The 12 title compounds were prepared by reaction of the elemental components in a NaCl/KCl 6ux. Their isotypic crystal structures were determined for the two praseodymium compounds from single-crystal X-ray data in the space group P6 3 /mmc with Z ؍ 2 formula units per cell; PrZn 3 P 3 : a ؍ 404.0(1) pm, c ؍ 1997.9(6) pm, R ؍ 0.064 for 253 structure factors; PrCd 3 P 3 : a ؍ 426.5(1) pm, c ؍ 2090.6(6) pm, R ؍ 0.020 for 309 F values and 14 variables each. Large displacement parameters for one-third of the zinc, cadmium, and phosphorus sites of both structures indicate distortions. Hence, the true symmetry of both compounds may be lower, as is known for the closely related structure of ScAl 3 C 3 . The cadmium and phosphorus atoms of PrCd 3 P 3 form triple-layers similar to the layers in the wurtzite-type structure of ZnS. These nets are separated from each other by the praseodymium atoms. The praseodymium and cadmium atoms form close-packed layers of the stacking sequence (hccc) 2 corresponding to the atomic layers (CdCdPrCd) 2 . The phosphorus atoms occupy octahedral and trigonal bipyramidal voids of the kind Pr 3 Cd 3 and Cd 5 , respectively. Chemical bonding is brie6y discussed. The praseodymium and cadmium atoms obtain their usual oxidation numbers corresponding to the formula Pr 3؉ (Cd 2؉ ) 3 (P 3؊ ) 3 .