Curonian language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Old Curonian
Native toLatvia, Lithuania, Germany (historically)
Extinct16th century[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3xcu
xcu
GlottologNone
Distribution of the Baltic tribes, circa 1200 CE (boundaries are approximate)

The Curonian language (

Baltic tribe who inhabited Courland (now western Latvia[2]: 291–293 [1] and northwestern Lithuania[3]
).

Classification

Curonian was an Indo-European language of the Baltic branch, as proven by Jānis Endzelīns.[4]

Curonian's relation to other Baltic languages is unclear:[1]

History

Old Curonian disappeared in the course of the 16th century.[1]

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Baltic states saw a revival of scientific and cultural interest in extinct Baltic languages and tribes, including Yotvingian, Curonian, and Old Prussian.[citation needed]

Lexicon

Samogitian words such as kuisis (mosquito), pylė (duck), blezdinga (swallow), cyrulis (skylark), zuikis (rabbit), kūlis (stone), purvs (marsh), and pūrai (winter wheat) are considered to be of Curonian origin.[9]

Further words show similarities with Old Prussian: *kela and Old Prussian: kelan compared to Lithuanian: rãtas, Latvian: rats, all meaning wheel.[2]: 296–297 

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 Zinkevičius
, long and intense Curonian–Lithuanian bilingualism existed.

Onomastics

There are only few onomastics in the region considered to have been inhabited by the Curonians.[2]: 297 

There are attested names of Curonian noblemen such as: Lammekinus [lv; lt], Veltūnas, Reiginas, Tvertikis, Saveidis.

Potential text in Curonian

Additionally, the Pater Noster reported by Simon Grunau is speculated to be in Curonian.[2]: 297 [10]

Lord's Prayer after Simon Grunau

Nossen thewes, cur tu es delbes
sweytz gischer tho wes wardes
penag munis tholbe mystlastilbi
tolpes prahes girkade delbeszisne tade symmes semmes worsunii
dodi mommys an nosse igdemas mayse
unde gaytkas pames mumys nusze noszeginu cademes pametam musen prettane kans
newede munis lawnā padomā swalbadi munis nowusse loyne Jhesus amen.

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 3-85129-510-2. Archived from the original
    on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2012-05-12.
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ "Kuršiai" [Curonians] (in Lithuanian). Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 8 November 2023.
  4. Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia
    (in Lithuanian). Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  5. .
  6. .
  7. ^ Mažiulis, Vytautas (1981). "Apie senovės vakarų baltus bei jų santykius su slavais, ilirais ir germanais". Iš lietuvių etnogenezės (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Mokslas.
  8. ^ Vääri, Eduard (n.d.). "Eestlaste tutvumine hõ imurahvastega ja nende keeltega kuni 1918". suri.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  9. .
  10. ^ Schmid, Wolfgang P. (1962). "Zu Simon Grunaus Vaterunser" [On Simon Grunau's Lord's Prayer]. Indogermanische Forschung (in German) (67). Berlin: 261–273.

Literature

External links