| Low Lusatian | |
| States: | Germany |
| Region: | Brandenburg, Saxony |
| Speakers: | ? |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam3: | West Germanic |
| Fam4: | Irminonic |
| Fam6: | Central German |
| Fam7: | East Central German |
| Isoexception: | dialect |
| Glotto: | none |
| Notice: | IPA |
Low Lusatian German or the Low Lusatian dialect (in German: German: Niederlausitzer Mundart) is a variety of Central German spoken in northern Saxony and southern Brandenburg within the regions of Lower Lusatia (Cottbus) and the northern part of Upper Lusatia (Hoyerswerda). It is well-defined from the Low German dialects around and north of Berlin, as well as the Upper Saxon dialect group of present-day Saxony and the Slavic language of the Sorbs.
Both regions were strongly influenced by different dialects, especially after World War II. Refugees from East Prussia and Silesia settled there after their dispossession from former German areas. After the foundation of the German Democratic Republic and an economical development because of a stronger extraction of lignite, people from Mecklenburg, Thuringia, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt moved to the Lusatia region to benefit from the development. Due to this influence of other German dialects, Low Lusatian never formed a too strong variation from standard German. For people moving now into this area, the dialect is easy to learn and influences their spoken language quite quickly.
Low Lusatian German lacks region-specific words. It contains syncopes and apocopes, which are used in nearly every German dialect. The only somewhat different articulation is the guttural, where Standard German's pronounced as /[ɐ]/ ending is instead pronounced as /[a]/:
| English | Standard German | Lower Lusatian German | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| spelling | IPA | spelling | IPA | ||
| water | Wasser | pronounced as /[ˈvasɐ]/ | Wassa | pronounced as /[ˈvasa]/ | |
| hammer | Hammer | pronounced as /[ˈhamɐ]/ | Hamma | pronounced as /[ˈhama]/ | |
| sister | Schwester | pronounced as /[ˈʃvɛstɐ]/ | Schwesta(r) | pronounced as /[ˈʃvɛsta]/ | |
At the beginning of a word, the is always spoken, but it is nearly inaudible within a word. The same effect can be seen on the letter pronounced as /[ɛ]/ which also mostly vanishes in the endings, the changing of pronounced as /[aʊ]/ to / pronounced as /[oː]/, and the stretching of / pronounced as /[aɪ]/ to pronounced as /[eː]/:
| English | Standard German | Lower Lusatian German | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| spelling | IPA | spelling | IPA | ||
| to rake | harken | pronounced as /[ˈhaʁkn̩]/ | haakn | pronounced as /[ˈhaːkn̩]/ | |
| to work | arbeiten | pronounced as /[ˈaʁbaɪtn̩]/ | abeitn | pronounced as /[ˈabeːtn̩]/ | |
| to buy | kaufen | pronounced as /[ˈkaʊfn̩]/ | kohfn | pronounced as /[ˈkoːfn̩]/ | |
| as well | auch | pronounced as /[aʊx]/ | ooch | pronounced as /[oːx]/ | |
| on | auf | pronounced as /[aʊf]/ | ohf | pronounced as /[oːf]/ | |
| one | ein (m.) eine (f.) eines (n.) | pronounced as /[aɪn]/ pronounced as /[ˈaɪnə]/ pronounced as /[ˈaɪnəs]/ | een eene eens | pronounced as /[eːn]/ pronounced as /[ˈeːnə]/ pronounced as /[eːns]/ | |
| small | kleine | pronounced as /[ˈklaɪnə]/ | Kleene | pronounced as /[ˈkleːnə]/ | |
The short pronounced as /[ɪ]/ is spoken similarly to the Standard German (pronounced as /[y]/ or pronounced as /[ʏ]/):
| English | Standard German | Lower Lusatian German | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| spelling | IPA | spelling | IPA | ||
| table | Tisch | pronounced as /[tɪʃ]/ | Tüsch | pronounced as /[tʏʃ]/ | |
| church | Kirche | pronounced as /[ˈkɪʁçə]/ | Kürche | pronounced as /[ˈkʏa̯çə]/ (in smaller villages the word Kerke is used.) | |
| cherry | Kirsche | pronounced as /[ˈkɪʁʃə]/ | Kürsche | pronounced as /[ˈkʏa̯ʃə]/ | |
Another sign is a different form of the perfect: