BALTIC LANGUAGES

The written historical sources started referring to the undoubted Baltic tribes relatively late – only in the 9th-11th centuries. West Balts and East Balts are distinguished. West Balts include Old Prussians, Jatvingians, Curonians; while East Balts, Lithuanians, Upland Lithuanians, Samogitians, Semigallians, Selonians, and Lettigallians. A large part of the Baltic tribes disappeared. Only the Lithuanian (mainly descendants of Lithuanians, Upper Lithuanians and Samogitians) and Latvian (descendants of Lettigallians) peoples and languages have survived to this day. Some researchers also mention that east Galindians, who formed a Baltic “island” surrounded by Slavs and lived between the Volga and Oka rivers, were early assimilated. West Galindians – a former Old Prussian tribe – disappeared in the 13th century.

LITHUANIANS

The name of Lithuania was mentioned for the first time in the very beginning of the 11th century in the German historical sources – the annals of Quedlinburg, describing the event when the archbishop and monk Bruno was killed at the border of Lithuania. When Lithuanians, like other Baltic tribes, were started to be mentioned in historical sources, they did not form a united state, only separate lands were referred to. One of such lands was called Lithuania. The largest areas of lands inhabited by Lithuanians at that time, which included smaller lands, were Upland Lithuanians and Samogitians. Then, the names Upland Lithuanians and Samogitians were used to name parts of Lithuania, not dialects. Upland Lithuanians meant the eastern part; and Samogitians, the western part of Lithuania, taking the Nevėžis and Nemunas rivers as reference points. Samogitians occupied a larger territory, compared with today’s territory of Lithuania; the area of Upland Lithuanians had shifted further to the east, and the vicinities of Vilnius-Ašmena formed the core of the area. At present, Upland Lithuanians occupy the territory of Lithuania approximately three times larger than that of Samogitians.

The name of Samogitians is found in historical sources from the beginning of the 13th century, in the treaty between the Lithuanian dukes and Volhynia, where the Samogitian dukes Erdvilas and Vykintas are also mentioned. The name Upland Lithuanians appears in the sources much later – in the very end of the 13th century, in P. Dusburg’s chronicle, speaking about the Lithuanian lands on the left bank of the Nevėžis.

The Lithuanian language occupies an intermediate position among other Baltic languages: compared with the dead Old Prussian language, some innovations have appeared in it, and compared with the Latvian language, it has preserved many ancient peculiarities. The Lithuanian language, the most archaic of the living Indo-European languages, which has preserved a multitude of features of the Indo-European parent language, is the only living language that can be explained directly by the system of general Indo-European formulas.

The following ancient properties that the Lithuanian language has retained can be mentioned: free stress, when words can have stress on any syllable (mama, rašyti, mokytojas); two stress accents of long syllables (šóka: šõkis); the dual number still alive in dialects (mudu eisiva, du vilku, dvi seseri); the neuter (gražu, šviesu); etc.

The Upland Lithuanian dialect is more ancient, archaic. It was the basis for the formation of the standard Lithuanian language at the end of the 19th century - at the beginning of the 20th century. The Samogitian dialect is more modern, more innovative: it has more innovations in the use of various sounds, accentuation, and the use of stress accents. Most of the ancient Lithuanian sounds and partially of the forms in the Samogitian dialect have undergone more significant changes, have distanced from the old prototype.

The first printed Lithuanian book is “Katekizmusa prasti žadei” by Martynas Mažvydas, printed in Karaliaučius in 1547, written in the southern Samogitian dialect with some Upland Lithuanian elements. The Lithuanian handwritten entries can be found even earlier, at the beginning of the 16th century; they were written in the Upland Lithuanian dialect.

Prof Dr Genovaitė Kačiuškienė

UPLAND LITHUANIANS

The names of the Lithuanian and Upland Lithuanian tribes have survived in the names of our state and the largest dialect of Lithuania.

The pronunciation of sounds in the Upland Lithuanians’ area varies. Therefore, according to the pronunciation of mixed diphthongs am, an, em, en and vowels ą, ę, the Upland Lithuanian dialect is divided into subdialects. Three subdialects of Upland Lithuanians are distinguished: western, southern and eastern. Southern Upland Lithuanians are not divided into smaller groups. Western Upland Lithuanians split into two parts. At the end of the 19th century - at the beginning of the 20th century, based on the southern part, the standard Lithuanian language formed. The eastern Upland Lithuanian subdialect, consisting of as many as 6 speech groups, is the largest.

Western Upland Lithuanians retain fully pronounced mixed diphthongs am, an, em, en and vowels ą, ę. Southern Upland Lithuanians retain fully pronounced diphthongs am, an, em, en but narrow down vowels ą, ę and pronounce ī. ū. Eastern Upland Lithuanians narrow down both mixed diphthongs am, an, em, en and nasal vowels ą, ę . Most of them pronounce um, un, im, in, ū, ī. The pronunciation of these sounds in the speech groups of northeastern Upland Lithuanians varies.

Prof Dr Genovaitė Kačiuškienė

Prepared based on: Bacevičiūtė R. et al. Lietuvių kalbos tarmių chrestomatija, Vilnius: Publishing house of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language, 2004; Zinkevičius Z. Lietuvių kalbos istorija, II, Vilnius: Mokslas, 1987; Dini P.U. Baltų kalbos, Vilnius: Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute, 2000.

SAMOGITIANS

The Samogitian tribe gave rise to the present-day Samogitians when moving to the territories of Curonians, Semigallians and other tribes, which were weakened by battles with the Teutonic Order, the old Samogitan tribes assimilated these tribes: in the long run, a part of them adopted not only the Samogitian language but also the name.

From the linguistic standpoint, the area of Samogitians is not homogeneous. The pronunciation of diphthongs ie, uo makes them different from Upland Lithuanians. Samogitians pronounce these diphthongs in three ways and according to this, they are divided into three subdialects: southern, northern and western, which, except for western, are further divided into two parts. Southern Samogitians replace diphthongs ie, uo with sounds close to ū, ī. Northern Samogitians turn ie, uo into ẹi, ọu; and a small speech group of western Samogitians, into ė, o. Each of these subdialects still has many different sound changes distinguishing them from the common Lithuanian language and other dialects, which is why some linguists are inclined to call the Samogitian dialect even the Samogitian language.

Prof Dr Genovaitė Kačiuškienė

LETTIGALLIANS

Lettigallians are a Baltic tribe that lived in what is now northeastern Latvia. In the Middle Ages, they got mixed with the Lyvian, Selonian, Semigallian and Curonian tribes. Lettigallians formed the main part of the emerging Latvian nation.

This Baltic tribe is called by two names in historical sources: Lettigallians and Latvians. The land the tribe inhabited is also called in two ways. For the first time, the name of Lettigalia was mentioned in Russian annals at the beginning of the 12th century. In the early 13th century, seeking to avoid Lithuanians’ attacks, Lettigallians surrendered to Germans and became part of Livonia. From the 16th century, the name of Lettigallians is no longer mentioned in historical sources.)

In the current Latvian language, 3 most important dialects are distinguished: Middle (in Latvian – vidus), Livonian (in Latvian – lībiskais), High (in Latvian – augšzemnieku), and several groups of subdialects. The Middle dialect is spoken in the central and southwestern part of Latvia; the High dialect, in the east; and the Livonian dialect, in the northwestern part. Standard Latvian language is based on the Middle dialect.

In the former ancient territory of Lettigallia, two dialects of Latvian are spoken now: High and Middle. The High dialect has most diverse peculiarities that distinguish it from other Latvian dialects and from the standard language.

The current Latvian language was formed after the ancient Lettigallians (the largest tribe that then lived in the territory of the present-day Latvia) assimilated Lyvians of the Finnish origin and merged with a part of the Baltic tribes: Selonians (around the 13th-14th century), Semigallians (around the 15th century), and Curonians (around the 16th century). The Latvian language was finally established in the present territory in the 16th - the early 17th centuries.

Comparing the Prussian, Lithuanian and Latvian languages, it can be seen that the Latvian language is the most distant from the original Baltic parent language and has the most innovations. The following innovations should be mentioned: constant stress on the first syllable of the word; the use of three stress accents (similar to the Samogitian dialect); mixed diphthongs an, en, in, un are no longer used; the old short vowels at the end of the word, except for u, have been dropped; the neuter is no longer used; forms of some cases have coincided, etc.

The first written monuments of the Latvian language appear in the 16th century, the first book printed in Vilnius appears in 1585, it is a translation of Peter Canisius’ “Small” catechism. It was written in the Middle Latvian dialect.

The current ethnographic region of Latvia – Lettigallia – began to form in the 17th century, and in the 20th century, the name of Lettigallia is revived and used again, only the inhabitants of this region are now called Latgalians, this way distinguishing them from the old Lettigallians.

Prof Dr Genovaitė Kačiuškienė

Prepared based on: Kabelka J. Baltų filologijos įvadas, Vilnius: Mokslas, 1982; Zinkevičius Z. Lietuvių kalbos istorija, II, Vilnius: Mokslas, 1987; Dini P.U. Baltų kalbos, Vilnius: Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute, 2000; Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija, XI , Vilnius: Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute, 2007; Cibuļs J., Leikuma L. Vasals! Latgaliešu valodas mācība, Riga: N.I.M.S., 2003.

SEMIGALLIANS

For the first time, the name of Semigallians was mentioned in Scandinavian historical sources. It is mentioned in the Danish chronicle of Rude Monastery of the 13th century that around 870, Danish emigrants subjugated Old Prussia, Semigallia and the Karelian land. It is believed that the Semigallian language disappeared in the late 15th century.

No written monuments of the Semigallian language have survived; therefore, information about the Semigallian language can only be obtained on the basis of proper names: toponyms or anthroponyms found in various historical sources or currently existing in the former territory of Semigallia. Something can be found out about the former peculiarities of this language from the dialects used here today. Semigallians used consonants s, z where Lithuanians today have š, ž: Mussa, Swete, Sagare, Zeymel; c, dz are used instead of k, g. Even today, in the former Semigallian territory, especially around Žagarė, Skaistgiris, Gruzdžiai, mixed use of consonants š, ž, č, dž and s, z, c, dz occurs: pradze, krūmš, lažda; cognate forms of river names in Lithuania and Latvia are sometimes used: Šeševe / Sesēve, Švėtė / Svēte. An interesting phonetic phenomenon called anaptyxis is observed in the former Semigallian territory, when after consonants r, l a small additional vowel is inserted: darėbs (darbas), darėžs (daržas), kalɛts (kaltas), zirags (zirgs), galads (galds).

Suffixes favoured in the Semigallian language were -uvė, -ene; this is shown by toponyms or hydronyms in Lithuania and Latvia: Raktuvė, Salduvė, Vircuve, Upene, Sparnene, Dubelene.

Prof Dr Genovaitė Kačiuškienė

JATVINGIANS

For the first time, the name of Jatvingians was mentioned in Russian sources in the 10th century, in the long list of Kievan Rus' envoys sent to Byzantium in 945. The area inhabited by Jatvingians was usually called “the land of Jatvingians”. In historical sources, Jatvingians sometimes include Sudovians, the inhabitants of Dainava. Jatvingians (or tribal groupings of this region) were enslaved by the Teutonic Order in the late 13th century.

Today, no one doubts that Jatvingians spoke one of the Baltic languages or dialects; however, no written monuments of the Jatvingian language have survived. In order to learn something more specific about the Jatvingian language, one can only ground on proper names: toponyms or anthroponyms found in various historical sources or currently existing in the former territory of Jatvingians. Something can be also found out about the former peculiarities of this language from the dialect used here now. For example, in the Jatvingian language, the old diphthong ei was used, which in the Lithuanian language is usually replaced with its newer variant ie. This is shown by the following toponyms of this region: Deivoniškiai, Leipalingis, Veisiejai, Seinai. Jatvingians used consonants s, z, where Lithuanians today have š, ž: Zervyna, Berznykas. Even today, in this area, especially around Kabeliai, cases of such use of these consonants or their mixing still occur: as, sakalys, zmogus, zasis. The suffixes favoured in the Jatvingian language were -ingė,-ingis, which is shown by toponyms or hydronyms of this region: Apsingė, Kačingė, Sausvingis; the stressed ending -us, which has survived to this day, was also common: Alytus, Niedus, Lajus, Gystus, etc. It is believed that Jatvingian words have also survived: Garbingiai, Stabingis, Penta, Sasnava.

Prof Dr Genovaitė Kačiuškienė

CURONIANS

For the first time, the name of Curonians is mentioned in German sources in the 9th century, where it is written that far from the Swedes, there is one tribe called Curonians. There is no exact date of disappearance of Curonians: in Lithuania, Curonians are no longer mentioned in the 16th century; in Latvia, in the 17th century. The inhabitants of the Curonian Spit, who are sometimes called Curonians, are not the descendants of the old Curonians. These are residents who moved from Latvia around the 16th century, who called themselves Kursenieki and spoke Latvian, although they also used Lithuanian and German at the same time.

The debate on who Curonians were was intense and lengthy. Finally, in the early 20th century, after a thorough analysis of linguistic facts, the Latvian linguist Jānis Endzelīns proved that Curonians were a Baltic tribe.

No written monuments of the Curonian language have survived, with the exception of the prayer ”Our father” presented in S. Grunau’s “The Prussian Chronicle“ (16th century), which is assumed to be written either in the Curonian language with Latvian admixtures or in the ancient Latvian language with Curonian admixtures. Based on the anthroponyms mentioned in various sources and on those used in the former Curonian territory, it can be stated that the Curonian language was closer to the Prussian language, but it had also adopted the peculiarities of the languages of other Baltic tribes (Semigallians, Lithuanians, Samogitians).

In order to learn something more specific about the Curonian language, one can ground only on proper names – toponyms or anthroponyms found in various historical sources or currently existing in the former Curonian territory. Something about the former peculiarities of this language can also be learned from the dialects used here today. The Curonian language differed from Lithuanian most in the use of the diphthong ei instead of the Lithuanian ie: Leipaičiai, Leita. Curonians used consonants s, z where Lithuanians today have š, ž: Telse (Telšiai), Vesete (Viešetė), Sate (Šatės); č, dž, instead of k, g. Even today, the parallel use of these consonants still occurs in the territory formerly inhabited by Curonians: silkas / šilkas, plekšnė / plekšnė, skrabalas / škrabalas, čiobrinti / kioblinti, čiupelis / kiupelis. The suffixes favoured in the Curonian language were -alė, -elė, -ilė: Kretingalė, Šilalė, Žemalė, krūmalis, daržalis; prefixes ab-, em- were also common: Ablinga. Curonian words have also survived: cyrulis, kūlis, pylė, pūrai.

Prof Dr Genovaitė Kačiuškienė

SELONIANS

In historical sources, the name of Selonians appears the latest among all Baltic tribes – only in the 13th century, in the H. Latvis’ Chronicle, where it is stated that the most important political and military centre of Selonians is the former Sēlpils. It is believed that Selonians disappeared (were Lithuanialised or Latvialised) the earliest among all Baltic tribes – around the middle of the 14th century.

There are no surviving written monuments of the Selonian language; therefore, knowledge about the Selonian language can only be obtained on the basis of proper names – toponyms or anthroponyms found in various historical sources or currently existing now in the former Selonian territory. Something about the former peculiarities of this language can also be learned from the dialects used here today. Selonians used consonants s, z where Lithuanians today have š, ž: Swentoppe, Vesinte; c, dz, instead of k, g . Even today, words starting with consonants z, č are quite common in the territory formely inhabited by Selonians: zliaukti, zaukti, zerleta, zelmuo, Zarasai, čeida, čiaukė, čivilis; they are considered remnants of the Selonian language.

Prof Dr Genovaitė Kačiuškienė

OLD PRUSSIANS

The Old Prussians’ name was mentioned for the first time in the 9th century in German historical sources which refer to the Old Prussian lands and their territory. There were several Old Prussian lands. Scientists still do not agree on their number till now.

The Old Prussian language disappeared in the 18th century. However, there are surviving written monuments of the Old Prussian language, allowing to form a much clearer picture of the Old Prussian language, compared with the languages of other extinct Baltic peoples or tribes.

The oldest handwritten small humorous Old Prussian text could have been written around the middle of the 14th century. However, the most important monuments of the Old Prussian language, dating back to the 15th-16th centuries, are two manuscript glossaries and three printed catechisms. The most valuable and largest of these (54 pages of the Prussian text) is the Enchiridion or the 3rd Catechism, written in the Sambian dialect, printed in Karaliaučius in 1561.

The Old Prussian language is much older than the Lithuanian and Latvian languages, although it is close to them in terms of phonetic, grammatical and lexical characteristics.

The following more important peculiarities of the Old Prussian language should be mentioned: free stress jumping to various syllables of the word (as in the Lithuanian language); the retained old diphthong ei (deiwas, deiws, preicalas); the old long vowel ā, which Lithuanians changed to o (stānintei: stovint); as in the Latvian language, s, z are used where Lithuanians retained the older consonants š, ž (suns, assis, sirgis); mixed diphthongs an, en, in, un are used everywhere (rancko, naktin); even the neuter of nouns is used (meddo, alu, assaran); etc. There is an abundance of words that have common roots with the Lithuanian and Latvian languages, but there are also quite a number of cases where only Old Prussian and Latvian or only Old Prussian and Lithuanian words coincide (salme: salmi, klupstis: klupstis). Old Prussians had common words both with Slavs and Germans (assanis: осень, wirds: wort).

Prof Dr Genovaitė Kačiuškienė

Prepared based on: Kabelka J. Baltų filologijos įvadas, Vilnius: Mokslas, 1982; Zinkevičius Z. Lietuvių kalbos istorija, II, Vilnius: Mokslas, 1987; Dini P.U. Baltų kalbos, Vilnius: Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute, 2000;Mažiulis V. Prūsų kalbos istorinė gramatika, Vilnius: Publishing house of Vilnius University, 2004 .