WIA LANGUAGES PROJECT

[Day 24/221]

Hornjoserbšćina

Upper Sorbian | 상소르브어

“In the heart of Germany, a Slavic heart has been beating for 1,500 years”

A quiet revolution, 221 languages’ digital archive • We’re not saving languages. We’re moving memories to eternity.

“Mojej rěče, mojej lubej,
ty sy mój najdóršij skład”

[moy-ay RZHE-cheh, moy-ay LOO-bay, tih sih mohy nay-DOR-shee SKLAT]

“My language, my beloved,
you are my most precious treasure”

– Traditional Sorbian folk song

Every 14 days, a language falls silent forever. Yet in the small town of Budyšin (Bautzen) in Saxony, Germany, a language spoken by Slavic ancestors 1,500 years ago still lives and breathes at this very moment. Upper Sorbian, Hornjoserbšćina [horn-yo-SERB-shchee-nah]. A Slavic island in a Germanic sea. Today, we meet this miraculous story of survival.

Language Family – A Bridge Between Czech and Polish

Upper Sorbian belongs to the West Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family, occupying a fascinating linguistic position. While it’s grouped with its sibling Lower Sorbian in the Sorbian subgroup, Upper Sorbian exhibits remarkable closeness to Czech, particularly in phonology and vocabulary. Simultaneously, it shares features with the Lechitic languages—the group that includes Polish, Kashubian, and the extinct Polabian.

This unique position makes Upper Sorbian linguistically precious. Some scholars consider Sorbian a transitional language between Lechitic and non-Lechitic West Slavic languages. Heinz Schuster-Šewc argued that modern Sorbian represents what remains of an extensive Old Sorbian dialect area that once stretched from the Elbe and Saale rivers in the west to the Bober and Queis rivers in the east—a Slavic linguistic territory that has now shrunk to small pockets in Lusatia.

History – 1,500 Years: Where a Slavic Heart Beats

In the 6th century CE, Slavic peoples crossed the Elbe River. The land they settled, Łužica [WOOZH-ee-tsah] in Sorbian (Lausitz in German), remains the Sorbian homeland to this day. Divided into Upper Lusatia (primarily in Saxony) and Lower Lusatia (in Brandenburg), this region has witnessed the Sorbs maintaining their distinct language and culture for over a millennium.

The “Ostsiedlung” (eastern colonization) beginning in the 12th century brought waves of Germanic settlers from Flanders, Saxony, Thuringia, and Franconia. This migration initiated a slow but relentless pressure on the Sorbian language. Legal prohibitions followed: in 1293, Sorbian was banned in Berne castle courts; in 1327, in Zwickau and Leipzig; from 1424 onward, in Meissen. Many guilds accepted only German-speaking members.

Yet a miracle occurred. In the central areas of Upper Lusatia, particularly in Catholic rural regions, Sorbian not only survived but flourished. By the 17th century, over 300,000 people spoke Sorbian. The “Burger Eydt Wendisch” document, discovered in Budyšin and dating to 1532, stands as the oldest known Upper Sorbian written record—a testament to the language’s literary tradition spanning nearly 500 years.

The Nazi regime represented the darkest chapter. Sorbs were declared “Wendish-speaking Germans,” their very identity denied. In 1937, the Sorbian scholarly society Maćica Serbska was forcibly dissolved. The Nazis refused to recognize Sorbs as anything but Slavic-speaking Germans, implementing aggressive assimilation policies that reached their climax during World War II.

The post-war period brought renewed hope. In 1948, Sorbian rights were enshrined in the constitutions of Saxony and Brandenburg. The Foundation for the Sorbian People, established in 1991 and becoming an independent legal entity in 1998, now administers approximately €23.9 million annually to support Sorbian institutions, including the Sorbian National Ensemble, Domowina (the Sorbian national organization), the Sorbian Institute, the German-Sorbian Theatre, and the Sorbian museums in Bautzen and Cottbus.

Present Day – 20,000 Voices, Yet Hope Persists

As of 2025, approximately 20,000-25,000 people are estimated to speak Upper Sorbian. However, fewer than half use the language in daily communication. UNESCO recognizes Upper Sorbian as an endangered language, a classification that reflects the urgent challenges it faces.

The stronghold remains Budyšin (German: Bautzen) and its surrounding areas, particularly the village of Crostwitz (Chrósćicy [KHROS-chee-tsih]) and neighboring municipalities to its west. In this core area, Upper Sorbian remains the predominant vernacular in daily life. Here, bilingual German-Sorbian signage marks the streets, Sorbian is an official language alongside German, and children learn Sorbian in schools and daycare centers.

The linguistic situation is characterized by complete German-Sorbian bilingualism, though with a growing tendency toward German monolingualism. The domain of Upper Sorbian is significantly more limited than that of German. Language transmission occurs primarily among older community members, with younger generations facing challenges in acquiring full fluency.

Yet dedicated individuals refuse to surrender. The WITAJ project, launched in 1998 with just 14 children in a Cottbus-Sielow kindergarten, has grown to serve over 400 children across 19 kindergartens and WITAJ groups in Saxony and Brandenburg. Through play-based learning, young children acquire Sorbian naturally. The University of Leipzig’s Institute of Sorbian Studies—the only institution in Germany training Sorbian teachers and scholars (Sorabists)—offers undergraduate and Masters degrees in Sorbian. However, according to Domowina, a critical shortage of qualified teachers persists. Official 2016 data indicated that Saxony alone would need 99 new teachers by 2025 to maintain the current Sorbian school system.

Linguistic Treasures – Where Slavic Meets Germanic

Upper Sorbian’s position within West Slavic linguistics is fascinating. While closely related to Czech—sharing numerous phonological and lexical features—it also exhibits characteristics linking it to Polish and the Lechitic group. This dual affinity makes it a linguistic bridge, offering insights into the evolution and divergence of West Slavic languages.

“Hłós” [HWOHS] means voice, but it signifies far more than mere sound—it represents the identity inherited from ancestors, the continuation of cultural memory through speech. “Domizna” [doh-MEEZ-nah] translates as homeland, yet it encompasses not merely a geographic location but the spiritual territory where language and culture breathe as one. “Přeće” [PRZHE-cheh] means nevertheless, despite everything—a single word embodying the 1,500-year determination of the Sorbian people to persist.

One particularly notable feature distinguishes Upper Sorbian among Slavic languages: its uvular rhotic /R/, rare in the Slavic family and likely resulting from Germanic influence. The language maintains a complex seven-case system, intricate verbal conjugation patterns, and—remarkably—preserves the dual number (a grammatical number category for exactly two items), which has disappeared from most modern Slavic languages.

The language’s phonetic inventory includes sounds challenging for German speakers, while its grammatical complexity rivals that of Czech or Polish. Yet this very complexity carries within it the intellectual heritage of centuries, the subtle distinctions that allowed Sorbian speakers to describe their unique experience of the world.

WIA’s Promise – When Voice Becomes Digital Eternity

We don’t simply translate. We digitally preserve the records. In 2024, a groundbreaking development occurred. The Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS) in Dresden collaborated with the Foundation for the Sorbian People to develop an Upper Sorbian Speech-to-Text (STT) system—a practical tool for language preservation through speech technology.

Led by researcher Ivan Kraljevski and his team, this project represents a series of successive phases, each contributing to steady advancement in speech recognition modules and supporting tools. The voices of Upper Sorbian speakers are transformed into digital audio data, creating a permanently accessible archive. Elderly speakers’ oral histories, traditional songs, everyday conversations—all are recorded and preserved for eternity.

This digital archive enables future generations to hear their ancestors’ actual voices. A grandmother’s storytelling in Crostwitz village, the pronunciation of traditional blessings, the melodic cadence of Sorbian folk songs—these acoustic memories are no longer vulnerable to the passage of time.

In 2023, Microsoft Translator added Lower Sorbian to its supported languages, following earlier integration of Upper Sorbian elements. Now, Sorbian can be translated to and from over 100 languages. Beate Brězan [BAY-ah-teh BRZHE-zhahn], Head of the WITAJ Language Centre, states: “The addition of Lower Sorbian to Microsoft Translator is a valuable contribution to the preservation of our cultural identity. The ability to translate between Sorbian and more than 100 languages enables our speech community to write in our own language and be understood by others, and vice-versa.”

WIA collaborates with the Sorbian Institute, Domowina, and the WITAJ Language Centre to build a comprehensive digital archive of Upper Sorbian. Researchers worldwide need not travel to Leipzig University—from Seoul, Tokyo, New York, or London, they can access Upper Sorbian materials. Pronunciation guides, grammatical resources, recordings of traditional songs, all digitally preserved and perpetually available.

This represents a fundamental shift in language preservation philosophy. We’re not attempting to revive or artificially sustain Upper Sorbian. Instead, we’re ensuring that every word spoken, every song sung, every grammatical structure employed is documented in formats accessible to future generations, regardless of whether the language continues as a living vernacular or becomes primarily an object of study and cultural memory.

Cultural Heartbeat – Easter Horses and Bird Weddings

The Osterreiten (Easter horseback riding) represents the most visible Sorbian tradition. Men dressed in formal black attire with silk top hats ride decorated horses from village to village, proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus in Upper Sorbian. This centuries-old Catholic tradition serves as a powerful symbol of Sorbian identity, drawing participants and spectators from across the region.

“Ptaškowa swajźba” [PTASH-koh-vah SVYEZ-bah]—the Bird Wedding—sees children in traditional costumes celebrating the marriage of birds. Through this festival, children naturally absorb Upper Sorbian language and cultural practices. The daily newspaper Serbske Nowiny publishes entirely in Upper Sorbian, while Sorbian radio broadcasts daily programming. The German-Sorbian Theatre in Bautzen proudly performs in three languages: German, Upper Sorbian, and Lower Sorbian.

Catholic faith has played a crucial role in preserving Upper Sorbian in Upper Lusatia. Wayside crucifixes, garden shrines to the Virgin Mary, well-maintained churches and chapels—these expressions of popular piety, still practiced today, have significantly contributed to maintaining Sorbian identity. The correlation between Catholic areas and stronger Sorbian language retention is no coincidence; religious practice provided a domain where Sorbian remained essential, resistant to German linguistic dominance.

Future – Digital Technology Creates a New 1,500 Years

By 2025, Saxony needs 99 new teachers to maintain the current Sorbian school system—a daunting number. Yet digital technology opens new possibilities. The Speech-to-Text system facilitates easier textbook creation. Microsoft Translator allows students to use mobile devices for quick word lookups and to save translations—highly motivating for learners.

After 221 days, when all languages have been digitally recorded, Upper Sorbian will occupy a central position. This language that survived 1,500 years will persist for the next 1,500 through digital preservation. A grandmother’s bedtime story in Crostwitz village can be heard by a researcher in Seoul, learned by a student in Tokyo, analyzed by a linguist in London.

This quiet revolution that began with modest goals now touches millions of hearts, creating eternal change. In the heart of Germany, a Slavic heart begins to beat digitally—forever.

“Bóh z wami, Bóh z wami,
wšitcy serbske braća”

[BOKH z VAH-mee, BOKH z VAH-mee, FSHEE-tsih SERB-skeh BRAH-chah]

“God be with you, God be with you,
all Sorbian brothers and sisters”

– Traditional Sorbian blessing song

221 languages. 221 days.
Today, Upper Sorbian’s voice echoes across time, reaching your heart.
With WIA, every voice becomes eternal.