I forgot my password" options.

gollark: teaur

gollark: I could make a fun maze thing out of this maybe.

gollark: It incorporates all the HeavOS code for it, including the backdoors, actually.

References

Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Sorbian". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
About Sorbian Language, by Helmut Faska, University of Leipzig
"Full list". Treaty Office. Retrieved 2019-02-06.

External links

Online course for Upper and Lower Sorbian (English, Sorbian, German)
Euromosaic information page
Kurs serskeje rěce / Bluń, introductory texts of the lessons included in the Sorbian language textbook Curs practic de limba sorabă (in Romanian)

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[Glottolog-1] Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Sorbian". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

[Faska-2] About Sorbian Language, by Helmut Faska, University of Leipzig

[3] "Full list". Treaty Office. Retrieved 2019-02-06.