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.

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 and Lithuanian

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