Kursenieki language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kursenieki
kursisk valuod
RegionCuronian Spit (historically), Germany (nowadays)
Native speakers
2 full, 3 partial, a few passive speakers (2016)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologcuro1234
The area of Kursenieki language speakers in 1649
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Kursenieki language (Kursenieki: kursisk valuod, German: Nehrungskurisch; Latvian: kursenieku valoda; Lithuanian: kuršininkų kalba) or Curonian language of the Curonian isthmus (German: kurische Sprache der Kurischen Nehrung[2]) is a dialect of the Latvian language spoken by the Kursenieki of the Curonian Spit, a thin strip of land stretching between southwestern Lithuania and the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia. In the process of various migrations of the 14th–17th centuries, Curonians (already speaking a Latvian dialect) settled along the Curonian Spit in East Prussia and became known as Kursenieki.

Influences and vocabulary

The Kursenieki language was influenced by

High German, and 13% from Lithuanian dialects. The Kursenieki language was mutually intelligible with Latvian, especially its southwestern dialects.[3]

History

Kursieniki language in the German Empire 1897

Before

expelled in the ethnic cleansing that took place in East Prussia after World War II
.

An advertisement in Lithuanian for Kursenieki language classes in Juodkrantė

Several pages of sample texts in Kursenieki language are included in the 1888 monograph Über die Sprache der preussischen Letten by Adalbert Bezzenberger and the 1927 monograph Kursenieku valoda by Juris Plāķis [lv], where they describe the language spoken by the inhabitants of the Curonian Spit.[4]

There is a 2002 documentary film Tarp aštuonių vėjų ("Amidst Eight Winds") by Arvydas Barysas about the endangered Kursenieki language. The film, introducing the Curonian Spit, speaks about three brothers Sakutis (plural: Sakučiai) who had moved from the Spit to Sweden about 60 years ago, but still speak "kuršiškai".[5][6] In 2005 the film won the Best Overall Production Award at the second European Heritage Film Festival in Toblach (Italy) under the patronage of Europa Nostra.[7]

See also

References

  1. hdl:10125/24660
    .
  2. ISBN 978-99-849-8369-1
    .
  3. ISBN 3-922296-60-2
  4. ISBN 963-9116-42-4
    .
  5. ^ "Activity Report 2004, Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO" (PDF). UNESCO. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  6. ^ "Tarp 8 vėjų" the DVD annotation at an author's webpage (retrieved June 23, 2019)
  7. ^ "EUROPA NOSTRA Pan-European Federation for Heritage - NEWSLETTER Spring 2005". Retrieved June 24, 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kursenieki language.


Stub icon

This Indo-European languages-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kursenieki_language&oldid=1226596616"