Upper Sorbian language

History

The history of the Upper Sorbian language in Germany began with the Slavic migrations during the 6th century AD. Beginning in the 12th century, there was a massive influx of rural Germanic settlers from Flanders, Saxony, Thuringia and Franconia. This so-called "Ostsiedlung" (eastern settlement or expansion) led to a slow but steady decline in use of the Sorbian language. In addition, in the Saxony region, the Sorbian language was legally subordinated to the German language. Language prohibitions were later added: In 1293, the Sorbian language was forbidden in Berne castle before the courts; in 1327 it was forbidden in Zwickau and Leipzig, and from 1424 on it was forbidden in Meissen. Further, there was the condition in many guilds of the cities of the area to accept only members of German-language origin.

However, the central areas of the Milzener and Lusitzer, in the area of today's Lusatia, were relatively unaffected by the new German language settlements and legal restrictions. The language therefore flourished there. By the 17th century, the number of Sorbian speakers in that area grew to over 300,000. The oldest evidence of written Upper Sorbian is the Burger Eydt Wendisch document, which was discovered in the city of Bautzen and dates to the year 1532.

Linguistic geography

There are an estimated 18,000 speakers of Upper Sorbian. Almost all of these live in the state of Saxony, chiefly in the district of Bautzen (Budyšin). The stronghold of the language is the village of Crostwitz (Chrósćicy) and the surrounding municipalities, especially to the west of it. In this core area, Upper Sorbian remains the predominant vernacular. In this area, Sorbian is an official language and children are taught Sorbian in schools and day cares. Other concerted efforts to preserve the language through media, club, and related resources have continued into the 21st century. In spite of these efforts, numbers of Upper Sorbian speakers were still considered to be dwindling. It has been suggested that this may be in part because of a lack of understanding of the benefits of bilingualism.

Sociolinguistic information

The language situation in modern Upper Lusatia is characterized by complete German–Sorbian bilingualism, with a growing tendency toward German monolingualism. The domain of Upper Sorbian, unlike that of German, is significantly limited. German is practically the universal means of communication for all Sorbs, while Upper Sorbian (in dialectal or colloquial form) is used mainly in everyday communication—in the family, with friends and acquaintances; the literary form of Upper Sorbian is used in public life mainly in Sorbian organizations and in the church.

The functions of Upper Sorbian also include Sorbian or bilingual groups in kindergartens, teaching of some subjects in schools providing special education as provided for by Saxony state law, the periodic press and publishing, and use in certain fields of art, culture, and science supported by the Foundation for the Sorbian People, which is funded by the federal government of Germany and the governments of Saxony and Brandenburg. At the same time, due to the small number of pupils, Sorbian schools are under threat of closure; language development is hindered by the administrative fragmentation of Sorbian-inhabited areas, the mass outmigration of young people (which began in the 1990s) to western Germany, the industrial development of the region, and the expansion of brown coal mining, which forces Sorbs to relocate and disrupts the compactness of their settlement area. The low prestige of Sorbian, the existence of mixed Sorbian–German marriages, and the dominant role of German in all areas of life in Upper Lusatia contribute to the constant decline in the number of Upper Sorbian speakers.

Upper Sorbian exists in several forms: the supraregional form, which includes the literary written and spoken varieties as well as the colloquial form (there is also a written form of colloquial speech); and the regional form, represented by Upper Sorbian dialects. A distinctive feature of the relationship between the different forms is the relatively large gap between the literary language and the developing dialectal koine, which influences the colloquial form of Upper Sorbian.

The use of Upper Sorbian varies in different regions of Upper Lusatia, particularly between Catholic and Protestant (Lutheran) areas.

Among Catholics in the far west of the Upper Sorbian-speaking area, natural language transmission (initially at the dialect level) from the older and middle generations to the younger generation is preserved. In Catholic communities located in the triangle Bautzen–Hoyerswerda–Kamenz, 60–65% of the population speak Upper Sorbian, and in some places this figure reaches 80–90%. Members of the younger generation here typically have equally good command of both Upper Sorbian and German; the German population may understand Sorbian passively or even speak it actively. In the Catholic church, services are conducted in Upper Sorbian; in some schools, teaching is carried out in Upper Sorbian, while in others it is taught as a subject. These areas are characterized by more active use of the literary language (both written and spoken), due to the concentration of scientific and cultural Sorbian organizations. In everyday communication, speakers from this dialect area often use a colloquial form of the language that ranges from strongly dialectal to semi-literary with dialectal coloring. The language situation in Catholic communities is somewhat similar to that in Bautzen, the cultural center of the Sorbs.

For most other Upper Sorbian speakers, natural language transmission from the older generation has been broken; members of the middle and younger generations have learned their native language in its literary form only at school. Sorbs here are a minority compared to the German population, and German is the main language of communication; Germans generally do not speak Sorbian. The use of Upper Sorbian in public life is limited; in schools, it is taught as a special elective subject. The role of the literary language compared to dialects is very low. The language situation among Sorbs in the Protestant areas of Upper Lusatia is largely similar to that observed in Lower Lusatia.

As of 2009, there were 12 Sorbian kindergartens in Saxony, three of them following the Witaj program; in addition, 11 kindergartens had Witaj program groups. Sorbian schoolchildren attended six Sorbian and three bilingual primary schools, four Sorbian and one bilingual secondary school; in the 2009/2010 school year there were 2,232 Sorbian pupils. Bautzen also has a Sorbian gymnasium, and in two other gymnasiums Upper Sorbian is taught as a subject. Upper Sorbian is taught at the Institute for Sorbian Studies at Leipzig University.

Upper Sorbian-language periodicals include the newspaper Serbske Nowiny, the cultural monthly Rozhlad (also with Lower Sorbian materials), the children’s magazine Płomjo, and religious publications—the Catholic Katolski Posoł and the Lutheran Pomhaj Bóh. Radio programs are broadcast by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR). As of 2017, MDR produces 21.5 hours of radio programming per week. MDR also produces a half-hour Upper Sorbian television program Wuhladko. There are also online publications, such as Runjewonline.info (available in both Sorbian languages).

The preservation and development of Sorbian language and culture is overseen by Domowina—a union of scientific, cultural, religious, student, and other Sorbian organizations. Domowina also operates a publishing house producing books in the Sorbian languages. The current regulator of the literary language is the Upper Sorbian Language Commission (Hornjoserbska rěčna komisija, HRK). File:Bautzen - Kornmarkt - Reichenturm 05 ies.jpg|Bilingual sign on the Reichenturm in Bautzen File:Niesky - Muskauer Straße - Umweltamt 02 ies.jpg|Bilingual signboard on one of the government institutions in Niesky File:Bautzen - Wendischer Graben 02 ies.jpg|Bilingual street sign in Bautzen File:Bautzen - Friedensbrücke 01 ies.jpg|Bilingual name of the river Spree on the bridge in Bautzen

Dialect

For most speakers of the Sorbian languages—primarily rural residents—dialects are the main means of communication. Only a relatively small portion of the Sorbian population, mainly the rural and urban intelligentsia, speak the literary languages, including literary Upper Sorbian. In the peripheral areas of the Sorbian language territory, dialects are disappearing relatively quickly (except in the Catholic areas of Upper Lusatia), while in the central regions they are better preserved. Overall, the dialects have been more heavily influenced by the German language compared to the literary Upper Sorbian language.

In Upper Lusatia, the Upper Sorbian group of dialects is spoken; the modern literary Upper Sorbian language developed on the basis of several of these dialects. The area of this dialect group is located in the southern part of the Sorbian-speaking territory and contrasts with the Lower Sorbian dialect area in the north. Upper Sorbian dialects are separated from Lower Sorbian dialects by a zone of transitional (border) dialects, through which broad bundles of isoglosses of major Sorbian linguistic features pass.

Despite covering a relatively small area, the Upper Sorbian territory is characterized by considerable dialectal diversity. The following main dialects are distinguished:

Western dialects, including:

• Kulow dialect (Kulowska narěč, German Wittichenauer Dialekt).
• Catholic dialect (Katolska narěč, German Katholischer Dialekt).

Central dialects, including:

• Bautzen dialect (Budyska narěč, German Bautzener Dialekt).
• Golan dialect (Holanska narěč, German Heidedialekt).

Eastern dialects, including:

• Eastern Golan dialect (Wuchodna holanska narěč, German Östlicher Heidedialekt).

According to the Sorbian Linguistic Atlas, there is also the Lubij or Löbau dialect, among others.

The Bautzen dialect, which formed the basis of the literary language, is spoken in the area surrounding the town of Bautzen. The Catholic dialect is spoken in Catholic parishes west of Bautzen up to the town of Kamenz. The Kulow dialect, closely related to the Catholic dialect, is spoken by Sorbs in the vicinity of Kulow (Wittichenau). To the north and northeast of the Bautzen dialect area lie the regions where the Golan and Eastern Golan dialects are spoken.

Writing system

The Sorbs use the Latin alphabet, supplemented with letters created by means of the diacritical marks ˇ (hóčka) and ´ (smužka).

Following the orthographic reform of December 1, 1948, the Upper Sorbian alphabet contains 34 letters. The letters Qq, Vv, and Xx are used only in foreign proper names. The orthography follows an etymological–phonetic principle.

When alphabetically sorting, no distinction is made between the letters n and ń or between o and ó. For example, nósk (“little nose”) is sorted before nosorohač (“rhinoceros”). If two words differ only in these letters, their alphabetical order is still taken into account, as in won (“out, away”) – wón (“he”) – wóń (“scent”).

The letters Ě, Ń, Ó, and Ř never occur at the beginning of a word; therefore, their uppercase forms are very rare and are only used when the entire word is written in uppercase (for example, RÓŽEŃ = “grill rack; spit”).

Phonology

Vowels

The vowel inventory of Upper Sorbian is exactly the same as that of Lower Sorbian.

• Word-initial vowels are rare, and are often preceded by a non-phonemic glottal stop , or sometimes . appear in word-initial position only in recent borrowings, whereas the diphthongs never occur in this position.
• The near-close can also be analyzed as diphthongs . Here, they are analyzed as monophthongs.
• The diphthongal allophones of are falling: . occurs only under strong sentence stress in monosyllabic words. Conversely, is a more common realization of than .
• has three allophones:
• Open-mid between hard consonants and after a hard consonant;
• Mid between soft consonants and after a soft consonant (excluding in both cases);
• Diphthong with a mid onset before .
• has two allophones:
• Diphthong with a mid onset before labial consonants;
• Open-mid in all other cases.
• Additional diphthongs arise from r-vocalization, as in German. For instance, uniwersita 'University' may be pronounced .
• The distinction between on the one hand and on the other is weakened or lost in unstressed syllables.
• is phonetically central . It is somewhat higher after soft consonants.

Consonants

• are bilabial, whereas are labiodental.
• are strongly palatalized.
• is a somewhat velarized bilabial approximant , whereas is a strongly palatalized bilabial approximant .
• is very rare. Apart from loanwords, it occurs only in two Slavonic words: zełharny 'deceitful' and zełharnosć 'deceitfulness', both of which are derivatives of łhać 'to lie'. Usage of these words is typically restricted to the Bautzen dialect, as speakers of the Catholic dialect use łžeć and its derivatives.
• are alveolar , is alveolo-palatal , whereas are dental .
• before (in the case of also before ) are weakly palatalized . also reports palatalized as allophones of . Among these, the labiodental are extremely rare.
• are velar in front of velar consonants.
• is very rare. In many cases, it merges with into .
• are very rare. According to , the phonemic status of is controversial.
• In most dialects, are palato-alveolar. This is unlike Lower Sorbian, where these consonants are laminal retroflex (flat postalveolar) (Lower Sorbian does not have a voiced counterpart). Laminal retroflex realizations of also occur in Upper Sorbian dialects spoken in some villages north of Hoyerswerda.
• are velar, whereas are uvular.
• An aspirated is a morpheme-initial allophone of in some cases, as well as a possible word-initial allophone of .
• is typically accompanied with trilling of the uvula , so that brach 'fault' is typically pronounced .
• does not occur word-initially, whereas does not occur word-finally.
• are typically realized as fricatives or approximants . They can be trilled in clear and careful pronunciation. Furthermore, can also be realized as a voiceless fricative . It can also be vocalized in the syllable coda, as in uniwersita 'University'. They are never alveolar , which is an archaic pronunciation.
• Soft is strongly palatalized.
• An epenthetic is inserted before a post-vocalic soft consonant, yielding a diphthong. If the soft consonant occurs before or , it is often realized as hard, and the vowels merge to .
• In literary language, the contrast between hard and soft consonants is neutralized in word-final position. For instance, the letter represents the sequence in this position (as in dźeń 'day'), not a single phoneme .

Final devoicing and assimilation

Upper Sorbian has both final devoicing and regressive voicing assimilation, both word-internal and across word boundaries. In the latter context, is voiced to . Regressive voicing assimilation does not occur before sonorants and .

Stress

• Words consisting of up to three syllables are stressed on the first syllable.
• Foreign words, such as student 'student', preserve their original accent.

Prosody

Stress in Upper Sorbian is expiratory and falls mainly on the first syllable. In four-syllable or longer words, a secondary stress appears on the penultimate syllable (ˈdźiwaˌdźelnik “actor”). In compound words, the secondary stress falls on the first syllable of the second element (ˈzapadoˌslowjanski “West Slavic”). In the superlative forms of adjectives, the main stress is placed on the prefix naj-, and the secondary stress is on the first syllable of the root (though the reverse placement of stress is also possible). In preposition + noun combinations, the preposition draws the stress onto itself from monosyllabic and disyllabic nouns and pronouns (ˈke mni “to me,” ˈdo města “into the city”), but if the noun carries logical emphasis, it also receives the phonetic stress. Upper Sorbian also has enclitics, i.e., words that cannot bear stress. In loanwords, the stress falls on the same syllable as in the source language (literaˈtura “literature,” šoˈfer “chauffeur”).

Morphology

In Upper Sorbian grammar, the following parts of speech are distinguished: noun, adjective, numeral, pronoun, adverb, verb, conjunction, preposition, particle, and interjection.

Nouns and pronouns in Upper Sorbian have the grammatical categories of gender, number, case, animacy, and person. As in other Slavic languages, masculine, feminine, and neuter genders are distinguished. The category of animacy applies to masculine nouns and the words agreeing with them in the singular. The category of person applies to masculine nouns and their agreeing words in the dual and plural. In the category of number, the archaic dual has been preserved — it also survives in modern Lower Sorbian and Slovene (although in Proto-Slavic the locative dual form coincided with the genitive dual, in Upper Sorbian it has come to coincide with the dative-instrumental dual form).

Nouns and pronouns have six cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and locative, as well as a special vocative form (used for masculine animate nouns, except those ending in -a, and for the feminine noun mać “mother”).

Singular

In the singular, the declension of nouns (wěcownik, substantiw) of the masculine and neuter genders differs from that of the feminine gender. Before the ending -e in feminine nouns in the dative case, and in nouns of all genders in the locative case, alternations occur between a hard stem consonant and its palatalized counterpart, as well as the following specific alternations: d — dź, t — ć, ł — l, h — z, ch — š, k — c, g — z.

Masculine and neuter nouns in the locative case, if they have a soft or hardened final consonant, as well as in most cases when ending in g, h, ch, k, ł (and some other consonants), take the ending -u instead of -e. In masculine and neuter nouns ending in h, ch, k, when the rare ending -e occurs, the following alternations take place: h — z, ch — š, k — c.

Feminine nouns with stems ending in z, c, s take the ending -y in the dative and locative. Feminine nouns with stems ending in k, g, ch, h take the ending -i in the genitive.

Masculine gender — Examples of declension of masculine nouns: nan (“father”), jež (“hedgehog”), dub (“oak”), and ćerń (“thorn”).

Some monosyllabic inanimate nouns in the genitive case can have, along with the ending -a, also the ending -u: hroda/hrodu (“of the fortress”, “of the castle”), doma/domu (“of the house”), loda/lodu (“of the ice”), mjeda/mjedu (“of the honey”), and so on. In the dative case in some nouns the ending -u occurs along with -ej: ludu (“to/for the people”), měru (“to/for the world/peace”), wozu (“to/for the cart”), and so on, bóh (“God”) ends in the dative case only with -u. In the accusative case the endings of animate nouns coincide with the endings of the genitive case, the endings of inanimate nouns — with the endings of the nominative case. Special paradigms of nouns ending in -a and personal names ending in -o : predsyda (“chairman”), predsydy, predsydźe, predsydu, predsydu, predsydźe; ćěsla (“carpenter”), ćěsle, ćěsli, ćěslu, ćěslu, ćěsli; Beno, Bena, Benej, Bena, Benom, Benje.

• Feminine and neuter gender. Examples of declension of neuter nouns: słowo (“word”), morjo (“sea”), ranje (“morning”), and feminine gender: žona (“woman”, “wife”), kólnja (“shed”) and hródź (“cowshed”).

In the nominative and accusative cases the noun knjeni (“lady”) ends in -i, in the other cases it declines like the word kólnja (“shed”, “canopy”). Nouns of the type kuchnja (“kitchen”), bróžnja (“barn”, “shed”) have parallel forms kucheń, bróžeń. Nouns of the type spěwanje (“singing”), drěnje (“pulling”), ranje (“morning”) have the ending -e, in the other cases they decline like the word morjo (“sea”). In the genitive case the forms of the nouns škla (“bowl”, “dish”) and woš (“louse”): šklě and wši. In the dative and locative cases the nouns stwa (“room”) and hra (“game”) have the ending -ě.

Dual number

The endings of masculine nouns in the nominative and accusative cases of the dual number differ from the endings of feminine and neuter nouns. Depending on whether masculine nouns in the accusative case denote a person or not, they have different endings. For nouns denoting paired objects, instead of dual forms, plural forms can be used: nohi instead of noze (“legs”), ruki instead of ruce (“hands”). Before the ending -e in the nominative and accusative cases for feminine and neuter nouns, alternation of a hard consonant of the stem with a soft one occurs, as well as alternations d — dź, t — ć, ł — l, h — z, ch — š, k — c, g — z. After soft consonants in the nominative and accusative cases, alternation a — e occurs. Neuter and feminine nouns with a stem ending in z, c, s in the nominative and accusative cases have the ending -y.

Examples of the declension of masculine nouns: nanaj (“two fathers”), mužej (“two husbands”, “two men”), psykaj (“two dogs”) and ježej (“two hedgehogs”); feminine gender: žonje (“two wives”, “two women”); and neuter gender: mori (“two seas”):

In the nominative and accusative cases, the nouns stwa (“room”) and hra (“game”) have the ending -ě. The nominative and accusative forms of the nouns wucho (“ear”) and woko (“eye”) are: wuši and woči.

Special paradigms of nouns in -a [148]: predsydaj (“both chairmen”), predsydow, predsydomaj, predsydow, predsydomaj, predsydomaj; ćěslej (“both carpenters”), ćěslow, ćěslomaj, ćěslow, ćěslomaj, ćěslomaj.

Plural

Depending on the endings that occur in the nominative and accusative cases of the plural, all nouns are divided into three groups: masculine nouns denoting persons (personal masculine), other masculine nouns and feminine nouns (non-personal masculine), and neuter nouns.

Examples of declension of personal masculine nouns: nanojo (“fathers”), mužojo (“husbands”, “men”); non-personal masculine nouns: duby (“oaks”); and feminine nouns: kólnje (“sheds”, “canopies”); as well as neuter nouns: słowa (“words”) and morja (“seas”):

Non-personal masculine nouns of masculine and feminine gender in the nominative and accusative cases with a stem ending in k, g, ch, h have the ending -i. In the instrumental case, after soft consonants, alternation a — e occurs. In the nominative case, nouns denoting a male person mostly end in -ojo. Nouns with the suffixes -ar-, -er-, -el-, -ol-, -an- have the ending -jo (before which in the suffix -an- the alternation a — e occurs). Nouns ending in -c and -k end in -y (with the alternation k — c before this ending). Some nouns have endings -i and -a, before which alternation of a hard stem consonant with a soft one occurs, as well as alternations t — ć, d — dź, ł — l, ch — š and others: bratřa (“brothers”), kmótřa (“godfathers”), susodźa (“neighbors”), husići/husića (“Hussites”), studenći/studenća (“students”), etc. Forms of the nouns škla and woš in the nominative and accusative cases: šklě and wši.

In the genitive case, nouns with a soft stem or with a stem ending in -ł have, alongside the ending -ow, also the ending -i (for the nouns dźěći “children” and ludźi “people” only the ending -i is used); in the nouns husy (“geese”) and kury (“hens”) the ending -y is found alongside -ow. Some nouns have no ending in the genitive case: pjenjez (“money”), Drježdźan (“of Dresden”), and others.

In the dative case, for a number of nouns denoting living beings, alongside the ending -am the ending -om is also found: wołam/wołom (“to oxen”), kruwam/kruwom (“to cows”), husam/husom (“to geese”), etc.; some nouns have only the ending -om: dźěćom (“to children”), ludźom (“to people”), etc.

In the instrumental case, alongside the ending -ami (-emi), the ending -imi (-ymi) is also found: konjemi/konimi (“with horses”), kruwami/kruwymi (“with cows”), etc.; some nouns have only the ending -imi (-ymi): dźěćimi (“with children”), ludźimi (“with people”), etc.

In the locative case, alongside the ending -ach, the ending -och is also found: konjach/konjoch (“on horses”), kruwach/kruwoch (“on cows”), swinjach/swinjoch (“on pigs”), etc.; some nouns have only the ending -och: dźěćoch (“about children”), ludźoch (“about people”), etc.

Special paradigms of nouns ending in -a: predsydojo (“chairmen”), predsydow, predsydam, predsydow, predsydami, predsydach; ćěslojo (“carpenters”), ćěslow, ćěslam, ćěslow, ćěslemi, ćěslach.

Peculiarities of the declension of some nouns.

For nouns denoting young creatures, in the singular and dual numbers, the suffix -eć- is added to the stem (except in the nominative and accusative forms); in the plural — the suffix -at-: ćelo (“calf”), ćeleća (singular), ćeleći (dual), ćelata (plural).

For some nouns with a stem ending in a soft consonant, it is characteristic to add the suffix -en- to the stem (except in the nominative and accusative forms): znamjo (“sign”), znamjenja (singular), znamjeni (dual), znamjenja (plural).

To the stem of the noun mać in all forms except the nominative and accusative, the suffix -er- is added (in the accusative, both mać and maćer are possible).

To the noun dźěćo (“child”), in the singular and dual numbers, the suffix -s- is added to the stem (except in the nominative and accusative forms): dźěćo, dźěsća (singular), dźěsći (dual). The plural paradigm: dźěći, dźěći, dźěćom, dźěći, dźěćimi, dźěćoch.

Adjective

Adjectives (adjektiwy, kajkostniki) are divided into three categories:

• qualitative (kajkostne, kwalitatiwne): stary “old”, młody “young”, wuski “narrow”, šěroki “wide”, wysoki “tall”, niski “low”, němy “mute”, slepy “blind”, žiwy “alive”, mortwy “dead”;
• relative (poćahowe, relaciske), expressing the quality of an object through another object: hórski “mountain”, dobroćiwy “benevolent”, wěriwy “believing”, “trusting”;
• possessive (přiswojace, posesiwne), expressing possession: nanowy “father’s”, “paternal”, maćerny “mother’s”, “maternal”.

Adjectives have two types of declension — soft (which includes adjectives whose stem ends in č, š, ž or soft n and w) and hard (which includes all the rest). A number of adjectives are indeclinable: ryzy (“red-haired”), bosy (“barefoot”), nabruń (“brownish”), načorń (“blackish”), nazeleń (“greenish”), sćicha (“quiet”, “calm”), zhorda (“proud”), zwulka (“arrogant”, “haughty”), and others.

Declension of hard-type adjectives using the example mały “small”:

Declension of soft-type adjectives using the example tuni (“cheap”):

In the masculine gender, the form of the accusative singular coincides with the form of the genitive if the adjective agrees with an animate noun. In the dual and plural, the form of the accusative coincides with the genitive if the adjective agrees with a noun denoting a male person. In personally masculine forms of the nominative plural, consonant alternations occur: ch — š, t — ć, d — dź, l — ł before the ending -i; with similar alternations k — c, h — z, this ending itself is replaced with -y: wulki (“big”) → wulcy (“big” plural), nahi (“naked”) → nazy (“naked” plural), etc. In Upper Sorbian, there are no short forms of adjectives.

Forms of the comparative (komparatiw) and superlative (superlatiw) degrees are formed only from relative-qualitative adjectives. The comparative form is made using the suffixes -ši and -iši/-yši (-yši appears after the consonants c, z, s). Some comparative forms are formed suppletively: wulki “big” → wjetši, mały “small” → mjeńši, dobry “good” → lěpši, zły “bad” → hórši, dołhi “long” → dlěši. The superlative form is made by adding the prefix naj- to the comparative form. In addition to the synthetic method of forming degrees of comparison, there is also an analytic one, in which the comparative form is made by adding to the positive form the adverb bóle, and the superlative — najbóle.

Numeral

Upper Sorbian numerals (ličbniki, numerale) are divided into the following categories:

• cardinal (kardinalne, zakładne);
• ordinal (ordinalne, rjadowe);
• collective (kolektiwne) — used with pluralia tantum nouns: jedne, dwoje, troje, štwore, pjećore, šesćore;
• species (diferinciske) — indicating qualitative differentiation: jenaki, dwojaki, trojaki, štworaki, pjećoraki;
• multiplicative (multiplikatiwne): dwójny “double”, trójny “triple”;
• adverbial numerals (numerale wobstejenja): jónu “once”, dwójce “twice”, trójce “thrice”.

Numerals from one to twenty-one:

Numerals from thirty to a billion:

Declension of the numeral “one”:

Under the influence of the German language, in colloquial Upper Sorbian, the numeral jedyn is often used in the function of an indefinite article.

Declension of the numerals two, three, four, five:

The personally masculine forms of the numeral “two”, except for the accusative case form dweju, are colloquial in nature. Numerals from 6 to 99 decline like five. Thousand, million, and billion decline like nouns. Numerals starting from five decline only when used independently; when used in a phrase, they do not decline.

Pronoun

Pronouns (naměstniki, pronomeny) in Upper Sorbian are divided into the following categories:

• Personal (wosobowe, personalne)
  • Basic (zakładne): ja, mój, my, ty, wój, wy, wón, wona, wono
• Possessive (přiswojowace, posesiwne): mój, naju, naš, twój, waju, waš, jeho, jeje
• Demonstrative (pokazowace, demonstratiwne): tón, tutón, wony, tamny, tamón
• Reflexive (wróćace, refleksiwne)
  • Basic: sebje/so
  • Possessive: swój
• Interrogative (prašace, interrogatiwne): štó, što, čeji, kotry, kajki, hdy, kak, hdźe, kelko
• Relative (poćahowe, relatiwne): kiž, kotryž, čejiž
• Negative (zaprěwace, negatiwne): formed with the prefix ni- from interrogatives: nichtó “nobody,” ničo “nothing,” ničeji “no one’s,” nikajki “no kind of,” nihdy “never,” nihdźe “nowhere”
• Indefinite (bjezmězne, indefinitne): formed with the prefix ně- from interrogatives: něchtó “someone,” něšto “something,” něčeji “someone’s,” někajki “some kind of,” něhdy “sometime,” něhdźe “somewhere”
• Generalizing (spowšitkowujiwace): wšón, wšitkón, kóždy
• Emphatic / Exclusive (limitatiwne): sam, samy, samón
• Defining / Qualifying (hódnoćace): samsny, jenaki

Declension of personal pronouns of the first and second person:

Declension of personal pronouns of the third person:

After prepositions, the forms of third-person pronouns beginning with n- are used: bjez njeho — “without him.”

Adverbs

Adverbs (adwerby, přisłowjesniki) in the Upper Sorbian language are divided into determinative (determinatiwne) and circumstantial (adwerby wobstejenja). The former are further divided into qualitative (kwalitatiwne), which define an action or state from the point of view of quality (krasnje — “beautifully,” derje — “hard,” ćicho — “quietly”), and quantitative (kwantitatiwne).

Adverbs are formed from adjectives using the suffixes -e, -o, and -i. The most productive suffix is -e: słabje (“weakly”), hrubje (“roughly”), wědomje (“consciously”), měrliwje (“peacefully”), nahle (“suddenly,” “sharply”), mile (“gently,” “kindly”), twjerdźe (“firmly,” “strictly”), rjenje (“beautifully,” “well”), čisće (“cleanly,” “brightly”), etc. The suffix -o predominates in the position after velar consonants: ćicho (“quietly”), sucho (“dryly”), rědko (“thinly,” “rarely”), droho (“expensively”), lochko (“easily”), šěroko (“widely”), etc. Less often after velar consonants appears the suffix -e: hłuboce (alongside hłuboko) (“deeply”), wusce (alongside wusko) (“narrowly,” “tightly”), słódce (alongside słódko) (“sweetly”), etc. Unlike the forms with -e, the forms with -o can have a predicative function.

Determinative adverbs can form degrees of comparison — comparative (komparatiw) and superlative (superlatiw). The comparative degree is usually formed by adding the suffix -(i)šo/-(y)šo to the base: słabje — słabšo, sylnje — sylnišo. From adverbs ending in -ko and -sko, comparative forms are formed using the suffixes -e and -šo: blisko — bliže/blišo, hłuboko — hłubje/hłubšo. The forms with -e have an archaic flavor. From some adverbs, the comparative degree is suppletive: derje — lěpje (“hard” — “better”), zlě — hórje (“bad” — “worse”), dołho — dlěje (“long” — “longer”), mało — mjenje (“little” — “less”), wjele/mnoho — wjace (“much” — “more”). The superlative degree is formed by attaching the prefix naj- to the comparative form: słabšo — najsłabšo, sylnišo — najsylnišo.

Verb

The Upper Sorbian language is characterized by verb categories (werb, słowjeso) such as tense (tempus, čas), mood, aspect (aspekt, wid), voice, person (wosoba), number, and gender. Within the tense category, besides present and future forms, there are forms of several past tenses: perfect, synthetic preterite, pluperfect, and iterative preterite. The preterite is a historical past tense used in narration. The pluperfect indicates an action that occurred before some moment in the past. The iterative preterite indicates repeated actions in the past. Upper Sorbian has a peculiar implementation of aspect (perfective or imperfective), and like many Slavic languages, has active and passive voices, three moods (indicative, imperative, and subjunctive), forms for first, second, and third person in singular, dual, or plural; grammatical gender is expressed only in some verb forms.

Depending on the stem vowel in the present tense form (-e-, -i-, and -a-), verbs in Upper Sorbian are divided into three conjugation classes. Verb forms are formed from infinitive or present tense stems, except for a small number of preterite forms and nominal forms with special stems. In personal verb forms, corresponding personal pronouns are usually omitted (they are used only to emphasize person and number). When addressing a single person formally (“you” polite), the verb form in analytical constructions is used in the plural, while the nominal components remain singular.

Present tense

Present tense (prezent) forms in Upper Sorbian are formed synthetically. Perfective verbs may express an action performed constantly or at the current moment, sometimes repeatedly and each time completed, and also an action in the future if additionally expressed by lexical means, or in the past (also with imperfective verbs — the so-called “historical present”).

Examples of verb conjugations: njesć (“to carry”) — e-conjugation, warić (“to boil”) — i-conjugation, dźěłać (“to work”) — a-conjugation:

Besides the verbs of the three conjugation classes, there also exist specially conjugated so-called irregular verbs, such as być (“to be”) — ja sym; ty sy; wón, wone (wono), wona je; mój smój; wój staj/stej; wonaj/wonej staj/stej; my smy; wy sće; woni/wone su; měć (“to have”), chcyć (“to want”), dać (“to give”), hić (“to go”), jěć (“to ride/go by vehicle”), jěsć (“to eat”), směć (“to dare”), spać (“to sleep”), wědźeć (“to know”)

Future tense

Excluding the synthetically formed future tense forms of the verbs być — budu, budźeš…, měć (“to have”) — změju, změješ…, verbs of directed motion (hić (“to go”) — póńdu, póńdźeš…, njesć (“to carry”) — ponjesu, ponjeseš…, lězć (“to climb”), wjezć (“to drive/transport”), běžeć (“to run”), ćahnyć (“to pull”)), etc., all future tense forms of verbs are formed analytically by combining the personal forms of the auxiliary verb być in the future tense (budu, budźeš, budźe, etc.) with the infinitive of the main verb. In the literary language, analytic forms are formed only from imperfective verbs — budu warić (“I will cook”), while in colloquial speech analytic forms can also be formed from perfective verbs — budu zwarić.

Examples of conjugation of the verb pić (“to drink”) in the future tense:

Perfect tense

Perfect forms are formed using the personal forms of the verb być in the present tense and the -l- participle of the main verb. The perfect denotes an action in the past that still retains a connection to the present. The perfect is obligatorily used when the time of the action occurs before the described situation; in other cases, the perfect is used alongside the synthetic preterite. The perfect can also express an action that will be completed by some point in the future.

Examples of conjugation of the perfect forms of the verb dźěłać (“to work”):

A number of participles have stems with -d-, -t-, -s-, -st-, -k-, and -h-: jědł from jěsć (“to eat”), mjetł from mjesć (“to sweep”), pasł from pasć (“to pasture/graze”), rostł from rosć (“to grow”), pjekł from pjec (“to bake”), móhł from móc (“to be able to/can”), etc.

From the verb hić (“to go”), participles are formed from a special stem: šoł, šla, šłoj, šli, šłe.

Synthetic preterite

The forms of the synthetic preterite express the completion of an action in the past, the connection of which with the present is not felt. In the 2nd and 3rd person singular, perfective verbs take endings of the old aorist, while imperfective verbs take imperfect endings. These forms may be formed from different stems — from the infinitive, from the present tense stem, and from a special stem with the formative -(j)a. In colloquial speech, perfect forms are often used instead of them..

Examples of conjugation of the verbs wuknyć (“to study, learn”) and nawuknyć (“to learn/completely study”) in the synthetic preterite:

Pluperfect

The pluperfect (past perfect) is formed analytically using the verb być in the preterite form and the -l- participle of the main verb, indicating a completed action that preceded some situation in the past

Examples of conjugation of the pluperfect forms of the verb dźěłać (“to work”):

Iterative preterite

Forms of the iterative preterite, which denote repeated events in the past, coincide with the forms of the subjunctive mood,

Subjunctive mood

Forms of the verb in the subjunctive mood are formed using the aorist forms of the auxiliary verb być and the -l- participle of the main verb. In colloquial Upper Sorbian, the verb być in the subjunctive mood loses its personal endings, and the form by is the same for all persons. Modal verbs can form subjunctive forms even without the personal forms of być ,

Examples of conjugation of the verb dźěłać (“to work”) in the subjunctive mood:

Previously, forms of the subjunctive mood in the past tense were also used, formed with the verb być in the imperfect from the stem bud-: budźech, budźeše, budźechmoj, budźeštaj, budźeštej, budźechmy, budźešće, budźechu.

Imperative mood

Forms of the verb in the imperative mood are formed from the present tense stem. Examples of conjugation of the verb wzać (“to take”) in the imperative mood: wozmi (“take!”) with the ending -i after groups of consonants, and also a zero ending is possible — kupuj (“buy”) (2nd person singular); wozmimoj, wozmitaj/-tej (1st and 2nd person dual, where in the 2nd person masculine personal forms mostly end with -taj, and others with -tej); wozmimy, wozmiće (1st and 2nd person plural).

When forming imperative verb forms, consonant changes occur in the stem: -d-, -t-, -k- change to -dź-, -ć-, -č-; -n- changes to -ń-; -s- and -z- change to -š- and -ž-. Some verbs have irregular imperative forms: jěs (“eat”), daj (“give”), and others. Indicative mood forms with the particle njech replace nonexistent 1st person singular and 3rd person imperative forms in all numbers.

Direct passive forms compete with, on one hand, constructions of the same participles with -n-/-t- combined with forms of the verb być in any tense (including past — from the stem bě-: běch přeprošeny (“I was invited”), but also sym přeprošeny (“I am invited”), budu přeprošeny (“I will be invited”)), which express a state; and on the other hand — active voice forms with the reflexive particle so, e.g.: z uniwersity Lwow na Ukrainje přeprosy so delegacija na ekskursiju do Łužicy (“A delegation was invited from the University of Lviv in Ukraine for an excursion to Lusatia”). The passive or active meaning of such forms is determined by context.

Indirect passive forms are formed with personal forms of the verbs dóstać (“to receive”), dóstawać (“to be receiving”) and the participle of the main verb with -n-/-t- . In colloquial speech, the passive voice is expressed by constructions with the German loan verb wordować ("to become").

Verb aspects

Alongside imperfective and perfective verbs forming aspectual pairs, Upper Sorbian has verbs without aspectual pairs (single-aspect verbs) and verbs whose imperfective and perfective meanings are expressed by one lexeme (double-aspect verbs). Aspectual pairs are mostly formed by prefixes and suffixes.

Most non-prefixed verbs are imperfective: dźěłać (“to work”), warić (“to boil”), słyšeć (“to hear”), etc. Only a small part are perfective. Perfective verbs are mainly formed from imperfective non-prefixed verbs by prefixation: rězać (“to cut”) — zarězać (“to cut down, slaughter”), stajeć (“to put”) — zestajeć (“to compose, put together”), etc. Paired imperfective verbs can be formed from prefixed perfective verbs by suffixes -owa-/-uj, -wa- or -a- (-ě-): zapisać (“to write down”) — zapisować (“to be writing down”), wubrać (“to choose”) — wuběrać (“to be choosing”), etc. Secondary prefixation is also possible: zabić (“to kill”) — dozabić (“to finish killing”).

Under German influence in colloquial Upper Sorbian, present tense forms of perfective verbs may be used with an actual present meaning, which is not permitted in the literary language.

Participles and gerunds

Upper Sorbian includes the following participial forms:

• Active present participle: formed from the short present stem with suffix -ac(y) or from the infinitive stem with suffix -c(y) (rarely -uc(y)): pisacy (“writing”), słyšacy (“hearing”), etc.
• Present gerund: formed from the short or extended present stem of imperfective verbs with suffix -o, rarely -(i)cy, -ucy: njeso (“leading”), kopajo/kopajcy (“digging”), etc.
• Passive participle: formed from the infinitive stem or full present stem with suffixes -n(y) or -t(y): wuknjeny (“being studied”), nawuknjeny (“studied”), wupity (“drunk”), etc.
• Past gerund: formed from the infinitive stem of perfective verbs with ending -wši or from the present stem with ending -ši: rozkopawši (“having dug”), zdźěławši (“having worked out”), zamjetši (“having swept”), etc.

In colloquial Upper Sorbian and dialects, present gerunds are very rarely used or absent, and past gerunds are not used at all.

Infinitive

The infinitive in Upper Sorbian is formed with the suffix -ć, except verbs with stems ending in -k, -h: pjec (“to bake”), rjec (“to say”), móc (“to be able”). Like in most other Slavic languages, the supine (preserved in Lower Sorbian) has been replaced by the infinitive in Upper Sorbian.

Verbal noun

Verbal nouns are formed with the suffix -(j)e from the participle stem with -n-/-t- : wuknjenje (“learning”), słyšenje (“hearing”).

Prepositions

Prepositions (prepozicije, předłóžki) in Upper Sorbian are divided into primary and secondary:

• Primary prepositions (prěnjotne, primarne) used exclusively as prepositions: bjez (“without”), dla (“because of, for”), do (“to, until, behind, before”, etc.), k (“to, for”), mjez (“between”), na (“on, about, for, at”), nad (“above”), po (“after, along”), pod (“under, near”), podłu (“along”), pola (“near”), porno (“next to, alongside”), pře (“against, because of”), před (“before, until, from”), při (“at”), spod (“from under”), w (“in, into”), wo (“about”), wob (“through, during”), wot (“from”), z (“from, out of”), za (“behind, instead of, for”), zeza (“because of”), etc.
• Secondary prepositions (druhotne, sekundarne), derived from full words and not yet fully detached from them: blisko (“nearby”), dale (“beyond”), nimo (“except”), niže (“below”), njedaloko (“nearby”), spody (“under”), srjedź (“among”), wyše (“above”), zady (“behind”), zboka (“beside”), zespody (“from below”).

Primary prepositions ending with consonants (e.g., w, z, k, bjez, přez, wot, nad, pod, mjez, před) may vocalize — add a vowel -e (or -y for mjez) at the end if the following word starts with a consonant cluster or a consonant of the same place of articulation, e.g. ze wšeho (“from all”), wote dnja (“from the day”), we wodźe (“in water”), ke choremu (“to the sick one”).

Particles

Like prepositions or conjunctions, particles (časćicy, partikle) in Upper Sorbian are divided into primary and secondary.

Functionally, particles are divided into word-forming, form-building, and modal particles.

F. Michalk divides Upper Sorbian particles into:

• intensifiers: ha (“just”), da (“well, just”), pak (“and, just”), no (“well, here”) etc.,
• semantic modifiers: wjace (“more”), hišće (“still”), hižo (“already”), hakle (“barely, only”), jenož (“only”), hač (“until, if”), wšak (“however, still”), nic (“not, no, none”) etc.,
• grammatical: forming reflexive verbs so (“-self”), negative -nje (“not”), interrogative -li (“if, how, whether”), and words for negation — ně (“no”) — and affirmation — haj (“yes”).

Interjections

Interjections (interjekcije, wukřičniki) in Upper Sorbian are divided into:

• expressive (začućowe), expressing emotions: a, aha, ach (“ah, oh”), aj (“ouch”), aw (“ouch”), fuj, hehe, jej (“oh no”),

• vocative (wolowe, apelowe), expressing will or desire and used for addressing the listener: hop, pst, hej (“hey”),

• onomatopoeic (zwukinapodobnjowace, onomatopetiske), imitating natural sounds: bac, buc, bim, bom, buch, gigagak, kikeriki. Syntax Upper Sorbian syntax has the following features:

• A characteristic feature distinguishing Upper Sorbian from most other Slavic languages is the order of main components in a simple sentence: Subject – Object – Verb (S–O–V): Naš dźěd drjewo kała (“Our grandfather chops wood”); Ludźo so wjelkow boja (“People are afraid of wolves”). If the predicate is compound, the auxiliary verb follows the subject, and the nominal part is at the end: Dobru chwilu bě hišće jich hołk a dźiwi spěw słyšeć (where bě is auxiliary, słyšeć is nominal part — “For quite a while their wild shouting and strange singing were still heard”). This syntactic construction is called frame construction.

• Presence of a copula in sentences with nominal predicate: Nan je doma (“Father is at home”); Ja sym strowy (“I am healthy”).

• The second position (after the first stressed word or phrase) in a sentence is often occupied by short forms of reflexive and personal pronouns: mje, mi, će, ći, jón, je, ju, so, sej, as well as some conjunctions and particles: drje (“really”), pak (“just”), wšak (“however”), etc. For example: Hač drje waša mać bórze přińdźe? (“Will your mother really come soon?”). The reflexive particle so can also occupy the second position, with the main verb at the sentence end: Ja so přez tón dar wjeselu (“I am happy about this gift”). Or immediately after the main verb: Ja wjeselu so přez tón dar (“I am happy about this gift”).

• When a modifier consists of a noun in genitive singular followed by an adjective or possessive pronoun agreeing with it and placed after the modified noun (Dźěći mojeho bratra — “My brother’s children”; Drasta stareje žony — “The old woman’s dress”), changing the modifier to be before the modified noun causes the genitive noun to become a possessive adjective with suffixes -owy-/-iny-: Mojeho bratrowe dźěći (literally “my brother’s children”); Stareje žonina drasta (“old woman’s dress”). Possessive adjectives with these suffixes are considered a separate part of speech — possessives — in modern Upper Sorbian grammar (G. Faska).

• The nominal part of compound predicates expressed by a noun in instrumental case is very rare; expressed by an adjective it never stands in the instrumental: Wowka so wróći strowa (“Grandmother returned healthy”).

• Use of constructions with accusative noun + infinitive: Wutrobu čuješe spěšnje kłapać (“He felt his heart beating fast”). Verbs like stać (“stand”), ležeć (“lie”), sedźeć (“sit”), spać (“sleep”), tčeć (“be located, stick out”) do not occur in such constructions with infinitive; instead, present gerund is used.

• Genitive case forms with negation are very rare, mainly used in colloquial Upper Sorbian after the particle ani: Ani slowa wón njepraji (“He did not say a word”).

• Negation of the copula uses nominative case forms: Wón tu njeje (“He is not here”, literally “He here not is”).

• Nouns take nominative case if two or more adjectives modify them: Serbski a ruski lud (“The Sorbian and Russian peoples”).

• Family names in the genitive of possession precede the modified word: Markec swójba (“The Markec family”).

• When the modifier follows the modified noun (Wuměnjenja, přijomne za nas — “Conditions pleasant for us”), changing the modifier to precede the noun reverses the word order inside the modifier group: Za nas přijomne wuměnjenja (“For us pleasant conditions”).

• The relative pronoun kotryž, kotrež, kotraž (“which”) in the genitive stands before the modified noun: To je ta stwa, kotrejež wokna do zahrodki hladaja (“This is the room whose windows look into the garden”).

Vocabulary

As a result of long contacts with the German language (for about 1000 years), Upper Sorbian has borrowed a large number of Germanic lexical items, with their number being higher in dialectal speech than in the literary language. At the same time, the core lexical stock of Upper Sorbian remains Slavic — H. Bilfeldt counts no more than 2000 German words among the most common borrowings. Besides direct borrowings, the literary language also contains calques from German words — ćah (“train”)

Examples of lexical differences between spoken and literary language:

Samples

Serbskej zemi by J. Bart-Čišinski

The Lord's Prayer in Upper Sorbian:

:Wótče naš, kiž sy w njebjesach. Swjeć so Twoje mjeno. Přińdź Twoje kralestwo. Stań so Twoja wola, kaž na njebju, tak na zemi. Wšědny chlěb naš daj nam dźens. Wodaj nam naše winy, jako my tež wodawamy swojim winikam. A njewjedź nas do spytowanja, ale wumóž nas wot złeho. Amen.

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

:Wšitcy čłowjekojo su wot naroda swobodni a su jenacy po dostojnosći a prawach. Woni su z rozumom a swědomjom wobdarjeni a maja mjezsobu w duchu bratrowstwa wobchadźeć.

(All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.)

A text in colloquial Upper Sorbian:

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Ross, Malcom. 2020. Syntax and contact-induced language change. In A. Grant (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Language Contact. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 123–154. [Upper Sorbian and German contact, with resulting changes in Sorbian]
• {{citation|last=Stone|first=Gerald|chapter=Sorbian (Upper and Lower)|title=The Slavonic Languages|editor1-last=Comrie|editor1-first=Bernard|editor2-last=Corbett |editor2-first=Greville G.|year=2002|pages=593–685|location=London and New York

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