Upper Sorbian Pear Stories by young speakers with grammatical analysis and comments*

Sasahara, Ken (Reitaku University)

AbstractIn this paper, two representative Pear Stories are presented with grammatical analyses and

comments. The narratives are told by young Upper Sorbs (around eighteen years old). In the text section, English gloss and translation as well as grammatical notes are also presented. The last section, in which the influences from German and the behaviours of article-like words, the numeral jedyn “one” and the demonstrative tón “this, these”, are referred to, is devoted to the overall characteristics of the texts.

1. Introduction This paper presents the two representative texts of Upper Sorbian Pear Stories1 by young

speakers. Upper Sorbian is a West Slavonic language which is spoken in the eastern Saxony, Germany. The number of speakers is between 15,000 and 20,000, of around 70,000 to 100,000 Sorbs. All Sorbs who speak the Sorbian language are bilinguals with German.

2. About the data In summer 2007 the author collected data from eleven Upper Sorbs aged over fifty, using Pear

film as a stimulus, with the purpose of surveying the characteristics of the spoken Upper Sorbian of that generation. This will in turn be compared with data from younger people. The materials to be presented were collected in February 2008 at the Sorbian Grammar School in Bautzen (Serbski gymnazij Budyšin). The author showed the Pear Film to fourteen consultants who attend the Gymnasium, one speaker at a time. The observer (author) presented this film in a closed room at

* I am grateful to Jadwiga Kaulfürstowa and Fabian Kaulfürst for checking Upper Sorbian texts and to Mark Rosa for checking English part. I would like also to thank to CbLLE for supporting the fieldwork. 1 Pear story is a narrative based on the visual stimulus named Pear film. This film was produced by Wallace Chafe and his colleagues around 1980, in order to research “how people talk about things they have experienced and later recall” (Chafe 1980: xi) and to collect the cross-linguistic data for them. See Chafe (1980) for details of the film.

the Gymnasium, without anyone else present. Then the author asked the consultant to report orally what happened in the film, as if he were describing the film to someone who had never seen it. The time stretch of each narrative ranges from 45 seconds to 2 minutes 23 seconds.

The narratives below are of the following two Upper Sorbs, whose names are indicated with initials. All fourteen consultants, including the two, said that they came from villages in the western part of the Upper Sorbian territory (the so-called “Catholic area”2) and primarily speak Upper Sorbian in the family.

Speaker Sex Year of birth Record time

MM male 1989 2:23

JW female 1990 2:22

3. About the transcription The texts are transcribed based on Upper Sorbian orthography. Each character and its phonetic

realization are as follows:

Consonants: p, t, k, b, d, g, f, v, h [h ~ ], ch [ ~ x ~ ç], l, r [ ], s, z, š = [ ] (the combination t is realized as [ts ]), ž [ ], m, n, [ n], c [ts], = [t ], d [d ];

Vowels: a [a], e [ ~ i], [e], i [i], o [ ], ó [ ~ o], u [u], y [ ];Semivowels: j, = w [w]. Two characters coordinated by equal sign (=) are phonemically equivalent. The phonetic values

conjoined by the sign ~ stand for environmental alternations. Word-final voiced consonants become corresponding unvoiced one. , w, h, ch become unvoiced in certain environments. As in some other Slavonic languages, Upper Sorbian has soft (palatalized) and hard (non-palatalized) consonants: p, b, r, f, v, m, n, c, w become palatalized according to the environment.

In the following section, the interlinear texts will be presented. The texts are constructed in the following way with five lines.

MM.001 reference number jo ij text as spoken je p ij forms in the standard language je p ij - breakdown of the word AUX.PRS.3SG come -PASTP.MSG English gloss [He] came. English translation

Some words are omitted in spoken Upper Sorbian which would be necessary to form grammatically-correct translations. These words are included in brackets [ ]. Unfinished words and

2 Because the Sorbs in that area are mainly Catholic, their dialect is called “Catholic dialect” unofficially. For grammatical details of the dialect, see Gerdes (1987).

fillers are represented by an asterisk (*) in the gloss section. The annotated words or expressions in the first line are shown without italics.

4. On the language of consultants It should be noticed that the Upper Sorbian language of the consultants is partially different

from the Standard language3 - articulation, dropping of particular syllables, choice of vocabulary, and so on. These differences might be dialectal, but it is not yet clear to the author. The main differences between their language and the Standard language are listed below, although specific differences will be shown in the text section: a) vowel alternation:

> y: standard Upper Sorbian r bl > dialectal rybl “ladder (SG.NOM)” y > ó: standard mysli > dialectal mósli “think” o > ó: standard sobu > dialectal sóbu “together”

b) de-palatalization of soft consonants: mj > m, nj > n: standard kamjenja > dialectal kamena “stone (SG.GEN)”

c) drop of consonants:

-d(n)- > 0/ : jedyn > jen “one (MSG.NOM/ACC)”, padny > pany “fall (PASTP.MSG)”p [p ] > [ ]: p ij > ij “come (PASTP.MSG)”

5. Interlinear texts 5.1. MM text MM.001 Alzo, ja sym wid a jen film, d ež joalso ja sym wid a jedyn film hd ež je also ja sym wid a - jedyn film hd ež je well T1.SG.NOM AUX.PRS.1.SG see -PASTP.MSG one.MSG.ACC film REL AUX.PRS.3.SG

jen muž, em, krušwu wot štóma bra .jedyn muž em krušwu wot štoma brajedyn muž em krušw -u wot štom -a bra -one.MSG.NOM man.SG.NOM * pear -SG.ACC from tree -SG.GEN take -PASTP.MSG

Well, I saw a film in which a man, eh, took pear(s) from a tree.

jen: < jedyn "one". dy sound and d sound, when inflected, drop occasionally. d ež: it is orthographically written as hd ež. The initinal letter h remains unpronounced.

3 The author intends the standard language to mean the written language which is also in common use colloquially.

jo: < dialectal form of je (AUX.PRS.3.SG).

MM.002 A tón jo m t i korbu stejo. a tón je m t i korby stejo a tón je m - t i korb -y stej -o and this.MSG.NOM AUX.PRS.3.SG have -PASTP.MSG three.ACC basket -PL.ACC stand -CVB.PRS

And he had three baskets.

MM.003 Ha do tych korbow jo wón te krušwu a do tych korbow je wón te krušwy a do tych korb -ow je wón te krušw -y and to this.PL.GEN basket -PL.GEN AUX.PRS.3.SG 3.MSG.NOM this.PL.ACC pear -PL.ACC

nu ino .nut ininut ini -in do -PASTP.MSG

And he put the pears into the baskets. nu ino < nut ini , lit. "inside do(PASTP.MSG)", namely "put into (something)".

MM.004 Pon jo, pon jo tam jen hona , eh, potom je potom je tam jedyn hona eh potom je potom je tam jedyn hona eh then AUX.PRS.3.SG then AUX.PRS.3.SG there one.MSG.NOM rooster.SG.NOM *

wo a .wo awo a -shout -PASTP.MSG

Then a, then a rooster, eh, crowed.

MM.005 Pon jo išo jen muž nimo, z potom je p išo jedyn muž nimo z potom je p išo - jedyn muž nimo z then AUX.PRS.3.SG come -PASTP.MSG one.MSG.NOM man.SG.NOM past with

jenej kozu. jednej kozu jedn -ej koz -u one -FSG.INST goat -SG.INST

Then a man passed with a goat. išo : < p išo , "come (PASTP.MSG)". A contraction p > occurs here.

MM.006 Tón pa [je] jenož nimo šo .tón pak je jenož nimo šotón pak je jenož nimo šo -this.MSG.NOM however AUX.PRS.3.SG only past go -PASTP.MSG

But this [man] only walked past.

MM.007 Pozd išo pon jo ij najemopozd išo potom je p ij na jedyn mól pozd išo potom je p ij - na jedyn mól later then AUX.PRS.3.SG come -PASTP.MSG on one.MSG.ACC time.SG.ACC

jen, jen, jen hólc. jedyn jedyn jedyn hólc jedyn jedyn jedyn hólc one.MSG.NOM one.MSG.NOM one.MSG.NOM boy.SG.NOM

Later then a, a, a boy came suddenly. najemo: < na jedyn mól, lit. "on one time", a calque expression from Ger. auf einmal

"suddenly".

MM.008 A tón jo swoje koleso tam po oži ,a tón je swoje koleso tam po ožia tón je swoj -e koles -o tam po oži -and this.MSG.NOM AUX.PRS.3.SG one's -NSG.ACC bicycle -SG.ACC there put -PASTP.MSG

tón, tón korb, jen korb sej tón tón korb jedyn korb sej tón tón korb jedyn korb sej this.MSG.ACC this.MSG.ACC basket.SG.ACC one.MSG.ACC basket.SG.ACC REFL.DAT

za , na, na, pr dku hinpo oži , pr dku hinstajiwza na na pr dku hin po oži pr dku hin stajiwza - na na pr dku hin po oži - pr dku hin staji -take -PASTP.MSG on on in.front away put -PASTP.MSG in.front away put -PASTP.MSG

po lenkora.pola lenkora pola lenkor -a near handlebars -SG.GENAnd this [boy] parked his bicycle there, he took the, the basket, a basket, and put [it] on, on, in front.

hinpo oži , hinstaji : hin "(go) off", a loan word from German hin.lenkora: < Ger. Lenker "handlebars".

MM.009 A, a pon jo tón lósj , tón a a potom je tón los j tón a a potom je tón los j - tón and and then AUX.PRS.3.SG this.MSG.NOM off go -PASTP.MSG this.MSG.NOM

hólc, ml om lósj , al... zo tón muž hólc mjel om los j al zo tón muž hólc mjel om los j - al zo tón muž boy.SG.NOM silently off go -PASTP.MSG * that this.MSG.NOM man.SG.NOM

to sóbu nekryne, kiž tam te krušwu to sobu njekrydnje kiž tam te krušwy to sobu nje- krydnje kiž tam te krušw -y this.NSG.ACC together NEG- get.PRS.3.SG REL.NOM there this.PL.ACC pear -PL.ACC

wot štóma bra .wot štoma brawot štom -a bra -from tree -SG.GEN take -PASTP.MSG

And, and then he rode off, the boy, and rode off quietly in order that the man who picked the pears there from the tree does not notice it.

lósj : lós- < Ger. verb prefix los- "off". sóbu: o > ó.nekryne: < njekrydnje, an unpalatalized alternation nje > ne and a contraction -dnje > -e

occur here.

MM.010 A pon jo tón j na pu u, tón a potom je tón j na pu u tón a potom je tón j - na pu -u tón and then AUX.PRS.3.SG this.MSG.NOM go -PASTP.MSG on way -SG.LOC this.MSG.NOM

hólc, ha najemo jena holca jóm hólc a na jedyn mól jedna holca jemu hólc a na jedyn mól jedn -a holc -a jemu boy.SG.NOM and on one.MSG.ACC time.SG.ACC one -FSG.NOM girl -SG.NOM 3.MSG.DAT

entgegen p ij a.entgegen p ij aentgegen p ij - atowards come -PASTP.FSG

And then he rode on the road, the boy, and suddenly a girl comes towards him.

entgegen: "towards", a German word.

MM.011 A, hm, p ez to [zo] ta holca nimo ij aa hm p ez to zo ta holca nimo p ij aa hm p ez to zo ta holc -a nimo p ij - aand * through this.NSG.ACC that this.FSG.NOM girl -SG.NOM past come -PASTP.FSG

a najskerje w t ik abo ha jo ta holca a najskerje w t ik abo ha je ta holca a najskerje w t ik abo ha je ta holc -a and probably breeze.SG.NOM or whether AUX.PRS.3.SG this.FSG.NOM girl -SG.NOM

bo a, n kak tón kóbuk [je] dyle pany .by a n kak tón k obuk je dele padnyby - a n kak tón k obuk je dele padny -AUX -PASTP.FSG somehow this.MSG.NOM hat.SG.NOM AUX.PRS.3.SG down fall -PASTP.MSG

And, hm, because the girl passed by and perhaps because of the wind, or because of her, this hat fell somehow.

bo a: < by a. The alternation y > o is one of the characteristics in the dialect.

MM.012 Ha ez to, eh, wón nejo tón kamena p ez to eh wón njeje tón kamjea p ez to eh wón nje- je tón kamjeand through this.NSG.ACC * 3.MSG.NOM NEG- AUX.PRS.3.SG this.MSG.ACC stone.SG.ACC

wid a , kiž prjedy njoh tam nid e sta , a wid a kiž prjedy njeho tam n hd e sta a wid a - kiž prjedy njeho tam n hd e sta - a see -PASTP.MSG REL.NOM in.fromt.of 3.MSG.GEN there somewhere stand -PASTP.MSG and

do towo kamena nut j a stomtym kolesom do toho kamjenja nut j a stomtym kolesom do toho kamjen -ja nut j - a stomtym koles -om to this.MSG.GEN stone -SG.GEN in go -PASTP.MSG and together.with bicycle -SG.INST

so powali , a [su] cy krušwu šo so powali a su cy e krušwy wšo so powali - a su cy -e krušw -y wšo REFL.ACC fall -PASTP.MSG and AUX.PRS.3.PL whole -PL.NOM pear -PL.NOM all.NSG.NOM

dyle panyli. dele padnyli dele padny -li down fall -PASTP.PL

And therefore he did not see the stone which was in front of him, and bumped into this stone, and fell together with his bicycle down, and all the pears dropped down.

kamen, kamena: unpalatalization of palatals occurs here,

MM.013 A pon su p išli najemo t ia potom su p išli na jedyn mól t ia potom su p iš -li na jedyn mól t iand then AUX.PRS.3.PL come -PASTP.PL on one.MSG.ACC time.SG.ACC three.NOM

d i.d id -i child -PL.NOM

And then three children came suddenly.

MM.014 A te t i d i su, ym, jomu pómali, a te t i d i su ym jemu pomhali a te t i d -i su ym jemu pomha -li and this.PL.NOM three.NOM child -PL.NOM AUX.PRS.3.PL * 3.MSG.DAT help -PASTP.PL

te krušwy zb ra a tak. te krušwy zb ra a tak te krušw -y zb ra - a tak this.PL.ACC pear -PL.ACC collect -INF and so

And the three children, uhm, helped him to collect the pears and so.

MM.015 A pon jo tón hólc stany sobu. a potom je tón hólc stany sobu a potom je tón hólc stany - sobu and then AUX.PRS.3.SG this.MSG.NOM boy.SG.NOM get.up -PASTP.MSG together

And then the boy got up together.

MM.016 A pon bejža zase pre ha pon z-, pon jo a potom b ža zase pre a potom z- potom je a potom b ža - zase pre a potom z- potom je and then run -PASTP.MSG again away and then * then AUX.PRS.3.SG

tón jen tam tajku tenisowu palku tón jedyn tam tajku tenisowu palku tón jedyn tam tajk -u tenisow -u palk -u this.MSG.NOM one.MSG.NOM there such -FSG.ACC of.tennis -FSG.ACC racket -SG.ACC

m , rajka .m hrajkam - hrajka -have -PASTP.MSG play -PASTP.MSG

And then he walked away again and then s... then this one [child] there such a [table-]tennis racket in his hand, [and] was playing.

rajka : orthographically hrajka , "play.PASTP.MSG". The initial h is not pronounced.

MM.017 To jo pon tón, kiž tón tenisowuto je potom tón kiž tón tenisowu to je potom tón kiž tón tenisow -u this.NSG.NOM COP.PRS.3.SG then this.MSG.NOM REL.NOM this.MSG.ACC of.tennis -FSG.ACC

palku m , tn jo wid apalku m tón je wid apalk -u m - tón je wid a -racket -SG.ACC have -PASTP.MSG this.MSG.NOM AUX.PRS.3.SG see -PASTP.MSG

tón kóbuk.tón k obuktón k obukthis.MSG.ACC hat.SG.ACC

It was the one who had this [table-]tennis racket, this [child] saw this hat.

tón tenisowu palku: incorrect agreement in gender. kóbuk: < k obuk. The which must be pronounced in the standard language is omitted and

o becomes ó here. Other speakers also have these ways of articulation of the word.

MM.018 Jo tón zb ny a to hólca je tón zb hny a toho hólca je tón zb hny - a toho hólc -a AUX.PRS.3.SG this.MSG.ACC lift -PASTP.MSG and this.MSG.GEN boy -SG.GEN

zafizda a tam hin donjes tón zahwizda a tam hin donjes tón zahwizda - a tam hin donjes - tón whistle -PASTP.MSG and there away bring -PASTP.MSG this.MSG.ACC

kóbuk.k obukk obukhat.SG.ACC

[He] took this up, and whistled to this boy, and brought this hat to [him] there.

zb ny : Orthographically h must be written in the word, but is unpronounced. zafizda : < zahwizda . It is common that the hw in this word realizes as [f]. donjes: Orthographically it is written as donjes . In the spoken language the suffix - is

not articulated.

MM.019 Za to jo wón tej pon t i krušwu za to je wón tež potom t i krušwy za to je wón tež potom t i krušw -y for this.NSG.ACC AUX.PRS.3.SG 3.MSG.NOM also then three.ACC pear -PL.ACC

krydny , kiž wón pon dwejo..., dwaj krušwje krydny kiž wón potom dwejo dwaj krušwje krydny - kiž wón potom dwejo dwaj krušw -e get -PASTP.MSG REL.ACC 3.MSG.NOM then * two.M.ACC pear -DU.ACC

jo wón pon joho p e elam da , tn je wón potom jeho p e elam da tón je wón potom jeho p e el -am da - tón AUX.PRS.3.SG 3.MSG.NOM then his friend -PL.DAT give -PASTP.MSG this.MSG.NOM

hólc z tej tenisowej palku. hólc z tej tenisowej palku hólc z tej tenisow -ej palk -u boy.SG.NOM with this.FSG.INST of.tennis -FSG.INST racket -SG.INST

He got then three pears for it, tw... he then gave two pears to his friends, the boy with the [table-]tennis racket.

p e elam: this speaker does not use the dual form p e elomaj, "friend.DU.DAT" here. It is not clear whether he uses the plural, not dual, form for some reason, or if he did not imagine that there were two boys in the scene.

MM.020 S..., pon su te t i d i pre šli. s potom su te t i d i pre šli s potom su te t i d -i pre š -li * then AUX.PRS.3.PL this.PL.NOM three.NOM child -PL.NOM away go -PASTP.PL

S... then these three children walked away.

MM.021 A tón z tym kolesom jo tej pon a tón z tym kolesom je tež potom a tón z tym koles -om je tež potom and this.MSG.NOM with this.NSG.INST bicycle -SG.INST AUX.PRS.3.SG also then

pre o .pre šopre šo -away go -PASTP.MSG

And the one with the bicycle also went away.

pre o : < pre šo , a contraction occurs.

MM.022 A pon su te z tym, kiž s... a potom su te z tym kiž s a potom su te z tym kiž s and then AUX.PRS.3.PL this.PL.NOM with this.NSG.INST REL.NOM *

And then the ones with those which s...

MM.023 Pon su te t i hólcy, alzow te t ipotom su te t i hólcy also te t ipotom su te t i hólc -y also te t ithen AUX.PRS.3.PL this.PL.NOM three.NOM boy -PL.NOM well this.PL.NOM three.NOM

d i tam, kiž su te... kóždy jenu d i tam kiž su te kóždy jednu d -i tam kiž su te kóžd -y jedn -u child -PL.NOM there REL.NOM AUX.PRS.3.PL this.PL.ACC each -MSG.NOM one -FSG.ACC

krušwu m li, a tón jen tnkrušwu m li a tón jedyn tón krušw -u m -li a tón jedyn tón pear -SG.ACC have -PASTP.PL and this.MSG.NOM one.MSG.NOM this.MSG.ACC

tenisowu palku, su pon b želi genau tam tenisowu palku su potom b želi genau tam tenisow -u palk -u su potom b že -li genau tam of.tennis -FSG.ACC racket -SG.ACC AUX.PRS.3.PL then run -PASTP.PL exactly there

zas nimo, d ež je tón te krušwu zb ra .zaso nimo hd ež je tón te krušwy zb razaso nimo hd ež je tón te krušw -y zb ra -again past REL AUX.PRS.3.SG this.MSG.NOM this.PL.ACC pear -PL.ACC collect -PASTP.MSG

Then these three children, well, these three chldren there who ... each of whom had a pear, and this

one [with] this [table-]tennis racket, [they] passed then exactly the place where this [man] collected the pears.

tn: < tón. The vowel ó is unrecognizable in this clause. genau: Ger. adverb genau "just" is used here.

MM.024 A tón, tón jo rune dyle wot štoma, a tón tón je runje dele wot štoma a tón tón je runje dele wot štom -a and this.MSG.NOM this.MSG.NOM AUX.PRS.3.SG just down from tree -SG.GEN

tón muž, wid a , zo jen korb tón muž wid a zo jedyn korb tón muž wid a - zo jedyn korb this.MSG.NOM man.SG.NOM see -PASTP.MSG that one.MSG.NOM basket.SG.NOM

falwje.faluje faluje lack.PRS.3.SG

And this, this [man] just got off from the tree, this man, [and] saw that one basket lacks.

falwje: semi-vowelization u > w is recognized.

MM.025 A te d i cyle normal nimo šli, dokelž a te d i cyle normal nimo šli dokelž a te d -i cyle normal nimo š -li dokelž and this.PL.NOM child -PL.NOM completely normally past go -PASTP.PL because

te ta sej ni o mósleli p i tym te tak sej ni o myslili p i tym te tak sej ni o mysli -li p i tym this.PL.NOM so REFL.DAT nothing.ACC think -PASTP.PL at this.NSG.LOC

njejsu.njejsu njej- su NEG- AUX.PRS.3.PL

And the children walked through in an absolutely normal way, because these did not think of such thing there.

MM.026 Nó, haj, tón muž b kus zad iwany. nó haj tón muž b kus zad iwany nó haj tón muž b kus zad iw -an -y yes yes this.MSG.NOM man.SG.NOM COP.PAST.3.SG bit be.surprised -PASSP -MSG.NOM

Well, yes, the man wondered a little.

5.2. JW text JW.001 Haj, alzo, na zapo atku [bych] najprolmól tun haj also na zapo atku bych najprjedy mól tu haj also na zapo atk -u by -ch najprjedy mól tu yes well on beginning -SG.LOC AUX.SUBJ -1.SG first once this.FSG.ACC

wokolinu wopisa chcy a.wokolinu wopisa chcy awokolin -u wopisa - chcy - aneighbourhood -SG.ACC describe -INF want -PASTP.FSG

Yes, well, at the beginning, [I would like to] describe the setting first of all.

alzo: < Ger. also "well". najprolmól: < najprjedy mól "first time". mól is a loan word from German mal "time", for

which the Upper Sorbian word raz "time" exists. chcy a: Normally the initial ch is not pronounced, but this speaker articulates ch as [x]

here.

JW.002 Alzo, to [je] w p irod e nid e, w n kajkej also to je w p irod e n hd e w n kajkej also to je w p irod -e n hd e w n kajk -ej well this.NSG.NOM COP.PRS.3.SG in nature -SG.LOC somewhere in some -FSG.LOC

zarod e, d ež wjele lud i, em, nimo p i du.zahrod e hd ež wjele lud i em nimo p i duzahrod -e hd ež wjele lud i em nimo p i d -u garden -SG.LOC REL much people.GEN * past come -PRS.3.PL

Well, it [is] somewhere in nature, in some garden, where many people, eh, walked away.

w: The preposition w "in" is not pronounced unless it appears before [w] and [v] sounds.

In many cases in a colloquial language the speakers pronounce it as [w( )] for clarity.

nid e: This speaker pronounces sound as i. The word nihd e exists in the language whose meaning is "nowhere".

JW.003 Pon spo atnje jen wid i jenoh, ehm, potom spo atnje jedyn wid i jednoho ehm potom spo atnje jedyn wid i jedn -oho ehm then initially one.MSG.NOM see.PRS.3.SG one -MANIMSG.ACC *

muža, kotryž krušwu rune žneje ha muža kotryž krušwu runje žnjeje a muž -a kotryž krušw -u runje žnjeje a man -ANIMSG.ACC REL.MSG.NOM pear -SG.ACC just harvest.PRS.3.SG and

je do t óch korbow ini.je do t och korbow ini je do t och korb -ow ini 3.NSG.ACC to three.GEN basket -PL.GEN do.PRS.3.SG

Then at first, one sees a, um, man, who just harvests pears and does them into three baskets.

jen: < jedyn "one". dy sound and d sound, when inflected, drop occasionally. rune, žneje: < runje, žnjeje respectively. Palatalized consonants sometimes become the

corresponding non-palatalized ones like this speaker.

JW.004 Potom je p iš o na zapo atku, je potom je p iš o na zapo atku je potom je p iš - o na zapo atk -u je then AUX.PRS.3.SG come -PASTP.NSG on beginning -SG.LOC AUX.PRS.3.SG

jedyn dalši muž z jenej kožu, eh, jedyn dalši muž z jednej kožu eh jedyn dalš -i muž z jedn -ej kož -u eh one.MSG.NOM further -MSG.NOM man.SG.NOM with one -FSG.INST skin -SG.INST *

kozu nimo p išo .kozu nimo p išokoz -u nimo p išo -goat -SG.INST past come -PASTP.MSG

Then at first the next man comes, came with a goat through.

kožu: "skin (SG.INST)", simple slip for kozu "goat (SG.INST)".

JW.005 Ehm, tón sej nejo žanu krušwu ehm tón sej njeje žanu krušwu ehm tón sej nje- je žan -u krušw -u * this.MSG.NOM REFL.DAT NEG- AUX.PRS.3.SG no -FSG.ACC pear -SG.ACC

wozmo .wzawza -take -PASTP.MSG

Umm, this [man] didn't take any pears.

wozmo : PASTP of wza "take". In standard language, it should be wza [zaw], cf. JW.007.

JW.006 Potom je pak jedne d o ij o, kotr... alzo, potom je pak jedne d o p ij o kotr also potom je pak jedn -e d -o p ij - o kotr also then AUX.PRS.3.SG however one -NSG.NOM child -SG.NOM come -PASTP.NSG * well

te d o su zaw s e te krušwy te d o su zaw s e te krušwy te d -o su zaw s e te krušw -y this.NSG.ACC child -SG.ACC AUX.PRS.3.PL definitely this.PL.NOM pear -PL.NOM

wabili. wabili wabi -li attract -PASTP.PL

Then, however, a child drove as ..., well, the pears certainly lured the child.

JW.007 A tak je sej wón cyle jednore bjez a tak je sej wón cyle jednorje bjez a tak je sej wón cyle jednorje bjez and so AUX.PRS.3.SG REFL.DAT 3.MSG.NOM completely simply without

prašena cy y korb sóbu za .prašenja cy y korb sobu wzaprašenj -a cy -y korb sobu wza -question -SG.GEN whole -MSG.ACC basket.SG.ACC together take -PASTP.MSG

And in such a way he took simply the whole basket without asking.

sóbu: dialectal variation of sobu.za : PASTP.MSG of wza "take". The initial w is not articulated, although it is

orthographically written.

JW.008 Tón muž, kiž jo te krušwy tón muž kiž je te krušwy tón muž kiž je te krušw -y this.MSG.NOM man.SG.NOM REL.NOM AUX.PRS.3.SG this.PL.ACC pear -PL.ACC

žnja , nejo to sobu dósta .žnja njeje to sobu dóstažnja - nje- je to sobu dósta -harvest -PASTP.MSG NEG- AUX.PRS.3.SG this.NSG.ACC together get -PASTP.MSG

The man, who harvested the pears, was not aware of it.

sobu dósta : < sobu dóta , lit. "get together", an idiomatic expression "notice".

JW.009 Ahm, tutón hólc, kiž jo sej tón ahm tutón hólc kiž je sej tón ahm tutón hólc kiž je sej tón * this.MSG.NOM boy.SG.NOM REL.NOM AUX.PRS.3.SG REFL.DAT this.MSG.ACC

korb sóbu za , tón jo, em, krótko korb sobu wza tón je em krótko korb sobu wza - tón je em krótk -o basket.SG.ACC together take -PASTP.MSG this.MSG.NOM AUX.PRS.3.SG * short -ADVZR

na to jene ma e nezbožo, móžemona to jedne ma e njezbožo móžemoj na to jedn -e ma -e njezbož -o móže -moj on this.NSG.ACC one -NSG.ACC small -NSG.ACC accident -SG.ACC can -PRS.1.DU

skoroj rec, ehm, z jenej holcu poprawom twari .skoro rjec ehm z jednej holcu poprawom twariskoro rje -c ehm z jedn -ej holc -u poprawom twari -almost say -INF * with one -FSG.INST girl -SG.INST really build -PASTP.MSG

Uhm, this boy, who carried the basket, he had, umm, shortly thereafter a small accident, one might almost say actually, umm, with a girl.

móžemo: < móžemoj "can.PRS.1.DU".skoroj: < skoro. A sound j is added at the end of the word. It may be a dialectal form. rec: < rjec "say", a de-palatalization of palatals is observed.

JW.010 Ta holca pa jo dale j a, dokelž ta holca pak je dale j a dokelž ta holc -a pak je dale j - a dokelž this.FSG.NOM girl -SG.NOM however AUX.PRS.3.SG further go -PASTP.FSG because

jo wón p e..., eh, p e iw..., p e iwo jenem kamenej je wón p e eh p e iw p e iwo jednemu kamjenjej je wón p e eh p e iw p e iwo jedn -emu kamjenj -ej AUX.PRS.3.SG 3.MSG.NOM * * * against one -MSG.DAT stone -SG.DAT

j .jj -go -PASTP.MSG

But the girl drove forward away, because he bumped against, against, against a stone.

JW.011 Ha tak so su jemu cy e krušwy a tak so su jemu cy e krušwy a tak so su jemu cy -e krušw -y and so REFL.ACC AUX.PRS.3.PL 3.MSG.DAT whole -PL.NOM pear -PL.NOM

rozsypali. rozsypali rozsypa -li scatter -PASTP.PL

And his all pears were spilled.

JW.012 Tam pa b chu dalše t i d i, kotrež tam pak b chu dalše t i d i kotrež tam pak b -chu dalš -e t i d -i kotrež there however COP -PAST.3.PL further -PL.NOM three.NOM child -PL.NOM REL.PL.NOM

su jemu pomhali, em, wšitko zase do su jemu pomhali em wšitko zase do su jemu pomha -li em wšitk -o zase do AUX.PRS.3.PL 3.MSG.DAT help -PASTP.PL * all -NSG.ACC again to

korba zyzb ra , ha jóm zase na koleso pómhali. korba zezb ra a jemu zase na koleso pomhali korb -a zezb ra - a jemu zase na koles -o pomha -li basket -SG.GEN gather -INF and 3.MSG.DAT again on bicycle -SG.ACC help -PASTP.PL

But another three children there, who helped him, uhm, to pick everything up again into the basket, and [they] helped him on the bicycle again.

jóm: < jómu, dialectal form of jemu, 3.MSG.DAT.

JW.013 P i wš m je wón pak tež jeho apkup i wš m je wón pak tež jeho apkup i wš m je wón pak tež jeho apk -u at all.MSG.LOC AUX.PRS.3.SG 3.MSG.NOM however also his cap -SG.ACC

zubi .zhubizhubi -lose -PASTP.MSG

Nevertheless he lost his hat too.

p i wš m: lit. "at all". An idiomatic expression "nevertheless".

JW.014 Ehm, ha te hólcy su jemu tón ró oehm a te hólcy su jemu tón wró oehm a te hólc -y su jemu tón wró o* and this.PL.NOM boy -PL.NOM AUX.PRS.3.PL 3.MSG.DAT this.MSG.ACC back

dowjezli. dowjezli dowjez -li convey -PASTP.PL

Eh, and the boys returned this to him again.

ró o: orthographically wró o. The initial w is normally not articulated.

JW.015 Za to su wone kóždy jenu za to su wone kóždy jednu za to su wone kóžd -y jedn -u for this.NSG.ACC AUX.PRS.3.PL 3.PL.NOM each -MSG.NOM one -FSG.ACC

krušwu dóstali. krušwu dóstali krušw -u dósta -li pear -SG.ACC get -PASTP.PL

Each of them got a pear for that.

JW.016 Tón ma ki hól k, kiž [je] sej te tón ma ki hól k kiž je sej te tón ma k -i hól k kiž je sej te this.MSG.NOM small -MSG.NOM boy.SG.NOM REL.NOM AUX.PRS.3.SG REFL.DAT this.PL.ACC

krušwy za , tón je dale jkrušwy wza tón je dale jkrušw -y wza - tón je dale j -pear -PL.ACC take -PASTP.MSG this.MSG.NOM AUX.PRS.3.SG further go -PASTP.MSG

do hinajšo sm ra.do hinašeho sm rado hinaš -eho sm r -a to different -MSG.GEN direction -SG.GEN

The little boy, who took the pears, he rode away in another direction.

hinajšo: < hinašeho [hinaj eho] orthographically. The letter j is not written orthographically. In this case an idiosyncratic contraction occurs.

JW.017 Te t i hólcy pa su šli, do te t i hólcy pak su šli do te t i hólc -y pak su š -li do this.PL.NOM three.NOM boy -PL.NOM however AUX.PRS.3.PL go -PASTP.PL to

toho sm ra, d ejž b še tón muž, toho sm ra hd ež b še tón muž toho sm r -a hd ež b -še tón muž this.MSG.GEN direction -SG.GEN REL COP -PAST.3.SG this.MSG.NOM man.SG.NOM

kiž je te krušwu š ipa .kiž je te krušwy š ipakiž je te krušw -y š ipa -REL.NOM AUX.PRS.3.SG this.PL.ACC pear -PL.ACC pick -PASTP.MSG

These three boys, however, went into the direction where the man was, who picked the pears.

JW.018 A w tym wokomiku, dyž je wón, ehm, runje z a w tym wokomiku hdyž je wón ehm runje z a w tym wokomik -u hdyž je wón ehm runje z and in this.MSG.LOC moment -SG.LOC when AUX.PRS.3.SG 3.MSG.NOM * just from

r bla dele šo ha sobu dósta , zo tam r bla dele šo a sobu dósta zo tam r bl -a dele šo - a sobu dósta - zo tam ladder -SG.GEN down go -PASTP.MSG and together get -PASTP.MSG that there

jac žane t i korbu njejsu, su wjac žane t i korby njejsu su wjac žan -e t i korb -y njej- su su more no -PL.NOM three.NOM basket -PL.NOM NEG- COP.PRS.3.PL AUX.PRS.3.PL

te t i hólcy z jenej krušwu w te t i hólcy z jednej krušwu w te t i hólc -y z jedn -ej krušw -u w this.PL.NOM three.NOM boy -PL.NOM with one -FSG.INST pear -SG.INST in

ruce nimo p išli. ruce nimo p išli ruc -e nimo p iš -li hand -SG.LOC past come -PASTP.PL

And at the moment when he, umm, came right down from that ladder and perceived that there are no more three baskets, the three boys with pears in their hands came past.

JW.019 A tak sej jo zaw s e tón muž a tak sej je zaw s e tón muž a tak sej je zaw s e tón muž and so REFL.DAT AUX.PRS.3.SG definitely this.MSG.NOM man.SG.NOM

mósla , zo su te krušwu wot njeho a mysli zo su te krušwy wot njeho a mysli - zo su te krušw -y wot njeho a think -PASTP.MSG that COP.PRS.3.PL this.PL.NOM pear -PL.NOM from 3.MSG.GEN and

zo su te hólcy sej tón korb zo su te hólcy sej tón korb zo su te hólc -y sej tón korb that AUX.PRS.3.PL this.PL.NOM boy -PL.NOM REFL.DAT this.MSG.ACC basket.SG.ACC

zali.wzali wza -li take -PASTP.PL

And in such a way, the man surely thought that the pears were his and that the boys took [them] from the basket.

JW.020 A pon b kónc. a potom b kónc a potom b kónc and then COP.PAST.3.SG end.SG.NOM

And then it was the end.

6. Characteristics of the Upper Sorbian colloquial language from these texts From the Pear Stories above, several characteristics of their language are elucidated. In the

following sections, only two facts will be pointed out: namely, the influences from the neighbouring language German (6.1), and the article-like usage of the numeral jedyn “one” and demonstrative tón “this, these” (6.2 and 6.3). .

6.1. Influences from German Both MM’s text and JW’s text show that German words or expressions including translational

borrowings (calques) are often used in the spoken language. Such words in the text are:

INTERJECTIONalzo “well” < Ger. also (MM.023, JW.001, JW.006) ADVERBSentgegen “towards“ < Ger. entgegen (MM.010) genau “just“< Ger. genau (MM.023) normal „normally“< Ger. normal (MM.025) hin(-) “away” < Ger. hin(-): it is not clear whether it is used as an adverb or verbal prefix as in

German separable verbs (hinlegen “put”, hinstellen “put”, for example). Attested cases are hinpo oži (MM.008) and hinstaji (MM.008).

los(-)/ lós(-) “off” < Ger. los(-): Like hin(-), these could be verbal prefixes. lósj (MM.009) < lósj , for instance, is the expression which corresponds to German losgehen “set off, depart”.

TRANSLATIONAL BORROWINGS (CALQUES)najprolmól “at first” < Ger. zuerst mal (JW.001): this expression is a contracted version of

najprjedy mól “at first“. The word mól is a borrowing from German mal “time”. The word for it in the standard language should be najprejdy raz.

najemo “suddenly” < Ger. auf einmal (MM.007, MM.013): this expression comes from najedyn mól, which is in turn borrowed from German auf einmal with the same meaning.

NOUN lenkor “handlebars” < Ger. Lenker (MM.008)

It is safe to say from the narrative above that the appearances of words and expressions originating from German are not appearing randomly. As for parts of speech, only those in certain limited groups such as adverbs and interjections are used, whereas we can seldom find German nouns or verbs. Interestingly, the assumed verbal prefixes hin(-) and los(-)/ lós(-) are attested as well. These are bound morphemes, i.e. members of a closed class. We can see how the speakers integrate the German elements into the grammatical system of Upper Sorbian.

6.2. Numeral jedyn “one” Morphologically, the numeral jedyn “one” is the word which inflects in gender, number, and

case. In the standard language, the MSG.NOM form is jedyn and the other forms have jedn- as stem. In the text, however, the former appears as jen, of which -dy- is dropped, and the latter has its stem of jen- in the most cases.

Jedyn is used when the speaker expresses the number of one clearly, and, more interestingly, when he introduces a new entity, mentioning it for the first time with no exception. A good

example is jen muž [...] z jenej kozu “a man [...] with a goat” (MM.002) or jedyn dalši muž z jenej[...] kozu “another man with a [...] goat (lit. a further man ...)” (JW.004) for introducing a new figure. Upper Sorbian has no article and no grammatical device by which definiteness is expressed. Despite that fact, the numeral jedyn might behave like an indefinite article.

6.3. Demonstrative tón “this, these” The demonstrative tón “this, these” has peculiar characteristics in the text in terms of its

occurrence. This word is normally attached to a head noun and is used almost consistently when the referent of the noun is mentioned for the second time and thereafter.

In the MM text, for instance, the man who is picking pears in the first scene is at first referred to as jen muž “a man” with the numeral jedyn “one” (MM.001), and then he is referred by the demonstrative tón “this” for the second mention (MM.002). After the period in which he was not mentioned, the next reference to him is with the expression tón “this” in MM.023. The way of information tracking in the JW text seems the same. The pear-picking man is referred by jenohmuža “a man (ACC)” in the first mention (JW.003), which is in turn expressed by tón muž “the man” (JW.008). Such tóns can be substituted by personal pronouns without any problems, but the fact is that the speakers simply prefer the demonstrative. Moreover, there are no cases of bare nouns in referential use in the text. Therefore, it can be said that the demonstrative tón is used almost as if it is obligatory in order to express definiteness. Faßke (1980: 568) pointed out that such use of tón is influenced from German. His description states further that it is often used in the spoken language and is avoided in the modern written language, but has not yet disappeared totally. From the text above, however, we could say that it is becoming a full definite article because of its nearly exceptionless occurrence, despite the fact that the language does not have articles per se.

7. Summary Through the Upper Sorbian Pear Stories, the spoken language shows differences from the

standard (written) language. The main topics are (almost) regular drop of sounds, influences from German, and the use of the numeral jedyn “one” and tón “this, these”. As far as article-like words are concerned, we saw indefinite as well as definite article-like words in this normally article-less language. This fact might be an influence from German.

Abbreveations 1 1st person 2 2nd person 3 3rd person ACC accusative ADVZR adverbializer ANIM animate AUX auxiliary COP copula CVB converb DAT dative

DU dual F female GEN genitive Ger. German INF infinitive INST instrumental LOC locative M male N neuter NEG negative

NOM nominative PASSP passive participle PAST past PASTP past participle PL plural PRS present REFL reflexive REL relative SG singular SUBJ subjunctive

References Chafe, Wallace L. (ed.) (1980) The Pear Stories[:] Cognitive, Cultural, and Linguistic Aspects of

Narrative Production. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Faßke, Helmut (1980) Grammatik der obersorbischen Schriftsprache der Gegenwart –

Morphologie. Bautzen: VEB Domowina. Gerdes, Monika (1987) Die sorbische Mundart von Crostwitz. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Leipzig.

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