Atlas of the baltic languages: from idea to pilot project
Atlas of the baltic languages: from idea to pilot project

Summary/Abstract: Dialectologists from Latvian Language Institute of the University of Latvia and the Department of Language History and Dialectology of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language, have developed a proposal for a joint project entitled, The Atlas of the Baltic Languages, which is intended to demonstrate the close kinship of these two Baltic languages. A pilot project, supported by a grant from the University of Latvia and Directorate for the Millenium of Lithuania has been carried out between 2006 and 2008 to determine what the form and eventual content of such an atlas might be. In 2009 a summary of work carried out on the pilot project on Atlas of the Baltic Languages, Prospect has been published which includes 12 geolinguistic maps, with commentary in Latvian, Lithuanian and English. The publication also contains in the introduction homage paid to the living and extinct Baltic languages, as well as an overview of the history of the study of dialects in both countries and the characteristics and regional distribution of the dialects of Latvian and Lithuanian. The publication also describes the principles followed in creating these geolinguistic maps and associated commentary. This article describes recent progress made in research on the regional distribution of dialects of both Baltic languages. For more than a century research on the dialects of the Latvian and Lithuanian languages has taken place in parallel, separately gathering data on the various dialects of each respective language. It is, therefore, necessary first to examine, briefly, the histories of the respective geolinguistic research endeavours. The first records of differences between the territorial extents and diversity of Latvian and Lithuanian are to be found in surviving grammars and dictionaries of these languages compiled in the 17th century. The first map showing the geographical reach of the Lithuainian language is to be found in the grammar compiled in 1876 by Friedrich Kurschat. The first geolinguistic map of the Latvian language was published in 1892 by August Bielenstein. The systematic efforts at gathering Latvian and Lithuanian non-material cultural assets date from the second half of the 19th century. A new chapter in the study of Lithuanian and Latvian dialects began in the 1950s after a decision was taken to produce atlases of the two languages. At the end of the 20th century the atlases of the Lithuanian and Latvian language were published. This was the main basis for joint project – The Atlas of the Baltic Languages The maps created in the framework of the pilot project, The Atlas of the Baltic Languages, show the principal grouping of most terms used by the speakers of these two living Baltic languages. An in-depth geolinguistic study of the Latvian and Li­thuanian languages could produce important findings in the field of the history of the Baltic peoples.

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