Editing Sudovian language (section)

==Corpus of the Sudovian language==
===Onomastics===
The Constit. Synod. Evangel. of 1530 contains the following list of deities who were still worshipped by the Sudavians in Samland: "''Occopirmus, Sualxtix, Ausschauts, Autrympus, [[Patrimpas|Potrympus]], Bardoayts, Piluuytis, [[Perkūnas|Parcunas]], [[Peckols|Pecols]]'',...".<ref>{{cite book|first=James|last=Hastings|title=Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics|volume=IX|place=New York|date=1917|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|page=488}}</ref>

Toponyms from north-eastern Poland, north-western Belarus, and Lithuania also preserve words.{{r|Dini|p=302}}

===Evidence from other languages===
The Yotvingian territories were later overrun and populated by [[Slavs]] around present-day [[Białystok]] and [[Suwałki]] in north-eastern [[Poland]] and nearby [[Hrodna]] (formerly Grodno) in [[Belarus]]. Some elements of Baltic speech are still retained in the Belarus and [[Ukraine]] territory, owing to the sparse indigenous populations and resettlements of refugees from Lithuania. The dialect of [[Zietela]] ({{langx|be|Дзятлава}}, {{langx|ru|Дятлово}}, {{langx|yi|Zietil}}, {{langx|pl|Zdzięcioł}}) was of particular interest.<ref>{{cite book|last=Vidugiris|first=Aloyzas|title=Zietelos Šnektos žodynas|trans-title=A Dictionary of the Subdialect of Zietela|language=lt|place=Vilnius|publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas|date=1998|isbn=978-54-2001-403-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Vidugiris |first1=Aloyzas |last2=Mikulėnienė |first2=Danguolė |language=lt |title=Zietelos Šnektos tekstai. I dalis |trans-title=Texts of the Zietela Subdialect. Part I |place=Vilnius |publisher=Lietuvių kalbos institutas |volume=1 |isbn=9986-668-73-5 |date=2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Mikulėnienė|first=Danguolė|title=Concerning the Influence of the Western Balts on the Accentuation System of Western Lithuanian Dialects|journal=Acta Baltico-Slavica|publisher=Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk|year=2006|volume=30|pages=89–96}}</ref> Kazlauskas suggested that the word ''mėnas'' ("month") (dative singular ''mënui'') encountered in dialects (Zietela, [[Lazdijai]]) and in the writings of [[Jonas Bretkūnas|Bretkūnas]] is a remnant of nouns with the stem suffix -s.<ref>{{cite book|first=Jonas|last=Kazlauskas|year=1968|place=Vilnius|page=285|trans-title=Historical Grammar of Lithuanian|publisher=Mintis|title= Lietuvių Kalbos Istorinė Gramatika|language=lt|isbn=}}</ref> The dialect of [[Druskininkai Municipality|Druskininkai]] in Lithuania, too, was influenced by the Sudovian language.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Naktinienė|first1=Gertrūda|first2=Aldona|last2=Paulauskienė|first3=Vytautas|last3=Vitkauskas|title=Druskininkų tarmės žodynas|language=lt|trans-title=Dictionary of the dialect of Druskininkai|place=Vilnius|publisher=Mokslas|year=1988|isbn=978-54-2000-115-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Zigmas|last=Zinkevičius |author-link=Zigmas Zinkevičius|title=Lietuvių kalbos dialektologija|isbn=978-54-2000-778-5|publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla|language=lt|trans-title=Dialectology of the Lithuanian language|place=Vilnius|year=1994}}</ref>

===Fragmentary texts===
There are also some Sudovian language phrases in "[[Sudovian Book|''Warhafftige Beschreibung der Sudawen auff Samland sambt ihren Bock heyligen und Ceremonien'']]" – True Description of the Sudovians in [[Sambia Peninsula|Samland]] together with their goat sanctifications and ceremonies – written in the mid-16th century by Hieronymus Maletius. Most scholars view these texts as representing Old Prussian,{{r|Klussis|page=437}} while [[Norbertas Vėlius]] regards them as genuine Sudovian.<ref>{{cite journal| first=William Riegel |last=Schmalstieg | title=Review. Baltų religijos ir mitologijos šaltiniai 2 |journal=Archivum Lithuanicum |volume=5 |year=2003 |issn=	1392-737X|url=http://www.elibrary.lt/resursai/Leidiniai/Archivum_Lithuanicum/2003/al_03_06.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722150218/http://www.elibrary.lt/resursai/Leidiniai/Archivum_Lithuanicum/2003/al_03_06.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-22 |url-status=live |language=lt | pages=364–365|trans-title=Review. Sources of Baltic religion and mythology II}}</ref>

* {{lang|xsv|Beigeite beygeyte peckolle.}}
* {{lang|xsv|Kails naussen gnigethe.}}
* {{lang|xsv|Kails poskails ains par antres.}} (a drinking toast)
* {{lang|xsv|Kellewesze perioth, Kellewesze perioth.}}
* {{lang|xsv|Ocho Moy myle schwante Panike.}}

===Polish-Yotvingian vocabulary===
Until the 1970s, Yotvingian was chiefly known from toponyms and medieval Russian sources.<ref name="Kapović">{{cite book|last=Kapović|first=Mate|title=Uvod u indoeuropsku lingvistiku : pregled jezikâ i poredbena fonologija |trans-title=Introduction to Indo-European linguistics: An overview of Indo-European languages and a comparative phonology theirof|year=2008|place=Zagreb|publisher=Matica hrvatska|language=hr|isbn=9789531508476}}</ref>{{rp|page=96}} But in 1978, a monument with Yotvingian writing was discovered by accident. In [[Belarus]], a young man named Viačasłaŭ Zinaŭ,<ref>{{cite web|title=Terra Sudorum. At one time scattered between the Neman and Western Bug Rivers, the Yotvingians contributed to the development of several Eastern European nations|url=http://ukrainianweek.com/History/65799|last=Rakhno|first=Kostiantyn|publisher=[[The Ukrainian Week]]|date=24 November 2012|accessdate=11 June 2015}}</ref> an amateur collector, bought a book of Catholic prayers from an old man from {{ill|Novy Dvor|ru|Новый Двор (Брестская область)}} village in the depths of [[Białowieża Forest]], which held a small manuscript titled "{{Interlanguage link|Pagan Dialects from Narew|lt|Pagonių šnektos iš Narevo|be-tarask|Паганскія гаворкі з Нараву|de|Pogańske gwary z Narewu}}" ({{lang|pl|Pogańskie gwary z Narewu}}). It was written partly in [[Polish language|Polish]], and partly in an unspecified, "pagan" language. However, Zinov's parents threw away the book. But, before the manuscript was destroyed, Zinov had made notes of it which he sent to [[Vilnius University]] in 1983. Even though Zinov's notes were riddled with errors, it has been proven beyond doubt that the notes are indeed a copy of an authentic Yotvingian text.{{r|Kapović|page=97}}<ref name=zink>{{Unbulleted list|{{cite book|first=Zigmas|last=Zinkevičius|author-link=Zigmas Zinkevičius|url=http://www.inslav.ru/images/stories/books/BSI1983(1984).pdf|chapter=Польско-ятвяжский словарик?|trans-chapter=Polish-Yatvingian vocabulary? |year=1983|title=Балто-славянские исследования|trans-title=Balto Slavic studies|publisher=Наука|place=Moskow|publication-date=1984|pages=3–29|language=ru}}|{{cite book|first=Zigmas|last=Zinkevičius|author-link=Zigmas Zinkevičius|chapter=A Polish-Yatvingian vocabulary?|title=Linguistic and Oriental studies from Poznań|year=1992|pages=99–133}}}}</ref> According to the first person who analyzed the manuscript, [[Zigmas Zinkevičius]], this short Yotvingian–Polish dictionary (of just 215 words{{refn|group=Note|In fact there were 214 words, since one Polish word, {{lang|pl|bośian}} (Modern Polish {{lang|pl|bocian}} {{gloss|stork}}), was translated three times, with two translations, ''starkas'' and ''gerwe'' identified, while the third one, ''aucm'', was not, whereas to a Russian speaker it is immediately evident that it is a [[cursive]] writing for the Russian word "{{lang|ru|аист}}" for "stork"; probably a note by Zinov for himself.<ref name=orel>{{cite book|last=Орёл|first=Владимир Эммануилович|chapter=Хелимский Е.А. Наблюдения над балтийским языком польско-«ятвяжского» словарика| trans-chapter=On E.A. Khlemskij's Observation on the Baltic language of the Polish-"Yatvingian" vocabulary | title=Балто-славянские исследования|trans-title=Balto-Slavic studies|year=1985|place=Moscow|publisher=Наука|publication-date=1987|volume=6|pages=121–134|language=ru}}</ref> }}), "Pagan Dialects from Narew", appears to have been written by a Catholic priest in order to preach to locals in their mother tongue. Concerning the language, Zinkevičius put forth three possible versions: 
* a Yotvingian dialect under a heavy influence of Lithuanian;
* Lithuanian words over a strong Yotvingian substratum;
* the compiler of the dictionary could not tell Lithuanian from Yotvingian clearly, and may have included words from both. The latter version is indirectly supported by the name of the document: "Dialects", rather than "Dialect".<ref name=zink/> Some scholars did not rule out the possibility of forgery, but there are strong indications it was not.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Witczak|first=Krzysztof Tomasz|year=2015|title="The Pagan dialects from Narew" in the light of Yatvingian onomastic remnants|url=http://www.baltistukongresas.flf.vu.lt/failai/tezes/Witczak.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.baltistukongresas.flf.vu.lt/failai/tezes/Witczak.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Baltic from an Indo-European Perspective|language=en|pages=43–44}}</ref>