| LC control no. | sh 85125298 |
|---|---|
| Topical heading | Sorbs |
| Variant(s) | Lusatian Sorbs Lusatians Sorbians Wends |
| See also | Ethnology--Germany Slavs, Western |
| Found in | Britannica online, June 21, 2017: Sorb (Sorb, people; Sorb, German Sorben, any member of a Slavic minority living in eastern Germany. The Sorbs are concentrated in the Spree River valley, in the area of Bautzen (Budyšin) and Cottbus. This area was part of the traditional region of Lusatia, whose history is intimately bound up with the Sorbs. The Sorbs are descendants of two small Slavic tribes, the Lužiči and the Milčani, who were subgroups of the major tribe known as Sorbs. The latter were one of a number of Slavic tribes collectively known as Wends, who lived in the area between the Elbe and Oder rivers for centuries until they were subdued and assimilated by the Germans in the late Middle Ages. Though surrounded by Germans for centuries, the present-day Sorbs have managed to preserve their own ethnic identity, language, literature, and customs) Slav (Customarily, Slavs are subdivided into East Slavs (chiefly Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians), West Slavs (chiefly Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, and Wends, or Sorbs), and South Slavs (chiefly Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Slovenes, Macedonians, and Montenegrins). Bulgarians, though of mixed origin like the Hungarians, speak a Slavic language and are often designated as South Slavs.) Wikipedia, June 21, 2017: Sorbs (Sorbs (Upper Sorbian: Serbja, Lower Sorbian: Serby, German: Sorben), known also by their former autonyms Lusatians and Wends, are a West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting their homeland in Lusatia, a region divided between Germany (the states of Saxony and Brandenburg) and Poland (the provinces of Lower Silesia and Lubusz). They traditionally speak the Sorbian languages (also known as "Wendish" and "Lusatian"), closely related to Polish, Kashubian, Czech and Slovak) West Slavs (The West Slavs are a subgroup of Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages ... West Slavic speaking nations today include the Czechs, Kashubians, Poles, Silesians, Slovaks and Sorbs) Merriam-Webster dictionary online, June 21, 2017 (Sorb noun 1 : Wend. 2 : Wendish. --Sorbian adjective or noun; Wend noun: a member of a Slavic people of eastern Germany; Wendish noun : the West Slavic language of the Wends) Oxford English dictionaries website, June 21, 2017 (Sorb noun A member of a Slavic people living in parts of south-eastern Brandenburg and eastern Saxony. Also called Wend) |
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