Lower Sorbian to Hindi: a relative description needs its own reference chain
Do not translate a familiar-looking jo mechanically
In Pankau’s Lower Sorbian examples, jo appears as a form glossed be within clauses. Hindi jo, by contrast, serves as a relative pronoun in the constructions described by Rupert Snell. Similar Romanized letter sequences do not identify the same grammatical word across these languages.
For an original Lower Sorbian statement about a person who arrived yesterday, first distinguish the main clause’s auxiliary from the material linking the description to the person. Replacing any source jo with Hindi जो would confuse a form of be with a relative connection. The source word’s function, not its Latin spelling, supplies the useful evidence.
Pankau also explicitly separates colloquial Lower Sorbian from its written standard: his note describes colloquial ak or ako with resumptive pronouns where standardized writing uses relative pronouns. The actual source variety matters. A translator should not assume that every source relative clause has the same visible architecture.
Hindi can pair the relative clause with a later reference
Snell describes jo expressions commonly paired with vah or ve in a second clause. His examples include people standing outside who can come in. The later reference concerns the same people identified by the relative clause; it does not automatically introduce a second group.
An original colloquial Lower Sorbian instruction can likewise contain more than one reference expression associated with one participant set. Preserve the set through the Hindi relative construction rather than treating each pronoun as a new person. But do not copy every source returning pronoun into the same position: Hindi requires its own clause relationship.
This is useful in a message identifying the visitors who arrived yesterday and then saying they need a room. The target should retain the arrival description as the condition identifying those visitors. If it turns that description into a separate report about somebody else, the room requirement can attach to the wrong group.
A role inside the relative clause can change the Hindi form
The Hindi guide distinguishes jo from oblique jis and jin. A relative expression governed by a postposition therefore need not retain the same form as a basic subject reference. The change should be interpreted through the participant’s role and number, not as a different person suddenly entering the message.
For an original Lower Sorbian instruction about the person to whom an item should be given, identify the recipient relationship before constructing Hindi. A source clause about who gives the item is different. Retaining the same name and a recognizable relative word would not repair a reversal of giver and recipient.
The exact-direction comparison is between complete reference chains. Lower Sorbian jo can be an auxiliary rather than the Hindi relative pronoun; colloquial source clauses can use particle-and-resumption patterns; Hindi can pair a relative clause with a later reference and inflect its relative form before postpositions. Read those functions separately so the same people remain attached to the same description and action.
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