Grzegorz Jagodziński

The Sorbian languages

Who enabled the rise of this page was Sonja Wölke. She both offered me information on Sorbian languages, and was so kind to make me scans of materials from the manual of the Lower Sorbian language:

Erwin Hannusch, Niedersorbisch praktisch und verständlich,

which is possible to purchase here. The examples below come from this manual.

Lower Sorbian – dolnoserbski

The Lower Sorbian alphabet

A	B	C	Č	Ć	D	E	Ě	F
a	bej	cej	čet	ćej	dej	ej	ět	ef

G	H	I	J	K	Ł	L	M
gej	ha	i	jot	ka	eł	el	em

N	Ń	O	(Ó)	P	R	Ŕ	S	Š
en	ejn	o	—	pej	er	ejŕ	es	eš

Ś	T	U	W	Y	Z	Ž	Ź
śej	tej	u	wej	y	zet	žet	źej

Remarks:

The inverse order of the letters Ł and L (cf. Polish) is not an error – all available sources give such an order.
The letter Ó is not a letter of the alphabet, and words which contain it are treated in dictionaries as if they were written with simple O, see also below.
After the letter H the CH (cha) digraph occurs in the official alphabet, however ch is treated as a combination of two separate letters in newer dictionaries.
The DŹ digraph, following the D letter, is sometimes counted as the separate letter of the alphabet, on the similar principle.

Examples	Rules of pronunciation
biś, bibuš, biblija, běły, bědny, zaběgnuś, bjachaŕ, njebjo, sebje, mica, miły, mimo, měch, měso, měriś, mjenaś, smjerś, mjasec, łamjo, drěmju, rigotaś, ricaś, burik, rěd, rědny, krě, rjagotaś, rjeśaz, mórjo, źerjo se, wórju	In the Lower Sorbian language, hard and soft pronunciation of consonants occurs. Soft pronunciation of b, m, p, r is obligatory before i, j, ě.
baba, baran, bedło, bubon, byk, beton, słaby, Błota, zbadaś, brožnja, mama, mazaś, mech, mešk, mokšy, mucha, mucny, mysliś, zmysł, sam, bom, rada, wěra, rozym, ruka, ryba, rora, murka, nerka, měr, cukor, zraniś, Bramborska	Besides, hard pronunciation occurs. The hard r is pronounced as tongued [r] or uvular [ʀ].
figa, fidle, filowaś, telegrafěrowaś, felowaś, fejfa, na reliefje, pśi šefje, fjord, ginuś, gižla, nogi, rogi, agěrowaś, gerc, gelń, nage, gjarnc, gjarsć, gjagaś, kisały, kiwaś, měki, šokěrowaś, blokěrowaś, keluch, słodke, kjarl, kjarchob, lipa, list, Lipsk, liniś, lěgwo, lěwy, lětaś, lěpšy, leluja, leja, lenuś, lemjaz	The consonants f, g, k, l stay soft before i, j, ě, e,
faraŕ, fora, futrowaś, fyštaś, flaša, fromny, fryjny, girafa, telefon, relief, gano, gasa, Gogolow, guska, gusor, gyžaś, gluka, głodny, groniś, gnaś, glicka, kazaś, kamušk, kokot, skokaś, kusack, dobytk, kušk, krowa, knakotaś, zamknuś, lampa, lan, lažaś, lod, lom, balo, lud, luby, kowalnja, wugel, lylowy, lymjel	Examples of hard pronunciation.
how, holiś, Hochoza, hupa, hupac, Hus, hamaś, hapa, Hažow, hyś, hytška, hynźi	The letter h is mute (denotes no sound) before u, o, rarely before a, y, never before e.
hela, heblik, hendryški	The letter h denotes the voiceless weak [ʰ] before e.
hamaś, hapa, Hažow, hyś, hytška, hynźi, how, Hus	The same pronunciation can also occur in some other words
cakaś, Cazow, cesaś, cowaś, Fryco, cuś, rucka, noc, wěc, cło	The letters c, č, d, dz, dž, s, š, t, tš, z, ž denote only hard consonants; the counterpart of Polish cz is often Lower Sorbian c.
čaj, čajnik, česki, češćina, rědnučki, měkučki, małučko, lažčej, śěžčejšy, tšawa, tšadaś, tšocha, tšubiś, tšnarl, wutšoba, hytška, kmótša, bratš, wětš, Pětš, šantk, šery, šorca, šuflity, šyja, škóda, štapiś, šmara, lušt, póšk, ptašk, bibuš, ruš, suš	The letters č, tš are both pronounced like Polish cz (tš occurs where tr is in Polish), similarly dž, š, ž are pronounced like Polish dż, sz, ż.
sćena, sćina, šćitaś, šćuwaś, lubosć, zawěsće, pušćiś, źowćo, lězć, dosć, błyšć, tśasaś, tśapaś, tśeńtśliś, tśeśi, tśi, tśikotaś, tśo, tśuko, tśěsć, bratśik, batśo, nutś, śamny, śěsto, śele, śicho, śopło, w lěśu, śma, śpa, znaś, maś, sněś, braś	The letters ć, dź, ś, ź are pronounced similarly as in Polish, besides tś has the same pronunciation as ć.
śicho – sćicha, śele – sćelna	The sound ś is the counterpart of Polish ć; however ć remains after a consonant, hence alternations.
łdza [ʒa], w mězdze, na rozdze, łdža [ǯa], łdžo, rdžaś, rdžyny, džungel, džunka, Džamila, rozdźěliś, zdźarâś, zdźěliś, rozdźěra, na gryzdźe, droždźeje, Drježdźany	The clusters dz, dž, dź denote consonants [ʒ, ǯ, ʒ́], the same as Polish dz, dż, dź.
[χ]: chachaś, chamny, chopiś, chudy, chytaś, chmuriś, mech, dych, brjuch, pcha [ç]: nicht, mnich, zapalich, něcht, měch, grěch, ruprajcht, šlajchtny, leśech	Ch denotes two different sounds, similarily as in German. The most frequent pronunciation is [χ]. When ch ends a syllable after i, j, ě, it is read [ç]; the same pronunciation is also obligatory in the aorist endings -ech, -echu. In borrowings the digraph ch is read, as a rule, like in their German renderings.
	The letter e denotes 4, and even 5 sounds:
rež, žeden, weto, dep, cepy, terpik, seno, deno, mech, knecht, zdechnuś	— [æ] between two hard consonants (pronunciation is wider than in Polish);
derje, mjenaś, wobjed, šeriś, semje, zele, pyrje, źe, nješyk, wjedro, pjerje	— open [ɛ], similar to the Polish one, between two consonants, one of which is soft and the other is hard, or word-finally after a soft consonant;
crjej, dej, mej, smej, sejźeś, cejźiś, pśejś, nejjasnjej, zemja, zemski, zemjan, reja [rɛja] ~ [reja]	— the half–close [e] before j in a close syllable and in the word zemja and its derivatives, variantly also before j in an open syllable;
jeleń, rjemjeń, mjeńšy, pjenjeze, młoźeńc, paprjeńc, pjepjeŕ, njerěch, njewjesta	— the close [ë] between soft consonants;
motorske, tśěsate, sněgowanje, sudobje, telikerake, wětšowate, literatura	— reduced [ə] in an unstressed syllable in fast speech (such a pronunciation is not considered correct).
	The letter ě denotes:
něga, lěwy, rědny, měki, jěza, sćěna, śěgnuś, stśěliś, źěłaś, pěsk, wězaś, źěk	— the strongly closed [ě] in a stressed (first) syllable, a half–high vowel, intermediate between e and i, pronounced with lips easily pulled away;
naběły, sněgběły, naběg, žywjenjoběg, narěcny, wěcejrěcny	— in compound words and after prefixes, instead of [ě] appears [ɛ] in fast speech and dialects;
měj!, rozměj!, mrěju, natrěj!, njezaprěj!, trějałko, pjerjedrějarnica, plějański	— the half–closed long [e] before j;
źiśi, spiwaś, gniwaś, źinsa, nimski, źiśelc, źiśelina	— in a few words the original ě changed into i, which is noted in spelling.
	The letter j denotes:
jabłuko, jeleń, jebaś, jěsno, jěza, jo, jopka, jucha, juskaju, Juroju, sajźaś, zajtša, najsy, sejm, dejm, złoźej, gnoj, dojś, domoj, bujka, dłujki, rozuj, ryjny, fryjny, myjnica, měj!, rozgrěj se!, njezatrěj, jajo, daju, stoje	— the consonant [j] ([i̯]) word-initially, after a vowel and between vowels;
pij!, gymnazij, kij	— the group ij is pronounced as long [i:];
njamam, njerěch, njok, na nju, murja, derje, wrjos, z twarju, mjasec, mjod, łamju, wjacor, wjedro, na cerwju	— palatalization of the preceding consonant n, r, m, w before a vowel different than i, ě;
bjakaś, bjeru, njebjo, rubju, pjas, pjerje, dłypjo, sypju, gjagaś, gjardy, kjarchob, kjarcma, kjarliž	— palatalization of the preceding consonant b, p, d, g, k and the weak element [ʲ] before a vowel.
kał, wałma, pałka, zgełko, spjełko, pśišeł, běłk, měłki, grěł, piłka, stśiłka, kupił, doł, połny, žołty, śěgnuł, rubnuł, stanuł, žyłka, tył, zabył, łapiś, łacny, łamaś, kisałe, śopłe, łopata, łoni, łykaś, gniły, słowo, tła, tłocyś	The letter ł denotes the bilabial consonant [w] ([u̯]), just like in Polish.
łžyca, łžycka, łdza, łdža, sekł, pjakł, kwitł, pśedł, mjatł, rosł	The letter ł is mute word-initially before a consonant and word-finally after a consonant.
	The letter n denotes:
nana, naš, ned, knecht, nos, noga, nuza, nužliś, nykata, Nysa, snaź, znowa, lan	— hard [n] in the majority of positions;
niski, nic, nichten, něchten, něco, něga, njamam, donjasć, pjenjeze, njok, na nju	— soft [n′] before i, j, ě;
kanka, wanka, bengel, denko, wingel, špingel, zagonk, škobrjonk, tunk, kunkac	— [ŋ] before k, g.
	The letter ń denotes:
mań, dań, seń se!, źeń, kamjeń, pěseń, toń, dłoń, tuń, suń!, gropyń, kazń, pśijazń	— soft [n′];
śańki, sańki, bańka, pjeńk, zachopjeńk, brjeńkaś, źeńk, pěseńka, zeleńk, grjebjeńk	— soft [ŋ′] before k, g.
	The letter o denotes:
togodla, kokot, torta, kosty, som, blido, słoma, złoto, teliko, dno, mloko, seno	— open [ɔ];
row, schow, how, Wětošow, rowny, šołta, žołty, połny, doł, połtera, stoł, sowa, znowa, w rowje, schowaś, toboła, koło, wokoło, do doła, stoły	— closed [o] before ł, w.
	The ó letter was introduced with a resolution of the Lower Sorbian Linguistic Committee in 1995 as an optional, auxiliary spelling sign in learning materials. The letter ó means the sound which is still pronounced as closed [ó], but today most frequently as:
sobóta, komóra, sromóta, somót, skobódny, pomóc, góla, móliś, zamóliś, dozamóliś, chóry, póchóry, zbórk, do zbórka, pó góli, wó bratša, pósec, póběliś, wóśeliś se	— [ɛ] or [y] (i.e. like Polish e or y);
wójna, wójca, wójnik, gójc, chójca, chójna, mój, swój, pójź!	— [e] before j;
bójaś se, wójowaś, wójo, mójogodla, swójorazny	— [e] or [ɛ] in an open syllable.
keŕ, źěłaśeŕ, pjepjeŕ, pjakaŕ, talaŕ, grajaŕ, twaŕ, šyŕ, twóŕ, spaŕ, měŕ!, bjeŕśo!, wěŕmy!	The letter ŕ denotes soft [r′]
	The letter w denotes:
sławny, dawno, pšawda, cewka, wusew, zewšym, glěwki, slěwka, wobotrěwko, kśiwda, piwnica, źiwny, row, Wětošow, rownina, žywnosć, zešywk, pśikšyw	— bilabial [w] ([u̯]) after a vowel in a closed syllable (here w = ł);
wariś, wažyś, barwa, wence, weto, weš, wóda, wócy, zawónoźeś, wy, wyrkaś	— bilabial [w] ([u̯]) before a, e, ó, y;
wokable [u̯ɔkablɛ], wokatiw, wulkan, wulkaniz(ěr)owaś, wulfenit	— bilabial [w] ([u̯]) in borrowings;
wina, wiźeś, w cerkwi, wěźeś, wěra, dwě, wjedro, strowje, wjacor, pśi cerwju	— bilabial softened [w′] ([u̯′]) before i, ě, j;
wucho, wuchac, wutšoba, wucyś, wuspěch, wusta, wugel, wużiś, woko, wogeń, wobej, woběg, wobgranicowaś, wokno, wochlica, wótwucyś, zwucowaś, wuwucowaś, wobwuski, wótwobalaś, zwoblekaś	— weak [ʰ] or no sound before u, o word-initially or after a prefix;
wlac, wliw, wrjaskaś, wrobel, wrota, wšak, wšykno, wześ, włos, wšaty, wzdaś	— no sound word-initially before a consonant.

The other letters (a, i, u, y) are pronounced like in Polish.

The stress is on the first syllable.

Upper Sorbian – hornjoserbski

The Upper Sorbian alphabet

A	B	C	Č	Ć	D	DŹ	E	Ě
a	bej	cej	čej	ćet	dej	dźej	e	ět

F	G	H	CH	I	J	K	Ł	L
ef	gej	ha	cha	i	jot	ka	eł	el

M	N	Ń	O	Ó	P	(Q)	R	Ř
em	en	ejn	o	ót	pej	ku	er	erš

S	Š	T	U	W	(X)	Y	Z	Ž
es	eš	tej	u	wej	iks	y	zet	žet

Remark: a new proposal is presented here; the following order has been used so far:, (see e.g. here):
a, b, c, č, d, dź, e, ě, f, g, h, ch, i, j, k, ł, l, m, n, ń, o, ó, p, [q], r, ř, s, š, t, ć, u, [v], w, [x], y, z, ž.

Sorbian links

Remark: you will find a number of links to pages on the Sorbian languages here.