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Low Prussian (German: Niederpreußisch), sometimes known simply as Prussian (Preußisch), is a moribund dialect of East Low German that developed in East Prussia. Low Prussian was spoken in East and West Prussia and Danzig up to 1945. In Danzig it formed the particular city dialect of Danzig German. It developed on a Baltic substrate through the influx of Dutch- and Low German-speaking immigrants. It supplanted Old Prussian, which became extinct in the 18th century.

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Low Prussian
Region	West and East Prussia Free City of Danzig
Ethnicity	Germans (Prussian and Saxon subgroups)
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic North Sea Germanic Low German East Low German/Northern Low German Low Prussian
Dialects	Plautdietsch
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	lowe1387

Plautdietsch, a Low German variety, is included within Low Prussian by some observers. Excluding Plautdietsch, Low Prussian can be considered moribund due to the evacuation and forced expulsion of Germans from East Prussia after World War II. Plautdietsch, however, has several thousand speakers throughout the world, most notably in South America, Canada and Germany.

Simon Dach's poem Anke van Tharaw was written in Low Prussian.

Vocabulary

According to one summary of Low German dialects, words very characteristic of Low Prussian are doa ('dor', there), joa ('jo', yes), goah ('goh', go) and noa ('nober', neighbor), which feature the diphthong "oa" instead of the usual "o" or "a". Further diphthong digressions include such examples as "eu" (pronounced as ei as in Heiser ('Häuser', houses)), as well as "ei" (pronounced as ee as in Beene ('Beine', legs)). Betcke also notes the tendency to transform the long "u" with an umlaut as in dü ('du', you), nü ('nun', now) and Ühr ('Uhr', watch).[1]

The dialect is also marked by a loan of High German-like words, such as zwei ('twee', two). Words are often shortened, in a manner similar to that of the neighboring East Pomeranian dialect, giving beet (beten, little bit) and baakove ('bakåben', bake oven).

Some observers argue that it resembles Dutch and Flemish because of these features. Low Prussian also has a number of words in common with Plautdietsch, such as Klemp (cow), Klopps (lump, ball of earth), and Tsoagel (tail).

Some other words[2] are:

• Boffke - boy, lad
• dätsch - dumb
• Dubs - bum
• Gnaschel - little child
• jankere - yearn
• Kobbel - mare
• Pungel - pouch
• schabbere - talk
• Schischke - pine-cone
• Schucke - potato(es)

Varieties

• Vistulan (Dialekt des Weichselgebietes), around Danzig (Gdańsk)
• Werdersch (Mundart der Weichselwerder)
• Nehrungisch (Mundart der Frischen Nehrung und der Danziger Nehrung), around the Vistula Lagoon
• Elbingian (Mundart der Elbinger Höhe), around Elbing (Elbląg)
• Mundart des Kürzungsgebiet(e)s or Kürzungsgebietsmundart, around Braunsberg (Braniewo) and Frombork
• Westkäslausch, around Mehlsack (Pieniężno)
• Ostkäslausch, around Rößel (Reszel)
• Natangian (Natangisch-Bartisch), around Bartenstein (Bartoszyce)
• Samlandic, around Pillau (Baltiysk), Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Labiau (Polessk) and Wehlau (Znamensk)
• Eastern Low Prussian (Mundart des Ostgebietes), around Insterburg (Chernyakhovsk), Memel (Klaipėda) and Tilsit (Sovetsk)

Low and Old Prussian

After the assimilation of the Old Prussians, many Old Prussian words were preserved within the Low Prussian dialect.

Low Prussian	Old Prussian	Latvian	Lithuanian	Standard German	English
Flins	plīnksni	plācenis	blynas	Pfannkuchen	pancake, scone, biscuit
Kaddig	kaddegs	kadiķis	kadagys	Wacholder	juniper
Kurp	kurpi	kurpe	kurpė	Schuh	shoe
Kujel	kūilis	cūka, mežacūka, kuilis	kuilys, šernas	Wildschwein	boar
Margell, Marjell	mērgā	meitene, meiča	merga, mergelė, mergaitė	Magd, Mädchen, Mädel	maiden, girl
Paparz	papartis	paparde	papartis	Farn	fern
Pawirpen	(from pawīrps)	algādzis, strādnieks	padienis	Losmann	freelancer
Zuris	sūris	siers	sūris	Käse	cheese

Low Prussian and Lithuanian

In addition to the words of Old Prussian origin, another source of Baltic loans [lt; lv] was Lithuanian. After the migration of Lithuanians in the 15th century, many Lithuanian loanwords appeared in the Low Prussian dialect.

Low Prussian	Lithuanian	Standard German	English
Alus	alus	Bier	beer, ale
Burteninker	burtininkas	Wahrsager, Zauberer, Besprecher	magician, soothsayer, sorcerer
kalbeken	kalbėti	sprechen	to talk, to speak
Kausche, Kauszel	kaušas	Schöpfkelle, Trinknapf	dipper
Krepsch, Krepsche, Krepsze	krepšys, krepšas	Sack, Handsack, Ranzen	basket
Lorbas	liurbis	Tölpel, Tolpatsch, Waschlappen	loser, fumbler
Packrant	krantas, pakrantė, pakraštys	Rand, Küste	edge, coast
Pirschlis	piršlys	Brautwerber	matchmaker
Wabel, Wabbel	vabalas	Käfer	bug

See also

• German dialects
• High Prussian
• Old Prussian
• Plautdietsch

References

Bibliography

• Bauer, Gerhard: Baltismen im ostpreußischen Deutsch: Hermann Frischbiers „Preussisches Wörterbuch“ als volkskundliche Quelle. In: Annaberger Annalen, Nr. 13, 2005, p. 5-82.
• Mitzka, Walther. Grundzüge nordostdeutscher Sprachgeschichte. (= DDG 59) Marburg (Elwert) 1959
• Riemann, Erhard. Die preußische Sprachlandschaft. In: Festschrift für Friedrich von Zahn Bd. 2   Köln/Wien 1971, 1-34
• Riemann, Erhard (Hrsg.). Preußisches Wörterbuch. Bd. 1, Lf. 1. Neumünster (Wachholtz) 1974
• Ziesemer, Walther. Die ostpreußischen Mundarten. Proben und Darstellungen. Breslau 2005

External links

• "Plautdietsch-Freunde e. V. - Die Website des Vereins der Plautdietsch-Freunde in Deutschland". Plautdietsch-freunde.de. Retrieved 1 December 2017.

На других языках

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- [en] Low Prussian dialect

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[ru] Нижнепрусский диалект

Нижнепрусский диалект (нем. Niederpreußisch) — восточнонижненемецкий диалект немецкого языка, который был распространён в Восточной и Западной Пруссии, а также в Гданьске до 1945 года. Возник в результате продвижения нижненемецких диалектов на восток, в современную Польшу, и их влияния на балто-славянский субстрат. В XVII веке вытеснил старопрусский язык, укоренившись как местный диалект на три столетия. На основе нижнепрусского сформировался широко распространённый плаутдич (немецко-платский диалект), язык меннонитов России.

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