Polabian
| Spoken in: | Germany |
| Total speakers: | extinct |
| Ranking: | not ranked |
Genetic
classification: |
Indo-European
Slavic
West
Lekhitic
Polabian
|
| Official status |
|---|
| Official language of: | | |
| ISO 639-2: | sla |
| SIL: | POX |
The Polabian language was a group of Slavic dialects spoken in present-day northern Germany: Mecklenburg, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, eastern parts of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. They became extinct in the 18th century. There are known Polabian texts written in Hanover Wendland (Luechow-Dannenberg) in 17th and 18th centuries. Polabian was one of the Lekhitic languages.
The name derives from the name of Polabian Slavs, which in its turn derives from name of the Elbe river in Slavic languages: Labe in Czech language and Łaba in Polish language, see Wends.
