Old Prussian (redirected from Prussian language)

Old Prussian 

the language of the Baltic tribes of Prussians, who in times past inhabited the southern shores of the Baltic Sea. Old Prussian is related to the West Baltic subgroup of the Baltic group of the Indo-European language family (together with the Yotvingian language, extinct since the 17th century, which many linguists consider to be a dialect of Old Prussian).

As a result of the conquest of Prussian territory by the Teutonic Order in the 13th century and the subsequent germanization of the native population, the Old Prussian language had disappeared by the early 18th century. In addition to Prussian personal names and geographical designations, Old Prussian written records have been preserved, including the Elbing (German-Prussian) vocabulary, compiled in the 14th century (contains 802 words, primarily nouns); a list of 100 Prussian words contained in the chronicle of Simon Grunau (early 16th century); and translations from German of religious texts, including two catechisms (1545) and Luther’s Enchiridion (1561).

REFERENCES

Gornung, B. V.Iz predystorii obrazovaniia obshcheslavianskogo iazykovogo edinstva. Moscow, 1963.
Voprosy slavianskogo iazykoznaniia, issue 3. Moscow, 1958.