Curonian language

The Curonian language (; ; ), or Old Curonian, was a Baltic language spoken by the Curonians, a Baltic tribe who inhabited Courland (now western Latvia and northwestern Lithuania).

Classification

Curonian was an Indo-European language of the Baltic branch, as proven by JÃÂnis EndzelÃÂ«ns.

Curonian's relation to other Baltic languages is unclear:

Some scholars consider it to have been an East Baltic language, intermediate between Lithuanian and Latvian.
Others, like Vytautas MaÃÂ¾iulis, classify it as a West Baltic language that became closer to the Eastern branch due to extensive contact.
Linguist Eduard VÃÂ¤ÃÂ¤ri argues that it is possible that Curonians were Baltic Finns.

History

Old Curonian disappeared in the course of the 16th century.

Since the end of the 20th century, there has been a revival of scientific and cultural interest in Latvia and Lithuania in the now extinct Baltic languages and tribes, including Yotvingian, Curonian, and Old Prussian.

Lexicon

Samogitian words such as (mosquito), (duck), (swallow), (skylark), (hare), (stone), (marsh), and (winter wheat) are considered to be of Curonian origin.

Further words show similarities with Old Prussian: and Old Prussian: compared to , , all meaning wheel.

Corpus

Evidence from other languages

Curonian left substrata in western dialects of the Latvian and Lithuanian, namely the Samogitian dialect. No written documents in this language are known, but some ancient Lithuanian texts from western regions show some Curonian influence. According to Lithuanian linguist Zigmas ZinkeviÃÂius, long and intense CuronianÃ¢ÂÂLithuanian bilingualism existed.

Onomastics

There are only few onomastics in the region considered to have been inhabited by the Curonians.

There are attested names of Curonian noblemen such as: , , , , .

Potential text in Curonian

Additionally, the Pater Noster reported by Simon Grunau is speculated to be in Curonian.

Lord's Prayer after Simon Grunau

References

Literature

Ambrassat, August "Die Provinz OstpreuÃÂen", Frankfurt/ Main 1912
Endzelin, J.: ÃÂber die NationalitÃÂ¤t und Sprache der Kuren, in Finnisch-Ungarische Forschungen, XII, 1912
Gaerte, Wilhelm "Urgeschichte Ostpreussens", KÃÂ¶nigsberg 1929
Gimbutas, Marija "Die Balten", MÃÂ¼nchen-Berlin 1983
Kurschat, Heinrich A.: Das Buch vom Memelland, Siebert Oldenburg 1968
Kwauka, Paul, Pietsch, Richard: Kurisches WÃÂ¶rterbuch, Verlag Ulrich Camen Berlin, 1977,
Kwauka, Paul: Namen des Memellandes/ Unsere Ã¢ÂÂfremdartigenÃ¢ÂÂ Familiennamen, Archiv AdM, Oldenburg
Lepa, Gerhard (Hrsg) "Die Schalauer", Tolkemita-Texte Dieburg 1997
Mortensen, Hans und Gertrud "Die Besiedlung des nordÃÂ¶stlichen OstpreuÃÂens bis zum Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts", Leipzig 1938
Mortensen, Hans und Gertrud: Kants vÃÂ¤terliche Ahnen und ihre Umwelt, Rede von 1952 in Jahrbuch der Albertus-UniversitÃÂ¤t zu KÃÂ¶nigsberg / Pr., Holzner- Verlag Kitzingen/ Main 1953 Bd. 3
Peteraitis, Vilius: MaÃÂ¾oji Lietuva ir Tvanksta (Lithuania Minor and Tvanksta) Vilnius 1992
Pietsch, Richard (kÃÂ¼nstlerischer Entwurf und Text): Bildkarte rund um das Kurische Haff, Heimat-Buchdienst Georg Banszerus, HÃÂ¶xter, Herstellung: Neue Stalling, Oldenburg
Pietsch, Richard: Deutsch-Kurisches WÃÂ¶rterbuch, Verlag Nordostdeutsches Kulturwerk LÃÂ¼neburg 1991,
Pietsch, Richard: Fischerleben auf der Kurischen Nehrung dargestellt in kurischer und deutscher Sprache, Verlag Ulrich Camen Berlin 1982
Schmid, Wolfgang P. (Hrg): Nehrungskurisch, Sprachhistorische und instrumentalphonetische Studien zu einem aussterbenden Dialekt, Stuttgart 1989
Schmid, Wolfgang P.: Das Nehrungskurische, ein sprachhistorischer ÃÂberblick
Tolksdorf, Ulrich "Fischerei und Fischerkultur in OstpreuÃÂen", Heide/ Holstein 1991
ÃÂ½adeikiene, Daiva, Krajinskas, Albertas: Kurenkahnwimpel,

External links