Old Prussian language

Old Prussian is an Indo-European language belonging to the Baltic branch. It is considered to be a Western Baltic language.

Old Prussian was closely related to the other extinct West Baltic languages, namely Sudovian, West Galindian{{cite journal| url = https://www.academia.edu/37147068| title = The Balts in the migration period|first=Iliya|last=Tarasov|pages=95–124| journal=Istoričeskij Format | script-journal = ru:Исторический Формат|volume=3–4| date = January 2017|language=ru}} and possibly Skalvian and Old Curonian.{{cite book|first=Marija|last=Gimbutas|author-link=Marija Gimbutas|date=1963|title=The Balts|series=Ancient peoples and places|place=London|publisher=Thames and Hudson|volume=33}}{{rp|page=33}}{{Cite book |last=Zinkevičius |first=Zigmas |author-link= Zigmas Zinkevičius |title=The History of the Lithuanian Language |date=1996 |publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla |place=Vilnius |isbn=9785420013632 |pages=51 |language=en}} Other linguists consider Western Galindian and Skalvian to be Prussian dialects.{{cite book|first=Vytautas|last=Rinkevičius|title=Prūsistikos pagrindai|trans-title=Fundamentals of Prussian linguistics|publisher= Vilniaus universitetas|location=Vilnius|date=2015|language=lt|isbn=978-609-417-101-7}}{{rp|15}}

It is related to the East Baltic languages such as Lithuanian and Latvian, and more distantly related to Slavic. Compare the words for 'land': Old Prussian {{lang|prg|semmē}} [zemē], {{langx|lv|zeme}}, {{langx|lt|žemė}}, {{langx|ru|link=no|земля́}}, ({{lang|ru-Latn|zemljá}}) and {{langx|pl|ziemia}}.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Old Prussian had loanwords from Slavic languages (e.g., Old Prussian {{lang|prg|curtis}} [kurtis] 'hound', like Lithuanian {{lang|lt|kùrtas}} and Latvian {{lang|lv|kur̃ts}}, cognate with Slavic (compare {{langx|uk|хорт}}, {{lang|uk-Latn|khort}}; {{langx|pl|chart}}; {{langx|cs|chrt}})), as well as a few borrowings from Germanic, including from Gothic (e.g., Old Prussian {{lang|prg|ylo}} 'awl' as with Lithuanian {{lang|lt|ýla}}, Latvian {{lang|lv|īlens}}) and from Scandinavian languages.{{cite encyclopedia| url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/50949/Baltic-languages/74885/Loanwords-in-Baltic|first=Vytautas|last=Mažiulis|author-link=Vytautas Mažiulis| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica |title=Baltic languages|version=September 2022|access-date=9 November 2022}}

The Low German language spoken in Prussia (or West Prussia and East Prussia), called Low Prussian (cf. High Prussian, High German),{{cite journal|language=de|title=Niederpreuſsisch|trans-title=Lower Prussian|first=Walther|last=Mitzka|journal=Zeitschrift für deutsche Mundarten |date=1921|volume=16|pages=151–154|publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag|jstor=40498264}} preserved a number of Baltic Prussian words, such as {{lang|nds|Kurp}}, from the Old Prussian {{lang|prg|kurpe}}, for shoe in contrast to common {{langx|nds|Schoh}} (Standard German {{lang|de|Schuh}}),{{cite book|language=de|first=Gerhard|last=Bauer|date=2005|url=http://www.annaberger-annalen.de//jahrbuch/2005/AnnabergNr.13_Kap1.pdf|chapter=Baltismen im ostpreußischen Deutsch: Hermann Frischbiers "Preussisches Wörterbuch" als volkskundliche Quelle|trans-chapter=Baltisms in Eastern Prussian German: Hermann Frischbier's "Prussian Dictionary" as ethnological source|issue=13|pages=5{{Hyphen}}82|title=Annaberger Annalen}} as did the High Prussian Oberland subdialect.{{cite journal|first=Walther|last=Ziesemer|title=Beobachtungen zur Wortgeographie Ostpreuſsens|trans-title=Obeservations on word geography in East Prussia|journal=Zeitschrift für deutsche Mundarten|jstor=40498279|date=1923|publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag|language=de|pages=149–160|issue=3/4, "Festschrift Ferdinand Wrede (1923)"|volume=18}}

Until the 1938 changing of place names in East Prussia, Old Prussian river- and place-names, such as {{lang|prg|Tawe}} and {{lang|prg|Tawellningken}}, could still be found.{{cite book|first=Georg|last=Gerullis|title=Die altpreußischen Ortsnamen|trans-title=The Old Prussian place names|language=de|date=1922|publisher=Vereinigung wissenschaftlicher Verleger|place=Berlin, Leipzig|url=https://klc.vdu.lt/prussian/Gerullis-APON.pdf}}{{cite book|last1=Haack|first1=Hermann|title=Stielers Hand-Atlas|date=1930| publisher=Justus Perthes|edition=10|page=Plate 9}}{{cite journal|journal=Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte|volume=51|issue=2|year=2003|title='Grenzlandpolitik' und Ostforschung an der Peripherie des Reiches. Das ostpreußische Masuren 1919–1945|trans-title='Borderland politics' and Ostforschung in the periphery of the German Empire. The East-Prussian Masuria 1919–1945|first=Andreas|last=Kossert|pages=117–146|language=de|jstor=30196694 }}{{rp|page=137}}

One of the hypotheses regarding the origin of {{lang|pl|mazurzenie}} – a phonological merger of dentialveolar and postalveolar sibilants in many Polish dialects – states that it originated as a feature of Polonized Old Prussians in Masuria (see Masurian dialects) and spread from there.{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{cite journal |last=Dobrzycki |first=Stanisław |title=O tzw. mazurzeniu w języku polskim |trans-title=About the so-called mazurzenie in Polish |journal=Rozprawy Wydziału Filologicznego PAU |issue=XXXII |year=1901 |language=pl |pages=228–231}}|{{cite journal |last=Селищев |first=Афанасий Матвеевич |title=Соканье и шоканье в славянских языках |journal=Slavia |volume=X |issue=4 |year=1931 |language=ru |pages=718–741|place=Prague|publisher=Slovanský ústav v Praze}}|{{cite book |last=Селищев |first=Афанасий Матвеевич |title=Западно-славянские языки|trans-title=Western Slavic languages|volume=I |series=Славянское Языкознание|orig-date=1941 |date=1969|publisher=Mouton & Company|place=The Hague|language=ru |pages=330–331}}|{{cite journal |last=Milewski |first=Tadeusz |author-link=Tadeusz Milewski |title=Stosunki językowe polsko-pruskie |trans-title=The linguistic relation of Polish and Old Prussian |journal=Slavia Occidentalis |issue=XVIII |year=1937 |language=pl |pages=21–84}}|{{cite book |last=Milewski |first=Tadeusz |author-link=Tadeusz Milewski |title=Chronologia i przyczyny mazurzenia |trans-title=Chronology and causes of the mazurzenie |year=1956 |language=pl |pages=34–38}}}}

File:Baltic Tribes c 1200.svg, {{Circa|1200 CE}}]]

In addition to Prussia proper, the original territory of the Old Prussians may have included eastern parts of Pomerelia (some parts of the region east of the Vistula River). The language may also have been spoken much further east and south in what became Polesia and part of Podlasie, before conquests by Rus and Poles starting in the 10th century and the German colonisation of the area starting in the 12th century.{{r|Gimbutas|p=23}}{{cite book|first=Pietro U.|last=Dini|title=Foundations of Baltic languages|translator-first1=Milda B.|translator-last1=Richardson|translator-first2=Robert E.|translator-last2=Richardson|publisher=Vilniaus universitetas|place=Vilnius|date=2014|isbn=978-609-437-263-6}}{{rp|page=324}}

With the conquest of the Old Prussian territory by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century, and the subsequent influx of Polish, Lithuanian and especially German speakers, Old Prussian experienced a 400-year-long decline as an "oppressed language of an oppressed population".{{cite book|first=Reinhold|last=Trautmann|author-link=Reinhold Trautmann|title=Die altpreußischen Sprachdenkmäler|place=Göttingen|publisher=Vandenhoek & Ruprecht|date=1910|trans-title=The Old Prussian language monuments}}{{rp|page=VII|quote="Sie hat noch genau 400 Jahre nach der endgültigen Unterwerfung (1283) als unterdrückte Sprache einer unterdrückten Bevölkerung weitergelebt."}} Groups of people from Germany, Poland,{{cite book|title=A Short History of Austria-Hungary and Poland|first1=Henry Wickham|last1=Steed|first2=Walter Alison|last2=Phillips|first3=David|last3=Hannay|url=http://historicaltextarchive.com/books.php?op=viewbook&bookid=2&cid=24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030804090230/http://historicaltextarchive.com/books.php?op=viewbook&bookid=2&cid=24|archive-date=4 August 2003|chapter=The Reformation Period|date=1914|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica Company|place=London}}{{rp|page=115|quote=For a time, therefore, the Protestants had to be cautious in Poland proper, but they found a sure refuge in Prussia, where Lutheranism was already the established religion, and where the newly erected University of Königsberg became a seminary for Polish ministers and preachers.}} Lithuania, Scotland,{{cite web|title=Scots in Eastern and Western Prussia, Part III – Documents (3)|url=http://www.electricscotland.com/history/prussia/part3-3.htm|access-date=2007-02-18}} England,{{cite web|title=Elbing als ehemaliger englischer Handelsplatz|trans-title=Elbing as a former English trading post|publisher=Magistrat der Stadt Elbing|translator-first=W.|first=Hermann|translator-last=Baumfelder|last=Kownatzki|date=1977|orig-date=unknown|url=http://www.elbing.de/Eastland.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070730075606/http://www.elbing.de/Eastland.pdf|archive-date=30 July 2007|access-date=18 February 2007}} and Austria (see Salzburg Protestants) found refuge in Prussia during the Protestant Reformation and thereafter.{{cite journal|doi= 10.11649/a.2626|journal=Adeptus|first=Piotr|last=Szatkowski|date=2021|issue=18|title=Language practices in a family of Prussian language revivalists: Conclusions based on short-term participant observation|publisher=Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences |doi-access=free}}{{rp|page=1}} Old Prussian ceased to be spoken probably around the beginning of the 18th century, because many of its remaining speakers died in the famines and the bubonic plague outbreak which harrowed the East Prussian countryside and towns from 1709 until 1711.{{cite book|url=http://donelaitis.vdu.lt/prussian/Engl.pdf|title=Dictionary of Revived Prussian|page=4|first=Mikkels|last=Klussis|year=2005|access-date=2 March 2018|archive-date=26 September 2007|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20070926162334/http://donelaitis.vdu.lt/prussian/Engl.pdf|url-status=unfit }}

File:Mėnuo Juodaragio XXI Kellan.jpg in Lithuania]]

In the 1980s, linguists Vladimir Toporov and Vytautas Mažiulis started reconstructing the Prussian language as a scientific project and a humanitarian gesture. Some enthusiasts thereafter began to revive the language based on their reconstruction.{{r|Szatkowski|pages=3–4}}

Most current speakers live in Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Kaliningrad (Russia). Additionally, a few children are native in Revived Prussian.{{r|Szatkowski|pages=4–8}}{{cite web|url=http://culture.pl/en/article/little-prince-published-in-prussian|title=Little Prince Published in Prussian|website=Culture.pl|publisher=Adam Mickiewicz Institute|date=17 February 2015|access-date=15 November 2022}}

Today, there are websites, online dictionaries, learning apps and games for Revived Prussian, and one children's book – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince – was translated into Revived Prussian by Piotr Szatkowski (Pīteris Šātkis) and published by the Prusaspirā Society in 2015.{{r|Szatkowski|pages=4–7}}{{r|culture.pl}} Moreover, some bands use Revived Prussian, most notably in the Kaliningrad Oblast by the bands Romowe Rikoito,{{Cite web|title=ROMOWE RIKOITO – Undēina|url=http://www.dangus.net/releases/albumai/043_RomoweRikoito.htm|access-date=29 August 2014|publisher=Dangus|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324135735/http://www.dangus.net/releases/albumai/043_RomoweRikoito.htm|archive-date=24 March 2015}} Kellan{{Cite web|author-first=А.|author-last=Ржевский|title=Илья Левашов: То, что мы поем — это о нашей земле|url=https://day-off39.ru/novosti-kaliningrada-i-oblasti/6565-ilya-levashov|access-date=11 October 2020|language=ru|website=Выходной|date=12 December 2018 }} and Āustras Laīwan, as well as in Lithuania by Kūlgrinda on their 2005 album {{Lang|lt|Prūsų Giesmės}} ('Prussian Hymns'),{{Cite web|title=Senoji prūsų kalba atgimsta naujausioje grupės KŪLGRINDA plokštelėje|url=http://www.dangus.net/news/nauja418.htm|access-date=29 August 2014|publisher=Dangus|language=lt|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910040212/http://www.dangus.net/news/nauja418.htm|archive-date=10 September 2012}} and Latvia by Rasa Ensemble in 1988{{cite book|last=Smidchens|first=Guntis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_TfOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12|title=The Power of Song: Nonviolent National Culture in the Baltic Singing Revolution|publisher=University of Washington Press|year=2014| isbn=978-0-295-99310-2|page=12}} and Valdis Muktupāvels in his 2005 oratorio "Pārcēlātājs Pontifex" featuring several parts sung in Prussian.{{Cite web|title=Oratorio "Pārcēlātājs Pontifex"|url=http://donelaitis.vdu.lt/prussian/oratorio.htm|website=Prussian Reconstructions – Ethonology|first=Mykolas Letas|last=Palmaitis|access-date=15 November 2022}}

The Elbing Vocabulary and the Catechisms display systematical differences in phonology, vocabulary and grammar. Some scholars postulate that this is due to them being recordings of different dialects:{{r|Trautmann1910|pages=XXI{{Hyphen}}XXII}}

Pomesanian{{r|Rinkevicius|pages=25{{Hyphen}}89}} and Sambian.{{r|Rinkevicius|pages=90{{Hyphen}}220}}

Phonetical distinctions are: Pom. ē is Samb. ī ({{lang|prg|sweta- : swīta-}} 'world'); Pom. ō, Samb. ū after a labial ({{lang|prg|mōthe [mōte] : mūti}} 'mother') or Pom. ō, Samb. ā ({{lang|prg|tōwis : tāws}} 'father'; {{lang|prg|brōte : brāti }} 'brother'), which influences the nominative suffixes of feminine ā-stems ({{lang|prg|crauyō [kraujō] : krawia}} 'blood'). The nominative suffixes of the masculine o-stems are weakened to -is in Pomesanian; in Sambian they are syncopated ({{lang|prg|deywis : deiws}} 'god').

Vocabulary differences encompass Pom. {{lang|prg|smoy}} [zmoy] (cf. Lith. žmuo) , Samb. {{lang|prg|wijrs}} 'man'; Pom. {{lang|prg|wayklis}}, Samb. {{lang|prg|soūns}} 'son' and Pom. {{lang|prg|samien}}, Samb. {{lang|prg|laucks}} [lauks] 'field'.

The neuter gender is more often found in Pomesianan than in Sambian.

Others argue that the Catechisms are written in a Yatvingized Prussian. The differences noted above could therefore be explained as being features of a different West Baltic language Yatvingian/Sudovian.{{cite conference|conference=Colloquium Pruthenicum Tertium|title=Grammatical Incompatibility of 2 Main Prussian "Dialects" as Implication of Different Phonological Systems|date=2001|first=Mykolas Letas|last=Palmaitis|pages=63{{Hyphen}}77|url=https://klc.vdu.lt/prussian/Diallang.pdf|place=Zakopane}}

The Prussian language is described to have the following consonants:{{cite book|last=Schmalstieg|first=William Riegel|title=An Old Prussian grammar|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press|orig-date=1974|date=1991|isbn=9780271011707|place=University Park}}{{rp|16{{Hyphen}}28}}{{r|Rinkevicius|page=62}}

{{notelist}}

There is said to have existed palatalization (i.e. {{IPA|[tʲ]}}, {{IPA|[dʲ]}}) among nearly all of the consonant sounds except for {{IPA|/j/}}, and possibly for {{IPA|/ʃ/}} and {{IPA|/ʒ/}}.{{r|Schmalstieg|p=26}}{{r|Dini|page=348}} Whether or not the palatalization was phonemic remains unclear.{{r|Rinkevicius|page=62}}

Apart from the palatalizations Proto-Baltic consonants were almost completely preserved. The only changes postulated are turning Proto-Baltic {{IPA|/ʃ, ʒ/}} into Prussian {{IPA|/s, z/}} and subsequently changing Proto-Baltic {{IPA|/sj/}} into {{IPA|/ʃ/}}.{{r|Rinkevicius|pages=61{{Hyphen}}62}}{{r|Dini|pages=348{{Hyphen}}349}}

The following description is based on the phonological analysis by Schmalstieg:{{cite journal|title=Vytautas Mažiulis. Prūsų kalbos istorinė gramatika: recenzija|trans-title=Vytautas Mažiulis. Historical grammar of the Prussian language: A review|journal=Baltu filoloģija|date=2005|volume=14|issue=1|first=William Riegel|last=Schmalstieg|publisher= Latvijas Universitāte|pages=159{{Hyphen}}163|language=en|issn=1691-0036}}

• {{IPA|/a, a:/}} could also have been realized as {{IPA|[ɔ, ɔ:]}}
• {{IPA|/oː/}} is not universally accepted, p.e. by Levin (1975){{cite journal|journal=General Linguistics|volume=15|issue=3|pages=144–158|year=1975|first=Jules|last=Levin|title=Dynamic Linguistics and Baltic Historical Phonology|place=London, University Park|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press}}

Schmalstieg proposes three native diphthongs:{{r|Schmalstieg|pp=19{{Hyphen}}20}}

• {{IPA|/au/}} may have also been realized as a mid-back diphthong {{IPA|[eu]}} after palatalized consonants.
• {{IPA|/ui/}} occurs in the word {{lang|prg|cuylis}}, which is thought to be a loanword.

With other remains being merely word lists, the grammar of Old Prussian is reconstructed chiefly on the basis of the three Catechisms.{{cite book|first=Erich|last=Berneker|author-link=Erich Berneker|title=Die preußische Sprache|trans-title=The Prussian language|language=de|date=2019|orig-date=1896|location=Berlin, Boston|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|isbn= 9783111474861}}{{rp|ix}}

Old Prussian preserved the Proto-Baltic neuter. Therefore, it had three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter).{{cite book|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|title=Die Sprache der alten Preußen an ihren Überresten erklärt|trans-title=The language of the old Prussians explained using its remains|first=Georg H. F.|last=Nesselmann|author-link=

Georg Heinrich Ferdinand Nesselmann|language=de|orig-date=1845|date=2018|publication-place=Berlin, Boston|isbn=9783111497969}}{{rp|pages=41{{Hyphen}}42; 47}}{{cite book|first=Vytautas|last=Mažiulis|author-link=Vytautas Mažiulis|translator-first=Mykolas Letas|translator-last=Palmaitis|title=Historical grammar of Old Prussian|isbn= 978-609-8122-90-9|place=Vilnius |year=2004|publisher=Vilniaus universiteto leidykla}}{{rp|page=40}}{{r|Dini|pages=355{{Hyphen}}356}}

Most scholars agree that there are two numbers, singular and plural, in Old Prussian,{{r|Nesselmann|pages=41{{Hyphen}}42; 47}}{{r|HGOP|page=40}}{{r|Dini|page=353}} while some consider remnants of dual number identifiable in the existent corpus.{{cite book |last1=Enzelīns |first1=Jānis |title=Senprūšu valoda: Ievads, gramatika un leksika |date=1943 |publisher=Universitātes apgāds |location=Riga |pages=76, 80, 83}}{{cite conference | author-first=Jules |author-last=Levin |editor-first1=Arvids Jr.|editor-last1=Ziedonis|editor-first2=Jaan|editor-last2=Puhvel|editor-first3=Rimvydas|editor-last3=Šilbajoris|editor-last4=Valgemäe|editor-first4=Mardi|title=-ja stems and -e stems in the Elbing Vocabulary|book-title=Baltic Literature and Linguistics|place=Columbus|conference=Conference on Baltic studies|publisher=Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies|pages=189{{Hyphen}}196|year=1973|oclc=867673}}{{r|Berneker|page=198}}

There is no consensus on the number of cases that Old Prussian had, and at least four can be determined with certainty: nominative, genitive, accusative and dative, with different suffixes.{{r|Berneker|pages=171{{Hyphen}}197}}{{r|Dini|page=356}}{{r|HGOP|page=40}} Most scholars agree, that there are traces of a vocative case, such as in the phrase {{lang|prg|O Deiwe Rikijs}} 'O God the Lord', reflecting the inherited PIE vocative ending *{{PIE|-e}},{{r|Berneker|pages=251}}{{r|Rinkevicius|page=109}} differing from nominative forms in o-stem nouns only.{{r|Dini|page=356}}

Some scholars find instrumental forms,{{r|Berneker|page=197}} while the traditional view is that no instrumental case existed in Old Prussian.{{r|Dini|page=356}} There could be some locative forms, e.g. {{lang|prg|bītai}} ('in the evening').{{r|Dini|page=356}}{{cite book |last1=Mažiulis |first1=Vytautas |author-link=Vytautas Mažiulis |title=Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas |date=1988 |publisher=Mokslas |location=Vilnius |page=144 |edition=1 |language=lt |volume=1 |trans-title=Etymological Dictionary of Old Prussian }}

Declensional classes were a-stems (also called o-stems), (i)ja-stems (also called (i)jo-stems), ā-stems (feminine), ē-stems (feminine), i-stems, u-stems, and consonant-stems.{{r|Rinkevicius|pages=66{{Hyphen}}80}}{{r|HGOP|pages=41{{Hyphen}}62}}{{r|Dini|pages=357}}{{r|Schmalstieg|pages=42{{Hyphen}}43}} Some also list ī/jā-stems as a separate stem,{{r|Rinkevicius|pages=66{{Hyphen}}80}}{{r|HGOP|pages=41{{Hyphen}}62}} while others include jā-stems into ā-stems and do not mention ī-stems at all.{{r|Schmalstieg|page=37}}

There were three adjective stems (a-stems, i-stems, u-stems), of which only the first agreed with the noun in gender.{{r|Dini|page=360}}{{r|HGOP|pages=63{{Hyphen}}65}}

There was a comparative and a superlative form.{{r|HGOP|pages=65{{Hyphen}}66}}{{r|Dini|pages=360{{Hyphen}}361}}

When it comes to verbal morphology present, future and past tense are attested, as well as optative forms (used with imperative or permissive forms of verbs), infinitive, and four participles (active/passive present/past).{{r|Berneker|pages=211{{Hyphen}}233}}

The orthography varies depending on the author.

As the authors of many sources were themselves not proficient in Old Prussian, they wrote the words as they heard them using the orthographical conventions of their mother tongue.

For example, the use of {{Grapheme|s}} for both {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/z/}} is based on German orthography.

Additionally, the writers misunderstood some phonemes and, when copying manuscripts, they added further mistakes.{{r|Rinkevicius|p=63}}{{r|britannica.com}}{{r|Dini|page=337}}

File:The epigram of Basel - oldest known inscription in Prussian language and Baltic language in general, middle of 14th c.jpg

There was Prussian toponomy and hydronomy within the territory of (Baltic) Prussia. Georg Gerullis undertook the first basic study of these names in {{lang|de|Die altpreußischen Ortsnamen}} ('The Old Prussian Place-names'), written and published with the help of Walter de Gruyter, in 1922.{{r|GerullisPlace}}

Another source are personal names.{{cite book|first=Reinhold|last=Trautmann|author-link=Reinhold Trautmann|title=Die altpreußischen Personennamen|trans-title=The Old Prussian personal names|language=de|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|place=Göttingen|orig-date=1925|date=1974|isbn=3-525-27302-9}}

Further sources for Prussian words are Vernacularisms in the German dialects of East and West Prussia, as well as words of Old Curonian origin in Latvian and West-Baltic vernacularisms in Lithuanian and Belarusian.{{r|Klussis|p=4}}{{cite journal|first=Walther|last=Mitzka|title=Altpreußisches|trans-title=Old Prussian|language=de|journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiet der Indogermanischen Sprachen|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|date=1924|issue=1/2|volume=52|pages=129–147|jstor=40799583}}

Two Prussian vocabularies are known. The older one by Simon Grunau (Simon Grunovius), a historian of the Teutonic Knights, encompasses 100 words (in strongly varying versions). He also recorded an expression: {{lang|prg|sta nossen rickie, nossen rickie}} ('This (is) our lord, our lord'). The vocabulary is part of the {{lang|de|Preussische Chronik}} written {{circa|1517–1526}}.{{r|Trautmann1910|pages=XXV{{Hyphen}}XXVI}}

The second one is the so-called Elbing Vocabulary, which consists of 802 thematically sorted words and their German equivalents. Peter Holcwesscher from Marienburg copied the manuscript around 1400; the original dates from the beginning of the 14th or the end of the 13th century. It was found in 1825 by Fr Neumann among other manuscripts acquired by him from the heritage of the Elbing merchant A. Grübnau; it was thus dubbed the {{lang|la|Codex Neumannianus}}.{{r|Klussis|page=7{{Hyphen}}8}}{{r|Schmalstieg|p=4}}

There are separate words found in various historical documents.{{r|Klussis|p=4}}

The following fragments are commonly thought of as Prussian, but are probably actually Lithuanian (at least the adage, however, has been argued to be genuinely West Baltic, only an otherwise unattested dialect{{cite journal |last1=Hill |first1=Eugen

|title=Die sigmatischen Modus-Bildungen der indogermanischen Sprachen. Erste Abhandlung: Das baltische Futur und seine Verwandten |journal=International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction |date=2004 |issue=1 |volume=1 |pages=69–171 |url=https://www.academia.edu/3884660 |access-date=29 August 2014 |language=de|trans-title=The sigmatic modus formation in Indo-European languages. 1st Treatise: The Baltic future and its relatives}}

):

1. An adage of 1583, {{lang|bat|Dewes does dantes, Dewes does geitka}}: the form {{lang|prg|does}} in the second instance corresponds to Lithuanian future tense {{lang|lt|duos}} ('will give')
2. {{lang|bat|Trencke, trencke!}} ('Strike! Strike!')

Additionally, there is one manuscript fragment of the first words of the {{lang|la|Pater Noster}} in Prussian, from the beginning of the 15th century:{{r|Klussis|p=437}}

''{{lang|prg|Towe Nüsze kås esse andangonsün

swyntins}}''

Vytautas Mažiulis lists another few fragmentary texts recorded in several versions by Hieronymus Maletius in the Sudovian Book in the middle of the 16th century. Palmaitis regards them as Sudovian proper.{{r|Klussis|p=7; 437}}

1. {{lang|prg|Beigeite beygeyte peckolle}} ('Run, run, devils!')
2. {{lang|prg|Kails naussen gnigethe}} ('Hello our friend!')
3. {{lang|prg|Kails poskails ains par antres}} – a drinking toast, reconstructed as {{lang|prg|Kaīls pas kaīls, aīns per āntran}} ('A cheer for a cheer, a tit for tat', literally: 'A healthy one after a healthy one, one after another!')
4. {{lang|prg|Kellewesze perioth, Kellewesze perioth}} ('A carter drives here, a carter drives here!')
5. {{lang|prg|Ocho moy myle schwante panicke}} – also recorded as {{lang|prg|O hoho Moi mile swente Pannike}}, {{lang|prg|O ho hu Mey mile swenthe paniko}}, {{lang|prg|O mues miles schwante Panick}} ('Oh my dear holy fire!')

In addition to the texts listed beneath, there are several colophons written by Prussian scriptors who worked in Prague and in the court of Lithuanian duke Butautas Kęstutaitis.

The so-called Basel Epigram is the oldest written Prussian sentence (1369).{{r|Klussis|pages=33{{Hyphen}}35}}{{cite web| url = http://www.schaeken.nl/lu/research/online/editions/baselepigram/| title = The Old Prussian Basel Epigram|first=Jos|last=Schaeken |year=2003}} It reads: {{Verse translation |lang=prg

|

Kayle rekyse

thoneaw labonache thewelyse

Eg koyte poyte

nykoyte pênega doyte

|

Cheers, Sir!

You are no longer a good little comrade

if you want to drink

(but) do not want to give a penny!

}}

This jocular inscription was most probably made by a Prussian student studying in Prague (Charles University); found by Stephen McCluskey (1974) in manuscript MS F.V.2 (book of physics {{lang|la|Questiones super Meteororum}} by Nicholas Oresme), fol. 63r, stored in the Basel University library.

The longest texts preserved in Old Prussian are three Catechisms printed in {{lang|de|Königsberg|italic=no}} in 1545, 1545, and 1561 respectively. The first two consist of only six pages of text in Old Prussian – the second one being a correction of the first. The third catechism, or Enchiridion, consists of 132 pages of text, and is a translation of Luther's Small Catechism by a German cleric called Abel Will, with his Prussian assistant Paul Megott. Will himself knew little or no Old Prussian, and his Prussian interpreter was probably illiterate, but according to Will spoke Old Prussian quite well. The text itself is mainly a word-for-word translation, and Will phonetically recorded Megott's oral translation. Because of this, the Enchiridion exhibits many irregularities, such as the lack of case agreement in phrases involving an article and a noun, which followed word-for-word German originals as opposed to native Old Prussian syntax.{{r|Trautmann1910|page=XXVII}}{{r|Klussis|pages=8{{Hyphen}}9}}

The "Trace of Crete" is a short poem added by a Baltic writer in Chania to a manuscript of the Logica Parva by Paul of Venice.{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{cite journal |last1=Kessler |first1=Stephan |last2=Mossman |first2=Stephen |year=2013 |title=Ein Fund aus dem Jahre 1440: Ein bisher unbekannter Text in einer baltischen Sprache |journal=Archivum Lithuanicum |volume=15 |pages=511–534 |url=https://www.academia.edu/8450574|language=de|trans-title=Find from the year 1440: A hitherto unknown text in a Baltic language}}

|{{cite journal |last1=Lemeshkin |first1=Ilja |title=Lituanica aliter |url=https://www.academia.edu/41917389 |journal=Billēmai Bhe Ersinnimai |date=January 2019 |access-date=12 November 2020}}}}

{{Verse translation |lang=prg

|

Atonaige maian meilan am ne wede maianwargan

Thaure ne ſtonais po pieſ pievſſenabdolenai galei ragai

Stonais po leipen zaidiant acha peda bete medde

|

Stand under the May tree willingly/dear – the May tree does not bring you to misery

Aurochs, do not stand under the pine tree – horns bring death,

Stand under the blooming linden tree – the bee brings honey here.

}}

Lord's Prayer in Old Prussian (from the so-called "1st Catechism"){{r|Klussis|pages=118, 122}}{{r|Nesselmann|page=4}}

{{lang|prg|Thawe nuson kas tu asse andangon.

Swintits wirst twais emmens.

Pergeis twais laeims.

Twais quaits audasseisin na semmey, key audangon.

Nusan deininan geittin deis numons schindeinan.

Bha atwerpeis numans nuson auschantins, kay mas atwerpimay nuson auschautenikamans.

Bha ny wedais mans enperbandan.

Sclait is rankeis mans assa wargan. Amen}}

Lord's Prayer after Simon Grunau (Curonian){{r|Dini|pages=297}}{{cite journal|last=Schmid|first=Wolfgang P.|year=1962|title=Zu Simon Grunaus Vaterunser|trans-title=On Simon Grunau's Lord's Prayer|language=de|place=Berlin|journal=Indogermanische Forschung|pages=261–273|issue=67}}{{r|Nesselmann|page=XV}}

{{lang|xcu|

Nossen thewes cur tu es delbes

sweytz gischer tho wes wardes

penag munis tholbe mystlastilbi

tolpes prahes girkade delbeszisne tade symmes semmes worsunii

dodi mommys an nosse igdemas mayse

unde gaytkas pames mumys nusze noszeginu cademes pametam musen prettane kans

newede munis lawnā padomā

swalbadi munis nowusse loyne Jhesus amen.}}

Lord's Prayer after Prätorius (Curonian){{cite book |title=Mithridates oder Allgemeine Sprachenkunde, mit dem Vater Unser als Sprachprobe in bey nahe fünfhundert Sprachen und Mundarten|volume=2|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-bs4AQAAMAAJ&q=Thewes+nossen%2C+cur+tu+es+Debbes&pg=PA703 |chapter=VII. Germanisch-Slavischer oder Lettischer Volksstamm |first=Johann Christoph |last=Adelung |author-link=Johann Christoph Adelung |editor-first=Johann Severin |editor-last=Vater |editor-link=Johann Severin Vater |year=1809 |location=Berlin |publisher={{ill|Christian Friedrich Voß|de|lt=Vossische Buchhandlung}} |trans-chapter=VII. The Germanic-Slavic or Latvian tribe |access-date=21 November 2022|trans-title=Mithridates or General linguistics using the Lord's Prayer in almost fivehundert languages and dialects|language=de}}{{rp|p=703}}{{efn|Adelung simply says "der Prätorius". This is most likely Matthäus Prätorius; because two pages earlier Adelung refers with approval to the writings of both Hartknoch and Prätorius,{{r|Mithridates|p=701}} and Christoph Hartknoch worked with Matthäus Prätorius.}}

{{lang|bat|Thewes nossen, cur tu es Debbes,

Schwisch gesger thowes Wardes;

Pena mynis thowe Wiswalstybe;

Toppes Patres gir iat Delbeszisne, tade tymnes senjnes Worsinny;

Annosse igdenas Mayse dodi mums szon Dien;

Pamutale mums musu Noschegun, kademas pametan nousson Pyktainekans;

No wede numus panam Paadomam;

Swalbadi names ne wust Tayne.}}

Lord's Prayer in Lithuanian dialect of Insterburg (Prediger Hennig){{r|Mithridates|page=707}}

{{lang|olt-RU|Tewe musu, kurs essi Danguje,

Buk szwenczamas Wardas tawo,

Ateik tawo Karalijste;

Buk tawo Walle kaip Danguje, taip ir an Zemes;

Duna musu dieniszka duk mums ir sze Diena;

Atleisk mums musu Kaltes, kaip mes atoeidzjam sawo Kaltiems;

Ne wesk mus Pagundima;

Bet gelbek mus nu Pikto.}}

Lord's Prayer in Lithuanian dialect of Nadruvia, corrupted (Simon Praetorius){{r|Mithridates|p=708}}

{{lang|olt-RU|Tiewe musu, kursa tu essi Debsissa,

Szwints tiest taws Wards;

Akeik mums twa Walstybe;

Tawas Praats buk kaip Debbesissa taibant wirszu Sjemes;

Musu dieniszka May e duk mums ir szen Dienan;

Atmesk mums musu Griekus, kaip mes pammetam musi Pardokonteimus;

Ne te wedde mus Baidykle;

Bet te passarge mus mi wissa Louna (Pikta)}}

• High Prussian dialect
• Low Prussian dialect
• Masurian dialects

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• Johann Christoph Adelung, Johann Severin Vater: Mithridates oder allgemeine Sprachenkunde mit dem Vater Unser als Sprachprobe in beynahe fünfhundert Sprachen und Mundarten, vol. 2, Berlin 1809, p. 700ff. ([https://books.google.com/books?id=0DdT-xoT080C&pg=PA700])
• Johann Severin Vater: Die Sprache der alten Preußen: Einleitung, Ueberreste, Sprachlehre, Wörterbuch, Braunschweig 1821
• G. H. F. Nesselmann, Forschungen auf dem Gebiete der preußischen Sprache, 2. Beitrag: Königsberg, 1871.
• G. H. F. Nesselmann, Thesaurus linguae Prussicae, Berlin, 1873.
• E. Berneker, Die preussische Sprache, Strassburg, 1896 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=RhPlJWl5XB8C]).
• R. Trautmann, Die altpreussischen Sprachdenkmäler, Göttingen, 1910.
• Wijk, Nicolaas van, Altpreussiche Studien : Beiträge zur baltischen und zur vergleichenden indogermanischen Grammatik, Haag, 1918.
• G. Gerullis, Die altpreussischen Ortsnamen, Berlin-Leipzig, 1922.
• R. Trautmann, Die altpreussischen Personnennamen, Göttingen, 1925.
• G. Gerullis, Zur Sprache der Sudauer-Jadwinger, in Festschrift A. Bezzenberger, Göttingen 1927
• W. R. Schmalstieg, An Old Prussian Grammar, University Park and London, 1974.
• W. R. Schmalstieg, Studies in Old Prussian, University Park and London, 1976.
• V. Toporov, Prusskij jazyk: Slovar', A – L, Moskva, 1975–1990 (not finished).
• L. Kilian: Zu Herkunft und Sprache der Prußen Wörterbuch Deutsch–Prußisch, Bonn 1980
• (In Lithuanian) V. Mažiulis, Prūsų kalbos paminklai, Vilnius, t. I 1966, t. II 1981.
• J. Endzelīns, Senprūšu valoda. – Gr. Darbu izlase, IV sēj., 2. daļa, Rīga, 1982. 9.-351. lpp.
• V. Mažiulis, Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas, Vilnius, t. I-IV, 1988–1997.
• M. Biolik, Zuflüsse zur Ostsee zwischen unterer Weichsel und Pregel, Stuttgart, 1989.
• R. Przybytek, Ortsnamen baltischer Herkunft im südlichen Teil Ostpreussens, Stuttgart, 1993.
• R. Przybytek, Hydronymia Europaea, Ortsnamen baltischer Herkunft im südlichen Teil Ostpreußens, Stuttgart 1993
• M. Biolik, Die Namen der stehenden Gewässer im Zuflussgebiet des Pregel, Stuttgart, 1993.
• M. Biolik, Die Namen der fließenden Gewässer im Flussgebiet des Pregel, Stuttgart, 1996.
• G. Blažienė, Die baltischen Ortsnamen in Samland, Stuttgart, 2000.
• A. Kaukienė, Prūsų kalba, Klaipėda, 2002.
• V. Mažiulis, Prūsų kalbos istorinė gramatika, Vilnius, 2004.
• LEXICON BORVSSICVM VETVS. Concordantia et lexicon inversum. / Bibliotheca Klossiana I, Universitas Vytauti Magni, Kaunas, 2007.
• OLD PRUSSIAN WRITTEN MONUMENTS. Facsimile, Transliteration, Reconstruction, Comments. / Bibliotheca Klossiana II, Universitas Vytauti Magni / Lithuanians' World Center, Kaunas, 2007.
• (In Lithuanian) V. Rinkevičius, Prūsistikos pagrindai (Fundamentals of Prussistics). 2015.

{{Commons category|Prussian language|Old Prussian language}}

{{Incubator|code= prg}}

{{wiktionary category}}

• [http://www.prusistika.flf.vu.lt/ Database of the Old Prussian Linguistic Heritage] (Etymological Dictionary of Old Prussian (in Lithuanian) and full textual corpus)
• [http://www.kortlandt.nl/editions/ Frederik Kortlandt: Electronic text editions] (contains transcriptions of Old Prussian manuscript texts)
• [https://sitti.vdu.lt/prussian/GrG.pdf Vocabulary by friar Simon Grunau]
• [https://sitti.vdu.lt/prussian/Elbin.pdf Elbing Vocabulary]

{{Baltic languages}}

{{Authority control}}

Prussian language, Old

Prussian language, Old

Category:Culture of Prussia

Category:Extinct Baltic languages

Category:Extinct languages of Europe

Category:Language revival

Category:Languages extinct in the 18th century

Category:Old-Prussian language

eo:Praprusoj#Kristanigo kaj la praprusa lingvo