Sorbian languages

Not to be confused with Serbian language.

Sorbian
Wendish, Lusatian
Geographic distribution:	Lusatia
Linguistic classification:	Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic West Slavic Sorbian
Subdivisions:	Upper Sorbian Lower Sorbian
ISO 639-2 / 5:	wen
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. It is closely related to Polish, Kashubian, Czech and Slovak.

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).

History

After the invasion 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 Outside Lusatia, it has been superseded by German, following official discrimination from the 13th century on. 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 Slavic languages.

English	Upper Sorbian	Lower Sorbian	Czech	Polish	Polabian	Slovak	Serbian	Russian	Bulgarian
person	čłowjek	cłowjek	člověk	człowiek	clawak	človek	čovek	человек	човек
evening	wječor	wjacor	večer	wieczór	vicer	večer	veče	вечер	вечер
brother	bratr	bratš	bratr	brat	brot	brat	brat	брат	брат
day	dźeń	źeń	den	dzień	dôn	deň	dan	день	ден
hand	ruka	ruka	ruka	ręka	ręka	ruka	ruka	рука	ръка
autumn	nazyma	nazyma	podzim	jesień	zaima	jeseň	jesen	осень	есен
snow	sněh	sněg	sníh	śnieg	sneg	sneh	sneg	снег	сняг
summer	lěćo	lěśe	léto	lato	ljutü	leto	leto	лето	лято
sister	sotra	sotša	sestra	siostra	sestra	sestra	sestra	сестра	сестра
fish	ryba	ryba	ryba	ryba	raibo	ryba	riba	рыба	риба
fire	woheń	wogeń	oheň	ogień	widin	oheň	vatra/oganj	огонь	огън
water	woda	wóda	voda	woda	wôda	voda	voda	вода	вода
wind	wětr	wětš	vítr	wiatr	wjôter	vietor	vetar	ветер	вятър
winter	zyma	zyma	zima	zima	zaima	zima	zima	зима	зима

See also

• Sorbian alphabet
• Wends
• List of Sorbian language writers
• Low Lusatian German

External links

• Sorbian language tree
• Euromosaic information page