Lithuanian culture & history

Question 1

What language family does Lithuanian belong to?

Answer 1

Baltic languages, part of the Indo-European language family.

Question 2

What are the branches of the Baltic languages?

Answer 2

-West Baltic (Old Prussian)
-East Baltic (Lithuanian, Latvian).

Question 3

How many speakers does Lithuanian have and where are they primarily located?

Answer 3

About 3 million speakers, who almost all live in the Republic of Lithuania.

Question 4

What are the parts of Lithuania called?

Answer 4

1. Aukštaitija (highland),
2. Žemaitija (lowland),
3. Dzūkija,
4. Suvalkija,
5. Mažoji Lietuva (small Lithuania).

Question 5

When was the Lithuanian alphabet developed?

Answer 5

The Lithuanian alphabet (Abėcė̃lė) has been developed since the 19th century.

Question 6

What is the etymology of the name “Lithuania”?

Answer 6

Lith. Lietuvà is interpreted as ‘river basin’ from líeti ‘to pour,’ lietùs ‘rain’.
cf. the perhaps related Lat. lītus ‘shore’. Very uncertain.

Question 7

What does the term “Old Lithuanian” refer to?

Answer 7

any form of Lithuanian pre-dating 19th-century standardization.

Question 8

What influence did the Teutonic Order have in the Baltic region?

Answer 8

They conducted Northern Crusades, leading to the conversion and influence over Northern Poland, Prussia, Estonia, and Latvia.

Question 9

What role did the Hanseatic League play in the influence of Germanic languages on the Baltic lexicon?

Answer 9

The sea-trade activities in the 14th-15th centuries brought many Low German loanwords into Baltic languages.

Question 10

What did Tannenberg mean for Lithuanian history?

Answer 10

The Battle of Tannenberg in 1410, where the Teutonic Order was defeated.

Question 11

What did the Union of Krewo (1386) and the Union of Lublin (1569) mean for Lithuanian history?

Answer 11

The Union of Krewo (1386) made a dynastic union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, until the Union of Lublin (1569) created a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Question 12

What impact did the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth have on the Lithuanian language?

Answer 12

It resulted in hundreds of loanwords due to long and intensive contact between Poles and Lithuanians.

Question 13

What are the oldest Lithuanian texts and when were they inscribed?

Answer 13

1. Pater Noster inscribed on the last page of Nicolaus de Blony’s Tractatus Sacerdotalis (1503).
2. 20 glosses in Joannes Herolt, Liber Discipuli de Eruditione Christifidelium (±1525).

Question 14

What is the oldest Lithuanian book and when was it written?

Answer 14

The first Lithuanian book is Martynas Mažvydas’ 1547 Catechism.

Question 15

When was the first Bible translation in Lithuanian completed and by whom?

Answer 15

Jonas Bretkūnas made the first Bible translation (1579-1590).

Question 16

What is the historical significance of “Postilė” by Mikalojus Daukša?

Answer 16

Postilė (sermon collection, 1599) constitutes one of the monuments of the Lithuanian language, and used accent marks for word stress and tone.

Question 17

When was the first Lithuanian grammar published and by whom?

Answer 17

In 1653 by Danielius Kleinas.

Question 18

What historical event took place in 1795?

Answer 18

The Polish-Lithuanian state was dismantled and divided between Prussia, Austria, and Russia in 1795.

Question 19

Which dialect is the Lithuanian standard language based on?

Answer 19

On the West Aukštaitian dialect (partly spoken in Lithuania Minor).

Question 20

What is an influential early Lithuanian literary work published in Lithuania Minor, 1818?

Answer 20

“Metai” (‘The Seasons’), a hexametric poem by Kristijonas Donelaitis.

Question 21

What role did the Indo-Europeanist August Schleicher play in the standardization of Lithuanian?

Answer 21

He wrote a grammar in 1856, which describes a Prussian West-Aukštaitian dialect. Schleicher introduced the letters <ų>, <į>, <y> and <v>, but does not mention the tones.</v></y></į></ų>

Question 22

What significant acts did Prussian–Lithuanian Friedrich Kurschat perform?

Answer 22

–A more extensive grammar of a dialect close to the one described by Schleicher (1876)
–Lithuanian-German dictionary (1883)
–German-Lithuanian dictionary (1870-1874)

Question 23

How did the Russian Empire’s rule impact the Lithuanian language in the 19th century?

Answer 23

From 1864 to 1904, it was forbidden to publish Lithuanian books or newspapers in the Latin alphabet, leading to smuggling of materials from Prussia and development of a standard language.

Question 24

What was significant about Jonas Jablonskis’s 1901 publication?

Answer 24

Jonas Jablonskis, who was born on the border between Lithuania Minor and Maior, published the first grammar of the current standard language in Lithuania Minor in 1901.

Question 25

Why did Lithuania have fewer German loanwords compared to Latvia?

Answer 25

Lithuania was independent from the Teutonic Order, less sea-oriented, and initially separated from German influences by Old Prussian territories.

Question 26

What sort of Germanic loanwords are in Lithuanian?

Answer 26

Examples include Low German loanwords due to trade and the Hanseatic League’s influence.

Question 27

What are some examples of Slavic loanwords in Lithuanian?

Answer 27

-gãtavas ‘ready’ from Polish gotowy or Belarusian gatovy,
-kumetìs ‘farmhand’ from Old Russian kŭmetŭ.

Question 28

What was the significance of contact between Baltic and Finnic languages?

Answer 28

There was early contact between the speakers, and all Baltic loanwords in Finnish and Estonian relate to agriculture and animal husbandry. Finnic loanwords in Baltic are rarer:
e.g. Lith. laĩvas ‘boat,’ Latvian laĩva < Est. laev, Fin. laiva