Sorbian languages

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.[1] 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.

Sorbian
serbšćina, serbsce  (Upper Sorbian)
serbšćina, serbski  (Lower Sorbian)
EthnicitySorbs
Geographic
distribution
Lusatia
Linguistic classificationIndo-European
Subdivisions
ISO 639-2 / 5wen
Glottologsorb1249
  The Sorbian-speaking region in Germany

The two Sorbian languages and literary standards are Upper Sorbian (hornjoserbsce), spoken by about 20,000-25,000 people in Saxony, and Lower Sorbian (dolnoserbski) spoken by about 7,000 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 Outside Lusatia, it has been superseded by German.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.[1] Bible translations into Sorbian provided the foundations for its writing system.

The exact origin of the language is uncertain. While some linguists consider it to be a transitory language between Lechitic and other non-Lechitic languages of West Slavic languages, others like Heinz Schuster-Šewc consider it a separate dialectical group of Proto-Slavic which is a mixture of Proto-Lechitic and South Slavic languages. Furthermore, while some consider it a single language which later diverged to two major dialects, others consider these dialects two separate languages. There exist significant differences in phonology, morphology, and lexicon between them. Several characteristics in Upper Sorbian language indicate a close proximity to Czech language which again are absent in Lower Sorbian language. Archaeological data cannot confirm the thesis about a single linguistic group, yet supports the claim about two separated ethno-cultural groups with different ancestry whose respective territories correspond to two languages, more indigenous Sukow-Dziedzice culture of Tornovo group (Lower Sorbian language) and more migrant Middle Danube valley culture (Upper Sorbian language).[2]

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:

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

See also

References

  1. About Sorbian Language, by Helmut Faska, University of Leipzig
  2. Sedov, Valentin Vasilyevich (2013) [1995]. Славяне в раннем Средневековье [Sloveni u ranom srednjem veku (Slavs in Early Middle Ages)]. Novi Sad: Akademska knjiga. pp. 191–205. ISBN 978-86-6263-026-1.
  3. "Full list". Treaty Office. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
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