Sorbian languages
The Sorbian languages (Upper Sorbian: serbska rěč, Lower Sorbian: serbska rěc) are the Upper Sorbian language and Lower Sorbian language, two closely related and partially mutually intelligible languages spoken by the Sorbs, a West Slavic ethno-cultural minority in the Lusatia region of Eastern Germany. They are classified under the West Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages and are therefore closely related to the other two West Slavic subgroups: Lechitic and Czech–Slovak. Historically, the languages have also been known as Wendish (named after the Wends, the earliest Slavic people in modern Poland and Germany) or Lusatian. Their collective ISO 639-2 code is wen.
| Sorbian | |
|---|---|
| serbšćina, serbsce (Upper Sorbian) serbšćina, serbski (Lower Sorbian) | |
| Ethnicity | Sorbs |
| Geographic distribution | Lusatia |
Native speakers | c. 20,000 |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European |
| Subdivisions |
|
| ISO 639-2 / 5 | wen |
| Glottolog | sorb1249 |
Sorbian is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010) | |
The two Sorbian languages, each having its own literary standard, are Upper Sorbian (hornjoserbsce), spoken by about 20,000–25,000 people in Saxony, and Lower Sorbian (dolnoserbski), spoken by about 7,000 people in Brandenburg. The area where the two languages are spoken is known as Lusatia (Łužica in Upper Sorbian, Łužyca in Lower Sorbian, or Lausitz in German).