Wendish

Wendish refers to a historical and linguistic designation for a group of West Slavic tribes and the associated languages they spoke. These tribes inhabited areas of modern-day Germany and Poland, primarily east of the Saale and Elbe rivers. The term "Wendish" itself is of Germanic origin and was applied by Germanic peoples to these Slavic populations. Over time, the political and social landscape of the region led to assimilation, and many Wendish communities gradually lost their distinct identity and language.

The Wendish languages are part of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, closely related to Polish and Czech. While there are no longer any native speakers of what would be considered distinct "Wendish" languages today, some communities in Lusatia (a historical region now straddling the German states of Brandenburg and Saxony) continue to preserve Sorbian, a language considered a direct descendant of historical Wendish. These Sorbian languages, Upper and Lower Sorbian, are officially recognized minority languages in Germany and are spoken by a few tens of thousands of people. The study of Wendish languages and culture is important for understanding the historical interactions between Slavic and Germanic peoples in Central Europe.