Polabian is the westernmost attested West Slavic language. It was spoken in the vicinity of Wustrow, Lüchow, and Dannenberg in Hannoversches Wendland, an area located approximately 120 km southeast from Hamburg and northeast from Hannover (Germany).

The vernacular names of the language were slüvensťĕ and vensťĕ, lit. ‘Slavic’. The name Polabian is a conventional linguistic term, as well as other names used in the literature (e.g., Ge Lüneburgisch-Wendisch, Draväno-Polabisch, Dravänisch).

Our knowledge of Polabian comes from a dozen of texts compiled at the late 17…