Lower Sorbian language

Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Distinguish {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other Template:Main other

Lower Sorbian (Template:Langx) is a 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>Template:Cite book</ref> The 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 where one language of instruction is Lower Sorbian. It is a heavily endangered language.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Most native speakers today belong to the older generations.

PhonologyEdit

File:Bilinguale Straßenbeschilderung Cottbus.jpg

Bilingual road sign in Cottbus, Germany

The phonology of Lower Sorbian has been greatly influenced by contact with German, especially in Cottbus and larger towns. For example, German-influenced pronunciation tends to have a voiced uvular fricative {{#invoke:IPA|main}} instead of the alveolar trill {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. In villages and rural areas, German influence is less marked, and the pronunciation is more "typically Slavic".

ConsonantsEdit

Consonant phonemesTemplate:Sfnp Template:Sfnp
		Labial		Dental/ Alveolar		Postalveolar		Dorsal		Glottal
		hard	soft	hard	soft	hard	soft	hard	soft	Glottal
Nasal		Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link			(Template:IPA link)	(Template:IPA link)
Plosive	Template:Small	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)			Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)
Plosive	Template:Small	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)			Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)
Affricate				Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Fricative	Template:Small	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link
Fricative	Template:Small	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Trill				Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Approximant		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)				Template:IPA link

{{#invoke:IPA|main}} are bilabial, whereas {{#invoke:IPA|main}} are labiodental,Template:Sfnp {{#invoke:IPA|main}} are labiovelar,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> although the latter may be a labial–palatal approximant.
Consonants in parentheses are allophones of another consonant before another consonant or vowel, for example {{#invoke:IPA|main}} may palatalize to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} before front vowels or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} may assimilate to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} before velar consonants.
The Proto-Slavic contrasts between {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and their palatalized counterparts has been lost phonetically in Lower Sorbian, with the marginal phonemes occurring only before certain vowels. The contrasts between {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and their palatalized counterparts has evolved into a contrast between {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. The contrast between {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and its palatalized counterpart has evolved into a contrast between {{#invoke:IPA|main}} while the contrasts between {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and their palatalized counterparts has remained intact and the contrasts between {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and their palatalized counterparts no longer exists.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} are alveolar {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, whereas {{#invoke:IPA|main}} are dental {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.Template:Sfnp
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} have been variously transcribed with Template:Angbr IPA Template:Sfnp Template:Sfnp and Template:Angbr IPA.Template:Sfnp Their actual phonetic realization is flat postalveolar {{#invoke:IPA|main}}<ref>This transcription follows Template:Harvcoltxt. Other scholars may transcribe these sounds differently.</ref> in all of the Lower Sorbian-speaking area. This is unlike in standard Upper Sorbian, where these are palato-alveolar {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.Template:Sfnp Template:Sfnp

Final devoicing and assimilationEdit

Lower Sorbian has both final devoicing and regressive voicing assimilation:Template:Sfnp

dub {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "oak" is pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
susedka {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "(female) neighbor" is pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
licba {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "number" is pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}}

The hard postalveolar fricative {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is assimilated to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} before {{#invoke:IPA|main}}:Template:Sfnp

šćit {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "protection" is pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}}

VowelsEdit

The vowel inventory of Lower Sorbian is exactly the same as that of Upper Sorbian.Template:Sfnp It is also very similar to the vowel inventory of Slovene.

Vowel phonemesTemplate:Sfnp
	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link
Close-mid	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Open-mid	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Open		Template:IPA link

Diphthong	i-	-j	-w
Close	{{#invoke:IPA\|main}}	{{#invoke:IPA\|main}}	{{#invoke:IPA\|main}}
Mid		{{#invoke:IPA\|main}}	{{#invoke:IPA\|main}}
Open		{{#invoke:IPA\|main}}	{{#invoke:IPA\|main}}

{{#invoke:IPA|main}} is retracted to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} after hard consonants.
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} are diphthongized to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in slow speech.Template:Sfnp
The {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} distinctions are weakened or lost in unstressed syllables.Template:Sfnp
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} is phonetically central Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp

StressEdit

Stress in Lower Sorbian normally falls on the first syllable of the word:Template:Sfnp

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "Lusatia"
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "friend"
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "Cottbus"

In loanwords, stress may fall on any of the last three syllables:Template:Sfnp

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "boarding school"
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "control"
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "September"
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "police"
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "organization"

Most one-syllable prepositions attract the stress to themselves when they precede a noun or pronoun of one or two syllables:Template:Sfnp

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "on the courtyard"
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "near me"
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "into the city" (the {{#invoke:IPA|main}} of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} becomes {{#invoke:IPA|main}} when unstressed)

However, nouns of three or more syllables retain their stress:

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "in front of the teacher"
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "on a journey"

OrthographyEdit

Template:Expand section The Sorbian alphabet is based on the Latin script but uses diacritics such as the acute accent and caron.

Lower Sorbian Alphabet
a	b	c	č	ć	d	e	ě	f	g	h	ch	i	j	k	ł	l	m	n	ń	o	p	r	ŕ	s	š	ś	t	u	w	y	z	ž	ź
A	B	C	Č	Ć	D	E	Ě	F	G	H	Ch	I	J	K	Ł	L	M	N	Ń	O	P	R	Ŕ	S	Š	Ś	T	U	W	Y	Z	Ž	Ź
a	b	ts	tʃ	tɕ	d	ɛ	iɪ̯	f	g	h	x	i	j	k	w	l	m	n	nʲ	ɔ	p	r	rʲ	s	ʃ	ɕ	t	u	w	ɨ	z	ʒ	ʑ

SampleEdit

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Lower Sorbian:

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (All people are born free and equal in their dignity and rights. They are given reason and conscience and they shall create their relationships to one another according to the spirit of brotherhood.)<ref>Omniglot</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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BibliographyEdit

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External linksEdit

Template:Sister project Template:Sister project Template:Sister project

Online course for Lower and Upper Sorbian (English, Sorbian, German)
Dolnoserbski radio program (RealAudio) Template:In lang
Lower Sorbian Vocabulary List (from the World Loanword Database)
Lower Sorbian DoReCo corpus compiled by Hauke Bartels and Marcin Szczepański. Audio recordings of narrative texts, with transcriptions time-aligned at the phone level and translations.

DictionariesEdit