Old Prussian language

Old Prussian
Prūsiskai:387
Prūsiska bilā (revived)
Catechism in Old Prussian from 1545
RegionPrussia
EthnicityBaltic Prussians
ExtinctEarly 18th century
Revival3 L1 speakers (2021):4–8
50 L2 speakers (no date)
Dialects
  • Samland
  • Pomesan
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3prg
prg.html
Glottologprus1238
Linguasphere54-AAC-a

Old Prussian is an extinct West Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to avoid confusion with the German dialects of Low Prussian and High Prussian and with the adjective Prussian as it relates to the later German state. Old Prussian began to be written down in the Latin alphabet in about the 13th century, and a small amount of literature in the language survives. In modern times, there has been a revival movement of Old Prussian, and there are families which use Old Prussian as their first language.:4–8