Editing Lower Sorbian language (section)

{{Short description|West Slavic language of eastern Germany}}
{{redirect|Lower Sorbian|the people|Lower Sorbs}}
{{distinguish|Serbian language}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Lower Sorbian
| nativename       = {{lang|dsb|dolnoserbšćina, dolnoserbski}}
| ethnicity        = [[Sorbs]]
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|dsb|ˈdɔlnɔˌsɛrskʲi|}}
| states           = [[Germany]]
| region           = [[Brandenburg]]
| script           = [[Latin script|Latin]] ([[Sorbian alphabet]])
| speakers         = {{sigfig|5,000|2}}
| date             = 2010
| ref              = {{Infobox language/ref|<ref>{{cite book|title=Sorabicon}}</ref>}}
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]]
| fam3             = [[Slavic languages|Slavic]]
| fam4             = [[West Slavic languages|West Slavic]]
| fam5             = [[Sorbian languages|Sorbian]]
| iso2             = dsb
| iso3             = dsb
| glotto           = lowe1385
| glottorefname    = Lower Sorbian
| lingua           = 53-AAA-ba < [[Sorbian languages|53-AAA-b]] < [[West Slavic languages|53-AAA-b...-d]] (varieties: 53-AAA-baa to 53-AAA-bah)
| notice           = IPA
}}

'''Lower Sorbian''' ({{langx|dsb|label=[[endonym]]|dolnoserbšćina}}) is a [[West Slavic languages|West Slavic]] [[minority language]] spoken in eastern [[Germany]] in the historical province of [[Lower Lusatia]], today part of [[Brandenburg]].

Standard Lower Sorbian is one of the two literary [[Sorbian languages]], the other being the more widely spoken [[Upper Sorbian]]. The Lower Sorbian literary standard was developed in the 18th century, based on a southern form of the Cottbus dialect.<ref name=:0>{{Cite book |author = Björn Rothstein, Rolf Thieroff |title = Mood in the Languages of Europe |year = 2010|isbn = 9789027205872 |publisher = John Benjamins Publishing |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=o3L8oKcbZtoC | pages=376–377 |language = en}}</ref> The [[standard language|standard variety]] of Lower Sorbian has received structural influence from Upper Sorbian.<ref name=:0 />

Lower Sorbian is spoken in and around the city of [[Cottbus]] in [[Brandenburg]]. Signs in this region are typically bilingual, and Cottbus has a ''[[Lower Sorbian Gymnasium Cottbus|Lower Sorbian Gymnasium]]'' where one language of instruction is Lower Sorbian. It is a heavily [[endangered language]].<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Moseley|editor-first=Christopher|title=Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger|date=2010|publisher=UNESCO Publishing|location=Paris|isbn=978-92-3-104096-2|edition=3rd|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/index.php}}</ref> Most native speakers today belong to the older generations.