Lower Sorbian language

File:Bilinguale Straßenbeschilderung Cottbus.jpg, 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 {{IPA|[ʁ]}} instead of the alveolar trill {{IPA|[r]}}. In villages and rural areas, German influence is less marked, and the pronunciation is more "typically Slavic".

• {{IPA|/m, mʲ, p, pʲ, b, bʲ/}} are bilabial, whereas {{IPA|/f, v/}} are labiodental,{{sfnp|Stone|2002|p=605}} {{IPA|/w, wʲ/}} are labiovelar,{{citation|title = Niedersorbische Aussprache|publisher = Serbski Institut}} although the latter may be a labial–palatal approximant.
• Consonants in parentheses are allophones of another consonant before another consonant or vowel, for example {{IPA|/m/}} may palatalize to {{IPA|/mʲ/}} before front vowels or {{IPA|/j/}}, and {{IPA|/n/}} may assimilate to {{IPA|/ŋ/}} before velar consonants.
• The Proto-Slavic contrasts between {{IPA|/m, p, b, v/}} and their palatalized counterparts has been lost phonetically in Lower Sorbian, with the marginal phonemes occurring only before certain vowels. The contrasts between {{IPA|/t, d/}} and their palatalized counterparts has evolved into a contrast between {{IPA|/t, d/}} and {{IPA|/ɕ, ʑ/}}. The contrast between {{IPA|/l/}} and its palatalized counterpart has evolved into a contrast between {{IPA|/w, l/}} while the contrasts between {{IPA|/n, r/}} and their palatalized counterparts has remained intact and the contrasts between {{IPA|/s, z/}} and their palatalized counterparts no longer exists.{{citation|title=Sound Change and the Structure of Synchronic Variability: Phonetic and Phonological Factors in Slavic Palatalization|author=Iskarous, Khalil, and Kavitskaya, Darya|publisher=Linguistic Society of America|url=https://www.linguisticsociety.org/sites/default/files/Iskarous&Kavitskaya.pdf}}
• {{IPA|/n, nʲ, l, r, rʲ/}} are alveolar {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|n}}, nʲ, {{IPAplink|l}}, {{IPAplink|r}}, rʲ]}}, whereas {{IPA|/t, d, t͡s, s, z/}} are dental {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|t̪}}, {{IPAplink|d̪}}, {{IPAplink|t̪͡s̪}}, {{IPAplink|s̪}}, {{IPAplink|z̪}}]}}.{{sfnp|Stone|2002|p=605}}
• {{IPA|/t͡ʃ, ʃ, ʒ/}} have been variously transcribed with {{angbr IPA|t͡ʃ, ʃ, ʒ}}{{sfnp|Hannusch|1998}}{{sfnp|Stone|2002}} and {{angbr IPA|t͡ʂ, ʂ, ʐ}}.{{sfnp|Zygis|2003}} Their actual phonetic realization is flat postalveolar {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|t͡ʂ|t͡ʃ˖}}, {{IPAplink|ʂ|ʃ˖}}, {{IPAplink|ʐ|ʒ˖}}]}}This transcription follows {{Harvcoltxt|Laver|1994|pp=251–252}}. Other scholars may transcribe these sounds differently. in all of the Lower Sorbian-speaking area. This is unlike in standard Upper Sorbian, where these are palato-alveolar {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|t͡ʃ}}, {{IPAplink|ʃ}}, {{IPAplink|ʒ}}]}}.{{sfnp|Zygis|2003|pp=180–181, 190–191}}{{sfnp|Schuster-Šewc|1984|pp=40–41}}

Lower Sorbian has both final devoicing and regressive voicing assimilation:{{sfnp|Hannusch|1998|p=12}}

• dub {{IPA|/dub/}} "oak" is pronounced {{IPA|[dup]}}
• susedka {{IPA|/ˈsusedka/}} "(female) neighbor" is pronounced {{IPA|[ˈsusetka]}}
• licba {{IPA|/ˈlit͡sba/}} "number" is pronounced {{IPA|[ˈlʲid͡zba]}}

The hard postalveolar fricative {{IPA|/ʃ/}} is assimilated to {{IPA|[ɕ]}} before {{IPA|/t͡ɕ/}}:{{sfnp|Hannusch|1998|p=13}}

• šćit {{IPA|/ʃt͡ɕit/}} "protection" is pronounced {{IPA|[ɕt͡ɕit]}}

The vowel inventory of Lower Sorbian is exactly the same as that of Upper Sorbian.{{sfnp|Stone|2002|p=600}} It is also very similar to the vowel inventory of Slovene.

• {{IPA|/i/}} is retracted to {{IPA|[ɨ]}} after hard consonants.
• {{IPA|/e, o/}} are diphthongized to {{IPA|[i̯ɛ, u̯ɔ]}} in slow speech.{{sfnp|Stone|2002|p=600}}
• The {{IPA|/e–ɛ/}} and {{IPA|/o–ɔ/}} distinctions are weakened or lost in unstressed syllables.{{sfnp|Stone|2002|pp=606–607}}
• {{IPA|/a/}} is phonetically central {{IPAblink|ä}}.{{sfnp|Stone|2002|p=600}}

Stress in Lower Sorbian normally falls on the first syllable of the word:{{sfnp|Hannusch|1998|p=14}}

• {{lang|dsb|Łužyca}} {{IPA|[ˈwuʒɨt͡sa]}} "Lusatia"
• {{lang|dsb|pśijaśel}} {{IPA|[ˈpɕijaɕɛl]}} "friend"
• {{lang|dsb|Chóśebuz}} {{IPA|[ˈxɨɕɛbus]}} "Cottbus"

In loanwords, stress may fall on any of the last three syllables:{{sfnp|Hannusch|1998|p=14}}

• {{lang|dsb|internat}} {{IPA|[intɛrˈnat]}} "boarding school"
• {{lang|dsb|kontrola}} {{IPA|[kɔnˈtrɔla]}} "control"
• {{lang|dsb|september}} {{IPA|[sɛpˈtɛmbɛr]}} "September"
• {{lang|dsb|policija}} {{IPA|[pɔˈlʲit͡sija]}} "police"
• {{lang|dsb|organizacija}} {{IPA|[ɔrɡanʲiˈzat͡sija]}} "organization"

Most one-syllable prepositions attract the stress to themselves when they precede a noun or pronoun of one or two syllables:{{sfnp|Hannusch|1998|p=14}}

• {{lang|dsb|na dwórje}} {{IPA|[ˈna dwɨrʲɛ]}} "on the courtyard"
• {{lang|dsb|pśi mnjo}} {{IPA|[ˈpɕi mnʲɔ]}} "near me"
• {{lang|dsb|do města}} {{IPA|[ˈdɔ mʲɛsta]}} "into the city" (the {{IPA|[iɪ̯]}} of {{lang|dsb|město}} {{IPA|[ˈmʲiɪ̯stɔ]}} becomes {{IPA|[ɛ]}} when unstressed)

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

• {{lang|dsb|pśed wucabnikom}} {{IPA|[pɕɛd ˈut͡sabnʲikɔm]}} "in front of the teacher"
• {{lang|dsb|na drogowanju}} {{IPA|[na ˈdrɔɡowanʲu]}} "on a journey"

{{Expand section|date=August 2024}}

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

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

{{lang|dsb|Wšykne luźe su lichotne roźone a jadnake po dostojnosći a pšawach. Woni maju rozym a wědobnosć a maju ze sobu w duchu bratšojstwa wobchadaś.}}

(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.)[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/sorbian.htm Omniglot]

• Upper Sorbian language

{{reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{citation|last=Hannusch|first=Erwin|title=Niedersorbisch praktisch und verständlich

|year=1998|publisher=Domowina-Verlag|place=Bautzen|isbn=3-7420-1667-9}}

• {{citation|last=Howson|first=Phil|year=2017|title=Foreign language acquisition of perceptually similar segments: evidence from Lower Sorbian|url=https://open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/3-56|journal=Open Research Europe|volume=3 |page=56 |doi=10.12688/openreseurope.14895.2|doi-access=free |pmid=38532923 |pmc=10964000}}
• {{citation|last=Laver|first=John|title=Principles of Phonetics|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1994|isbn=0-521-45655-X}}
• {{citation|last=Schuster-Šewc|first=Heinz|author-link=Heinz Schuster-Šewc |year=1984|title=Gramatika hornjoserbskeje rěče|place=Budyšin|publisher=Ludowe nakładnistwo Domowina}}
• {{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

|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415280785}}

• {{citation|last=Zygis|first=Marzena|year=2003|title=Phonetic and Phonological Aspects of Slavic Sibilant Fricatives|journal=ZAS Papers in Linguistics|volume=3

|pages=175–213|doi=10.21248/zaspil.32.2003.191|url=http://www.zas.gwz-berlin.de/fileadmin/material/ZASPiL_Volltexte/zp32/zaspil32-zygis.pdf|access-date=2015-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011125931/http://www.zas.gwz-berlin.de/fileadmin/material/ZASPiL_Volltexte/zp32/zaspil32-zygis.pdf|archive-date=2017-10-11|url-status=dead}}

{{refend}}

{{InterWiki|code=dsb|prefix=Wp}}

{{wiktionary category}}

{{wikibooks|Lower Sorbian}}

• [https://sprachkurs.sorbischlernen.de/#/welcome Online course for Lower and Upper Sorbian] (English, Sorbian, German)
• [http://www.rbb-online.de/radio/sorbisches_programm/sorbisches_programm.html Dolnoserbski radio program] (RealAudio) {{in lang|de|dsb}}
• [http://wold.clld.org/vocabulary/10 Lower Sorbian Vocabulary List] (from the World Loanword Database)
• [https://doreco.huma-num.fr/languages/lowe1385 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.

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20161004132431/http://slovnik.vancl.eu/indexDLS2.php Slovník DolnoLužická Srbština <=> Čeština] {{in lang|cs|dsb}}

• [http://www.dolnoserbski.de/dnw/ Deutsch-Niedersorbisches Wörterbuch] at dolnoserbski.de {{in lang|de|dsb}}
• [http://genie.coli.uni-saarland.de/ Korpus GENIE – GEsprochenes NIEdersorbisch/Wendisch] {{in lang|de|dsb}}

• [http://dolnoserbski.de/ndw/ Dolnoserbsko-nimske słowniki] at dolnoserbski.de] {{in lang|de|dsb}}
• [https://sorb.philol.uni-leipzig.de/de/studium/materialien/lexikalische-uebungen-und-terminologie/ Lexikalische Übungen und Terminologie] at the Universität Leipzig {{in lang|de|dsb}}

{{Languages of Germany}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lower Sorbian Language}}

Category:Endangered Slavic languages

Sorbian, Lower

Category:Sorbian languages

Sorbian, Lower

Category:Slavic languages written in Latin script