Dėl kalbų kontaktavimo pietryčių Lietuvoje

LANGUAGES CONTACTS LITHUANIA TSR LITHUANIAN KALBOTYROS QUESTIONS XXIII (1983) ALOY ZAS AVERAGE ON Introduction to Contact Languages in Southeast Lithuania Language contact or contact is generally understood as the interaction of languages, manifested in the linguistic communication of collectives of people speaking different languages under certain geographical, historical and social conditions ir (Axmanosa O. C., 1966, 535). The southeastern part of Lithuania is characterized by a particularly high level of linguistic diversity, where ar Lithuanian, Belarusian, Polish dialects, literary variants, as well as Russian come into contact jų on larger and smaller islands, not to mention the other languages that are spoken here. Southeast Lithuania, being directly iš connected with a much larger territory, su where “the most intensive and broadest contacts of Slavic-Baltic ethnolinguistic cultural complexes take place” (Cymax ir ir T. M., Tojicras C. M., Tonopos B. H., 1967, 38), science in many ways is very important. In order to describe in more detail the linguistic os relations ar and the reasons for the development of at least one jų part of the ir territory, a separate broad study would be necessary. In this article, from a purely sociological point of view, we want to describe in more detail the To trace the development of iš language contact in the corner of the su TSR, essentially coinciding with the administrative area of the present Šalčininkai district. ir jo Be therefore, the languages used here are attempted to examine the function performed by the nature of jų contact, as a system, or ir the so-called linguistic t. y. situation (Huxombckuit JI. B., 1970, 7; Huxkonskaia JI. B., 1976, 80). In this context, the term "language situation" is ir often used. Iki After World War II, the present Salcininkai district belonged to four counties; Akmenynés (ar Kamenkos), Daučiūnų, Jašiūnų, Šalčininkčlių, Šalčinifiky ir The market area was Vilnius district, Butrimonių, Dainavos, Eišiškių, Gėrviškių, Kalesniiiky — Lydės, Rūdninkų — Trakai, Dievčniškių ir Injury. 200 mg/ day — Blades. Thus, the Šalčininkai district, with its diversity of ethno-linguistic relations, which, among be other social factors, was still conditioned by dependence on different administrative units, can in a certain sense represent a much larger territory of the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. ir The mosaic of linguistic contacts ir in this region, especially the peculiaritiir jų es of the Lithuanian language, has long attracted the attention of researchers from various countries. These schnecks have been studied by individual expeditions ir that have taken place here 1952, 1955, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1974 in the year. . Most attention was paid to the Lithuanian dialect of the Dieveniškiai area, which was studied in his works lietė ir E. Voltaire (Wolter E., 1895, 173—187), K. Būga (Būga K., 1906), J. Jablonskis (Jablonskis J., 1906), P. Aruma (Arumaa P., 1930, 19—30, 46 61—65), E. Frenkel (Fraenkel E., 1936, 14—107), Z. Zinkevičius (Zinkevičius Mr., 1966), J. Lipskienė ir A. Vidugiris (Lipskienė J. ir Vidugiris A., 1967, 183—222; Lipskienė J., 1968, 196—207; Vidugiris A., 1968, 190—196), I. Ermanytė ir K. Eigminas (Ermanytė I., Eigminas K., 1968, 211—235) ir kt In this ir other district of Šalčininkai language material was collected by J. Balčikonis, Grigas, N. Senkus, Dovydaitis, J. Sapijanskaitė-Kuosienė, J. Morkūnas, Vitkauskas, M. Razmukaité et al. K. V. M. ir Recently, more and more attention has been paid to the contact of the languages spoken here. The interaction of local ir Lithuanian, Belarusian ir and Polish phonological grammatical systems in the M. Lekomceva (JIexoMneBa M. M., 1972, 116—134, 174—185), In the neighbourhood of Kalesninkai — V. Zekman (Yexman B. H., 1973, 29—43), In the vicinity of Dieveniškiai T. Sudnik (Cyan T. M., 1975, 102—121, 202—210), Butrimoni ir in some other southeastern In the surroundings of Lithuania — E. Grinaveckienė (Grinaveckienė E., 1969, 219—229; I'punasenkene E. HM., 1972, 294—408). Local Polish dialect relations ir jo Lithuanian su Belarusian ir language throughout In Vilnius region examined H. Turkey (Turkey H., 1939), Lopatiškiai (Lopatovščiznos) village (buv. Turgelių apylinkė, now Vilnius region. "Mariapoli apyl.) Polish schnekt — A. Zdaniukievičius (Zdaniukiewicz A. A., Zinkevičius 1972; Z., 1974, 204—214), and the local Belarusian dialect —E. Grinaveckienė, J. Kovalčiuk, J. Mackevič, E. Romanovič (I 'pagasenreme E. M., KosBammuyk WH. II., ManxenBau PO. O., PoManosBuu E. M., 1972, 377—393) and others. With the expansion of the linguistic aspect of the study of Baltic Slavic linguistic contacts, interest in the sociological side of contact is growing. ir ir ir to Iš In fact, no serious linguistic research can do without discussing the social factors that usually determine the development of linguistic facts. In the absence of work in this field, researchers are usually forced to settle for random hearsay, subjective and often contradictory observations, etc. Lithuanian linguists have been studying these dialects during various linguistic expeditions and have been monitoring the development of ethnolinguistic relations in this region for more than 20 years. During this time alone (the author relies mainly on his research data from 1955—1980) there have been certain quantitative and qualitative shifts in the mosaic of linguistic relations in this corner (so how many such changes have occurred before?!). All of this, albeit in general, should be known to the researchers of this region, so that they can form a correct picture of the sometimes quite confusing linguistic relations and determine the objective laws of their development. Any territorial-- political community is usually characterized not only by conditionally constant economic, political, cultural, but also linguistic ties. Language relations, manifested by language contact, are in turn detailed by components or spoken languages, each of which has significant and purely distinctive characteristics. Therefore, the understanding of their mutual relations and the linguistic situation as a system in general depends largely on the correct description of these specific features of the languages used here. 47 These languages are listed below in order of jų prevalence: Belarusian, ir Polish, Lithuanian Russian. ir a. Belarusian language. Dominating south-eastern Lithuania The corner language of the TSR is the local Belarusian dialect, which is essentially iš a continuation of the western part of the central Belarusian dialect, significantly altered to by elements ir of the Lithuanian Polish dialects of the region. The local people usually call it (pa)prastd language, prūstas or tuteišas lieZilivis, about which it is ar said that ją dudėna (sometimes klėga, language, fitarina) usually (ma-mpocty, po-prostemu, ma-TyTdimamy) etc. ir For most of the inhabitants of the described area, this language is the primary, although not always the native. It is not the native, i.e. secondary, language for many of the older generation of inhabitants, especially in the southern part of the mentioned territory, and only for various reasons it has become the main language over time, because the native (usually Lithuanian) language is no longer the main language for many people here. Although Belarusian is not an official language, its scope of use is relatively broad. For many, it is first and foremost the language of the home or family. Moreover, it is used as an unofficial public language. It is usually spoken in various gatherings of local people, sometimes in official meetings, at collective works, etc. Since Belarusian is not only spoken by local Lithuanians with local Poles, but also by many local residents with Russian-- speaking people, this Belarusian dialect can be considered a kind of language of intercommunication or contact in this region. In other words, the local Belarusian dialect plays a certain role as a regional language here. The local Belarusian dialect is also influenced by the literary Belarusian language, as a large part of the population often listens to Belarusian radio and watches Belarusian television. However, the influence of the Belarusian literary language here is not as great as one might expect, given the spread of the local Belarusian dialect. The main reason for this phenomenon here is perhaps that the people who speak this dialect usually do not consider themselves Belarusians, but treat their language as a kind of local Polish (or Russian) dialect. b. Polish language. The Polish language is also spoken in the relatively large territory described, more precisely a cultural peripheral dialect of Polish (,,polszczyzna kresowa“ or „polszezyzna litewska- “), formed on the basis of Polish and local Lithuanian, as well as Belarusian dialects (Bepemnuu B. JI., 1965, 193—209; Bspagiu B., 1990, 199—209). B. JI., 1973, 5—21). This Polish dialect, however, does not cover a larger compact area. Used as the native ir primary language jį in many towns in larger cities ar (e.g., Eišiškės, iš part of Šalčininkai, Dieveniškiai, Jašiūnai, Rūdninkai, Turgeliai, etc.) ir of the ir population some descendants of the so-called shlekts courtyards (approx. Eišiškės, Jašiūnai, Pabara, Turgeliai, ir etc. ). The Polish dialect is usually used here alongside the local Belarusian and sometimes Lithuanian ir dialects. In general, this Polish dialect is a to common to means of communication for the majority of the inhabitants. At the same time, it is often the language of local ir administration. Polish is usually spoken between strangers who have ar met in the distant neighborhoods, neighbors who want to maintain a “good tone” and, of course, local intelligentsia. Very often, Polish is seen as a sign of politeness, good manners and education. 48 Polish, formerly the local nobility church language, was actively used ir (or at least attempted to be used) by the local population everywhere in the years of the mainly bourgeois occupation of Poland. The Polish language of the local population is not the same. Representati- (1920— 1939) ves of the older generation "usually speak only the local Polish dialect. Many of the younger generation, who have graduated from eight-year (formerly seven-year) secondary schools, most of which operate in the Polish language, usually already have a better command of the Polish ir literary language. A small part of the youth who attend or have attended schools where Lithuanian is the only language of instruction speaks Polish poorly. The influence of Polish literary language is expressed here not only through schools, but also through the press (in addition to Polish newspapers, books and magazines published in ar the Lithuanian SSR, many still subscribe to and read printed materials published in the People’s Republic of Poland), radio, television (i.e. broadcasts in Polish both in our republic and in the LLR), artistic self-organization, etc. ir The great influence of Polish ir language and Polish culture in general here is also due to the fact that most ir of the local inhabitants, who often speak Belarusian or Lithuanian in their families, officially consider themselves Poles. In addition, many local families have close family ties with the People’s Republic of Poland due to emigration during the war and post-war years. c. In Lithuanian language — iš essentially western Dzūkijos (or southern highland) dialect —used here quite unevenly. Although the traditional Dzūkian dialect has generally survived in a fairly wide band from the state border of LTSR in the south approximately to the Whispering rivers in the north, t. y. to It has been ir used for a long time, but has only been preserved in some parts of the area. ji to Such larger areas of prevailing Lithuanian language use are about Dieveniškiai, especially in the ir middle-western part of Dieveniškiai promontory (Lipskienė J. and Vidugiris A., 1967, 183—185), and in the western corner of Šalčininkai district, mainly bordering with Varėna: district (Mištūnai, Nanitkés, Naujždvaris and other villages). The traditional Dzūkian dialect is used here by various generations, from the elderly to children. — In the middle part of the area, approximately from Kalesniki to Šalčininkai, Lithuanian-speaking local inhabitants ir make up only a small percentage. In the Butrimoniai, Dainavos, Daučiūnai, Gerviškiai, Kalesninkai neighborhoods, Lithuanian is spoken or can be spoken mainly by the older generation People and one 'other of the younger ones. And about Šalčininkai, Šalčininkėliai, Eišiškės and the very senior generation representative little remains. Since the younger generation has no longer learned to speak Lithuanian in families, they no longer speak Lithuanian at home, so the scope of Lithuanian language use is becoming narrower and narrower. First of all, Lithuanian is abandoned in t. y. su mixed families, where the husband and wife do not speak Lithuanian at all or speak less than, for example, Belarusian Polish. ar ar But sometimes parents, ir even those who speak Lithuanian fairly well, stop speaking Lithuanian to their children because it would be easier for them to learn in school (most schools here are in Polish), and then they get used to the language altogether. Such families po one another still are Dainavos (Gilviniškių, Vėžionif} k.), Butrimonių ir Gerviškiai (Jurgoniū, Kaniūkų, Šiauliai, or sen. (Spring). ir sometimes in other villages. 4. 949 49 A large to part of the population of the area speaks Lithuanian t. y. only passively, ar understands Lithuanian better or worse, but can no longer speak fluently. These are mostly people who have no longer actively spoken Lithuanian themselves, but who have heard their parents, grandparents, etc. ir speaking Lithuanian in their iš families, or who have ir spoken a little Lithuanian themselves, but have later forgotten it. Such representair tives of the older, sometimes middle generation were often found throughout the southern region of Šalčininkai. Part 1 (and in Šalčininkai itself), starting with Dieveniškiai ir promontory ending Dainavos ir Kalesninkai neighborhood. However, sometimes people who do not speak Lithuanian ir sing in Lithuanian. Į north ir northeast of the above Whispering rivers — about In Akmenynė, Jašiūnai, Rūdninkai, — Turgeliai the local Lithuanian Dzūkų iš dialect has practically disappeared. Ja here nobody talks anymore, only some still remember the stories of parents, iš grandparents, ar neighbors. Even the ir oldest informants have no longer spoken in this dialect themselves, although one after another grandparents of parents iš still ar remember individual words, can explain them, translate them. šį tą He mentions ja people who have spoken earlier. Until recently, the Lithuanian Dzūkų dialect existed here, as evidenced by the Lithuanian substrate ir of the Belarusian Polish dialects (Zdaniukewicz A. A., 1972, 5—6; Zinkevičius Mr., 1974, 207—214). Several local elderly people I met here, who knew some Lithuanian (half dialect, half literary language), explained that they had learned this language when they were grown up, serving in “Lithuania” and ar otherwise communicating with ar non-native Lithuanian-ssu peaking people. There are more locals who learned Lithuanian later, especially the younger generation. They speak a common literary language. These are mostly people who have recently graduated from various schools in Vilnius, Kaunas or ir elsewhere, or who have worked with Lithuanian-speaking people for ar some time. su Almost everyone who graduated from ar eight-year secondary schools understands Lithuanian more or less, but most of ar them cannot speak (very few are able to learn Lithuanian well in school through Lithuanian language lessons alone). In schools, Lithuanian is usually learned somewhat better by pupils from the aforementioned southern part of the area, for whom the Lithuanian language, i.e. the local Dzūkų dialect, can still be helpful at home by parents or grandparents who have not forgotten it. Therefore, when speaking Lithuanian, the younger generation of those neighborhoods also add some elements of the local Dzūkų dialect. Many of the middle generation of the Butrimoniai, Gerviškiai and Dainava districts, who studied Lithuanian in the local schools from 1940 to 1953, can speak in a much more dialectic (half dialectic, half literary) language.* It is worth mentioning that in the southern part of the area, many of the senior generation also speak the literary language of Lithuanian quite well. Most of them read Lithuanian press, listen to radio, watch television and generally actively follow Lithuanian cultural life. Some of them already know the literary language better and use it more frequently as a dialect. The preference given here to the literary language must be explained first of all by the very reasons for which it is now prevailing in all our dialects. On the other hand, the specificity of local conditions also plays a significant role: the isolation of Slavic languages in this area.1 At the time, all subjects in the Šalčininkai district were taught in Lithuanian in the Dieveniškiai, Eišiškės and Salčininkai secondary schools (i.e. with parallel classes taught in už Polish and Russian), in the Poškoniai eight-year school, in Dieveniškiai village. Around Daubūtiškiai, Kazlūliai, Maciūčiai and Dainava. In the first schools of Mištūnai. 50 those Lithuanian language snickets can only maintain contact with the Lithuanian language through literary language, mediated by radio, television, the press, etc. The literary language in turn breathes life into these dialects, so that they can still exist. However, in general, the literary Lithuanian as the official administrative language is used only very limited here, because, as we mentioned, a significant part of the local population no longer speaks Lithuanian. d. In Russian. While the Russian language up to The Second World War was not native to iš almost no one of the local inhabitants, but it was not at all foreign to the ji people of ir this land. Many of the men of the older generation had learned Russian in schools during the years of the czar’s rule, while serving in the army or otherwise travelling farther away to work for ar the government. Be that, even if you don’t learn ir Russian anywhere, but you learn Belarusian, due to the genetic similarity of the languages, Russian can be tų understood quite well, after a little training to talk. o ir Russian became especially popular during the Soviet era. The multilingual inhabitants of this region learn it fairly easily in schools or by ir listening to the radio, watching television shows and films, working, traveling and otherwise communicating with people of different nationalities. ar su Zmonémis. Be to, Šalčininkuose ir Eišiškės is home to a ir number of iš other republics, especially Belarus, the rising population, whose young people speak mostly Russian already. It is true that the literary Russian language used here sometimes has some ir impurities of the local Polish-Belarusian ar languages. As one of the most important languages of administration, often playing ir the role of an international language, it is spreading rather rapidly ji not only as a public language, but as a cultural ne language in general. ir Therefore, there are more and ir more su schools in which Russian is the language of instruction. In this way, the Russian language successfully replaces the ir Lithuanian Polish language here ir iš restrict the use and spread of jų drugs. "Functional Relationships of Contact Languages Each of the languages spoken here has its own sphere of use, depending on the local people's collectives. Since the southeast of Lithuania The TSR corner consists of a community of ne collectives speaking one language, but connected by close economic cultural ir contacts, and therefore the languages serving the community are connected by close mutual relations. ir tą In other words, in terms of communication continuity, the languages or tą linguistic systems serving the community form a system or so-called archisystem (Huxomsckmii JI. B., 1976, 80). In terms of the function of languages, a linguistic situation can consist of several components, usually arranged in a certain hierarchical order. The current linguistic situation in southeastern Lithuania can be described as tricomponent. nę The role of local languages here is played by Lithuanian, Belarusian Polish languages. ir The so-called language macro-intermediary is Russian. The question of regional language is somewhat more complicated. In the broader sense, the function of regional language would fall to Lithuanian as the administrative literary language, and in o the narrower — sense to Polish, which is mainly used as the public language of local ir administration. However, neither one nor the other, taken separately, is yet capable of serving all the inhabitants of the described region who speak different languages. 4* 51 The Lithuanian šį language is prevented from playing its role by the process of language change that has O gone too far, and — the Polish language is not able to establish itself everywhere. One of the iš most widely used ir dialects here is the local Belarusian dialect, but since it is neither officially approved nor codified, it cannot perform all the functions ji that can only be performed tų by the respective literary language. However, due to the genetic proximity, its use provides considerable possibilities for the adaptation of the Russian language. In this way, Russian is often used not as an international, macro-intermediary language, but as a regional language. ne t. y. ir Therefore, a substantially two-component linguistic iš situation begins to form here. Bilingualism ir diglossia The interaction of collectives ar speaking different languages in dialects, often differing in ir ethnic and social background, is not only the result of a linguistic ne situation, but also bilingualism diglossia. ir In turn, bilingualism diglossia is ar usually described as a reflection of the same linguistic situation from the point of view of the ar individual (Hnrojsexnū JI. B., 1976, 90). Contacts between the languages spoken in this region manifest themselves in ir various forms of bilingualism. People who speak only one language, t. y. there are practically no monolingual individuals, except perhaps for young children. However, ir there are no native people who would be equally proficient in both of the languages ar spoken here (the so-called coordinative type of bilingualism) are also few. Most are proficient in one of the main, most commonly spoken languages, and less proficient in ar other, less commonly o spoken or secondary languages, usually learned later (they are representatives of the so-called subordinate type of bilingualism). Since the individual groups of the languages used here ar occupy an unequal position in the linguistic activity of individuals (equivalent bilingualism rarely occurs), so it is appropriate to talk about functional bilingualism, more precisely about the — composite type of bilingualism, because in the initial stage of bilingualism each language was used by the individuals themselves tų and is often still used in different areas of ir activity. O Since most individuals in their su native Lithuanian language usually also speak other languages used here, while representatives of other languages speak Lithuanian much less often, etc., the so-called unilateral type of bilingualism prevails here. Specific types of bilingualism usually depend on the prevalence of the language, the area where the language is predominant, and often the age of the speakers. For example, the following types of bilingualism are typical for older people according to the frequency and priority of the use of languages on the scale of the whole area: Belarusian—- Polish, Lithuanian—- Belarusian, Lithuanian—- Belarusian—- Polish, Polish—Belarusian, Belarusian—- Polish—Russian, Belarusian—- Lithuanian—- Polish, and so on. The order of these types of bilingualism is somewhat different for younger people, given that in many places the use of Lithuanian (especially the local Dzūkų dialect) as the native and primary language has decreased. It has been largely replaced by Belarusian and partly Polish. Instead, the role of Lithuanian as a literary language (as a secondary language for some of the population) increased. 52 In addition, the literary spheres of Polish (especially in the countryside) and Russian (especially in the cities) were considerably expanded. Since diglossia is basically a simpler phenomenon (it involves only subsystems of one linguistic system) than bilingualism, the difference between "bilingualism without diglossia" and "bilingualism with diglossia" is not essential. Therefore, the phenomena of diglossia (types and species) are no longer separately detailed. Although the dynamics and development of both types and kinds of bilingualism and diglossia are briefly reviewed here, they show that in southeastern Lithuania there is a complex process of interaction and change of languages. This phenomenon is not new. Its origins and causes must be sought not so much in the present as in the past. In the fields of various studies (Būga K., 1961, 550; Tonopos B. H., Tpybaues O. H., 1962, 3—16, 236; Cenos B. B., 1970, 191—192; Xabypraes I'. A., 1980, 45—60), in the past the Baltic peoples lived much further to the east and south than is directly evidenced by written historical sources. The ethnic territory of Lithuanians, in the formation of the Lithuanian nationality, extended as far south and east as it does now (Lowmianski H., 1931, 53—56; Jasas R., 1965, 17). It is true that this border between Lithuanians and Eastern Slavs has never been very clear and stable, because “here two different parts of the population, which once formed the Lithuanian state —Lithuanians and Gudi (i.e. belarusiai)“ (Jakubovskis J., 1921). In other words, a certain transitional zone of the Lithuanian and Belarusian border was mixed inhabited, somewhere wider, somewhere narrower. In some places, especially along major roads, it may have spread due to a certain mutual migration of populations®. Due to various historical circumstances of a political, economic and cultural nature, this boundary strip usually changed in favour of the non-Lithuanian element (Jakubovskis J., 1921, 4). However, until the middle of the 19th century, Lithuanian still prevailed throughout the former Soviet Union. In Vilnius county, in a large part of Ašmena county and in the northern part of Lyda county (Balinski M. i Lipinski T., 1846, 122, 251, 264). In 1827, the local priest P. Grinaškevičius provided valuable information about the use of languages in the part of the area under consideration — the parish of Šalčininkai (which at the time also included the branch of Šalčininkėliai). After noting that “all the peasants of the local parish speak their native Lithuanian language- ”, he further indicated that Lithuanian language is spoken from Šalčininkai to the southeast around Kaulčliškes, Dievéniskes, Subatnikai, Yvija even to the Nemunas (Begomocrs, 1827, 5). Thus, the inhabited areas of Gervėčiai, Lazūnai and others, now known as Lithuanian language islands, were then directly linked to the main Lithuanian language area. However, for a significant part of the local population, Lithuanian was no longer the only language. The same P. Grinaškevičius noted that Lithuanian peasants “because of the city of Vilnius —* A certain infiltration of the Eastern Slavic element in the southeastern Lithuanian ethnic lands could have been encouraged by the capitals of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania —Vilnius and Trakai as centres of attraction and by the empty lands and farms that appeared after the wars and plague of the 17th and 18th centuries (Baliūski M. i Lipiūski T., 1846 122—123; Dundulienė P., 1963, 105—122). 53 to due to ir the proximity of two major roads tą (wielkich traktéw) crossing the parish, also speak Polish; in this one ir language they pray. "There is no one in the world who speaks kų Polish, and there is no one who speaks Lithuanian." Furthermore, once again emphasizing that “the native language of the local parish community is Lithuanian”, he also stated that "the public can even speak ir Ruse among themselves (t. y. Belarusian. — A. V.) language’ (BezromMocra, 1827, 5). Iš to it is clear that all the languages mentioned here were used more or less differentiated. ar All the peasants spoke Lithuanian, the nobles, o the clergy of the ir shelter — spoke Polish. Since the local nobles and clergymen of the Šlėktos did not speak Lithuanian, ir the peasants were forced to learn a language understood by the upper classes in order to understand them. However, the majority of the peasants were not yet able to speak Polish, except for memorized poteris, and therefore, when communicating with su non-Lithuanian-speaking newcomers from the upper classes, they ar tried to use the local Belarusian dialect, which had already played a certain role iš as a regional language of contact. ir Over time, the local ši Belarusian dialect, apparently, began to be used as a public language, then began to push the o Lithuanian ji language ir iš the basic cell of society — family. However, the decline of the Lithuanian language is not yet visible. At best, most of the local population was bilingual, with a o small number of Galis being trilingual. The same 1827 m. a completed survey questionnaire on language use In the parish of Turgeliai, the answer ir was briefly given: „Lietuvių kalbos dialektas“ („Dialekt mėwienia litewskiego języka“) (Bexovocrn, 1827, 7). It is further stated that the parish nobles ir spoke Polish, the townspeopo le Russian. — (t. y. in Belarusian). Iš to It should be understood that at that time the Lithuanian Dzūkų dialect prevailed o here, the townspeople at least publicly used the local Belarusian dialect more often. 1849 m. Eišiškių parish's "Chronicle" states that „Eišiškių parishioners speak Lithuanian, Russian (t. y. Belarusian) ir Polish” (Kronika, 1848, A— 2667). This observation can be understood in two ways: either the three languages were spoken in different places and by different families as separate domestic languages, or they were spoken locally. nų ir tų of the population. Although the local inhabitanar ts had begun to speak Slavic a little earlier, the linguistic situation in general did not differ much, and in terms of Slavicization it had t. y. only surpassed the similar linguistic situation in the Šalčininkai area. Rudninkai district, Riticho A. (Purrux A. According 1875) to data, O., still Lithuanian a. in the third quarter of the 19th century, became Slavic during the to last quarter of the century. According to the memories of the elderly local people, until the beginning of the 20th century there were still a considerable number of elderly inhabitants who understood or even spoke Lithuanian, even in those villages where, according to the official statistics of the end of the 19th century, Lithuanian speakers were no longer recorded (Anonim, 1898, 65—66; Rozwadowski J., 1904, 93. According to the accounts of local people and various studies (Turska H., 1939, 6—56; Zinkevičius Z., 1966, 24—31; Zinkevičius Z., 1976, 22—23; Vidugiris A., 1971, 236—248), the decline of the Lithuanian language in this corner of Lithuania intensified especially after the abolition of the penalty (1861) and the uprising of 1863—1864, i.e., in essence, this intensification coincided with the establishment of capitalist relations of production in the countryside and with the intensification of the struggle between the Polish-oriented nobility and the clergy. 54 ; A. VIDUGIRIS ON THE CONTACTS BETWEEN LANGUAGES IN SOUTH-EAST LITHUANIA Summary The article characterizes the functional contact between languages, or the so-called linguistic situation, from a purely sociological point of view, and traces their formation on the territory of south-eastern Lithuania, which essentially coincides with the administrative area of Šalčininkai district, whose components are various surroundings of the former districts of Vilnius, Trakai, Lida and Ashmena. Local dialects of Lithuanian, Belarusian and Polish languages, their literary variants, as well as the Russian language coexist on the above mentioned territory. The results of the interaction of these languages constantly attract the attention of linguists from different countries. Along with functions of used languages here is formed essentially a linguistic situation consisting of two components: the function of local languages are fulfilled by Lithuanian, Belarusian and Polish dialects, the function of language — the macro-mediator and quite often the function of regional language is fulfilled by the Russian language. The Lithuanian literary language is prevented from fulfilling the role of the regional language —as the third component—by the fact that here on a large part of the territory the assimilation of the Lithuanian dialect has gone too far, and the Polish language — because it did not manage to establish itself in all areas of communication. Because of the assimilatory policy, which for a long time the ruling classes pursued, the second aid of the nineteenth century was still used everywhere. Jh. prevailing Lithuanian language quickly displaced by the Slavic languages. At the end of the XIX century. and at the beginning of the XX. Jh. The polonization of the local population took place in the northern and northeastern part of the said territory, and at a rapid pace it encompassed the remaining southern and southwestern parts. It is significant that the majority of the local population, under the active suggestion of the local nobility and the reactionary clergy, began to settle with the Poles, although they still spoke Lithuanian with each other. Such representatives, especially of the later generation, there are also quite a lot in the western part of the territory that is being explored. During the process of Polonization of local population, the Lithuanian language was faster spread than the protected Polish language, but the local Belarusian dialect, which had already played a certain role of the regional language in the Lithuanian-Belarusian border area. Because of the rapid development of the Belarusian national self-consciousness, this language was considered by the intelligent population not as the language of the Belarusians as a single nation, but because of the genetic closeness and the overflow of Polonisms as a peculiar variety or dialect of the Polish language. For the linguistic Polonization of the local population it served as a certain intermediary or as a transitional language. Therefore, even now the local Belarusian dialect has no noticeable social weight, although it is one of the most used languages in traffic. The Polish language, which was formerly the language of the third nobility and clergy, spread among the peasants mainly as a social language in the years of the so-called Polish occupation (1920-1939). During these years, the population of the third world strived for its mastery and for its use in various spheres of life, obwoh! to the family language it only became in the restricted MaBe. In contrast, the Polish language is the language of the third administration in the large part of the mentioned territory, of many Schools and culture.