The Polabian language is a now-extinct West Slavic language that was spoken by the Polabian Slavs in what is now northeastern Germany. It belonged to the Slavic language family and was closely related to other Slavic languages like Czech and Polish. The language was primarily used until the 18th century, when it gradually fell out of use due to Germanization. Polabian was characterized by its unique phonetic and grammatical features, which distinguished it from neighboring languages. The last known speakers of Polabian were recorded in the 19th century, and today, only a few written records and vocabulary lists remain, making it a subject of interest for linguists and historians.