Upper Lusatian dialect

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Upper Lusatian

Spoken in

Saxony
Linguistic
classification

The Upper Lusatian dialect is spoken in the south of Upper Lusatia . It belongs to the East Central German dialects , more precisely classified to the Lausitz dialect group.

Audio sample

history

sign
Central German dialects after 1945 including the Upper Lusatian or Silesian-Lusatian dialect
Map of dialect areas Upper Lusatia (the Upper Lusatian dialect is referred to here as South Lusatian )

It is very difficult to determine the exact origin and relationship of this dialect. It is assumed that this form of the dialect comes from Frankish , Hessian and Thuringian settlers who settled in this region. The German settlement of the area between Pulsnitz in the west and Queis in the east, between the Czech population in the south and the Sorbian population in the north, took place at the time when Upper Lusatia belonged to the Bohemian crown . The border between Kursachsen (Meißen) and Upper Lusatia was the state border until 1635. The linguistic influence from the west was slowed down. The economic, cultural and linguistic contacts of the Upper Lusatians were oriented towards Bohemia and Silesia , the latter also belonging to Prague. An Upper Lusatian-Silesian linguistic area developed within the domain of the Bohemian king through trade and traffic. A specific delimitation of the language regions is hardly possible. On the basis of old literature on the topic of dialect , however, it is easy to understand how a gradual merging takes place. German-Bohemian linguists also assign the North Bohemian dialect, which was spoken by the German-speaking population between Tetschen-Bodenbach and Reichenberg , to Upper Lusatian. Until 1945 the East Lusatian region swung across the historic border on the Queis between the Margraviate of Upper Lusatia and the Duchy of Silesia as far as Bunzlau . The Middle Silesian dialect is only used from Liegnitz onwards .

distribution

Today's dialect area is roughly south along an imaginary line between Bischofswerda and Zittau and is almost congruent with the East Saxon natural areas of Oberlausitzer Bergland and Zittauer Gebirge . In the north and north-west the dialect gradually changes into the West, New and East Lusatian dialect, in the south and south-west the dialect area is bounded by the state border with the Czech Republic , in the east along the Neisse by the state border with Poland .

description

Classification and demarcation

Despite the location of today's dialect area in the Free State of Saxony, the Upper Lusatian dialect does not belong to the Upper Saxon dialect group , but rather belongs to the chain of Saxon mountain dialects such as B. the Erzgebirge a, especially a proximity to the Eastern Erzgebirge dialect is recognizable. There is, however, a greater historical proximity to the dialects previously spoken further east and south by the Germans in Bohemia, North Bohemian and Mountain Silesian or Silesian . In the broadest sense, the dialect can also be described as one of the few remaining Sudeten dialects. There is, however, a certain similarity to the Upper Saxon dialects, especially in the area of ​​vowel shifts.

general characteristics

The most outstanding features of the Upper Lusatian dialect are:

  • the retroflex "American" sounding R [⁠ ɻ ⁠]
  • the voiced alveolar L [⁠ ʟ ⁠]
  • various repetitive sound shifts, especially in the area of ​​vowels
  • the not softened pronunciation of the voiceless plosives K, P and T, as in Upper Saxon, but breathless
  • the strong blurring of endings and particles (e.g. hierscht'se (do you hear them) or hoab'ch's'n (I have it for him) )
  • the existence of terms that are completely different from the standard language (often borrowed from neighboring Slavic languages)

A few common rules can be found in word formation:

  • Nouns for -heit and -ung end in -che: Achtche, Bescherche, Begabche, Kleedche
  • Adjectives ending in -ig or -lig end in -ch or -lch: imbänd'ch (powerful, very); meal (floury)
  • Words in -rich end in -erch: Heinerch (Heinrich)

Noticing particularly the frequently occurring particles are also nu or no to yes and OACK or ock for yet or only , merely .

In the summation of these features, the Upper Lusatian dialect in its pure form is almost incomprehensible for speakers of High German, in contrast to most of the Saxon and the other Lusatian dialects.

Sound shifts

A recurring feature are various sound shifts, especially in the area of ​​vowels and diphthongs, almost none of which is pronounced exactly as in standard High German. Although these shifts are recurring, they are not always applied to all words. Typical examples are:

  • long E becomes long A (e.g. gaan for give , sahn for see )
  • long E (z. B. in other cases too long I giehn for go , Schnie for snow )
  • long A becomes long O (e.g. schloofn for sleep , Moolr for painter )
  • long how short O often becomes U (e.g. Ufn (long) for oven , Ustn (short) for east )
  • long U often becomes short U (e.g. foot by foot )
  • with other words, O and U are lengthened (e.g. Buusch for Busch (forest), Froosch for frog ), only in the southernmost region with a particularly pronounced dialect
  • long how short do Ö and Ü become I (e.g. Klassl for dumplings , Fisse for feet )
  • AU becomes a long O or E (e.g. roochn for smoking , keefm or koofm for buying )
  • EI often becomes a long E (e.g. Meester for Meister )

Special terms

The dialect is rich in Slavic, but also a few French loanwords (marked with * or ° in the following table). These originate on the one hand from the long period of coexistence with the Sorbs and Czechs , on the other hand from the presence of French troops during the Napoleonic Wars and the "salon language" of the urban bourgeoisie.

The following table gives an overview of special terms in the Upper Lusatian dialect that cannot be easily deduced from High German.

Upper Lusatian dialect Standard German / meaning
But * Potatoes (earth pears)
Muck * Mashed potatoes
bilking to cough
beusln laboriously to handle
braaschn chatter
Buhsch Forest
Borsch * Forest, forest; see. sorb. Baršć or ...- Boršć in place names
Cunnerschdurfer Schissn Folk festival in Niedercunnersdorf
then you this
derheeme at home
I hoa's'n fat! I'm sick!
dreeschn rain
dréschern ° ("dr" is spoken as a separate syllable) get excited ( get excited )
Fire station Food sweeper or chimney sweep
Gierschdurfer Schissn Jacobi market in Neugersdorf; Folk festival in Neugersdorf
Haarch herring
huh hurt
Hitschl * small stool, sorb hečka
Hietroibratl (Carrying board) = tray
Hoader * Cleaning cloth
Huntschl * Piglet, sorb. hunčo
Huschl * Goose, sorb. huso
Huxt wedding
hurcht oack amol har listen here
itze now
that day yesterday
kraajgln to walk awkwardly
Kraatschn * Krug / Schänke (Sorb. Korčma , Tsch . Krčma , Germanized " Kretscham ")
Kummt oack rei! Come on in!
loaber ne rim (as much as) don't gossip
Bitch ... (negative prefix)
... a dr Mache hoann be busy with ...
murne tomorrow
afterwards last night
noaatschn cry, cry
noar, nu werr, nu woahr Right ?, right?
Nubber Neighbor
Nuckl * Rabbit, sorb. nucl
Nu / No! * Consent, confirmation (yes) czech ano
O also
Plauze * Lungs, including abdomen; sorb. płuca (lung)
Roabers wheelbarrow
Roaziehgloas (Ranziehglas) = ​​binoculars
satz'ch oack here sit down
Seeger * Uhr, Polish zegar
Teichlmauke Mashed potatoes with broth
Toalke unsuccessful work (originally: badly baked bread)
Uhrn Ears
Cattle cup Path on which the cattle were driven to pasture
Wirtln * incessantly working around, sorb. so wjerćeć - to turn
Waajg path
tug quarrel
Zulker Braid
Oack ne jechn Always with Tranquillity

A few winged words are also typical of the Upper Lusatian dialect:

Upper Lusatian Standard German / meaning
Dar stoand do like the cows have nine doors. He stood there like the cow in front of the new gate.
Dar wants to flickn mer woaas to witness. He wants to do something unpleasant to me.
Dr Deifl greets the heap. The devil shits big piles.
I was the same halfm! I'll help you in a moment! (sarcastically)
Oack no jechn! Always with Tranquillity!; literally: just don't hunt!
Woas sull oack warn? What should be?
Zevill and zewing is a thing. Too much and too little result in the same thing.

You can see great similarities with Silesian from the words below.

Upper Lusatian Silesian Standard German / meaning
gokln coke ignite
Gusha Gusha mouth
Kließe Klassla Dumplings
Kraatschn Kretscham (for guest house)
loaf babble babble (talk stupid)
Lurke Lorke thin coffee
Loatschn Lotschen Slippers (slippers)
Maajgl Madla / Madla girl
oack ocke just, just; but
Ploatsch Plot (Fool)
Hitsche Ritsche stool
seechn six (urinating)
Tippl Teppla, Tippla small pot (cup)
Dip Dip sauce

Geographical terms and place names

Practically all field and place names that can be found on official maps have a different counterpart in Upper Lusatian dialect. Above all, the above-mentioned sound shifts are used, but various terms differ so much that they are almost completely inconclusive for a stranger.

Upper Lusatian Official high German name
Aberschbuch Ebersbach / Sa.
Complain, push Bischofswerda
Bolzns Pulsnitz
Burgschdurf Langburkersdorf
Burke Burkau
Butsche Putzkau
Crust Crostau
Draasn Dresden
yew Eibau
Gierschdurf Neugersdorf
Greeting rail Großschönau
Guneweale Cunewalde
Heenewaale Hainewalde
Hennerschdurf Seifhennersdorf
Hoarde Großharthau
Hurke Horka
cherry Kirschau
Kupper Kottmar
Tasterschdurf Leutersdorf
love Löbau
Neungirch Neukirch
Rihrschdurf, Gaage Großröhrsdorf
Ringhoin Ring Grove
Schimmch Schönbach
Referee whales Schirgiswalde
custom Zittau
Deaf mheem Pigeon home
Träbchn Tröbigau
Uppch Oppach
Waalerschdurf Waltersdorf
Weefe Weifa
Throw away Wehrsdorf
Wunsdurf, Wumpe Steinigtwolmsdorf
Wurbs Wurbis (Crostau)

The Czech villages located directly behind the German border are also still known by their associated dialect names in the neighboring towns on the German side.

Czech German Upper Lusatian
Šluknov Schluckenau Sip
Rožany Rosenhain Rusnhone
Lipová Hainspach Hohnschpuch
Severní Hilgersdorf Hilgerschdurf

Text example: De richtian pronouncements

“I got amol enner, woas connoisseur from dr Äberlausitz woar. Dar ruffled Äberlausitzsch woas viertroin, and I sullt'n waaigen the words over. I say: “Well, do it!” And a started oa. But I had a tongue in cheek and could be Schmeckelappel ne, as I heard it, on mouths withered. In the middle kloang oalls su troige. 's woar kee Soaft hinne. “Halt!” Soite I, “woart amol! Do not make a mistake a few beliefs about it. Soit amol: 'Rhoaboarber'! "Nur soite jerr:" Rhubarb. "

“No, there is a connoisseur that Äberlausitz has grown. But it's moag amol good senn in the middle. Do hoa'ch you nu woas written on. I was like you four; doas last'r derno anooch: A Rupperschdurf, do de Riepel Riesler-Reinhulds Runkelriebm tore out, and a Reinsch-Richard ruten Rampler-Rusen-tendrils ruffled the Räkel o noa droa rim! "

Nu loas dar'sch. But dos woar goar ne, oas if the Rupperschdurfer Riepel had been gone. “No”, soite I, “this sounds like no. It's pale from dr Soaft. Nu last mer amol doas four, woas'ch do written on it, hoa:

'Lucke-Lobel, Lurenz-Laberecht and Liebschersch-Lui a Leckerschdurf gihn a quiet loader and let grow long, long loden!' "

Nu loas dar'sch vern Blaatel oab, how it is done by men, that Zschitzewitz is. - “That's fine, but I miss the weather. Soit amol 'Wojn'! "-" Woahn. "Iech shook my head and said:" Nu soit amol de Mehrzoahl 'Waajne'! "-" Waahne. "-" Let it be good! Your Waajne is braised! Speak amol 'Abernkoallchel'! "-" Abernkäuchel. "-" No, no! "

Satt'r, do woar amol enner, dar is vill Yours in America. How a na twenty years heem came, no one misunderstood - ne amol was Bihms-Fernand's school friend. Do hot dar strangers soit, Bihms-Fernand sallen'n oack amol noa woase froin vu jesfahrten. Bihms-Fernanden shot a bloat, and a meente: "Soit amol 'Abernkoallchel'!" And do soite dar stranger, true to nature, "Abernkoallchel". Thu fell'n Bihms-Fernand in the Hoals and meente very moved: “Anu gleeb'ch's! It's itze! "And nu soit you oalle amol" Abernkoallchel ". Be nice or be nice? Doublet is gone, no board. oageburn has to do it. "

- Herbert Andert : Rudolf Gärtner from Anne Fuhre Freede from dr Äberlausitz

Dialect care and poetry

Care of the dialect

Various associations, especially choral and theater associations, have been dedicated to cultivating the Upper Lusatian dialect and traditional folk art for decades. Examples are the folk choir Wehrsdorf , the amateur play groups from Sohland an der Spree , the folk play art Thalia Jonsdorf and the Rutkatl from Cunewalde as well as the Ebersbacher “Heedelirchen” and “Edelroller”. The clubs appear in public several times a year and present what they have learned.

Lately, books in the dialect have been increasingly written, which contain especially poems, sayings and anecdotes from the region.

Dialect poetry

Since the end of the 19th century, the dialect has been particularly cultivated on both sides of the German-Bohemian border and poems, sayings and even dramas were written in it. Johannes Andreas von Wagner (1833–1912), known as Johannes Renatus, was the first Upper Lusatian dialect author. With the high editions of his volumes "Allerlee aus dar Äberlausitz" he moved the Upper Lusatian dialect into the consciousness of literary circles. His stories from the village milieu, however, are not real dialect, neither in terms of their gestures nor their sentence structure, rather German jokes translated into dialect, for which the - viewed from a distance - the stupid Lusatian offered a worthwhile object. His work, however, prepared the literary field for a whole generation of prolific dialect authors (from "Bihm's Koarle", born in 1854, to Herbert Andert, born in 1910, see below). The majority of Upper Lusatian dialect literature appeared in the first three decades of the 20th century. It was then that vocal, traditional and acting troupes began to flourish and turned to the dialect. They received special support under National Socialism , when Lusatia was to be upgraded as a German “Grenzgau”. The signs have changed since the 1950s: Now it was above all the (previously suppressed) Sorbian culture and language that enjoyed state funding. The Upper Lusatian dialect, on the other hand, was not widely propagated, probably also because of the linguistic relationship to the Silesian expellees branded by the SED as " revanchists " .

While most of the writers listed below used the dialect, which is strange to outsiders, for satirical, weird or fluctuating representations, Herbert Andert tried to prove that a high-quality description of nature and mood poetry in dialect is also possible. In addition to his capacity as the author of numerous popular dialect songs, he was probably the most prominent scientific analyst of the Upper Lusatian dialect of his time. Hans Klecker (born 1948) is the best-known and most productive representative of a younger generation of writers, who also critically reflect on current events, political and social issues, fashion follies, etc. in their works. The diverse songs that express the love for the Lausitz homeland are also of particular importance.

Well-known Upper Lusatian dialect poet

Literature and Sources

Web links

Commons : Oberlausitzer Mundart  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Oberlausitzisch  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations