Editing Sudovian language (section)

==History==
[[Image:Baltic Tribes c 1200.svg|thumb|Distribution of the Baltic tribes, circa 1200 [[Common Era|CE]] (boundaries are approximate).]]

Sudovia and neighboring Galindia were two Baltic tribes or nations mentioned by the Greek geographer [[Ptolemy]] in the 2nd century AD as ''{{lang|grc-latn|Galíndai}} and {{lang|grc-latn|Soudinoí}}'' ({{lang|grc|Γαλίνδαι}}, {{lang|grc|Σουδινοί}}).{{r|Dini|page=299}}{{r|Gimbutas|page=22}}

[[Peter of Dusburg]], in his 14th-century ''[[Chronicon terrae Prussiae]]'', refers to Sudovia and to its inhabitants as ''Sudovites'', listing them as one of the Prussian tribes.{{r|Dini|page=299}}{{r|Gimbutas|page=22}} He attests, that between 1,500 and 1,600 Sudavians were forcefully relocated to [[Sambia Peninsula|Sambia]] in the late 13th century.<ref name="Kregzdys">{{cite journal |url=https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/object/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2018~1556116444562/J.04~2018~1556116444562.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019170334/https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/object/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2018~1556116444562/J.04~2018~1556116444562.pdf |archive-date=2019-10-19 |url-status=live |title=Sūduvių knygelė – vakarų baltų religijos ir kultūros šaltinis. I dalis: formalioji analizė |first=Rolandas |last=Kregždys |journal=Lituanistica |year=2009 |volume=3–4 |issue=79–80 |pages=179–187 |issn=0235-716X |language=lt |trans-title=The Sudovian book - The source of Western Baltic religion and culture. First Part: Formal analysis}}</ref>

After the district was conquered by the [[Teutonic Knights]], the language died out and its speakers were gradually absorbed by German, Lithuanian and Slavic populations.{{r|Dini|page=300}}

[[John Poliander]] wrote in 1535 about the Sudovians living near Königsberg, Prussia, that 32 villages used ''Sudini speech'' in a 6–7 mile stretch of land of the Samland Corner that bears the name of Sudavia. They spoke a language similar to the Old Prussian language, but they used the term {{lang|xsv|gentaras}} for amber, not the Sambian (Old Prussian) term. From him we learn that the Sudovians lived secluded from the Sambians, that they married within their own tribe, and did not allow intermarriage with the neighbouring Prussian population "even if begged". They stubbornly held to their own traditions, and wore finger and ear rings with bronze bells and silver belts. Nothing was imported from abroad, but everything was produced by local craftsmen.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

[[Christoph Hartknoch]] reported in 1684 that there were still Sudovians in Sambia.<ref>{{cite book|date=1684|publisher=Hallervorden|place=Frankfurt & Leipzig|title=Alt- und Neues Preussen oder Preussischer Historien Zwey Theile|first=Christoph|last=Hartknoch|author-link=Christoph Hartknoch|language=de|trans-title=Old and wew Prussia or The two parts of Prussian history}}</ref>