Explanations of the Name Lithuania in the Writings of the 16th and 17th centuries  Cover Image

Lietuvos vardo kilmės aiškinimas XVI–XVII amžiaus raštuose
Explanations of the Name Lithuania in the Writings of the 16th and 17th centuries

Author(s): Eugenija Ulčinaitė
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Lietuvių Kalbos Institutas
Keywords: name of Lithuania; Annales Quedlinburgenses; Lituae; Letthowie; Lettonia; Litwania; Piccolomini; Dlugosius; Latin tradition; etymology; sound change; Explanations; Writings of the 16th and 17th centuries; Matheas de Miechow; Lithuanos; Kojelavičius

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the Latin tradition of the name Lithuania since its first attestation in the Annales Quedlinburgenses (1009): Lituae, Letthowie, Lettonia, Litwania etc. The discussion is based on the 16th–17th century “theories” according to which the name of Lithuania was said to be derived from such Latin words as litus ‘sea-shore, bank’, lituus ‘horn, bugle’ or as the result of a sound change Italia>l’Italia>Lituania. In the spelling Lithuania (the letters <th> instead of <t>) the influence of the Greek orthography is also observed.

  • Issue Year: 2000
  • Issue No: 02
  • Page Range: 51-60
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: Lithuanian