Sorbian languages

Not to be confused with Serbian language.

Sorbian
serbšćina, serbsce (Upper Sorbian) serbšćina, serbski (Lower Sorbian)
Geographic distribution	Lusatia
Ethnicity	Sorbs
Native speakers	c. 20,000
Linguistic classification	Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic West Slavic Sorbian
Subdivisions	Upper Sorbian Lower Sorbian
Language codes
ISO 639-2 / 5	wen
Glottolog	sorb1249
The Sorbian-speaking area in Germany
Sorbian is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)

The Sorbian languages (Upper Sorbian: serbska rěč, Lower Sorbian: serbska rěc) are the Upper Sorbian language and Lower Sorbian language, two closely related and partially mutually intelligible languages spoken by the Sorbs, a West Slavic ethno-cultural 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. 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, each having its own literary standard, 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

Limes sorabicus: the Sorbian settlement area bordering East Francia on a map of medieval Germany (Germanische und slavische Volksstämme zwischen Elbe und Weichsel, 1869)

After the settlement of the formerly Germanic territories (the part largely corresponding to the former East Germany) by the Slavic ancestors of the Sorbs in the 5th and 6th centuries CE, the Sorbian language (or its predecessors) had been in use in much of what was the southern half of Eastern Germany for several centuries. The language still had its stronghold in (Upper and Lower) Lusatia, where it enjoys national protection and fostering to the present day. For people living in the medieval Northern Holy Roman Empire and its precursors, especially for the Saxons, the Wends (Wende) were heterogeneous groups and tribes of Slavic peoples living near Germanic settlement areas, in the area west of the River Oder, an area later entitled Germania Slavica, settled by the Polabian Slav tribes in the north and by others, such as the Sorbs and the Milceni, further south (see Sorbian March).

The exact origin of the Sorbian 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. According to him, "Sorbian spoken today in Upper and Lower Lusatia is what remains of an earlier extensive Old Sorbian dialect area between the Elbe/Saale rivers in the west and the Bober/Queis rivers in the east".

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. The Upper Sorbian is considered as representative of the old "Sorbian proper", while the Lower Sorbian would be a transitional hybrid language more akin to the Lechitic languages. According to some researchers the 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 Tornow-type ceramics (Lower Sorbian language) and Leipzig-type ceramics (Upper Sorbian language), both derivations of Prague culture.

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

Today, around 60,000 Sorbs live in Germany, about 40,000 in Saxony and 20,000 in Brandenburg. Since national affiliation is not officially recorded in Germany, and identification with the Sorbian nationality is voluntary, the exact number is only an estimate. The number of active Sorbian speakers is likely lower. Unlike Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian is considered critically endangered. According to projections, around 7,000 people actively speak Lower Sorbian, which could become extinct within 20 to 30 years, while around 13,000 speak Upper Sorbian. According to language experts, Upper Sorbian is expected to survive into the 21st century.

Currently, Sorbian is taught at 25 primary schools and several secondary schools. At the Lower Sorbian Gymnasium in Cottbus and the Upper Sorbian Gymnasium in Bautzen, it is compulsory. In many primary and Sorbian schools, lessons are held in the Sorbian language. The daily newspaper Serbske Nowiny is published in Upper Sorbian, and the weekly Nowy Casnik in Lower Sorbian. In addition, the religious weekly journals Katolski Posoł and Pomhaj Bóh are published. The cultural magazine Rozhlad appears monthly, along with one children's magazine each in Upper and Lower Sorbian (Płomjo and Płomje, respectively), as well as the educational magazine Serbska šula.

Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) also broadcast monthly half-hour TV magazines in Sorbian, as well as several hours of daily radio programming—the Sorbian radio. Wikipedia editions exist in both written forms of the Sorbian language.

• 
  Upper Sorbian-German information sign in Nebelschütz
• 
  Bilingual street signs in Cottbus (Chóśebuz) in German and Lower Sorbian
• 
  Bilingual town sign in Bautzen (Budyšin) with Upper Sorbian
• 
  Bilingual street sign in Bautzen with Upper Sorbian
• 
  Bilingual information board on the A13

Geographic distribution

Distribution and main speaking-centers of Obersorbische (Upper Sorbian) and Niedersorbishe (Lower Sorbian).

Signage in Sorbian in Panschwitz-Kuckau.

In Germany, Upper and Lower Sorbian are officially recognized and protected as minority languages. In the officially defined Sorbian settlement area, both languages are recognized as second official languages next to German.

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". To the north, the city of Cottbus/Chóśebuz is considered the cultural centre of Lower Sorbian; there, too, bilingual signs are found.

Sorbian was also spoken in the small Sorbian ("Wendish") settlement of Serbin in Lee County, Texas, however no speakers remain there. Until 1949, newspapers were published in Sorbian. The local dialect was 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.

Endangered status

The use of Sorbian languages has been contracting for a number of years. The loss of Sorbian language use in emigrant communities, such as in Serbin, Texas, has not been surprising. But within the Sorbian homelands, there has also been a decrease in Sorbian identity and language use. In 2008, Sorbs protested three kinds of pressures against Sorbs: "(1.) the destruction of Sorbian and German-Sorbian villages as a result of lignite mining; (2.) the cuts in the network of Sorbian schools in Saxony; (3.) the reduction of financial resources for the Sorbian institutions by central government."

A study of Upper Sorbian found a number of trends that go against language vitality. There are policies that have led to "unstable diglossia". There has been a loss of language domains in which speakers have the option to use either language, and there is a disruption of the patterns by which the Sorbian language has traditionally been transmitted to the next generation. Also, there is no strong written tradition and there is not a broadly accepted formal standardized form of the language(s). There is a perception of the loss of language rights, and there are negative attitudes towards the languages and their speakers.

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 Slavic languages, Sorbian uses no articles.

Grammar

The Sorbian languages are declined in six or seven cases:

1. Nominative
2. Accusative
3. Genitive
4. Dative
5. Locative
6. Instrumental
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
Acc.	nana	nana
Gen.			štoma	boma	wokna	wokna
Dat.	nanej	nanoju	štomej	bomoju	woknu	woknoju, woknu
Loc.	wo nanje	wó nanje	na štomje	na bomje	na woknje	na woknje
Instr.	z nanom	z nanom	ze štomom	z bomom	z woknom	z woknom
Voc.	nano	—	štomo	—	—	—

Case	ramjo shoulder	ramje shoulder, armpit	žona woman	žeńska1 woman, wife	ruka hand
	Upper Sorb.	Lower Sorb.	Upper Sorb.	Lower Sorb.	Upper Sorb.	Lower Sorb.
Nom.	ramjo	ramje	žona	žeńska	ruka
Acc.			žonu	žeńsku	ruku
Gen.	ramjenja	ramjenja	žony	žeńskeje	ruki
Dat.	ramjenju	ramjenjeju, ramjenju	žonje	žeńskej	ruce
Loc.	wo ramjenju	wó ramjenju	wo žonje	wó žeńskej	w ruce
Instr.	z ramjenjom	z ramjenim	ze žonu	ze žeńskeju	z ruku
Note ^1 The form žona is literary in Lower Sorbian. The Lower Sorbian declension is adjectival due to the -ska ending.

In Lower Sorbian, the vocative is preserved only in a few fossilized forms.

Notably, in addition to the singular and plural, the dual number (used for two items), inherited from Old Slavic, has also been preserved.

• Singular: ruka ("hand")
• Dual: ruce ("two hands")
• Plural: ruki ("more than two hands")

In contrast to other West Slavic languages (Czech, Slovak, Polish, Kashubian), Upper Sorbian literary language and some dialects have preserved the synthetic past tense (aorist, imperfect) to this day. This form was also common in Lower Sorbian literary language, but over the course of the 20th century, it has become increasingly rare and is hardly used today.

Lower Sorbian, however, has retained the supine (a variant of the infinitive used after verbs of motion), e.g.: njok spaś ("I don’t want to sleep") versus źi spat ("go to sleep")

Less demanding written texts in Sorbian can generally be understood by speakers of West Slavic languages.

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	Belarusian
person	clowek/luź	čłowjek	човек / човјек (čovek / čovjek)	човек (čovek)	човек (čovek)	človek	člověk	człowiek	clawak	człowiek	czowiek	človek	человек (čelovek)	людина (l'udyna)	чалавек (čalavjek)
evening	wjacor	wječor	вече / вечер (veče / večer)	вечер (večer)	вечер (večer)	večer	večer	wieczór	vicer	wieczór	wieczōr	večer	вечер (večer)	вечір (večir)	вечар (vječar)
brother	bratš	bratr	брат (brat)	брат (brat)	брат (brat)	brat	bratr	brat	brot	brat	brat	brat	брат (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')	дзень (dzjen')
hand	ruka	ruka	рука (ruka)	рака (raka)	ръка (rəka)	roka	ruka	ręka	ręka	rãka	rynka	ruka	рука (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)	снег (snjeh)
summer	lěśe	lěćo	лето / љето (leto / ljeto)	лето (leto)	лято / лето (ljato / ljeto)	poletje	léto	lato	ljutü	lato	lato	leto	лето (leto)	літо (lito)	лета (ljeta)
sister	sotša	sotra	сестра (sestra)	сестра (sestra)	сестра (sestra)	sestra	sestra	siostra	sestra	sostra	szwestra	sestra	сестра (sestra)	сестра (sestra)	сястра (sjastra)
fish	ryba	ryba	риба (riba)	риба (riba)	риба (riba)	riba	ryba	ryba	raibo	rëba	ryba	ryba	рыба (ryba)	риба (ryba)	рыба (ryba)
fire	wogeń	woheń	огањ (oganj)	оган (ogan)	огън (ogən)	ogenj	oheň	ogień	widin	òdżin	ôgyń	oheň	огонь (ogon')	вогонь (vohon')	агонь (ahon')
water	wóda	woda	вода (voda)	вода (voda)	вода (voda)	voda	voda	woda	wôda	wòda	woda	voda	вода (voda)	вода (voda)	вада (vada)
wind	wětš	wětr	ветар / вјетар (vetar / vjetar)	ветер (veter)	вятър / ветер (vjatər / veter)	veter	vítr	wiatr	wjôter	wiater	wiater	vietor	ветер (veter)	вітер (viter)	вецер (vjetsjer)
winter	zyma	zyma	зима (zima)	зима (zima)	зима (zima)	zima	zima	zima	zaima	zëma	zima	zima	зима (zima)	зима (zyma)	зіма (zima)

Differences between the two written languages

There are several differences between the two written languages, Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian, particularly in the alphabet.

In the consonants

The two written languages differ significantly in terms of consonants. For example, the letter ć has been alphabetically placed after č in Upper Sorbian since 2005.

Upper Sorbian
b	c	č	ć	d	dź	f	g	h	ch	j	k	ł	l	m	n	ń	p	(q)	r	ř	s	š	t	(v)	w	(x)	z	ž

Lower Sorbian
b	c	č	ć	d	f	g	h	ch	j	k	ł	l	m	n	ń	p	(q)	r	ŕ	s	š	ś	t	(v)	w	(x)	z	ž	ź

Upper Sorbian	Lower Sorbian	Examples	Meaning	Notes
h	g	hora – góra	mountain	g > h also occurs in Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and in western Slovene dialects
		hołb – gołub	dove
		hordy – gjardy	proud
		hród – grod	castle
		kniha – knigły	book
		hody – gódy	Christmas
č	c	čas – cas	time	č > c as in Polish and Lithuanian dialects, as well as in Polabian
		čorny – carny	black
		čert – cart	devil
		česć – cesć	honor
		ličba – licba	number
		pčołka – pcołka	bee
š	s	štyri – styri	four	š > s in Lower Sorbian
		štwórć – stwjerś	Quarter
		štwórtka – stwórtka	four (noun)
		štwórtk – stwórtk	Thursday
ć	ś	ćeńki – śańki	thin, delicate	ć > ś in Lower Sorbian, except after sibilants
		bić – biś	to hit
		hić – hyś	to go
		puć – puś	way
		ćah – śěg	train
		ćahnyć – śěgnuś	to pull
		ćahać – śěgaś
		ćim – śim	the (used in comparison)
		ćichi – śichy	quiet, calm
		but: hósć – gósć	guest
dź	ź	dźeń – źeń	day	dź > ź in Lower Sorbian, except after sibilants
		dźesać – źaseś	ten
		hdźe – źo	where
		hdźežⓘ/? – źož	where (rel.)
		dźowka – źowka	daughter
		dźiwy – źiwy	wild
		dźěło – źěło	work
		dźak – źěk	thanks
		hózdź – gózdź	nail
kr, pr, tr	kš, pš, tš	krasny – kšasny	magnificent	r > š after voiceless consonants before a, o, u in Lower Sorbian
		prawy – pšawy	right, correct
		próstwa – pšosba	please
		preč – pšec	away
		bratr – bratš	brother
		sotra – sotša	sister
		wutroba – wutšoba	heart
		trawa – tšawa	grass
		jutry – jatšy	Easter
		wótry – wótšy	sharp
ń	j, '	dóńć – dojś	to go	ń in Upper Sorbian, similar to Kashubian, instead of j in Lower Sorbian
		nadeńć – nadejś	to meet, to find
		přeńć – pśejś	to go over
		přińć – pśiś	to come
		rozeńć – rozejś	to separate
		woteńć – wótejś	to go away
		wuńć – wujś	to go out
		njeńdu – njejdu	they do not go

Vowels

Both Lower Sorbian and Upper Sorbian have eight vowels.

Monophhongs of Upper Sorbian

	Front	Central	Back
	oral		oral
Close	i ​[⁠i⁠]​	y ​[⁠ɨ⁠]​	u ​[⁠u⁠]​
			ó ​[⁠ʊ⁠]​
Mid	e ​[⁠ɛ⁠]​		o ​[⁠ɔ⁠]​
Open		a ​[⁠a⁠]​

Monophthongs of Lower Sorbian

	Front	Central	Back
	oral		oral
Close	i ​[⁠i⁠]​	y ​[⁠ɨ⁠]​	u ​[⁠u⁠]​
Mid	e ​[⁠ɛ⁠]​	ó [​ɨ​, ​ɛ​, ​ʊ​]1	o ​[⁠ɔ⁠]​
Open		a ​[⁠a⁠]
Note ^1 The first two variants are used in the written language. In dialect, [ɔ] as well as the third variant also occur

Diphthong of both languages
ě [ iə ]

Upper Sorbian	Lower Sorbian	Examples	Meaning	Notes
'a	ě, e	mjaso – měso	meat	from Proto-Slavic ę
		dźak – źěk	thanks
		časty – cesty	frequent(ly)
		hladać – glědaś	to see, to look, to glance
		dźesać – źaseś	ten
		rjad – rěd	row
		rjany – rědny	nice
		swjatki – swětki	Pentecost
'e	'a	mjeza – mjaza	Rain	‘e > ‘a also occurs in Polish, Belarusian, and Bulgarian, but with different rules
		čert – cart	devil
		jedyn – jaden	one
		dźesać – źaseś	ten
		njesć – njasć	to carry
		pjec – pjac	to bake; to roast
		wjeselo – wjasele	joy
		wjes – wjas	village
		wječor – wjacor	evening
e	o	hdźe – źo	wo	e > o in Lower Sorbian
		-će – -śo, -ćo	(ending of the third person plural)
		ćeta – śota	aunt
		wčera – cora	yesterday
i	y	hić – hyś	to go	Lower Sorbian centralization of i to y after ž, š, h, and c (from č), analogous in Polish; this phonetic tendency also appears in the East Slavic languages
		wužiwar – wužywaŕ	user
		wužiwać – wužywaś	to use, to apply
		žiwy – žywy	alive
		činić – cyniś	to make, to do
		šija – šyja	neck
		šiška – šyška	cone (botanical)
o	'a	pos – pjas	dog	From original ь (cf. Polish ie in pies)
o	e	susod – sused	neighbour	e > o in Upper Sorbian
		so – se	oneself
		won – wen	out
y	e, ě	cyły – ceły	whole, total, completely	e/ě > y im Obersorbischen nach c, s, d
		cyłosć – cełosć	entirety, totality
		dyrbjeć – derbiś, derbjeś	must, should
		cypy – cepy	flail
		cyn – cen	tin
		cyrkej – cerkwja	church
		dyrić – deriś	to strike/to deliver a blow or push
		syć – seś	net
		symjo – semje	seed
oł	łu	tołsty – tłusty	thick, strong	from ьl or ъl after a hard dental consonant
		dołhi – dłujki	lang
		dołh – dług	debt
		stołp – słup	column; pillar
or	ar (jar nach g/k)	hordy – gjardy	proud	from original ьr
		horbaty – gjarbaty	hunched
		horb – gjarba	hump
		hordło – gjardło	goitre; throat
		hornc – gjarnc	pot
or	ar	čorny – carny	black	from original ьr before hard consonants, otherwise uniformly er (as in: smjerć – smjerś ‘death’)

Different number of syllables

In some words, the number of syllables differs because Upper Sorbian has shortened them here, similarly to Czech.

Upper Sorbian	Lower Sorbian	Meaning
stać	stojaś	to stand
přećel	pśijaśel	friend
horcy	górucy	hot
kobła	kobyła	mare
kelko	keliko, kelko (arch.)1	how much
korto	kóryto	trough
kotry	kótary	which
Notes ^1 The usual form is (kak) wjele.

Differences in declension

Upper Sorbian have seven cases and Lower Sorbian have six cases.

Differences in case government (i.e., which case follows which preposition or verb)

Upper Sorbian	Lower Sorbian	Meaning
mam dweju bratrow, dwaj konjej	mam dweju bratšowu, kónjowu	I have two brothers, horses
mam třoch bratrow, tři konje	mam tśoch bratšow, tśich kónjow/kóni	I have three brothers, horses
mam bratrow, konje	mam bratšy/bratšow, kónje	I have brothers, horses

Differences in gender

Upper Sorbian	Lower Sorbian	Meaning	Note
huso (n)	gus (f)	goose	f = feminine m = masculine n = neutral
swinjo (n)	swinja (f)	pig
jězor (m)	jazoro (n), jazor (m)	lake
karp (m)	karpa (f)	carp

Differences in conjugation

Upper Sorbian	Lower Sorbian	Notes
Retention of aorist and imperfect	In the written language
a-, i-, e- conjugation	o-, a-, i-, j- conjugation[1]
Verbs like pisać follow the a-conjugation (first and second person singular present indicative active: pisam, pisaš)	Verbs like pisaś follow the o-conjugation (first and second person singular present indicative active: pišom, pišoš)	The Lower Sorbian o-conjugation corresponds to the e-conjugation of Upper Sorbian, except that some verbs (like pisać) have shifted.

Differences in vocabulary

Upper Sorbian	Lower Sorbian	Meaning	Notes
swoboda	lichota	freedom
swobodny	lichy	free
chěža	wjaža	house
prajić	groniś	to say, to speak	groniś resembles Polabian gornt
patoržica	gwězdka	Christmas Eve
zo	až	that (subordinating conj.)
sewjer	pódpołnoc	north	Upper Sorbian = Czech sever; Lower Sorbian cf. Polish północ
juh	pódpołdnjo	south	Upper Sorbian = Czech jih; Lower Sorbian cf. Polish południe
wuchod	pódzajtšo	east
zapad	pódwjacor	west	Lower Sorbian cf. Polish wieczór ("evening")
wopica	nałpa	monkey	Upper Sorbian = Czech opice; Lower Sorbian = Polish małpa
běrna	kulka1	potato
dyrbjeć	musaś2, dejaś	must, to have to, should	Lower Sorbian = Czech muset, Polish musieć
hač3	ako4	than (in comparisons)
jara	wjelgin	very
całta	guska	bread roll	Upper Sorbian = Old Czech; Lower Sorbian = Czech houska
haj5	jo	yes	Upper Sorbian = Slovak hej; Lower Sorbian = Czech jo (alongside ano)
holca	źowćo	girl	Lower Sorbian = Polish dziewczę, dziewczyna; Czech děvče, holka
štom	bom6	tree	Lower Sorbian from German Baum; Upper Sorbian from German Stamm
porst	palc	finger	Upper Sorbian = Czech prst; Lower Sorbian = Polish palec
Notes ^1 also means: ball; dumpling ^2 only means must ^3 also means until (especially before do); whether ^4 also means than (with attributes); who, which (relative pronoun), how ^5 from this difference stems the once widespread Lower Sorbian nickname Hajak for bourgeois-urban Sorbs of Upper Lusatia. ^6 according to Starosta, štom means "tree" only in dialect; otherwise, it means "tree trunk". = here means "corresponds to" or "is equivalent to"

Similarities

Phonetic Similarities

Consonantal Parallels

Proto-Slavic	Sorbian	Examples	Meaning	Comparability	Notes
str	tr/tř – tš/tś	sotra – sotša	sister	Polish: siostra, Czech: sestra	Loss of s; many exceptions
		tradać – tšadaś	to suffer, languish	Czech: strádat
		truhać – tšugaś	to plane, to rasp	Polish: strugać; Czech: struhadlo ("plane, rasp")
		truk – tšuk	pod (seed pod)	Polish: strąk
		třěcha – tśěcha (stśěcha)	roof	Czech: střecha; Polish: strzecha ("thatched roof")
		truna – tšuna	string (musical)	Czech, Polish: struna
		trup – tšup	scab, crust	Czech, Polish: strup

Vocalic Parallels

Change	Upper Sorbian	Lower Sorbian	Meaning	Notes
e > o	wječor	wjacor	evening	cf. Russian вечер, Czech večer, Serbian veče, Polish wieczór
	čłon	cłonk	limb, member	cf. Russian/Ukrainian член, Serbian/Croatian član
	daloko		far, distant	cf. Polish daleko, Russian/Ukrainian далеко, Czech/Serbian/Croatian daleko
	wjesoły	wjasoły	happy, cheerful	cf. Russian весёлый, Ukrainian веселий, Serbian/Croatian veseo, vesela
	pjećory	pěśory	fivefold	cf. Russian пятеро, Ukrainian п'ятеро, Serbian/Croatian petero
	pčoła	pcoła	bee	cf. Russian пчела, Ukrainian бджола, Serbian/Croatian pčela
	sotra	sotša	sister	cf. Russian/Ukrainian сестра, Croatian/Serbian/Czech sestra, Polish siostra
i > y1	zyma	zyma	winter	cf. Polish/Czech zima, Ukrainian зима
	nazyma	nazyma	autumn	cf. Czech podzim
	kazyć	kazyś	to spoil	cf. Polish kazić, Czech kazit, Slovak kaziť, Croatian/Serbian unakazit
ǫ > u2	ruka		arm, hand	cf. Polish ręka, Kashubian rãka, Ukrainian рука, Croatian/Serbian/Czech ruka
	wutroba	wutšoba	liver	cf. Polish wątroba “liver”
	mudry		clever	cf. Polish mądry, Ukrainian мудрий, Croatian/Serbian mudri
	huso	gus	goose	cf. Czech husa, Polish gęś, Russian гусь, Ukrainian гусак, Serbian guska
	pucher	puchoŕ	bladder	cf. Polish pęcherz
	pupk		navel	cf. Polish pępek, Ukrainian пупок, Czech pupek, Serbian pupak
	huba	guba	mouth	cf. Czech huba, Polish gęba, Ukrainian губа
el > ło3	žłob		channel, trough	cf. Slovak žleb (žl’ab), Serbian/Slovenian žleb, Croatian žlijeb, Russian желоб
	mloko		milk	cf. Polish/Serbian/Czech mleko, Croatian mlijeko, Russian/Ukrainian молоко
er > re/rě/rje4	drjewo		wood	cf. Croatian/Serbian drvo, Polish drzewo, Czech dřevo, Slovak drevo, Ukrainian дерево, Russian дрова
ol > ło5	złoto		gold	cf. Polish złoto, Czech/Slovak/Serbian zlato, Bulgarian злато, Russian/Ukrainian золото
	słód	słod	taste; sweetness; malt	cf. Polish słód, Croatian/Czech/Serbian/Slovak slad, Russian/Ukrainian солод “malt”
	hłowa	głowa	head	cf. Polish głowa, Czech/Slovak hlava, Croatian/Serbian glava, Russian/Ukrainian голова
	słoma		straw	cf. Polish słoma, Czech sláma, Croatian/Serbian slama, Russian/Ukrainian солома
	młody		young	cf. Polish młody, Czech mladý, Croatian/Serbian mlad, Ukrainian молодий
or > ro6	hród	grod	castle; fortress	cf. Polish gród, Czech hrad, Croatian/Slovenian/Serbian grad, Russian город “city”
	mróz	mroz	frost	cf. Polish mróz, Czech/Slovak mráz, Croatian/Serbian mraz, Russian/Ukrainian мороз
Notes ^1 In Lower Sorbian, this change also occurred after h, ž, š, c (from č) ^2 The same change occurred in East Slavic, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian. Slovene changed the nasal vowel to o. ^3 Between consonants. In Polish this also led to ło, sometimes łó; Czech, Slovak, and Slovene have le; Croatian and Serbian have le and lije; Bulgarian has ле [le] or ля [lja]; East Slavic languages have оло [olo]. ^4 In Lower Sorbian, this sound evolved further into r(j)a, e.g. brjaza “birch.” ^5 The same development occurred in Polish. Russian retained the original ol cluster and represents it with оло [olo] due to the Law of Full Vowelization (Polnoglasie). ^6 The development is similar in Polish, while Russian, lacking the West Slavic metathesis trend and influenced by Polnoglasie, developed оро [oro] here.

Grammatical Similarities

• Preservation of the dual (grammatical number for two items)
• Merger of the locative dual with the dative/instrumental dual
• Stress on the first syllable
• Broad generalization of the genitive plural ending -ow for nouns

Phonological development of Sorbian

Common developments and developments only in Lower Sorbian

As in Polish and Czech, the two Proto-Slavic reduced vowels ь and ъ in Sorbian developed early into e in stressed position. Full vowels, which stood in syllables before a reduced vowel in unstressed position, were lengthened after the fall of the reduced vowels. Over time, the opposition of short and long vowels was lost, and words were generally stressed on the first syllable; in Proto-Slavic the stress had been free. This development occurred under the influence of German and has a parallel in Czech.

The nasal vowels in Sorbian disappeared according to Jerzy Nalepa in the second half of the 12th century under Czech influence.

The affricate ʒ was, as in most other Slavic languages, simplified to z, cf. mjeza (Polish: miedza) (“border”).

As in Polish and originally also in Kashubian, the soft dentals ť and ď in Sorbian changed into the affricates ć and dź. This transition already occurred in the 13th century. In Lower Sorbian, these affricates later also lost their plosive component: ć > ś, dź > ź, except after dental spirants: rjeśaz “chain”, daś “to give”, kosć “bone”, źiwy “wild”, měź “copper”, pozdźej “later” (compared to Upper Sorbian rjećaz, dać, kosć, diźwi, mjedź, pozdźe). This change occurred in the mid-16th century in the western dialects and 100 years later in the eastern dialects, whereby the central transitional dialects as well as the dialects of Muskau and Schleife were not affected.

Soft c', z', s' were hardened in Sorbian. When the sound i followed them, it changed to y: ducy “to go”, syła “strength”, zyma “winter” (compared to Czech jdoucí, síla, zima). This change probably took place in the early 15th century. A similar change (only in Lower Sorbian) occurred at the beginning of the 16th century with the soft č', ž', š': cysty “clean”, šyja “neck”, žywy “alive” (cf. Upper Sorbian čisty, šija, žiwy).

In the mid-16th century, č became c: cas “time”, pcoła “bee” (from čas, pčoła). This change did not occur only in the ending -učki and after spirants. In addition, č appears in loanwords and onomatopoeic words.

After p, t, and k, the sounds r and r' in Sorbian became ř and ř'. In Lower Sorbian, ř developed further to š and ř' to ć (later ś): pšawy “right”, tśi “three”.

As in Polish, the voiceless ł in Lower Sorbian became bilabial w, with the first written records dating from the 17th century, and the soft ľ adopted the “European” alveolar articulation (as in German) except before front vowels.

The sound w in Sorbian disappeared in initial clusters gw- and xw- (Proto-Slavic gvozdj > gozd “dry forest”, Proto-Slavic xvoščj > chošć “horsetail”), at the beginning of a word before a consonant, and after a consonant before u. This process probably began before the 13th century and ended in the 16th century. The soft “w” in the middle of words in intervocalic position and before consonants as well as at the end of words changed to “j”: rukajca “glove” (Polish: rękawica), mužoju / mužeju “man” (Polish: mężowi), kšej “blood” (Polish: krew).

The sound e changed into a in the position after soft consonants and before hard consonants: brjaza “birch”, kolaso “wheel”, pjac “oven”, lažaś “lie”, pjas “dog” (cf. brěza, koleso, pjec, ležeć', pos). This change was completed in the mid-17th century and again did not affect the dialects of Muskau and Schleife.

Phonological developments Only in Upper Sorbian

In some positions, metathesis of or, ol, er, and el occurred in Upper Sorbian: in positions between consonants, these became ro, lo, re, and le, while at the beginning of a word, or, ol became either ra-, la- or ro-, lo- depending on the stress.

As in Polish and Czech, the two Proto-Slavic reduced vowels in stressed position changed to e in Sorbian as well. Unstressed full vowels in the syllable before the reduced vowel were lengthened with the disappearance of the reduced vowels. Long ē and ō in stressed position became mid vowels in Upper Sorbian, which are written in the modern Upper Sorbian literary language as ě and ó. Proto-Slavic ē merged with ě. Later, in the 19th century, ó became o before reflexive pronouns and labials: mloko – w mlóce (“milk” – “in milk”). Over time, the contrast between long and short vowels was lost.

Syllabic ṛ became or in Upper Sorbian: *kъrmiti > kṛmiti > kormić (“to feed”), and similarly, ṛʼ before voiceless dentals also became or: *pьrstъ > pṛʼstъ > porst (“finger”), while in other positions it softened to je: *prštěp > pṛʼštěp > pjeršćeń (“ring”). Syllabic ḷ became oł: *dъlgъ > dḷgъ > dołh (“debt”), or before voiceless dentals became ḷʼ: *rlnj > pḷʼpъ > połny (“full”), and in other positions became el: *vjlk > vḷʼkъ > wjelk (“wolf”).

The nasal vowels in Sorbian disappeared, according to J. Nalepa, in the second half of the 12th century under Czech influence, while in Polish they remain to this day. The vowel a between two soft consonants became e in Upper Sorbian: jeje (“egg”), žel (“compassion”). Written evidence suggests this occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries, and in some Upper Sorbian dialects, it has not occurred at all.

Just as in Czech, Slovak, and Ukrainian, the plosive g turned into the fricative h in Upper Sorbian. The g sound only appears in relatively recent loanwords or expressive words in Upper Sorbian. J. Nalepa dates the beginning of the shift g > h to the late 13th century, while J. Stone places it in the 12th century, stating that the change spread from south to north. Gunter Schaarschmidt, based on texts and toponyms, assumes that the transition occurred via the intermediate sound γ (as in Belarusian) and that this sound γ already existed in Upper Sorbian in the 12th to 14th centuries. Later, h was mostly lost in Upper Sorbian, except before vowels and after consonants. In most dialects and in Upper Sorbian colloquial language, h also disappeared in intervocalic position. The first written evidence of this dates back to the beginning of the 17th century.

As mentioned, in the 13th century the soft dentals ť and ď in Sorbian became the affricates ć and dź: tělo > ćěło (“body”), devęt > dźewjeć (“nine”). In Upper Sorbian, ć later merged with č, and dź with the allophone č – dž, which led to their phonologization. The Proto-Slavic combinations šč and ždž were first simplified to šť and žď respectively, and then by affrication of ť and ď to šć and ždź. Soft cʼ, zʼ, and sʼ were hardened, and the following i and ě changed to y: Proto-Slavic cělъ > cyły, Proto-Slavic sila > syła, Proto-Slavic zima > zyma. After p, t, k, the sounds r and rʼ in Sorbian changed to ř and řʼ; in Upper Sorbian, this sound later became š. Still later, the combination tš was simplified to cʼ.

The spirant x in Upper Sorbian changed to aspirated k (kʰ) at the beginning of a word before a vowel, and elsewhere to unaspirated k. This change is already evident in texts from the 16th century, though it is not reflected in modern Upper Sorbian orthography. Similar to Polish, hard ł was replaced with w in Upper Sorbian (first evidence from the 17th century), except in the northeastern dialects, while soft lʼ assumed a “European” (alveolar) articulation (like in German), except when followed by a front vowel.

The sound w dropped in Sorbian in the initial clusters gw- and xw-, e.g. Proto-Slavic gvozdj > hózdź (“nail”) and Proto-Slavic hvogsttъ > chróst (“horsetail”), specifically at the beginning of a word before a consonant, and after consonants before u. This process likely began before the 13th century and ended in the 16th century. The soft wʼ in the middle of a word in intervocalic position and before a consonant, as well as at the end of a word, became j: prajić (“to speak”) (Polish: prawić), mužej (“man”) (Polish: mężowi), krej (“blood”) (Polish: krew).

Before soft consonants at the end of a word or elsewhere before other consonants (and before originally soft dental affricates and spirants also in other positions), an epenthetic j appeared in Upper Sorbian. When j follows e or ě, the preceding consonant becomes voiceless. The consonant ń is also hardened before other consonants. This change is not reflected in the spelling: dźeń [ˈd͡ʒejn] (“day”), ležeć [ˈlejʒet͡ʃ] (“to lie”), tež [tejʃ] (“also”), chěža [ˈkʰejʒa] (“house”). This epenthetic j likely already appeared in Upper Sorbian at the end of the 16th century.

The replacement of the dental r by the uvular r in several Upper Sorbian dialects is attributed to German influence.

See also

• Sorbian alphabet
• List of Sorbian-language writers
• Low Lusatian German
• White Serbia

Sources

• Werner, Eduard. Evaluating linguistic variation in light of sparse data in the case of Sorbian. Matt Coler and Andrew Nevins, eds., Contemporary research in minoritized and diaspora languages of Europe (2022): 281–302. Online open access.

Further reading

• Howson, Phil J. (2018). "Rhotics and Palatalization: An Acoustic Examination of Upper and Lower Sorbian". Phonetica. 75 (2): 132–150. doi:10.1159/000481783.
• Lewaszkiewicz, Tadeusz (2015). "Polnisch-sorbische Sprachkontakte vom 10./11. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart" [Polish-Sorbian Linguistic Contacts from the 10th/11th Century to the Present]. Lětopis (in German) (1): 56–71.

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)
• website for Lětopis, journal devoted to Sorbian topics