Last updated: 2020-03-21
Background
Language Family: Indo-European / Slavic / West / Sorbian
- Also referred to as Wendish or Upper Lusatian, it is spoken in eastern Germany and in areas bordering Poland and the Czech Republic.
Phonology
Consonants
- /ɡ/, /f/, and /v/ are typically found in loanwords (Howson 2017, 4).
- While Howson (2017) represents Upper Sorbian as having an /n~nʲ/ contrast (p. 3), Iskarous and Kavitskaya (2018) state that Upper Sorbian more accurately has an /n~ɲ/ contrast (p. 52). I have opted for Howson’s approach because it is more consistent with how the other palatalized sounds are represented.
- According to Brijnen (1994), there is some debate as to whether the Sorbian languages truly preserve the palatal-nonpalatal distinction (p. 66); the dialects of Sorbian vary in how they preserve the distinction.
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Place of Articulation
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Manner of Articulation
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Labial
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Alveolar
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Postalveolar
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Palatal
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Velar
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Uvular
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Glottal
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Stops (plain)
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p b
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t d
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k ɡ
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Stops (palatalized)
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pʲ bʲ
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Affricates
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ts
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tʃ dʒ
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Fricatives
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f v
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s z
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ʃ ʒ
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x
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h
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Nasals
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m mʲ
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n nʲ
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Trills
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ʀ ʀʲ
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Approximants
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w wʲ
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l
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j
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Note: For phonemes (without diacritis) that share a cell, those on the left are voiceless and those on the right are voiced. For phonemes with the diacritic (ʲ) that share a cell, those on the left are (voiced) plain and those on the right are (voiced) palatalized.
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Vowels
- Howson (2017) explains some uncertainty over the vowel system of Upper Sorbian, which has been described as having seven, eight, or ten vowels (p. 5).
- The main point of controversy is the phonemic status of /ɨ/, and whether it’s an allophone of /i/. Jentsch (1980; as cited in Brijnen 1994, 67) states that they are not in complementary distribution, and should be treated as separate phonemes.
- I have chosen to use the eight vowel system just as Howson (2017) does (pp. 5-6).
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Front
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Central
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Back
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High
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i
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ɨ
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u
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Near-High
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ɪ
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ʊ
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Mid
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e
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o
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Low
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a
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Alphabet
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Grapheme
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Phoneme
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a
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/a/
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b
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/b/
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c
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/ts/
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č
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/tʃ/
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ć
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/tʃ/
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d
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/d/
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e
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/e/
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ě
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/ɪ/
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f
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/f/
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g
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/ɡ/
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h
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/h/
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i
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/i/
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j
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/j/
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k
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/k/
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ł
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/w/
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l
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/l/
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m
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/m/
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n
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/n/
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ń
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/nʲ/
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o
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/o/
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ó
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/ʊ/
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p
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/p/
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r
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/ʀ/
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ř
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/ʃ/
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s
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/s/
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š
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/ʃ/
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t
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/t/
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u
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/u/
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v
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/v/
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w
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/w/
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y
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/ɨ/
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z
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/z/
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ž
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/ʒ/
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Digraph
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dź
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/dʒ/
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ch
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/x/
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bj
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/bʲ/
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pj
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/pʲ/
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mj
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/mʲ/
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nj
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/nʲ/
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wj
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/wʲ/
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rj
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/ʀʲ/
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Lenition Rules
- /ʀ/ and /ʀʲ/ are often realized as fricatives [ʁ] and [ʁʲ], respectively. Also, they are sometimes elided (Howson 2017, 4).
- /x/ is often realized as trill [ʀ̥] (ibid.).
Misc. Rules
- Both voiced and voiceless stops can be aspirated (Howson 2017, 4).
- Stress is realized as a higher pitch on the stressed syllable; syllables with secondary stress exhibit vowel lengthening (Howson 2017, 6–7).
- In word-final positions, palatal /nʲ/ is decomposed into [jn] [Howson (2017), p. 7].
- All consonants undergo palatalization preceding vowels /e/, /i/, and /ɪ/. However, Jocz (2013; as cited in Howson 2017, 7) states that this is an optional process, given that the contrast is neutralized. Based on this, I have chosen to transcribe the phonemic palatalized consonants only using the digraphs listed above (Howson 2017, 4).
- When palatalized, /t/ and /d/ are realized as affricates [tʃʲ] and [dʒʲ], respectively (Iskarous and Kavitskaya 2018, 52).
References
Brijnen, Helene. 1994. “On the Phonology of the Sorbian Dialect of Slepe.” Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics.
Howson, Phil. 2017. “Upper Sorbian.” Journal of the International Phonetic Association.
Iskarous, Khalil, and Darya Kavitskaya. 2018. “Sound Change and the Structure of Synchronic Variability.” Language.
Jentsch, H. 1980. Die Sorbische Mundart von Rodewitz /Spree. Bautzen: Domowina.
Jocz, Lechosław. 2013. “Studien Zum Obersorbischen Und Kaschubischen Konsonantismus Mit Einer Vergleichenden Analyse.” PhD thesis, Leipzig: The Institute for Sorbian, University of Leipzig.