Lusatian – New Marchian dialects
The Lusatian – New Marchian dialects (German: Lausitzisch-Neumärkisch) are East Central German (High German) dialects spoken in Berlin, central and southern Brandenburg, central and southern Saxony-Anhalt, and in northwestern and eastern Saxony. The name "Lusatian-New Marchian" derives from the terms Lusatia and March, meaning the dialects of Lusatia and the new dialects of the March of Brandenburg (not the dialects of the New March).
| Lusatian – New Marchian | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Germany |
| Region | Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt |
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | nord1239 Nordobersächsisch-Südmärkisch |
Berlin and Brandenburg originally lay in the Low German language area. Through immigration to Berlin from (then) Central German-speaking regions like Silesia and Saxony, the city's Low German dialect has been strongly influenced by Central German, so that it evolved from a Low German into a Central German (High German) variant, which then spread from Berlin to the surrounding areas of Brandenburg.
Low German dialects closely related to those which had been spoken in Berlin and central and southern Brandenburg, Brandenburgisch dialects, are still spoken in the Old March in Saxony-Anhalt (from where they once spread to the regions between Elbe and Oder), in the Uckermark and Prignitz regions, and in the southeast of Western Pomerania.
The Slavic languages of Lower and Upper Sorbian, which are spoken in Lusatia as well, are also sometimes referred to as Lusatian languages.
Main dialect groups
- Lusatian (spoken in Lusatia; most closely related to Silesian German)
- Eastern Lusatian (spoken in Eastern Upper Lusatia)
- Low Lusatian (spoken in Lower Lusatia and northern Upper Lusatia)
- New Lusatian (spoken in the area of settlement of the Sorbs; influenced by the Sorbian languages)
- Upper Lusatian (spoken in southern Upper Lusatia; with an American r)
- Western Lusatian (spoken in Western Upper Lusatia)
- New Marchian (dialect of the New March)
- South Marchian (spoken in Berlin and central and southern Brandenburg)