JINA ŠVABARYTĖ-VALUŽIENĖ

Institute of the Lithuanian Language

Research interests: dialect analysis of written sources, dialect lexicography and lexicology, sociolinguistics, syntax.

BOUNDARIES OF THE ŽAGARĖ LOCAL DIALECT

Boundaries of the Žagarė Dialect

ANNOTATION

The article defines for the first time the boundaries of the Žagarė local dialect, located in the northwestern part of the Western Aukštaitian Šiauliškiai subdialect. It recalls the cultural and economic past of Žagarė and its surroundings, which influenced the formation of the social networks and linguistic identity of the region’s inhabitants. Drawing on dialect recordings of the Žagarė local dialect, it highlights changes in respondents’ linguistic attitudes and self-perception.

KEYWORDS: Western Aukštaitian Šiauliškiai, boundaries of the Žagarė local dialect, isogloss, linguistic identity.

ANNOTATION

The article makes the first attempt to define the boundaries of Žagarė local dialect situated in the northwest part of the Western Aukštaitian subdialect of Šiauliškiai. It reminds the cultural and economic past of Žagarė and its environs, which influenced the formation of social networks and linguistic identity among the residents of the region. Based on the dialectal records of Žagarė local dialect, the article highlights the linguistic attitudes of the respondents and the evolution of their identity.

KEY WORDS: Western Aukštaitian subdialect of Šiauliškiai, boundaries of Žagarė local dialect, isogloss, linguistic identity.

INTRODUCTION

Žagarė—the center of the dialect, situated right by the Latvian border and nearly 26 kilometers northwest of Joniškis—is a town with a distinctive ethnic composition and history. The Švėtė, which flows through Žagarė, separates two settlements on either bank of the river

Straipsniai / Articles

135

JANINA ŠVAMBAR YTĖ-VALUŽIENĖ

of Žagarė. On the left bank is Old Žagarė, and on the right bank, New Žagarė. The town lies at the crossroads of roads to Naujoji Akmenė, Joniškis, and Jelgava. Old Žagarė is an urban heritage monument. The street network and the plan of New Žagarė’s square are protected by the state. The parts of the town have a rectangular plan and were laid out in the first half of the 16th century. Historical sources, as encyclopedias report, mention Žagarė (Sagera) from 1253 (or 1254). At the end of the 13th century, during the Semigallian uprising, Žagarė was completely destroyed by the Teutonic Knights. It is mentioned again in historical sources from 1473. In the time of Vytautas the Great, there was even a salt customs house in Žagarė.

The manor in Old Žagarė is known from 1490. Large markets were held in this part of the town from 1495. On July 16, 1495, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Aleksandras, granted the right to hold markets and trade fairs in Žagarė, establish inns, and pursue crafts. A church was built opposite the market in 1499. A customs house operated in Old Žagarė from 1495 to 1797.

New Žagarė, on the right bank of the Švėtė, developed in the 16th century and was called a small town from 1547. A church was built in New Žagarė in the 16th century, and a parish school was established beside it from 1600. The Naryškiai manor estate dates from the 17th–19th centuries; the palace, stud farm, riding hall, manor servants’ buildings, and park have survived to this day.

Old and New Žagarė were included in the atlas of the Russian Empire. On the map of Kaunas Governorate, they are marked right on the border (see map²).

Both parts—Old and New, which together make up present-day Žagarė—often suffered fires. Both Old and New Žagarė suffered greatly during the Northern Wars⁴.

Four churches of different denominations were built in Žagarė to serve the spiritual needs of the population. In addition to the two Catholic churches, an Evangelical Lutheran church began operating in 1849 and 1850, and an Orthodox church was established in 1894.

Žagarė had state and private schools, and publications were issued in various languages. From 1865, a state school was established (in addition to the parish school)⁵. Two Jewish schools operated. A private commercial school existed from 1909 to 1915.

¹ For more, see: TLE IV 627–628; https://www.vle.lt/Straipsnis/zagare-110520.

² The map is taken from https://www.runivers.ru/maps/podr/las/30/.

³ Fires ravaged Old Žagarė in 1712, 1717, 1775, 1784, and 1902. New Žagarė was ravaged by fire in 1635, 1649, 1656, 1710, 1757, 1758, 1775, 1776, 1805, 181, 1909, and 1911.

⁴ Žagarė suffered the greatest damage in the mid-17th century and at the beginning of the 17th century.

⁵ Maintained by the state authorities.

136

Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXVII

The boundaries of the Žagarė dialect

The town school opened in 1906. A Latvian school began operating in 1907. A state girls’ school was established in 1909. A printing house was established in 1909⁶.

By the end of the eighteenth century, rapidly growing Žagarė had become the most important trade center in northern Lithuania, attracting merchants not only from various parts of Lithuania but also from Russia, Poland, England, and Germany. In 1897–1899, Žagarė had 820 artisans and 171 commercial enterprises. The surviving buildings of Žagarė’s old town, where prominent people of the time lived or cultural and educational institutions, commercial enterprises, mills, and wool, leather, and candle factories were located, bear witness to centuries of history. All the other artisans worked in various buildings: leatherworkers, shoemakers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, tailors, knitters, potters, masons, wheelwrights, coopers, weavers, furriers, and barbers, among others. In the nineteenth century, other industrial enterprises began to emerge. Button workshops and a soap factory were established. At that time and later, 730 artisans lived in Žagarė, where 6 factories, 3 mills, and 104 shops operated. Merchants from England, Russia, and Germany came to the trade fairs. Žagarė was also the largest smuggling center in northern Lithuania. All these historical facts are mentioned with the aim of highlighting linguistic self-awareness and identifying economic and trade networks in the article.

⁶ For more information, see: TLE IV 628; https://www.vle.lt/Straipsnis/zagare-110520.

Straipsniai / Articles

137

J A N I N A Š V A M B A R Y T Ė - V A L U Ž I E N Ė

R E S E A R C H M A T E R I A L, A I M, A N D M E T H O D S

The Dialect Archive of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language (LKĮ TA) preserves a considerable number of recordings from Žagarė and its environs. The dialect recordings under study cover the years 1998–2003.⁷ Respondents from the oldest generation, born between 1901 and 1936, were interviewed. The recordings were made by linguists (No. 15), students of Lithuanian studies (Nos. 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29), and schoolchildren guided by teachers (Nos. 239, 240, 241).⁸ The accounts reveal not only the respondents’ lives, historical upheavals and coups, and the cataclysms of the First and Second World Wars, but also Žagarė’s cultural, social, and economic life, which brings to light the respondents’ linguistic attitudes and the directions of their social networks.⁹

It should be noted that dialectologists have observed individual instances of dialect speech (the use of šleivavimas, discussed by Aldona Jonaitienė, Alekas Girdenis, Juozas Pabrėža, and Aušra Kaikarytė; cases of Samogitian stress, noted by Pabrėža; perciėntyvas, discussed by Girdenis and Genovaitė Kačiuskienė; and so on), which the author will emphasize in greater depth and describe more fully in other articles on the Žagarė dialect. In addition, researchers of Lithuanian dialects draw two isoglosses beyond the Žagarė and Skaistgirio dialects. The first is the isogloss marking the reflexes a, ę of ē after hard l. Beyond it, the second isogloss marks the reflexes of stem-stressed ē, o, y, ū.

Since the Žagarė dialect has not yet been studied extensively and in detail, the first and foremost aim is to establish its boundaries. To this end, the following tasks were set: to familiarize oneself with Žagarė’s historical, religious, and cultural heritage, which may have influenced the dialect’s linguistic development; to identify the respondents’ linguistic and cultural insights by listening to the recordings; and to establish the boundaries of the Žagarė dialect and draw a map. The descriptive, comparative, and cartographic methods used in traditional dialectology were best suited to achieving this aim.

⁷ The LKĮ TA also preserves recordings from later years, for example, those made in 2011–2013, but the article’s author does not select them for one reason: the respondents’ age. The oldest generation best represents the traditional dialect, and most dialect recordings of such respondents were made in the years specified above.

⁸ In 1998, Kaikarytė interviewed a man (born in 1928) and a woman (born in 1928), while Lithuanian studies students S. Mickutė and S. Raicevičiūtė interviewed a man (born in 1930) and two women (born in 1914 and 1936). In 1999, accounts were recorded from sixteen respondents born in 1901, 1902, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1934, as well as from a respondent born in 1924; the recordings were made by A. Laurikė, B. Balutytė, R. Vidmantaitė, J. Norkienė, and S. Raicevičiūtė. In 2003, schoolchildren from the Žagarė “Aušra” Gymnasium recorded accounts from respondents born in 1923 and 1925, as well as from another respondent.

⁹ The term social networks encompasses former economic and trade relations between Latvians and Lithuanians, but is also linked to linguistics through linguistic self-awareness (the use of Latvian in communication).

138

A c t a L i n g u i s t i c a L i t h u a n i c a L X X V I I

Žagarės šnektos ribos

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND LINGUISTIC SELF-AWARENESS

In the dialectal texts recorded in Žagarė and its environs, respondents’ accounts bring into focus Žagarė as an independent center with self-government, where people of various nationalities and religious beliefs lived together. Respondents have expressed their own linguistic attitudes and distinctive linguistic self-awareness, and have indicated commercial and work-related ties.

Respondents remember Žagarė (abbreviated Žg) and consistently emphasize it as the center of the district, which it had long been, until Joniškis became a center: *žãg̃ṙes valsč̇us bùva pri *liẽtuvos / kur_dãba *jõniškes rajõns / tai_bù_dava *žãg̃res ra-jons (Žg). ¶

As the accounts tell it, the biggest fairs (jomarkai) were held here, in Žagarė. The townspeople’s large house yards and distinctive urban heritage have remained in respondents’ memories. They were adapted for storing the carts laden with goods that came to the market. On major market days, even children tried to earn money, cf.: ūs_ta.[ar-klu]_prižu.ṙė̇ima. ḋuodava ḋė̇sim ċenu. ¶ diḋeli ki̇emai *žãg̃rei bù-dav(a) ãkš-ċė̇ ¶ o_kãḋ bùdava jomarks / tai_tãḋ bùdava po_šimta. padãvu. suvažiuodava i kiema. / ja ¶ su_ḋiraċe(s) suvažiuodava ¶ pi̇nas klė̇tis prik̇zdovom tu. ḋiraċu. ¶ ḋu̇desim ċenu. / a_penkiolika ċenu. jau_ṁ.m i. ki̇šene. lė̇nd / ja ¶ (Veršiai).

Since there were forests belonging to the Naryshkins around Žagarė, forest guards were needed. Naryshkin would not employ Lithuanians because he favored his relatives, but would invite Latvians and Germans to serve; therefore, Lithuanians regarded the forest guards as follows: tù ė̇ *nariškina eigùl / tù ė̇ *nariškina šūks / vienu žõžu (Žg). Former forest guards usually earned quite a lot of money and acquired a farm, but did not work it and returned to their former occupation: [vienkiemje] ċė̇jam [tė̇v] nepatika / mat miš-kė už.uges ¶ savu ūki. pi̇rta. ṡė̇rei pal̇ka ¶ nebuva kai(b) bùt / pal̇ka / vienu žõžu / pavoj̇ga ¶ tūkstanti. cari̇nu rù.blu. sumokė̇e [už žeme] ¶ taž buva didelis pings ¶ carinei pingai bùva brã̇gus (Žg). ¶

Žagarė was a multiethnic town. Respondents say there were many enterprising Jews: dã: pri *lietūv̇os / *stṙuls bùva veḋė̇s / ži̇ḋė̇lis ¶ nù tai / jis vãlde malū-na. / i_valde kaṙkla. / i_valḋe elektrą ¶ elėtra, jis ḋȧve visã(m) miesṫeliu [Ža-garei] (Žg). It was recalled that a Jewish community, “Kahal,” operated in Žagarė. The storytellers do not avoid the subject of the shooting of Jews: they describe not only the state of mind they experienced personally, but also the inability to carry out their intention of protecting Jews; moreover, they express surprise at the Jewish people’s naive credulity toward people of the warring nations, cf.: daug laḃai suṡauḋe *žãg̃rei tu. ži̇ḋė̇lu. / ja ¶ tigi až ġienȧ tuo_tarṗu miesṫeli. ¶ kȧm bùḋ buv̇ kur paslė̇pt / tai_titvȧṙes bùtum palaik̇e juos ¶ pãmati̇s pasalinis / [saks] jie ži̇dus užl̇ȧka ¶ tigi mùmis vãžė iš_karta sušauḋis karṫu

Straipsniai / Articles

139

JANINA ŠVAMBARĖ-VALUŽIENĖ

su_jės ¶ ant_laũkų. [gyvendamas vienkiemyje] galė̇tum jėm [žydams] i.taisīt a_virtuvė. / a_kā ¶ jē [žydai] dēlto nebė̇ga laũka / ka_jē nė̇tik ¶ kā jēm sā̇kai / jē nė̇tik ¶ sā̇ka / tē̇p nė̇gal būt / nė̇s tē̇p (Veršiai). One of the ethnic groups that lived in Žagarė and its environs was the Roma (Gypsies). When respondents mention their way of life, they always refer to what seemed unusual to Lithuanians: kā būva dīž̇es vā̇is? ¶ čī̇ons / jā ¶ nebūva tōkū. i.tarīm. / ka_jau_lietuvis pāuge a.rkli. / a_ten_kā.re. ¶ čī̇ons gūdrūs labā ¶ ta [arki] pā.rdave / sugrīža / i_vēl dā.ros / a_nepamatēs kur tōki. arklīka kur_pamīškēji priirista. / jā¹⁰. (Veršiai).

The dialect recordings from the Žagarė expedition reflect the regional diversity of the town’s inhabitants and describe differing attitudes: o_taḋ tie_tikėjimai ar labai skires ¶ čė kataliks / o_čė luterōns ¶ tai_sūdna diena ¶ tas_luterōnz būva smertis (Žg).

Respondents spoke about the settlement of Latvians in Lithuania as follows: visi dari-ninkėlei būva sulenkėję ¶ i_vīsus bajorėlus izgrūda i_*sibira. [after the 1863 uprising, because the nobles strongly supported the uprising] tuoz dvārūs pārdave laũka ¶ lāvei pirka ta(ž) žemēs [nes buvo pigų] (Žg). Consequently, Latvians lived quite widely throughout Žagarė and its environs: visas kā.imz *bilunisku vien lātu. būva ¶ *auksčēi ar lātu. būva / viens kics lietuvis (Žg).

Respondents often even explain the origins of place names using Latvian words, cf.: iš_lātu. kalbo.s brūzis / tai_brāvos ¶ *brūža kā.ims į darbā ¶ *švētė / lāviškai *svētė / kaip *šventōji upe / tē̇p išeitu. (Žg).

The people of Žagarė associate even their linguistic identity with Latvian, cf.: nū.m gintā kalbā lāvei (Žg). Respondents also mention that relations between them have changed: ka_lāvei mū.m kaškō nedraugėi / jā ¶ ās / kai_būva jā.uns / tai_mā.n patigdava tie_lāvei ¶ lāviškai išmōkau ¶ ka_būtu. antras lāvis / galė̇tum pašnekėt (Veršiai). Žagarė residents also had work-related ties with Latvia, for example: nu_tai_ē̇dava / katrē būva mieščōnai ¶ lāvei dā.gūžė mokėdava ¶ visi mieščōnai eidavom i_*latvije. dī.rpt ¶ čė / i_*lietuva. / neidavom di.rpt ni viens ¶ manę teũks važū-dava i_*latvije padėt kū.lt / nu_ta_jiz grūdų. usi.rbdava (Veršiai). They also sometimes lived in Latvia temporarily, feeling a duty to return to Lithuania once the children had grown up: vaikai susivėrė / už.uga lik_septiņu. mē.tu. / i_vāžēvom laũka [from Latvia] (Veršiai). The use of Latvian has also declined: lātu. kalba. baig(u) užmiršt / ale biški mōku (Žiūriai). Linguistic self-awareness is associated not only with Latvians but also with Germans. Respondents mention several linguistic features that are most readily noticed—the retraction of stress and the manner of speaking associated with it, cf.: a_jūs vōkete / a_jūs lāte? ¶ māt / tas_kircēvim tē̇p ¶ i_mē(s) stačē kalbam (Žiūriai). Respondents have noticed that speakers of other languages did not like this dialect, because

¹⁰ Apie požiūrį į čigonus plačiau žr. Švambarytė 2005: 186–192.

140

Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXVII

Žagarės šnektos ribos

is alien to their ear, cf.: that_dialect, apparently, was not understood by [those who had arrived] ¶ that_dialect is foreign (Žiūriai). Some respondents tend to believe linguistic scholarship and have already come to identify with Samogitians: we_are Samogitians. as it says on the map (Žiūriai).

Respondents tend to compare two Lithuanias in terms of quality of life and material prosperity: *back then, everyone lived well. ¶ everyone lived on a single homestead (Veršiai); and_now / a snake / under_the_linden. there_was_nothing ¶ by *back then there was (still) no poverty / like_now (Veršiai).

The recordings do not overlook current state politics either: there_is still no real *Lithuania / until_there_is a real *Lithuania / then everything will be good (Veršiai).

Thus, the recordings reveal not only respondents’ attitudes toward linguistic identification, but also the boundaries of the economic network. The people of Žagarė traded with Latvians; they worked and helped out for Latvian farmers for almost the entire nineteenth century, while the residents of the border town spoke Latvian fluently¹¹. All these attitudes have a historical basis, since Žagarė and its surroundings belonged to the Duchy of Courland. Perhaps for this reason, too, older generations of Žagarė residents tend to identify not with Lithuanians and Western Highlanders, but with Latvians. Another attitude, shaped by linguists, is also emerging: people have come to think of themselves as Samogitians, but not Western Highlanders. Such linguistic self-awareness, such a sense of unity, shows that respondents from the Žagarė dialect area are still in the process of forming a linguistic identity.

BOUNDARIES OF THE ŽAGARĖ DIALECT AREA

The Žagarė dialect belongs to the Šiauliai subdialect of the Western Highland dialect (abbreviated VAŠ) (see map¹²).

As the map shows, the area of the Western Highland dialect, which includes the Šiauliai and Kaunas subdialects, has only been described in greater detail in recent years, given its position across the whole of central Lithuania, its dialectal diversity, and the distinctive linguistic phenomena that arise; however, studies of border accents and dialects are still lacking.

It is worth recalling that the formation of national identity in the Baltic lands is associated with the influence of two cultures (eastern and western). According to Alvydas Butkus, national revival and national self-awareness in the Baltic lands first began in a German, rather than a Polish, cultural environment. The public and long-standing Lithuanian language and

¹¹ Plačiau apie požiūrį į latvius žr. Šambarytė 2004: 151–156.

¹² The map is taken from www.tarmes.lki.lt/F_vasmap.htm.

Straipsniai / Articles

141

JANA ŠVAMARYTĖ-VALUŽIENĖ

142

Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXVII

The Boundaries of the Žagarė Dialect

The disparagement of Lithuanian identity also slowed the already belated national awakening of Lithuanians in the 20th century and fostered complexes of an inferior nation. Speakers of the Žagarė dialect had to contend with the influence of both cultures. In the Žagarė area, as respondents recount, everyone [the nobles] had been Polonized ¶ they drove the little noblemen out i* šbira. [after the 1863 uprising, because the nobles strongly supported the uprising] ¶ they gave those manors land ¶ the Latvians liked that land [because it was cheap (Žg). Ideas of Lithuanian identity began to spread in the estates of the new owners (Latvians and Germans). It might be thought that this historical phenomenon also influenced the emergence of linguistic phenomena—which are universal—and the growing complexity of linguistic expression¹³.

Some observations on linguistic phenomena in the Žagarė dialect were described by Dr. A. Kaikarys (1976–2016), at that time the Skaistgirys dialect. The dialectologist, drawing on the theory of Natural Morphology, which developed in Germany and Austria at the beginning of the 1970s, has presented the Skaistgirys dialect, the one closest to the Žagarė dialect, comparing some phenomena of the Skaistgirys dialect with those of the Žagarė dialect (Kaikarytė 2015: 150–173)¹⁴. Moreover, certain accentual, morphological, and syntactic phenomena in the Žagarė dialect had already been noted by dialectologists, but a more systematic description of the dialect is still lacking¹⁵. To investigate the dialect more thoroughly, its boundaries must first be defined (see map¹⁶).

As can be seen on the map, drawn and published here for the first time, the Žagarė dialect lies in the far northwest. Therefore, its northwestern boundary follows the border between the Republics of Lithuania and Latvia (Īšt 2001: 13; Lktch 2004: 60). The nearest localities are Dbinai, Minčiai, Žagarė, and Žagariškiai. The eastern boundary of the Žagarė dialect meets the Skaistgirys dialect. According to A. Kaikarytė, “This boundary has not yet been sufficiently studied and clearly defined” (Kaikarytė 2015: 150). The villages of Daukšiai, Rukuižiai, Stungiai, Gražaičiai, Veršiai, and Maželiai lie along this boundary. The southwestern boundary of the Žagarė dialect passes by Juodeikiai and Gaižaičiai, Raistai, and Martyniškiai, which are near the boundary of Akmenė District.

It is recalled that volume two of the Atlas of the Lithuanian Language (abbreviated LKA), devoted to phonetics and a map of phonetic phenomena, indicates several linguistic isoglosses passing near the Skaistgirys and Žagarė dialects. One of these is the pronunciation of stem e, ė after the consonant l, identified in a certain chrestomathy as the realization of e, ei

¹³ Plačiau apie Daunoras ir kt. dūrus žr. Vasiliauskas 2017.

¹⁴ The theory of Natural Morphology “explains both structural tendencies in languages and specific processes of change in different languages, in part, through universal principles of naturalness” (Kaikarytė 2010: 6).

¹⁵ The author intends to present a more detailed linguistic analysis of the Žagarė dialect in future articles.

¹⁶ The map was drawn by Dr. Laura Geržotaitė, based on the LKA and Lktch maps. I thank my colleague both for her insights into clarifying the boundaries of the Žagarė dialect and for her other comments.

Straipsniai / Articles

143

J A N I N A Š V A M B A R Y T Ė-V A L U Ž I E N Ė

and the reflex a, ai. The isogloss of this linguistic feature reaches Žagarė and passes close to Dibinai and Dėmeliai. The LKA lists linguistic points 7, 21, 22, 37, 50, 74¹⁷.

The second isogloss, which does not reach Žagarė, would be the variable realization of the stressed stem vowel ė after a fused prelabial. As stated in LKA II, in some places the vowel is retracted to ę, while elsewhere it is realized as another vowel, a. As map 28 shows, this isogloss does not reach Žagarė but passes through linguistic points 23, 51, and 74, that is, by Vaineikiai and Rudiškiai, which belong to the Joniškis dialect.

The third isogloss—those of the reflexes of the prewar long vowels ē, o, y, ū (maps 29, 36, 41)—also extends beyond the Žagarė dialect, through the territory of the Skaistgirys dialect. Or

¹⁷ Plačiau apie šį reiškinį rytų aukštaičių šnektose žr. Kardelis 2002: 107–114; 2002: 2015–222; 2008: 485–494.

144

A c t a L i n g u i s t i c a L i t h u a n i c a L X X V I I

The boundaries of the Žagarė dialect

Whether the linguistic features mentioned are not reflected at all in the present-day Žagarė dialect, are reflected only partly, or perhaps have not crossed the isogloss boundaries, will be examined in another article.

The determination of the boundaries of the Žagarė dialect, situated in the northwestern part of the Šiauliai subdialect, reflects the Joniškis dialect as a whole in traditional Lithuanian dialectology,¹⁸ while the linguistic diversity of the Žagarė dialect, as one may gather, is determined by social networks, respondents’ personal self-perception, and linguistic awareness that has developed over centuries.

SUMMARY

The center of the Žagarė dialect—the town of Žagarė—is a border center where crafts flourished and trade was conducted with nearby (Latvia) and distant (Germany, England, Russia) countries; people of various ethnic groups (Latvians, Germans, Jews, Russians, Roma) and different denominations lived together there, and the town, which belonged to the Courland Governorate, was connected to Latvia through social networks. Driven by economic incentives, the people of Žagarė and its environs went to work in nearer parts of Latvia. Consequently, respondents still clearly express a linguistic identity associated with Latvians and Germans, but not with Lithuanians or Western Aukštaitians. More recently, because of linguistic features they notice and emphasize, they have tended to identify with Samogitians.

The first map of the boundaries of the Žagarė dialect presented here shows that its northwestern boundary follows the border between the Republics of Lithuania and Latvia. The eastern boundary meets the Skaistgirys dialect and runs past Stungiai and Veršiai. The southwestern boundary of the Žagarė dialect runs past Juodeikiai and Gaižaičiai, near the boundary of Akmenė District.

In LKA II and the maps, two isoglosses are identified near the boundary between the Žagarė and Skaistgirys dialects: the pronunciation of stem e, ei after the consonant l, termed e, ei pronunciation in the dialect anthology (the isogloss links Žagarė and passes near Dilbiniai and Damiai), and the isogloss of the reflexes of pre-stressed long vowels e, o, y, ū.

Determining the boundaries of the Žagarė dialect makes it possible to analyze linguistic features (phonetics, accentology, morphology, word formation, lexicon, syntax, and phraseology) in dialect recordings by comparing them with the Skaistgirys dialect and taking into account features of another Baltic language, Latvian.

Thus, dialect recordings reveal both respondents’ attitudes toward linguistic awareness and the boundaries of social networks. Trade with Latvia, more specifically Riga, service, and

¹⁸ Plačiau apie Žagarės šnektą žr. Jšp 2001.

Straipsniai / Articles

145

J A N I N A Š V A M B A R Y T Ė-V A L U Ž I E N Ė

The practice of working for Latvian farmers, which persisted throughout the nineteenth century, encouraged residents of the border town to learn Latvian; therefore, studies of the dialects of Žagarė and its surroundings, which belonged to the Duchy of Courland, should reflect the existence of universals across different linguistic levels of the Baltic languages.

L I T E R A T U R E A N D S O U R C E S

B u t k u s A l v y d a s 1995: Latviai. Kaunas: Aesti.

Įspt – Joniškio šnektų pratimai ir tekstai, edited by J. Švambarytė. Šiauliai: J. K. Vasiliauskas Company, 2001.

Kaikarė Aušra 2015: Skaistgirio šnektos ypatybės. – Kalbos istorijos ir dialektologijos problemos 3. Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 150–173.

Kardelis Vytautas 2002: Dėl galinių le junginių raidos šiaurės rytų vilniškių šnektose. – Baltistica 37(2), 215–222.

Kardelis Vytautas 2008: Dėl junginių *lė, *rė, *sė Mielagėnų areale. – Baltistica 43(3), 485–494.

Kardelis Vytautas 2002: Dėl junginių la, lė raidos šiaurės rytų vilniškių šnektose. – Baltistica 37(1), 107–114.

LKA II – Atlas of the Lithuanian Language 2. Phonetics, authors: Elena Grinaveckienė, Aldona Jonaitė, Joana Lipskienė, Kazys Morkūnas (ed.), Birutė Vanagienė, Aloyzas Vidugiris. Vilnius: Mokslas, 1982.

LKI TA – Materials from the Dialect Archive of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language.

Lktch – Anthology of Lithuanian Dialects, compiled by Rima Bacevičiūtė, Audra Ivanauskienė, Asta Leskauskaitė, Edmundas Trumpa, academic editor Laima Grumadienė. Vilnius: Institute of the Lithuanian Language, 2004.

Švambarytė Janina 2004: Tautvardžių ir jų vedinių reikšmės lietuviškose žodynuose. Latvia. – VALODA – 2004. Valoda dažādu kultūru kontekstā. Daugavpils: Saule, 151–156.

Švambarytė-Valužienė Janina 2005: Etnonimo cigonas / čigonas raška ir semantika lietuvių kalboje. – VALODA – 2005, Valoda dažādu kultūru kontekstā. Daugavpils: Saule, 186–192.

TLE IV – Encyclopedia of Soviet Lithuania 4. Vilnius: Chief Editorial Board of Encyclopedias, 1988.

146

A c t a L i n g u i s t i c a L i t h u a n i c a L X V I I

Boundaries of the Žagarė Local Dialect

Vasiliauskas Ernestas 2017: Joniškio krašto dvarai. Didžioji ir Mažoji Daunoravos, Bertaučiai, Satkūnai. Klaipėda: Klaipėdos universiteto leidykla.

www.tarmes.lki.lt/F_vasmap.htm (accessed 2018 01 25).

https://www.vle.lt/Strarticle/zagare-110520 (accessed 2018 04 05).

Атлас Белорусской губернии: Собрание карт И. К. Кирилова. 172–173. Available online: https://www.runivers.ru/maps/podr...las/30/ (accessed 2018 03 25).

Boundaries of the Žagarė Local Dialect

SUMMARY

The article highlights the major ethnic, religious, historical, economic and cultural phenomena of the town of Žagarė, being the centre of Žagarė local dialect, situated to the north-west of Joniškis, right near the Latvian border, which played an important role in shaping linguistic attitudes and self-esteem. Žagarė, as a single town, formed from Old Žagarė and New Žagarė, which are separated by the Švėtė River. Old Žagarė is situated on the left bank, whereas New Žagarė is located on the right bank.

Driven by a strong economic growth, Žagarė was the major trade hub of North Lithuania during merchants from various places of Lithuania as well as Russia, Poland, England and Germany until the end of the 18^th century. According to encyclopedic publications, between 1897 and 1899 Žagarė was home to 820 craftsmen and 171 trade enterprises. There was a button workshop, a soap factory, 3 mills, 104 shops. Two Catholic churches, an Evangelical Lutheran church, a synagogue and an Orthodox church took care of the residents’ spiritual needs in Žagarė.

In addition to a parish school, a government-run school was established in 1865. There were two Jewish schools, a Latvian school. A city school was opened in 1906; a government-run girls’ school was founded as well. A private trade school operated in Žagarė from 1909 to 1915. A printing house was established in 1909.

The Dialect Archive of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language stores a number of records from Žagarė and its environs. The dialectal records under analysis were made in 198, 199, and 203. The respondents of the older generation born between 1901 and 1936 had been interviewed. Based on these records, attempts were made to establish the boundaries of Žagarė local dialect. The drawn map shows that the northwestern boundary of Žagarė local dialect stretches along the Lithuanian-Latvian border. The eastern boundary of Žagarė local dialect meets Skaistgyrs local dialect and goes near Stungiai and Veršiai.

Straipsniai / Articles

147

JANINA ŠVAMBARYTĖ-VALUŽIENĖ

The southwestern boundary of the Žagarė local dialect runs near Juodeikiai and Gaižaičiai, which are close to the boundary of Akmenė District.

Part 2 of the Atlas of the Lithuanian Language dedicated to phonetics and the maps indicate that several isoglosses run outside Žagarė and across the boundaries of Skaistgirys local dialects: the pronunciation of the stem e, ei after the consonant l referred to as the hardening of e, ei in the chrestomathy of dialects (the isogloss stretches to Žagarė and runs close to Dilbinai and Dameliai), non-uniform expression of the quality of the vowel ė after the hardened consonant, and the replacement of pre-stress long ē, o, y, ū.

Received on 3 April 2018.

JANINA ŠVAMBARYTĖ-VALUŽIENĖ

Institute of the Lithuanian Language

5 Petro Vileišio St., LT–10308 Vilnius, Lithuania

[email protected]

148

Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXVII