Insigh s 253 o he inspec ion
ZIGMAS ZINKEVIČIUS
Academician eme i us
The di ec ions o scien i ic esea ch a e: Bal ic
s udies, his o y o Li huanian language, dialec ology, onomas ics.
MISTAKE Wha is w ong wi h you?
T ue and common
wo ds (TERMIN)
Use o
We will s a he e iew wi h he his o ical name o ou na i e coun y, he G and
Duchy o Li huania (Kunigaikš ys ė), abb e ia ed LDK, in use, when we a e alking
abou he Mindaugas, Gediminas, Vy au as epoch, when Li huania was s ill a ully
sel -go e ning s a e, and no subjec o ano he s a e - Poland, as happened
la e , especially a e he Union o Lublin. Mindaugas and Vy au as s a e is called
he kingdom (ka alys ė) in he sou ces, and i s ule s a e kings. Calling ha s a e
a p ince o a p incess (as well as a g andmo he ) is i s humilia ion, as well as a
dis o ion o his o y. This is mos o en done by he Poles (e en his o ians) in
o de o show ha Li huania was a disad an aged s a e, al hough i hen
con olled la ge a eas han Poland […] e en ually hese a eas s e ched om he
Bal ic o he Black Sea. I is clea ha Li huania was hen s ill comple ely
independen , ungo e ned by anyone. Li huanian esiden s ha e been called
Li huanians since ancien imes. The name Lie u ininkai o Lie u (i)nykai was
coined, which in ecen imes has been used o e e o he e hnic Li huanians
inhabi an s o Lesse (P ussian) Li huania who came om he
Ry p usians-con olled pa o Li huania. Bu in ou p ess, he names o he
mino i ies and all Li huanians a e o en con used, and his should no be he case. I is no necessa y o supp ess bo h names.
Ins ead o Li huanian, i is some imes called Li huanian, gi ing his wo d a mino
meaning wi h a hin o con emp . Bu Li huanian om he pas had a di e en
meaning he son o an e hnic Li huanian (no a ci izen o Li huania). I is in his
sense ha he wo d should be used, no in he sense assumed by he enemies o
Li huania. The name Aukš aičiai (Aukš ai ija […] new wo d) has se e al meanings:
one is unde s ood by linguis s (dialec ologis s use i as he name o he
language), ano he by a chaeologis s. The e o e, i necessa y, and o a oid
misunde s andings, i is app op ia e o indica e he meaning in which i is used,
since he size o he a ea e e ed o by his name depends on i . In ancien
imes, his name had a physiog aphic meaning and was no ela ed o he language o e hnological cha ac e is ics o people. I 's ob ious.
ZIGMAS ZINKEVIČIUS
Ac a Linguis ica Li huanica LXXII is seen om a le e o he ule o Li huania,
Vy au as he G ea , o Empe o Sigismund, w i en on Ma ch 11, 1420. In ha
le e , Vy au as assigned he Uppe Uppe Li huanian pa (hence he Vilnius
Heigh s) o he Uppe Li huanian and he Lowe Li huanian pa (hence he
Ne ėžys Basin) o he Lowe Li huanian. In physiog aphical meaning, he names
High and Low used and he Vokieć o dino me oš ininkai, who ansla ed hem in o
he Ge man and La in languages as he high (in he heigh ) and low (in he g ound)
pa o Li huania.
Nei he Vy au as, no he subway wo ke s o he Vokiečių o dino could call he
a ea o he p esen -day land o he land o he land Li huanians, because hen
he Ku ys li ed he e. I should be emphasized ha in he sou ces, he people o
Aukš aičiai, as well as he people o Zemaičiai, a e conside ed o be he same
Li huanians, speaking he same Li huanian language. The linguis ic di e ence is
no men ioned a all in he sou ces. He wasn' e y sma hen. The cu en
e m o he lowlands appea ed la e . I s o igin was de e mined by he Ku sh
subs a e. Because o him, no only did he language o he lowlands di e
g ea ly om he languages o o he Li huanian languages, bu he lowlands
hemsel es inhe i ed many cha ac e is ics cha ac e is ic o he Ku si
( esis ance, e c.). These cha ac e is ics de eloped o e ime and sepa a ed he lowlande s om o he Li huanians. E en ually, his led hem o a sel -con ained, di e en om Li huanian, mani es a ion o e hnic pe cep ion.
Because o all his, he wo ds high and low need o be used wi h cau ion. A e
all, in he pas , hey didn' mean wha we call hem oday. I we do no , we can
mislead one ano he and lose communica ion.
Mos impo an ly, we should always keep in mind ha he name o he land in
he cu en a ea o his e i o y is ances al.
The use o he name Zemaičiai (Žemai ija, like Aukš ai ija, is a new wo d) is u he
complica ed by he ac ha in he 17 h cen u y he name o he landlo d language
was called one o he Li huanian language a ian s w i en a ha ime, used in he
eligious w i ing o he Diocese o Zemaičiai. They had no hing o do wi h he
cu en lowland dialec and o igina ed om he lowlands o he highland dialec in
cen al Li huania (Ne ėžio basin). All o his has led o a misunde s anding o he
wo d land, o many dispu es, and e en, as men ioned, o he ea men o he land
as a sepa a e e hnic uni . The e o e, we ha e o use his wo d e y ca e ully so
ha we do no con use i wi h he di e en […] high and […] low linguis ic uni s used
in he pas .
Le 's also use he e hnonym Aisčiai wi h cau ion. We mus no lose sigh o he
ac ha Taci us used his name o e e o he Whi e people, who belonged,
like he P ussians, o he Wes e n Whi es ( he e m o he Kalbini es), whose
language was e y di e en om he Li huanian language and could no be con used wi h i .
La e , he wo d aisčiai was used o e e o all whi es (Kazimie Jaunius,
Kazimie Būga, e c.). This is a new, expanded meaning o his wo d.
Misuse o some eal and common wo ds
( e ms) Inspec ion Insigh s 255
All o his needs o be kep in mind when we use he wo d. O he wise, we will
a i icially and uncondi ionally u n he his o ical Wes e n Whi e ibe in o
Li huanians. The name o he egion Su alkija appea ed when he Su alkų
Go e no a e was es ablished. P e iously, he e was no such name, al hough
Su alkija is some imes mis akenly e e ed o as a e y old name. You don'
ha e o do ha . In Ta puka y, people liked o w i e and alk abou he
Li huanian language, which ga e ise o he common Li huanian language. In
ac , he e was ne e a ansla ion o he Su alkians. Li huanian common
(especially w i en) language is ans e ed om Mažosios (P ūsijos)
Li huania and adap ed o he needs o G ea e Li huania. Tha wo k was done
by linguis s, mainly Jonas Jablonskis, who is igh ly called he a he o Li huanian common language.
In addi ion o Su alkija, he name Sūdu a is used in abou he same sense. In
ac , Sūdu a was one o he wes e n Bal ic (in Kalbinų e minus) ibes,
belonging o he Jo ingian ibal con ede a ion, so i is qui e dis an o he
Li huanians and does no need o be uncondi ionally iden i ied wi h he Li huanians.
The cu en inhabi an s o he old Sudu a egion a e called sudu i. Appa en ly,
hey inhe i ed his name om he ac ual (old) cou s. How many p esen -day
Sūdu as a e ela ed in hei o igin o he old Sūdu a, dispu ed. In any case, hey
should no be iden i ied a all wi h he eal (ancien ) Sudo ians, who had o be
e y di e en om he Li huanians in e ms o language. Un o una ely, his is
o en done. In Li huania, he sou he n pa o he peninsula is he junc ion o
he lakes. The name is de i ed om he A ikaans wo d dz ins ead o he
common language dž, hence he wo d dzūka. Howe e , i is spoken no only in his a ea o he coun y, bu much mo e widely.
In he pas , wes e n ( ue) and eas e n ( illage) dzukai we e dis inguished.
Howe e , he so-called eas e n dzūkas a e ac ually no wes e ly (as eal dzūkas)
bu eas e n highland illage s, only sligh ly (some mo e, o he s less) dzūkuojan ys.
Thus, he so-called eas e n dzūkas a e e y di e en om he eal dzūkas, so
hey canno be conside ed he same language. Fo his eason, i was e used o
conside dzūka as a c i e ion o de e mining he language. Bu in he p ess and in
colloquial speech, i 's o en o e looked ha anyone who shou s a all is conside ed
a shou e . This c ea es con usion. The e o e, when using he wo d dzūkas, one
needs o be cau ious. Ou eas e n neighbo s a e he poo es . This is a new coun y.
In ancien imes (Mindaugo-Vy au o epoch) such s a es did no ye exis . The
beginning o he name was gi en by he old (Kie an) Russian egional name Bal oji
Rusija (no Russia, his name was no used a ha ime).
The name Bela us ( om Bal us + Russia, no Russia) was e y much p o ec ed by
he Bolshe iks when hey uled Li huania, o cou se, because o Russia's impe ialis
ambi ions. The Bal s hemsel es call hei s a e Bela us ( om Bal oji Rusija, no
Bal oji Rusija). Tha 's wha he Russians a e calling hem now. Bu we, o some
eason, ha e se led on he So ie name Bela us (wi h -Russia!), his o ically only
ZIGMAS ZINKEVIČIUS
The Ac a Linguis ica Li huaniana LXXII was w i en in 256 AD. So we became, as
he people would say, "holie han he popes". I 's ime o hink abou how o
eplace his So ie ism and s op insul ing ou neighbo s, s op emo ing he
name o hei coun y om Russia.
We ecei ed he names o dis an lands, wi h which Li huania has no con ac , no
di ec ly, bu h ough in e locu o s. A ypical example is chigona. Now he e is a
endency o change he wo d cigón o he same cigón as Roma. Such a uni e sal and
simila change canno be accep ed, because in ha case we would ha e o call he
Ge mans doies, Es onians, ollowing he La ians, he Igians, and so on. In some
cases, i necessa y, we may use he p esen p onouns, bu we should do so wi h
cau ion.
hose names ha we e mis akenly used by many people ha e been discussed he e.
Occu ing mis akes o indi iduals a e le ou o he equa ion, because hey canno
e en be collec ed, le alone sys ema ically in es iga ed. The p oblem o naming he
inhabi an s o he Vilnius egion (Vilnius) is also no sol ed, because i is complex and
e y poli icized. Tha 's a sepa a e s udy. The same can be said o he con usion o
he names o Russia and Russia, o Russians and Russian-speaking people, which occu s e en in he language o his o ians.
Deli e ed on 18 May 2015
ZIGMAS ZINKEVIČIUS
Fo he pu poses o his Decision, he
ollowing de ini ions shall apply: