Lithuanian Language

Lithuanian Language, language spoken by nearly all the inhabitants of Lithuania and by expatriates in such countries as the United States, Canada, and Australia. Lithuanian, Latvian, and Old Prussian (an extinct language) principally constitute the Baltic languages, a principal subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Lithuanian appears in two main dialect groups, with further subdivisions. Shamaitish, or Low Lithuanian, is spoken along the Baltic coast of Lithuania, and Aukshtaitish, or High Lithuanian, is spoken in the north, south, and east of the country. The language is considered notably pure in its retention of archaic Indo-European forms, although it has also been influenced by Finnish and Russian. The Russian language had a strong influence on Lithuanian, especially during the years of Soviet domination following World War II (1939-1945).

Although a literary language had existed since the 16th century, a written literature in Lithuanian took some time to develop. The Lithuanian nobility often used Polish. During the 19th century three dialects competed for acceptance as the standard written language. A standard Lithuanian based on the West High dialect emerged shortly before the first period of Lithuanian political independence (1918-1940). In 1918 it became the country’s official language. Linguist Jonas Jablonskis is considered to be the father of standard Lithuanian. His Lithuanian grammar, first published in 1919, had a strong impact on the development of literary Lithuanian and of textbooks for use in schools.

Lithuanian is highly inflected. In standard Lithuanian, nouns have seven cases (some dialects have eight or more). Gender is masculine and feminine, although some traces of the old neuter survive. Number is singular and plural; some dialects also have a dual number (for two items). The article is not used. Four simple verb tenses (present, preterite, frequentive past, and future) and several compounds exist in the indicative mood; imperative, subjunctive, reflexive, infinitive, and participial forms are also clearly defined. The language is rich in the use of diphthongs and, like Latvian, in rising and falling intonations. Lithuanian is written in a 32-letter Latin alphabet, using diacritical marks.