Sorbian languages

Not to be confused with Serbian language.
Sorbian
Wendish, Lusatian
Geographic
distribution:		 Lusatia
Linguistic classification:

Indo-European

Subdivisions:
ISO 639-2 / 5: wen
Glottolog: sorb1249[1]

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The Sorbian-speaking region in Germany

The Sorbian languages (Serbsce, Serbski) are two closely related languages spoken by the Sorbs, a Slavic minority in the Lusatia region of eastern Germany. They are classified under the West Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Historically the languages have also been known as Wendish or Lusatian. Their collective ISO 639-2 code is wen. They are closely related to Polish, Kashubian, Czech and Slovak.[2]

There are two literary languages: 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).

Sorbian, or rather Judeo-Sorbian, may have been the genealogical ancestor of Yiddish.[3]

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 5th and 6th centuries, the Sorbian language (or its predecessors) has been in use in much of what was the southern half of East Germany for several centuries, and has still its stronghold in (Upper and Lower) Lusatia, where it enjoys national protection and fostering until today. Outside Lusatia, it has been superseded by German, following official discrimination from the 13th century on.[2] The printed language developed around the main Bible translations into Sorbian.

Geographic distribution

In Germany, Upper and Lower Sorbian are officially recognized and protected as minority languages. In the home areas of the Sorbs, both languages are officially equal to German.

A bilingual sign in 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 it is possible that a few speakers still remain there. Until recently newspapers were published in Sorbian there. The local dialect has been heavily influenced by surrounding speakers of German and English.

While the old German-derived labels "Wend" and "Wendish", which once denoted "Slav(ic)" generally, have been retained in American and Australian communities, they are today mostly unusual in place of "Sorb" and "Sorbian" with reference to Sorbian communities in Germany, because many Sorbs consider such words to be offensive.

Linguistic features

Both Upper and Lower Sorbian have the dual for nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verbs; very few known living Indo-European languages retain this feature as a productive aspect of the grammar (see Slovene grammar for what is probably the only other one). For example, the word ruka is used for one hand, ruce for two hands, and ruki for more than two hands.

Grammar

The Sorbian languages are declined in six to 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 a comparison of selected vocabulary from the two Sorbian languages with other West Slavic languages.

English Upper Sorbian Lower Sorbian Czech Polish Polabian Kashubian Slovak
person čłowjek cłowjek člověk człowiek clawak człowiek, czołwiek človek
evening wječor wjacor večer wieczór vicer wieczór večer
brother bratr bratš bratr brat brot brat brat
day dźeń źeń den dzień dôn dzéń deň
hand ruka ruka ruka ręka ręka ręka ruka
snow sněh sněg sníh śnieg sneg sniég sneh
summer lěćo lěśe léto lato ljutü lato leto
sister sotra sotša sestra siostra sestra sostra sestra
fish ryba ryba ryba ryba raibo rëba ryba
fire woheń wogeń oheň ogień widin odżin, wodżin oheň
water woda wóda voda woda wôda wòda voda
wind wětr wětš vítr wiatr wjôter wiater vietor
winter zyma zyma zima zima zaima zëma zima

See also

References

  1. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Sorbian". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 About Sorbian Language, by Helmut Faska, University of Leipzig (English)
  3. ↑ Wexler, Paul (2002). Two-tiered Relexification in Yiddish: Jews, Sorbs, Khazars, and the Kiev-Polessian Dialect. DE GRUYTER MOUTON. p. 9 ff. ISBN 9783110898736.

External links