Samlandic was a

Low Prussian dialect 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 Da ...

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

. It was divided into Ostsamländisch and Westsamländisch. Both were from

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

.Thorwald Poschenrieder: ''Deutsch- und baltischsprachige Preußen des Memellandes.'' 1995, esp. p. 130 http://www.tausendschoen-verlag.de/PDF/Memelland.pdf

Geography

Westsamländisch was spoken West of

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

. Westsamländisch had a border with Ostsamländisch. Ostsamländisch was spoken around

, Labiau and

Wehlau Znamensk (; ; lt, Vėluva; pl, Welawa) is a rural locality (a settlement) in Gvardeysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Pregolya River at its confluence with the Lava River east of Kaliningrad. Populati ...

. Ostsamländisch had a border with

Natangian Natangian was Low Prussian dialect of Low German. It is from East Prussia. The name is from the Natangians, a tribe of the Old Prussians. Geography It was spoken around Kornevo, Bartoszyce, Pravdinsk, Srokowo and Kętrzyn. Natangian has or ...

, Westsamländisch and

Eastern Low Prussian , state = Lithuania, Poland, Russia (formerly Germany) , region = East Prussia , ethnicity=Germans, Prussian Lithuanians , familycolor=Indo-European , fam2= Germanic , fam3=West Germanic , fam4=North Sea Germanic , fam5=Low ...

. Samlandic was spoken around Neukuhren and Heydekrug.Walther Ziesemer:'' Die ostpreußischen Mundarten''. Ferdinand Hirt, 1924, p. 127

Phonology

Westsamländisch has, in contrast to the remainder of Samlandic, for (I) ''go'', (I) ''stand'' etc. ''jon'', ''schton'' etc. ''O'' before R is spoken with a long vowel. It has ''ick sint'' meaning ''I am'' and ''tije'' for ''ten''. Westsamländisch has long u as long ü. ''A'' is palatal. It has for High German ''durch'', English ''through''.

History

During the latter age of the

Teutonic order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

, Latvian-Curonian fishermen came to nowadays Pionerski,

Primorye Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of the ...

, and Filino.Walther Ziesemer:'' Die ostpreußischen Mundarten''. Ferdinand Hirt, 1924, p. 128

Culture

Anke van Tharaw is a poem written in Samlandic.

References

East Prussia Low Prussian dialect Languages of Russia {{germanic-lang-stub