Kuršių Neringos žvejų lietuvių tarmė ir lietuvių kalbos įtaka šių žvejų latvių kalbai

LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI, II LIETUVOS TSR MOKSLŲ AKADEMIJA THE LITHUANIAN DIALECT OF THE FISHERMEN OF THE CURONIAN SPIT and the influence of the Lithuanian language on the Latvian spoken by these fishermen K. MORKŪNAS ir A. SABALIAUSKAS Introductory remarks The name Neringa is already mentioned in historical documents of the 13th century. Various forms of this name are found in the documents: Neria, Nerei, Nergia, Nerya, Nerie, Nerye, Nerge, Nerga and others.1 The epithet Curoniensis is usually added to these words as well. For example, Peter of Dusburg (died around 1330) writes in the third part of his “Chronicon Terrae Prussiae”: “Anno Dn. MCCLXXXIII octingenti viri de Lethowia equites tempore hyemali per Neriam Curoniensem intraverunt Sambiensem terram et duo territoria ejus scilicet Abendam et Pubetam per incendium et rapinam vexaverunt, occidentes CL. homines cristianos, et nullo eis resistente omnes salvi redierunt”2. In the same work there is also a separate section, “De edificacione castri novi in terra Sambia supra litus maris salsi in Neria Curoniensi”3. Elsewhere in the aforementioned chronicle by Dusburg it says: “Anno domini MCCCVI1 in die beati Georgii Mansto et Sudargus et alii nobiles de Samethia cum V milibus equitum circa castrum novum in Neria Curoniensi intraverunt terram Sambie et territoria Powundie et Rudowie incendio vastaverunt”4. It is difficult to say anything certain about the origin of this place name. Various explanations have been offered. F. Kluge considers Nehrung to be a form of Niederung, “lowland,” reshaped in Low German. H. Paul also agreed with this view (Deutsches Wörterbuch, 4. Aufl, (1935), 375)6. G. H. F. Nesselmann connected this place name with Lithuanian nerti7. Others claimed that it derives from the ancient- 1 Cf. R. Ekblom, Uppsala Universitets Årsskrift, 13, 138, Uppsala - Leipzig (1948); H. Frischbier, Preussisches Wörterbuch, 2, 93-4, Berlin, 1883. 2 Cf. Scriptores Rerum Prussicarum, herausgegeben von Th. Hirsch, M. Töppen, E. Strehlke, 1, 144, Leipzig, 1861. 3 Cf. ibid., 144. 4 Cf. ibid., 174-5. 5 Cf. F. Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 347, Berlin-Leipzig, 1924. 6 Cf. R. Ekblom, ibid., 133. 7 Cf. ibid., 141-2. 131 the Prussian word *neria, but this word is not attested in any Old Prussian written monuments. An attempt has also been made to connect the name Neringa with the Neuri8 mentioned by Herodotus. More recently, R. Ekblom argued that this place name is of Scandinavian origin9. The epithet Curoniensis probably arose because of Neringa’s proximity to Courland (Curonia), to which Klaipėda also belonged until 132810. The earliest traces of human presence on the Curonian Spit date back to very ancient times. The oldest archaeological find—human-worked reindeer antlers, found near Rasytė—had, in the opinion of specialists, lain in the ground for about 10,000 years. Quite a number of Late Stone Age finds have been discovered on the Curonian Spit, indicating a relatively high level of culture among the inhabitants of that period11. Of course, these traces of human presence almost certainly have nothing to do with the later inhabitants of the Curonian Spit in historical times. The principal occupation of the inhabitants of the Curonian Spit is fishing. This was determined by the natural conditions: the peninsula is bordered on one side by the Baltic Sea and on the other by the Curonian Lagoon, while there is almost no arable land. In earlier times, the fishermen of Neringa apparently fished mostly in the lagoon; fishing villages also sprang up along its shores and are mentioned in documents quite early—for example, Rasytė is mentioned in 1372 and Nida in 143712. A. Bezzenberger heard the following legend about the founding of Nida and other localities. Three robbers were caught in Klaipėda; the first was called Švarceris, the second Preileris, and the third Nideris. Instead of killing them, people sent them out to sea on rafts. The waves carried these rafts to the dunes of the Curonian Spit, and there Švarceris founded Juodkrantė (German Schwarzort), Preileris founded Preila, and Nideris founded Nida13. As P. Šmits rightly observed14, this legend has only this much historical basis: a large proportion of the dune inhabitants came from among various refugees and fishermen driven ashore by storms. In fact, the ancestors of the old inhabitants of the Curonian Spit arrived here at different times and from different regions. It is possible that most of them came from Latvia. In 1649, P. Einhorn wrote in his “Historia lettica” that Latvians, who also know German, live along the entire seacoast as far as Danzig. They themselves no longer know where or when their ancestors arrived15. Because of harsh serfdom and long military service, many Latvians also fled to Neringa in later times. The inhabitants of the dunes used to say that later settlers had come here from “Finland.” However, they undoubtedly confused this name with “Livland.” That they arri- 8 Cf. P. Šmits, Kuršu kāpu folklora, 4, Rīga, 1933; see also A. Bezzenberger, Die Kurische Nehrung und ihre Bewohner, 22 (182), Stuttgart, 1889. 9 Cf. R. Ekblom, ibid., 133–160. 10 Cf. J. Endzelīns, Par kurseniekiem un viņu valodu, 6 (reprinted from “Burt nieks” 1931, 1102–8). 11 Cf. P. Kulikauskas, Iš lietuvių kultūros istorijos, 2, 73–4, Vilnius (1959). 12 Cf. A. Bezzenberger, Über die Sprache der preussischen Letten, 137, Göttingen, 1888. 13 Cf. A. Bezzenberger, Die Kurische Nehrung und ihre Bewohner, 24 (184). 14 Cf. P. Šmits, ibid., 10. 15 Cf. J. Endzelīns, ibid., 6. 132 that they had come not from elsewhere, but from Latvia, is also shown by their surnames16. Individual families came to the Curonian Spit from Austria (the Romakar family = German Rademacher), from the interior of Russia (the Petrovich and Bezoruk families)16. Understandably, quite a few inhabitants also moved here from various nearer parts of Lithuania. The fishermen who came from Latvia retained their language. Most of the fishermen who originated elsewhere also learned Latvian and spoke it at home. However, the local inhabitants of the Curonian Spit do not consider themselves Latvians; they even borrowed from German the words denoting the concepts ‘Latvian’ and ‘Latvian language’ (letis, letisku). They all consider themselves Kursenieki, who speak kursisku. A characteristic feature of these inhabitants is that, one might say, they have virtually no folklore. It is difficult to find someone capable of telling a tale or reciting a few lines of a song, let alone singing it. Various explanations have been offered for this strange phenomenon. A. Bezzenberger thinks that the principal culprit is the poor natural environment and the fishermen’s own impoverished way of life. In P. Šmits’s view, this resulted from the Kursenieki’s isolation. P. Mitmanis explains that various religious or sectarian beliefs may have played a role, prohibiting the singing of songs or telling of tales because such things are sinful. Most likely, however, all three factors are to blame17. The old Kursenieki retained their language only in that part of the Curonian Spit which at one time belonged to bourgeois Lithuania; German influence there had apparently been somewhat weaker. The other part, which had remained under German rule throughout, became completely Germanized. It is true that A. Bezzenberger also wrote that, at the end of the nineteenth century, some people spoke Latvian in Šarkava and Pilkupė as well. In Rašytė, A. Bezzenberger heard that there were members of the older generation who understood Latvian, but he himself had met none18. The fishermen of the Curonian Spit maintained active contact with neighboring Lithuanians at all times: they sold them fish and bought agricultural products from them. Lithuanians from the opposite shore of the Curonian Lagoon also moved there regularly through marriage. Active contact with Lithuanians led even the fishermen who had come from Latvia to learn some Lithuanian. In addition, Lithuanian was used in the churches of the Curonian Spit until the beginning of the First World War. It was common for the inhabitants of the Spit to know three languages—Latvian, Lithuanian, and German. Paulius Megotas, who helped Abelis Vilius translate Luther’s Enchiridion into Old Prussian, writes that he had also known Curonian (= Latvian, K. M., A. S.) and Lithuanian19 languages20 (“…In deme ich mich nebenst meinem Tolkenambt Zum offtern in Visitationibus, Preuscher Littauscher und Churischer sprache, wie auch in Vertirung des Preuschenn Catechismi nach vermogen gebrauchen lassen…”). Kr. G. Milkus states in his Lithuanian grammar: “Among the Kursenieki on the Spit, the Curonian or Latvian language is the lingua domestica 16 Cf. J. Plāķis, Kursenieku valoda, 3, Rīgā, 1927. 17 Cf. P. Šmits, Kuršu kāpu folklora, 9. 18 Cf. A. Bezzenberger, Über die Sprache der preussischen Letten, 1. 19 Cf. G. Gerullis, Filologu biedrības raksti, 8, 51, Rīgā (1928). 20 Cf. ibid., 52–3. 133 in use; moreover, they also understand and speak Lithuanian, as do other fishermen; church services are also held for them in the Lithuanian language”21. Liudvikas Rėza was born in the village of Karvaičiai in the Curonian Spit, as A. Bezzenberger put it, “the only child of the Curonian Spit… who made a name for himself”22. The Latvian language of the fishermen of the Curonian Spit has been studied quite extensively. Some information about this language is already provided by Povilas Ruigys in his grammar of Lithuanian. He writes: “Among the Curians it should be noted that their dialect is a mixture of the speech of the Curlanders (whose descendants they claim to be) and that of the fishermen; although they also use the dialects of both groups separately, and have their own provincial words and expressions. For example: Meise means bread to them, Ko tu gribba what are you doing? Duodma give me, Naude money, Manne myl Kungsin my dear sir, Meitine a girl, Wessele pargājis welcome, Karautis a spoon, Ką klaujas what are you doing? Tellis an ox. They differ chiefly in their more affectionate expressions and polite turns of phrase”23. Nearly 300 words from this region are found in P. S. Pallas’s dictionary “Linguarum totius orbis vocabularia comparativa,” published in St Petersburg in 1786–924. M. I. A. Voelkel also wrote about this language25, but his work is full of all sorts of errors26. I. P. Becker’s study of the fishermen’s dialect of Pervalka has been published27. The Latvian language of the fishermen of the Curonian Spit was also studied by such prominent Balticists as A. Bezzenberger, J. Plakis, and J. Endzelīns28. Until now, one can say, no one has studied the Lithuanian language of these fishermen. Therefore, in June 1957, the Institute of the Lithuanian Language and Literature organized a dialectological expedition to these places, sending the authors of this article to describe the Lithuanian spoken by the aforementioned fishermen in accordance with the program for collecting material for the Atlas of the Lithuanian Language. The expedition was also attended by staff members of the Institute of Language and Literature of the Latvian Academy of Sciences—candidates of philological sciences E. Šmite and M. Graudinia—whose aim was to study the Latvian language of these inhabitants more extensively. 21 Cf. Chr. G. Mielcke, Anfangs-Gründe einer Littauischen Sprach-Lehre, 165, Königsberg, 1800. 22 Cf. A. Bezzenberger, Die Kurische Nehrung und ihre Bewohner, 58 (212). Regarding L. Rėza’s origins, see also K. Forstreuter, Zeitschrift für slavische Philologie, 14, 25–8, Leipzig (1937); P. Šmits, Kursu kāpu folklora, 6. 23 Cf. P. F. Ruhig, Anfangsgründe einer Littauischen Grammatik, 132, Königsberg, 1747. 24 Regarding the inaccuracy of the words found here, cf. A. Bezzenberger, Über die Sprache der preussischen Letten, 2. 25 Cf. M. I. A. Voelkel, Die lettischen Sprachreste auf der Kurischen Nehrung, Heidelberg, 1879. 26 Cf. A. Bezzenberger, ibid., 2–3. 27 Cf. I. P. Becker, Die Sprache der kurischen Fischer in Perwelk auf der Kurischen Nehrung, BB, 28, 257–81, Göttingen (1904). 28 Cf. the preceding footnotes. A. Bezzenberger also wrote about the Latvians of the Curonian Spit in the journal “Austrums,” XII, 21–5 (1896). 134 Most of the older inhabitants who knew both Latvian and Lithuanian were found in Nida, where the expedition participants also spent the longest time; a dozen or so were found in Preila and Pervalka, and a few in Juodkrantė. Before the Second World War there were far more of them, but as the Germans retreated, they forcibly evacuated the inhabitants of this region, and afterward only some managed to return to their homeland. Most of the dialect material was recorded from inhabitants of Nida: Jonas Pinkis, Mikelis Pugelis, Dovydas Pinkis, and Jonas Sakutis; of Juodkrantė: Martynas Šilbakas and Mikelis Pičius; of Pervalka: Mikelis Bastikis, Mikas Bastikis, and Fritis Pleikis; of Preila: Martynas Kakis, Marija Jakaitienė, and others. All those interviewed are representatives of the older generation, mostly 70–85 years of age. No particularly marked dialectal differences between the inhabitants of the various places on the Curonian Spit were observed. The differences are usually limited to one or another minor lexical detail and to the degree of language proficiency and influence from the literary language. Phonetics I. Stress and accent In the Lithuanian dialect of the Curonian Spit fishermen, stress retraction is universal. Here, stress is retracted from short and long endings onto long and short stems. Stress is always shifted from a short ending to the stem (whether long or short), while in a long ending it sometimes remains, for example, quite often in adverbs: mažai, skersai, daugáũs~daugiaũs, arčáũs~arčiau; in the third-person future tense of verbs: statý~statỹs, pataisý~pataisỹs, padarý~padarỹs; and in some other cases. In isolation, words sometimes retain stress on the ending and sometimes are stressed on the stem, for example: arklìs ir árklis~arklỹs, kapaĩ ir kàpai, kviečiaĩ ir kviečiaĩ~kviečiai. Such variation in stress can also be observed in the speech of one and the same dialect speaker. Unlike other Lithuanian dialects that retract stress29, the fishermen’s dialect under description retracts stress even from a long acute ending. However, even in this case there are words that the same person stresses in two different ways, for example: vaikams ir vaikaĩms, kálnams ir kañlams. As in Lithuanian dialects found along the Latvian border, in the Curonian Spit stress in polysyllabic words is often retracted from the middle of the word to its beginning. Such cases of stress retraction are undoubtedly attributable to the influence of Latvian. After stress retraction, no traces of the original stress remain: all the vocal force is concentrated in the newly stressed syllable. The accent of retracted stress generally depends on the kind of stem to which the stress is shifted. When stress is shifted to a stem containing a short vowel, the accent is always short: drùška~druskà, su žėme~su žeme, pàti~pati, mažì~maži, vìsi~visi, kèturi~keturi, sèpti·ni (ir septì·ni)~septyni, èsu~esù, mètus~metùs, ràgu~ragù, vìsu~visų, svèčiai~svečiai, būvau~buvau, sèsuo~sesuõ, šùlinì~šulinỹs, dėbėsai~debesiai “cloud,” dàktarai~daktarai. 29 Cf. Lietuvių kalbos rašybos žodynas, 113, 115, 120, Kaunas, 1948. 135 When the accent is retracted from the ending to a root with an acute accent, the stressed syllable most often has an acute accent, whereas when it is retracted to a root with a circumflex accent, it has a circumflex accent, e.g.: á rklis~arklys, árklams~arkliams, žmóna~žmonà, lýtus~lytùs “rain,” sūnaus~sūnaũs; banga~bangà, barzda~barzdà, ranka~rankà, perkū~perkų, diena~dienà, tvorà~tvorà, vaikai~vaikaĩ, ungurìu~ungurių, ungurìams~unguriams, dienoms~dienóms, kambariai~kambariaĩ, eiguliai~eiguliaĩ. In the dialect, short, acute, and circumflex accents are clearly audible. The short accent does not differ from the corresponding accent in the literary language (lk.). It is generally found on short stressed vowels, e.g.: visas, miškas, būtas “house,” kèpt, užnėšt, kàst, mànà~māno, tàvà~tàvo, senèsnis, mažèsnis, nepàkelą~nepàkelia. The short accent is also sometimes found in place of the literary language’s circumflex accent, e.g.: vàlandas~valandas, žèmę~žemę, kèpę~kėpę, tèvelis~tėvelis. The acute accent occurs on long stressed vowels and on the first component of diphthongs: bėga, vyrai~vỹrai, šonai, kótas, būsiu~būsiu, saulė~saulė, gaunu, áudra, paléidau, sámtis, kàm. This accent also occurs in place of the literary language’s short accent on the first components of mixed diphthongs i, u+l, m, n, r and the diphthong ui: mìltai~miltai, dirba~dirba, bùlvės~bulvės, pūika~puika “puikì.” Newly formed mixed diphthongs can also have an acute accent, e.g.: gèrs~gėras, nám s~namas, tūr~turi. Long stressed vowels (gẽ:ras~gėras, kã:ras~kàras, ì:st~įsti, sù:st~siūsti) and diphthongs have a circumflex accent. In diphthongs, the circumflex accent seems to be audible mostly on both components, e.g.: náujas, sáusas, vàikas, lãivà~laivą, dãngų~dangų, banga~bangà, pìrkti, gĩntaras, sùn kai~sunkiai, kùr. However, not everyone pronounces this accent equally clearly (and not even the same speaker always does so); in other examples it is marked on the second component. II. Phonological system and correspondences of individual sounds In its sound system, the dialect described differs little from literary Lithuanian. Here, only the most characteristic features of the dialect’s sound system are highlighted. Vowels and diphthongs. The short vowels i, u in the Curonian Spit fishermen’s dialect are pronounced less tensely than in the kapsai dialect, e.g.: visas~visas, visi~visì, mūša~mūšà, guli~gulì³⁰. The literary-language vowels ė, o, with the exception of the absolute ending, have mostly been preserved unchanged: tėvas, bėga, tėvelis~tėvelis, dà:vèm, brólis, sodìt~sodìti “to plant,” nežinom. In the absolute primary ending, these vowels, when unstressed (they are rarely stressed, since the accent is usually retracted from the ending), have respectively changed into ę (or e) and a, e.g.: žẽmę (also pronounced žẽme)~žẽmę, dalgė ~ dalgė, vìrę (or vìre)~virė, būva~būvo, dárba~dárbo, turėja~turėjo. The so-called nasal vowels in the root are generally pronounced as in the literary language, e.g.: kà:sti~kąsti, žã:sis~žąsis, šã:la~šąla, paspė:st~pa- 30In the examples, the dialect’s less tense i, u are not marked with separate symbols; that is, i, u are written. 136 spėsti, skėst~skęsti, lišt~lišti, grįšta~grįžta, pasiūst~pasiūsti, skūsties~skųsties “to complain.” At the end of a word, a and e sometimes turn into u and i, e.g.: lenčiu~lenčia, an- taru~antára “second,” būvis~buvęs, mātis~mātės, pasėnis~pasėnęs. Only very rarely are these vowels pronounced in the Samogitian manner³¹, e.g. kan “what,” ąžuoline “oak.” The Lithuanian dialect’s diphthongs ie, uo have mostly remained intact in the dialect, e.g.: miėstas, lietuviškai, kiek, duona, anúos. However, there are individual words in which the diphthongs ie, uo, as in some Samogitian dialects, are pronounced as monophthongs, e.g.: mī'li, pri'plauka, pri's, nū, šō “dear ones,” “pier,” “before,” “from,” “dog.” The Lithuanian diphthongs ai, ei remain unchanged in the word stem and ending. Only very rarely do they become monophthongs, as in Samogitia, e.g.: vakā'lis, vakā'li “little child,” “little child!” In the dialect described, stressed short vowels are short: vīzas, mūša; only in mixed diphthongs (i, u+l, m, n, r) and the diphthong ui are stressed i and u lengthened and pronounced half-long, although not as distinctly as in the East Aukštaitian dialects, e.g.: mīltai~miltai, būlvę~būlvė, pūika~pūika “puikė” (in the examples, half-length is not marked by a separate sign; it is indicated by the acute accent). Long vowels in the middle of a word remain long in the dialect, whether stressed or unstressed: vī'ras~vyras, gi'vē'na~gyvena, dū'mai~dūmai, rū'kēnt~rūkenti “to smoke,” i'lī'st~lišti, ka'snēlī~kasnėli. In an absolute ending, long unstressed vowels (stressed ones occur very rarely) are always pronounced short, e.g.: ī'darba~į darbą, nā'kti~naktį, trīju šimtu~trijų šimtų, bū'tu~būtų, vī'ru~vyrų. In a closed ending, long unstressed vowels are also mostly pronounced short, although there are cases in which they remain unshortened, e.g.: ārklis and ārkli's~arklys. Old short vowels and long vowels shortened less often in the absolute ending are frequently dropped, e.g.: āug~auga, reik~reikia, lē'k~lėkia, baūb~baūbia, grū'n~grūna, i'lēnd “goes in,” praaūšt~praaūšta, sudaušt~sudaužta “broken,” ēinam~einame, ēisim~eisime, ēinat~eináte, ēikit~eikite, bū'sit~būsite, tūr~tūri, pernāk't~per naktį, lōp~lōpo, nevalōt~nevaliotų “would be unable” (alongside the more commonly used third-person forms of the subjunctive žinotu~žinotų). From a closed ending, a is most often dropped (in nominative words ending in -as > -s), e.g.: kātins~kātinas, ōrs~ōras, bernūks~berniūkas, sēns~sēnas, jāuns~jāunas, žēnts~žentas, mē'ts~mėtas, šālts~šaltas, pardūots~pardūotas. However, the same words are sometimes also pronounced with the full ending. The vowel a in the ending generally remains if its loss would create a consonant cluster that is difficult to pronounce. But even in this case a is sometimes dropped, and as a result the dialect has forms resembling those used in the northern eastern Lithuanian dialects³², e.g., smākars “chin.” The vowel u in the ending (both absolute and closed) is always retained. Among other vowel-system features, a few cases may also be mentioned: a) contractions: nēšu~nešu < neesú, nebē'tu~nebūtų < nebeeitu, nebē't~ne-bēt < nebeeīt “does not go,” nebāt'menu~nebātmenu < nebeatmenu; 31 For the fate of the old nasal vowels in the Samogitian dialects, see Lietuvių kalbos rašybos žodynas, 112; P. Jonikas, Pagramančio tarmė, §§ 22, 25, 27, 28, 33, 40, Kaunas, 1939. 32 Cf. Lietuvių kalbos rašybos žodynas, 121. 137 b) syncope: nebleidą~nebleido<nebeleido, nebgaleja~nebgalejo<nebegalėjo, nebmokėja~nebmokėjo<nebemokėjo, pastaise~pastaisė<pasitaise, gelžų~gelžių<geležių; c) anaptyxis: rìbulis alongside rùbelis (probably a Germanism) and rùblis, dėsera “dėsra,” aṅtaras “antras.” Consonants. The clusters *dj, *tj before the ancient short a and ai are most often pronounced d, t in the dialect under description, e.g.: neleida~neleidžia, žodei~žodžiai, medei~medžiai, vōkietei~vokiečiai, trēteis~trečiais, mēdegos~medžiagos. However, in this case too, affricates can sometimes also be heard, e.g.: brēdžai~brėdžiai alongside brēdei, vōkiečai~vokiečiai. In all other cases (before Lithuanian ią, iau, io, iu, ių, ię, and ia<*ijā), affricates are always pronounced: valdžia~valdžia, valdžia, žōdžā~žodžio, džāukšmas~džiaugsmas, džū́t~džiūti, blčų~bličių, kviečų~kviečių, bū́čau~būčiau. Only in the present-tense forms of verbs, as here and in some coastal Samogitian dialects, affricates are sometimes absent, e.g., parōdāu “parodžiau.” After the palatalized p, b, j is pronounced in the middle of a word, e.g.: papjautas, nusipjaut, bjaūrus~biaurus, whereas at the end of a word j is not heard after these consonants (verpa~verpia). After other palatalized labial consonants, j is not pronounced. As in other Lithuanian dialects, j is pronounced at the beginning of a word before ie, e.g., ieškot. When final short a is lost, j, which then occurs in absolute-final position, is also lost, e.g.: važiuo~važiuoja, žvejo~žvejoja, žaibuo~žaibuoja. The dialect has only a palatalized l, e.g.: liga~liga, smēlis, šluota, lāngus, kaulus, sulōpīta~sulopyta, alaus, plūta~pluta, alksnīne~alksnynė, elkūone~elkūonė “alkūnė,” su gālva, pāmaldose~pamaldosė. This pronunciation of consonant l in the dialect under description can be explained only by the influence of German. The shift of consonant s to š before p and t should likewise be explained by the influence of German, e.g.: špiritas~spiritas, študentai~studentai, štālīnas~Stalinas. Such s > š is also found in some other Lithuanian dialects³³, as well as in the Latvian dialect of the fishermen of the Curonian Spit³⁴. Among the other features of the dialect’s consonant system, the following should be mentioned: a) consonant assimilation: išiskāst~išsikąsti, išsidī.rpt~išsidirbti, isigēręs~išsigėręs, užstōtum~užstotum, užšōve~užšovė, abegōjom~apbėgiojom, ataiše~attaisė, adūot~atduoti, ādrēkis~atdrėkis “atodrėkis”; b) consonant epenthesis: drū́ktas~drūktas “drūtas,” žāltī:s (žāltis)~žalktys “žaltys,” smilktīne~Smiltynė “Smiltynė,” strōve~strovė “srovė.” Morphology Some noun suffixes: 1. -ujis. Only the adjective paskūjis “last” has been heard; like pronominal adjectives, it has an emphatic meaning, e.g.: paskūjis nāmas, paskūji kārta~paskui̇jį kartą. 33 Cf. J. Gerullis and Chr. Stang’as, Lietuvių žvejų tarmė Prūsuose, 23, Kaunas, 1933. 34 Cf. J. Plākis, Kursenieku valoda, 19. 138 2. -ikė (-ikė)~ -ikė. Words with this suffix have a diminutive meaning: saulikė~saulikė, žuvikė~žuvikė, duonikė~duonikė. 3. -ukas (-iukas). This suffix is used quite frequently; it has a diminutive, sometimes an affectionate meaning: gaidūkas, vyrūkas~vyrukas, medūkas “little tree,” kiemūks~kiemukas, bernūks~berniukas, daržūkas~daržiukas, paršūkas~paršiūkas, ožolūks “little oak,” kablūks~kabliukas. 4. -u’klis~ūkliš. Only girtū’klis~girtūkliš “drunkard” has been heard. 5. -alis. Only vakā’lis “little child” has been heard. 6. -elis, -ė. Diminutive and affectionate nouns are formed very frequently with this suffix (as with -ukas), e.g.: kalnelis~kalnėlis, tėvelis~tėvėlis, miestėlis~miestėlis, plotėlis~plotėlis, žvejėlis~žvejėlis, kurbėle~kurbėlė “little basket.” 7. -ėlė~ėlė: musėlė~musėlė “fly.” 8. -ulis: skendūlis “drowned person.” 9. -uolis: gi’zuolis alongside gi’zulis “animal.” 10. -ininkas, -ė. This suffix is highly productive in the dialect. Nouns formed with it denote: a) a person in terms of occupation or work: karčiamininkas~karčiamininkas “a person who owns or works in a tavern,” darbininkas, paišininkas “artist,” moky’klininkas~mokyklininkas “teacher,” kolū’kininkas~kolūkininkas “a person who worked on a collective farm”; b) a person in terms of origin, place of residence, or nationality: nīdininkas “a resident of Nida or someone from Nida,” preilininkė~preilininkė “a female resident of Preila,” pėrvalkininkas “a resident of Pervalka,” kōpininkas “a dune dweller,” kūršininkas~kūršininkas “a Curonian,” lietuvi’ninkas~lietuvi’ninkas “a Lithuanian man,” lietuvi’ninkė~lietuvi’ninkė “a Lithuanian woman.” Note. In words with primary stress on the root, secondary stress on the suffix can sometimes also be heard, e.g.: nīdi,ninkas, preili,ninkas. 11. -aitis. Nouns formed with this suffix have a diminutive meaning: tinklāitis~tinklāitis. 12. -utė~-utė. This suffix is used to form feminine nouns with diminutive meaning, e.g.: mergūtė~mergūtė. Number. Besides the singular and plural, the dialect also uses dual forms. Dual forms. The masculine nominative and accusative forms of the dual are encountered most often, e.g.: dù gėru mētēru~dù gerù mētēru (metru), dù lēnku būva~dù lēnku būvo, māna dù pūzbroliu palīka~māno dù pūsbroliu palīko, dù girininku būva~dù girininku būvo, dù šīmtu gaūs~dù šīmtu gaūs, tūri dù vaiku~tūri dù vaiku, būvaù dù sīki~būvaù dù sīki, gāl jis dù kambaru īmtu~gāl jis dù kambariu īmtu? In similar cases (especially with du, denoting paired things), dual forms are used quite often, although plural forms are also sometimes said, e.g., dù paūkščai paliēka~dù paūkščiai paliēka. Cases and the endings of certain cases. In the dialect under study, the inessive (internal locative) is most often expressed by the preposition į ‘into’ with the accusative, e.g.: žvejō į jūrą~žvejoja į jūrą ‘he fishes in the sea’, būvaù į kaūną~buvau į Kauną ‘I was in Kaunas’, gi’vėna į nīdą~gyvena į Nidą 139 ‘he lives in Nida.’ This prepositional construction here, as in the Lithuanian dialects of the Klaipėda region and East Prussia⁵⁵, undoubtedly arose under the influence of German. In the dialect of the Neringa fishermen, inessive forms can also be heard, though much less frequently, e.g.: jū'roj~jūroje, pabajgoj~pabaigoje, mėtuose. The illative (internal lative) is not used in the dialect. As in some Samogitian dialects (and most probably adopted from them)³⁶, only an occasional frozen (adverbialized) form of this case occurs, e.g.: šalin, nūmėn, numėn ‘home’ (alongside nūmė ‘at home’). The illative is also replaced in the dialect by a prepositional construction (į ‘into’ with the accusative), e.g.: eina į nīdą, į klaipėdą~eina į Nidą, į Klaipėdą. In the dialect, the feminine singular instrumental of i-stem nouns is usually auši ‘with an ear’, širdi ‘with a heart’, žūvi ‘with a fish’. This form may have arisen from the singular instrumental ending -imi of i-stem nouns, which sometimes appears in shortened form in the dialect, e.g., žūvim (<žuvimi). However, another pathway for the emergence of this ending is also possible. In J. Endzelynas’s view³⁷, the forms with i-stem -i in Lithuanian (dialects and old texts) and Latvian may have arisen analogically on the model of the accusative (cf. other stems as well, e.g.: Latvian singular accusative lēvu, sievu, peli, Lithuanian ranką, katę and Latvian singular instrumental tēvu, sievu, peli, Lithuanian ranką, katę). The fishermen’s dialect of East Prussia³⁸ also seems to support this origin for the form (singular instrumental) in the dialect under study: there, feminine i-stem nouns may have the ending -i in the singular instrumental when the stress is not on the ending, e.g., širdi~širdi ‘with a heart’. It may be assumed that in this aforementioned singular instrumental form, this East Prussian fishermen’s dialect, which does not retract the stress, also places the stress as in the accusative. In the Lithuanian dialect of the Neringa fishermen, plural dative forms always have s-, e.g.: paukščiams~paukščiams, sēniams~seniams, seniems žmōnēms, naktims~naktims, pietums~pietums. The shortened plural instrumental forms are similar, e.g.: naktims (<naktimis), su žūvims (<su žuvimis), tōms (<tomis), su žmōnoms (<su žmonomis), žmōnēms (<žmonėmis). Stem mixing. The dialect under study exhibits a phenomenon characteristic of all Lithuanian dialects—the reduction in the number of declension types. As in other dialects, the consonant-stem declension type is the one that is disappearing most extensively. The inflections of this declension type have survived only in certain cases, but even in those cases forms with vocalic stems are already often used alongside them. A few consonant-stem forms used in the dialect and the vocalic-stem forms replacing them are presented here: Singular nominative: sesuo (sesuō) and seserė~seserė, dūkterė~dūkterė. Singular genitive: dukterės~dukterės, seseres~seserės, sesers~sesers, žūves~žuvės, vāndenes~vandenės, vāndens~vandenės and vāndēna~vandenio. 35 Cf. A. Laigonaitė, Vietininkų reikšmė ir vartosena dabartinėje lietuvių kalboje, 32-3, Vilnius, 1957; J. Gerullis ir Chr. Stang’as, Lietuvių žvejų tarmė Prūsuose, 27. 36 Cf. P. Jonikas, Pagramančio tarmė, §§ 78, 181. 37 For Lithuanian and Latvian i-stem singular instrumental forms with -i, see J. Endzelynas, Baltų kalbų garsai ir formos, § 230, Vilnius, 1957; J. Endzelins, Latviešu valodas gramatika, § 279, with the literature cited there, Rīgā, 1951. 38 Cf. J. Gerullis ir Chr. Stang’as, Lietuvių žvejų tarmė Prūsuose, 33,34. 140 Plural nominative: dãkteres, but àkmenai~akmenai, šùnai “dogs.” Plural genitive: dãkterų~dukterų, dùrų~durų, àkmenų~akmenų, žuvų~žuvų and žùvių~žuvivių, naktų~naktų and nãkčių~nakčių. As with consonant stems, so too with other stems, endings of (i)o-stems predominate, e.g.: dẽbesai~debesai “clouds,” sūna~sūno alongside sūnaus~sūnaus. The Lithuanian word lẽdas is an u-stem in the dialect: singular nominative lẽdus, singular genitive lẽdaus, plural nominative lẽdus (lẽdus). Some Lithuanian u-stem adjectives are o-stems in the dialect, e.g.: stipras “strong,” sūras~sūras “salty,” skaidras “clear.” Pronominal adjectives. The dialect uses pronominal adjective forms: sènasis (senãsis)~senasis, senóji (in addition to its Lithuanian meaning, it also has the meaning “eldest”: sènasis sūnus~senasis sūnus), didėji (didėji vỹrai~didieji vyrai), gerėji, jaunėji. Degrees of comparison. The comparative of adverbs is formed with the suffix -aus, e.g.: gerãis~geriaũs, gražãus~gražiaũs, tolãus~toliaũs, menkãus~menkiaũs, brangãis~brangiaũs. Comparative adverbs with the suffix -esn (<*-esniai) are less frequent: šiltėsn alongside the more commonly used form šilčiaũ~šilčiaus. Superlative adverbs are formed with the suffixes -ausiai and -ausia, e.g.: gerãusiai~geriausiai, pilnãusia~pilniausia, brangãusia~brangiausia. Adverbs with the suffix -ausia may also have entered the dialect described here from Samogitian, where they correspond phonetically to adverbs with the suffix -ausiai (cf. Kretinga daugause~daugiausiai)⁳⁹. The dialect also uses periphrastic superlative forms, e.g., of adjectives: visu seniaũsas~visų seniausias, visu pigãusa žuvis~visų pigiausia žuvis; of adverbs: vis durniaus “dumbest of all.” Verb. The reflexive particle at the end of a word is usually -s~ -si: darbuojas~darbuojasi, darbãvos~darbavosi, lãkos~laikosi, while in the middle of a word it is more often -si- and less often -s- (<-si-): atsirãdis~atsiradęs pasilìka, pasilìka~pasiliko. In verb forms with the prefix ne-, the reflexive particle is usually at the end of the word, e.g., nebijókitės “do not be afraid,” while verbs with other prefixes may also have two particles, e.g.: pasklausìtis~pasiklausytis “to listen,” pasitaisìšimės~pasitaisysimės “we will get better.” The literary language’s past frequentative forms (eidavau...) are not used in the Lithuanian dialect of the Neringa fishermen. Here, as in Samogitia, compound forms of this tense are used, formed from the auxiliary verb liūbėti or liuobėti and the infinitive of the conjugated verb, e.g.: onš lūbėja sakīt “he used to say,” lūbėjom vėžt “we used to carry.” The forms of liūbėti here are sometimes pronounced, it seems, as lūbija~liūbijo, lūbėjom~liūbėjome. The auxiliary forms are sometimes shortened as well, e.g., aš luob ėit “I used to go.” Similar examples are sometimes found even in the Latvian dialect of the Curonian Spit fishermen (although, as is known, Latvian does not have this tense), e.g.: Kad nauda luobjuši degt un kad paredz, 39 Moreover, the suffix -ausiai, alongside -aus, is used for this purpose in the East Prussian Lithuanian dialect, which in many respects resembles the dialect described here; see J. Gerullis and Chr. Stang’as, Lietuvių žvejų tarmė Prūsuose, 57. 141 you need to throw it in; children like to play with knuopes; they like to wrestle [steer], and when that child is pushed, then it is all upside down40 The jussive mood in the dialect is formed from the third-person present-tense form of the verb and the particle tegu(l): tėgùl važiuo~tegùl važiuoja, “let him/her go”; tėgùl paràšo~tegùl parašo, “let him/her write”; tėgù pėšasi~tegùl pėšasi, “let him/her tear at it.” A relatively large number of remnants of athematic conjugation have survived in the dialect. Third-person forms are used most frequently here and usually have a shortened ending, e.g.: ēsti~ēsti, ēit (ē’t)~ēiti “goes,” liēkt~liēkti “remains,” miēkt~miēgti “sleeps,” skaūst~skaūsti “hurts.” Among the athematic forms mentioned, ēit is used especially often (also with various prefixes: parēit, parēiti “returns,” išēit “leaves”). Other persons of athematic verbs most often take a-stem endings, producing these contaminational forms, e.g.: ēitu “I go,” miēktam~miēgtame “we sleep.” In the present-tense stem-final position of the verbs “to return,” “to cut,” “to rain,” etc., the consonant n is almost always found, e.g.: grīūn~grįūna, nudžīn~nudžīna, užklīn~užklīna, pjāuna, līn~līna “it rains.” Less often, supūšta~supūsta and līja~līja are also said. Literary-language verbs with -in-, -en- at the end of the stem most often have -i-, -e- in the dialect, e.g.: parūpit~parūpiti “to provide,” prisimīt~prisimīti “to remember,” sodīt~sodīti “to plant,” trīt~trīti “to rub,” pargabēt~pargabėti “to bring back,” atsimīšu~atsimīsiu “I will remember,” augīsi~augīsi “you will raise,” pargabēsim~pargabēsime “we will bring back,” skīšu~skīsiu “I will pick.” But gyvent~gyventi “to live” and rukēnt~rukēnti “to smoke” are also said. Active-voice present-tense participle forms are used very rarely; only ē’sas~ēšas, ē’santi~ēšanti, ē’sa~ēša have been heard. The past-tense participle is considerably more frequent: būvis~buvęs “having been,” žūvis~žuvęs “having perished.” The converbs used are ē’sant~ēšant “being” and nežinant~nežinant “not knowing.” The shortened infinitive form is used predominantly in the dialect, e.g.: ēit~ēiti “to go,” žvejot~žvejoti “to fish,” palikt~palikti “to leave”; matīti~matyti “to see” is less common. The reflexive infinitive usually retains the older ending, e.g.: darbuoties “to work,” maitīties~maitīties “to nourish oneself,” vōkties~vōgties “to dress,” pėsties “to wash oneself,” elties~elgties “to behave”; but maudīties~maudytis “to bathe” and badīties~badytis “to stab” are also said (apparently less often). Syntax Among the more characteristic syntactic features of the dialect, one may mention the use of certain cases and prepositions, the linking of subordinate clauses, and a few other constructions. Besides other uses of the nominative in the dialect, this case occurs here with the infinitive and the converb, e.g.: reikėja pėčius taisīt~reikėjo pečius taisyti “the stove had to be repaired”; kur dar fulementai matīt~kur dar (dabar) fulementai (pamatai) matyti “where the foundations can still be seen”; sāka, penki ē’sant~sāko, penki esant “they said there were five.” However, the accusative is often used here instead of the nominative and perhaps even more frequently, e.g.: reikė tinklāičius taisīt~reikia tinklaičius taisyti “the nets had to be repaired”; kàt tīk jį kur gaut~kad tik jį kur gauti “if only to get him somewhere.” 40 Cf. P. Šmits, Kursu kāpu folklora, 35, 39. 142 The genitive of purpose with the infinitive (instead of the genitive with the verbal form of purpose found in eastern Lithuanian dialects): I went to gather antlers~I went to gather antlers; we went to cut ice (the ice). The accusative of time or occasion: all spring the weather was cold; he lived about three months at my brother’s, he lived about three months at my brother’s. The accusative under negation: we have not had a single goat; nobody could keep livestock or a horse; we did not have a cow; we cannot plant potatoes; they hated priests. In this case, the genitive seems to be used very rarely, e.g., we have no disputes to have. The instrumental of means is most often used with the preposition su, e.g.: they bring nets in with machines; they spin wool with spinning wheels; in winter they wrap themselves in fur coats; today everyone will arrive by car, with horses. The preposition añt is used, among other meanings, to indicate direction, e.g.: about a kilometer toward Klaipėda; that road leading toward Nida has been there for a long time. The prepositions ik(i) and lig(i) are used without any difference in meaning, and they always take the genitive case: from Smiltynė he goes all the way to Nida~from Smiltynė he goes (is going) all the way to Nida; from six until six~from six until six; I have been as far as Šiauliai~I have been as far as Šiauliai; from the beginning to the very end~nū (< nuõ) from the beginning to the very end; up to nine centners~up to nine centners; I have earned up to three hundred per month~I have earned up to three hundred per month. The preposition per (par) with the accusative is used to denote a period of time during which something happens or takes place: he earns six rubles a day~he earns six rubles a day; I earned three litas per day~I earned three litas per day; that still earns three hundred rubles per month~that (now) earns three hundred rubles per month; the years, year by year, grow more, increase~the years, year by year (after a year), grow more, increase. Much less often, the preposition añt is used with this meaning (instead of per), e.g., two hundred and sixty rubles per month~two hundred and sixty rubles per month. In the dialect, the preposition per (par) is also used in place of the predicative instrumental or the preposition už (used in this context in other Lithuanian dialects), e.g.: he trained as a bricklayer~he trained as a bricklayer; I work as a guard~I work as a guard; I came here to work as a guard~I came (worked) here as a guard; he was enlisted as a soldier~he was enlisted as a soldier. The preposition prie is most often used with the genitive, e.g.: this one is by the harbor~this one (here) is by (<at) the harbor; we went to work~we went to work; now he is a guard at the shop; having worked for thirty years in government service~having worked for thirty years in government service. This preposition is found less often with the dative, e.g.: is this friend by the side? I worked in fishing for twelve years~is this (that) friend by the side? I worked in fishing for twelve yearsI worked in fishing for twelve years. Instead of this preposition, one also often finds the preposition from Lat- 143 borrowed from the language, pie (<prie⁴¹): pie kė́l̇a dirbom ir pie kópu dirbom~we worked along the road and among the dunes; pie vokiečių~among the Germans; aš buvau ir pi’ su’naus~I was also py (<pie) sūnaus. Some instances of the neuter gender in use: mė’s negãlim suprãst, kàs tai i’r~we cannot understand what it is; reikia paklaust, kàs tai i’r~we need to ask what it is; tai būva kálvis~it used to be a blacksmith; ča dar nebūva kálnai apsodìta~the hills had not yet been planted here; mìltai brángu~flour is expensive. However, similar cases often dispense with the neuter gender, for example: tàs i’r pamelúota~that is a lie; lángai būva išmúšti~the windows had been smashed; jū’su darbai jau atlikti~your work has already been done; gerai tãm žmogui, kàs žvejìs nėr~it is good for that person who is not a fisherman. Temporal subordinate clauses are connected to the main clause by the conjunction kai ‘when’: važã’va tik paštas ir daktarai, kai reikėja~only the postman and the doctors came when needed; kai mė’s būvom maži, jie būva dideli~when we were little, they were big; kai jis bėga per rubėžiu, nušovę~when he ran across the border (the boundary), they shot him; kai jis girtas, tai jis pernã’kt baũbia~when he is drunk, he howls all night. Purpose subordinate clauses are connected by the conjunction kad ‘so that’: bėga žvejot, kàd daugaiñs premijos gaut~he goes fishing so that he may get a bigger bonus. For joining subordinate clauses of circumstance, the conjunctions kad (examples with this conjunction were recorded in Juodkrantė) and jei (examples recorded in Nida) are used: kàt saus mė’ts, nieka negãuni~when it is a dry season (a dry summer), you get nothing; kàt čà než’n, tāt viskas išdėga~when it does not rain here, then everything dries up; kàd ustótum, gautum~if you stopped, you would get it; kàt tie kálnai nebū’tu apsodìti, šìsen negalètum gyventi~if those hills were not planted, you could not live here; iš kõ būsu gyvas, jei nedirbsu~what will I live on if I do not work; jei tóks mė’dis drū’ktas būva, galėja ir pats į’krist~if such a tree was rotten, it could fall in by itself.< Concessive subordinate clauses are connected to the main clause by the conjunction kad ir ‘even if’: kad aš ir turėsiu obuolų, kàs pìrks~even if I have apples, who will buy them? Comparison with something is expressed by kaip and, apparently less often, by kai: kaip bãrtininks bãrtus lóp~like a cooper mends barrels; žvejis kaip šuo (šó)~a fisherman like a dog; dirpt añs dirba kaip arklìs~to work—I (he) work(s) like a horse; kai kã’tins lenda pró langa~like a tomcat creeping through the window. The second part of a comparative expression is rendered in various ways: aš esu visų seniausias iš vyrų~I am the oldest of all the men; tàs jau senesnis už man~he is already older than me; anà buvo dvìleka metų senesnė kaip aš~she was twelve years older than me. Among the more characteristic syntactic features of the dialect is the fairly frequent use of an attribute after the word it modifies: tėrp tų kálnu didžiųjų~among those great hills; sù tinklu didžiu žvejot~to fish with a large net. 41 Cf. J. Endzelýnas, *Sounds and Forms of the Baltic Languages*, § 449. 144 Lexicon The distinctive natural and living conditions largely determined the formation of the dialect’s lexicon, which differs in many respects from that of other Lithuanian dialects. Because suitable conditions for agriculture were lacking, the inhabitants of the Curonian Spit have never had—and still do not have—various tools for cultivating the land and processing the products obtained from such work (a plough, harrows, millstones, flax breakers, looms...), certain farm buildings (a threshing barn, granary, storehouse, drying barn...) and so on. Consequently, the dialect does not include names or terms for these objects or for many other phenomena connected with agriculture. Words from this sphere that occur in the dialect have entered either through the literary language (books, newspapers...) or from other dialects (most often with the phonetic features of those dialects as well). The dialect’s lexicon vividly reflects the inhabitants’ principal occupation—fishing. Speakers of this dialect use many names for specific objects and concepts associated with their work; however, these names are generally not of Lithuanian origin, but are borrowings from German or Latvian. The dialect also contains old and beautiful words from everyday life, rarely used in the literary language and known only in some dialects, for example: girdnė kaulė, medinė kaulė, “boar,” kiekukė, “pine cone,” lėnkė, įlėnkė, įlenkis “valley, hollow, concave place,” pagultis “space under a bed,” duonpelnė “breadwinner” (višta mūsų duonpelnė), gija “thread,” žėmininks “peasant” (for more words with this suffix, see p. 139), gi’vastis “life” (gali gi’vastis kainiuot), augūmas “height” (tokos pūšės gėra vira augūma), atsiminimas “memory” (gėra atsiminima tur; aš nėturu nei kokā atsiminima), bėkt~bėgti “to sail; to ride” (gārlaivis bėg; rīta su gārlaivu nubėgam, vākare parbėgam; mokina ratū bėkti “teaches [someone] to ride a bicycle”), and so on. Borrowings make up a very large part of the dialect’s lexicon. This is one of its most characteristic lexical features. Germanisms are especially common here, for example: fūnka “spark,” benkis “leap,” šmėterlingė “butterfly,” šnideris “tailor,” šusteris “shoemaker,” vūrškė “sausage,” and so on. There are also quite a few borrowings from Latvian, for example: dženis “woodpecker,” pūkė “flower,” bāluodis “pigeon,” mūca “barrel,” pādūse “armpit,” kuņģis “sausage,” kērna “butter churn,” kioka vāna “trough,” grīdis “floor,” kāzuoks “fur coat,” and so on. The dialect also contains many Slavisms that entered by various routes, for example: čėsas “time,” zīegoris “clock,” trōpītis “to happen,” and so on. The influence of Lithuanian on the Latvian spoken by these fishermen The Latvian spoken by the fishermen of the Curonian Spit is also strongly influenced by Lithuanian. This influence was especially reinforced by the fact that, owing to certain historical circumstances, these fishermen had almost no contact with the inhabitants of Latvia, did not read the Latvian press, and so on. Of all the speakers of the dialect whom we met during our expedition, only one had a Latvian book and said that he read it. Various new concepts reflecting new developments in life entered these people’s Latvian from Lithuanian and German. Moreover, the influence of Lithuanian is clearly evident in phonetics, morphology, and syntax. The degree of Lithuanian influence 10. Kalbotyros klausimai II. 145 can be judged from even this short text recorded by A. Becenbergeris from a fisherman in Preila42: “Es dievam pasilecavodams likuos gulet ir jau biju nitalu azmidzis ir jūtu, kad jau ta pikta dvase pi manis artinas. Tad es duomaju: viš rasi pi manis klat nepiejes, kad es dieva varda gribu azmikt. Ale vine artinajas vis juo klat ir es gribiju pabust. Tad vinia ganc us reizu taka grūts vės pradėje us mani birpti ir mani juo vis gribija azmidzinat; ali es stengiuos, kad es varētčiau pabust ir jemu dziedat seve ir dievop dvasiškas maldas aukšum sutinet pasilecavodams dievinam ar tikru tikėjimu, kad mana sutvertojis mani neduos viniam, tam, kur neka nau pi manis piesilicis, nu tava šlūžmas atraut. Ir tad es nu visas sirdes dievam apsijemdams, kal es dzivs, nu sava tikėjima naatserauties. Ir tad mana sirdie tapa taka džiaucsmas, ir meile atseradas, ir tad es jūtu, kad viš gribija nu keršta dar juo mani spiest ir visai žūdet; ale es sava dvasiškas maldas būdams družosi duomaju, kad tu turi nu manis prapult, ir tad viš tījauš nu manis atsiraudams prapuola, ir es jūtu, kad viš jau tur atstat, ir tad es pradem belūgдамs sava dievina pabudu. — Ta pikta dvase ir ta, kur is laumes pasivirš ir dara tuo pašų dinstu pagal mana sirdis pajutima, kuo ir pats vels dara”43. As this short dialect text also shows, Lithuanian influence is most clearly reflected in the lexicon. Quite a few Lithuanian words, as well as Slavisms used in Lithuanian, entered this language through the church, since, as mentioned, services were conducted here in Lithuanian for a long time. At home, too, the older fishermen often read various Lithuanian hymnals and other books of a similar religious nature. Words that entered the fishermen’s Latvian by this route include: apaštals (47)44, apiera (47), artims (48), bedievis (50), dievabaimings (53), dieva kūns (53), kataliks (61), kriščānīs (63), neprietelis (69), neprieteliste (69), spavieda (81), sūdna diena (83), užgavienis (87), venčavanė, venčavanės stāns (89), žegnānė (92), žegnāti (92), sekmines, dangun žengims, velikās, and so on. Quite a few Lithuanian words also entered through trade. A very interesting phenomenon is that these dialects use Lithuanian numerals from eleven to nineteen, which differ entirely in formation from Latvian numerals. Latvian numerals of this type were displaced relatively recently, since, for example, A. Becenbergeris45 still writes: “vienapadesmit, vienpazmit oder wenolāk, wenolik, wenālika, winālāk, wenālik46, wenālika duipadesmit, duipazmit oder dwilāk, dwilika, 42 The text is presented in modified spelling, and reflects the dialect’s phonetics only in general terms. 43 Cf. A. Bezzenberger, Über die Sprache der preussischen Letten, 12-4. Comments on the cited text are also provided here. 44 Cf. J. Plāķis, Kursenieku valoda; the numbers in parentheses indicate the pages of this work; words for which no source is indicated were recorded by the author. 45 Cf. A. Bezzenberger, ibid., 71. 46Having given this form, the dialect speaker also recalled hearing his father use the form vienpadesimt. 146 dwilāka trispadesimt, trīlāka, trīlika kātrālika peņkālika scheschālik septiņapadesimt, septiņālika aschtunālika, aschtenālāk dewinālika.“ J. Plakis⁴⁷ already lists only: vienālika, dwilika, trīlika, ķetrālika, peņkālika, šešālika, šešālka, septiņālika, astuonālika, deviņālika. Numerals are generally a very stable element of language, and this intrusion is a rather curious phenomenon. Trade is probably to blame here. For numerals are precisely what are used most frequently in trading. Since the fishermen usually traded with Lithuanians, they constantly had to use these numerals. Gradually, they began using them when speaking Latvian among themselves as well. The dialect quite often contains Lithuanian words such as: hare, sparrow, cranberry, bacon, žaibis “lightning,” sick person, amakis, žands “cheek,” žents “son-in-law,” rankave, pakausis, stork, dust and so on. Among the phonetic phenomena attributable to the influence of Lithuanian, in this case the Samogitian dialect, J. Plakis notes that stressed long e sometimes becomes the diphthong ie: diel, kadiel, bėgiedis, dieku, drieg nas, dviesti, gieda, tekielis, mievs, vielu, viesas angielis, tie “there⁴⁸.” However, as far as I have been able to observe, this change affected only words that are also found in the Samogitian dialect. In addition to J. Plakis’s examples, one could also cite the words: atdriekis, erškietę, užgavienis. Thus, these words could be regarded as borrowings. The presence of the affricates č, dž <*tj, *dj in nouns should probably be explained by the influence of Lithuanian: zalktis — zalkčį, bite — biču, brīedis — brīedži, sprīdis — sprīdži, sirde — sirdžu⁴⁹. J. Endzelīns believes that these forms may sometimes be Semigallian (“laikam nebūtu gluži neiespējams...“⁵⁰). In that case, however, the influence of Lithuanian would have helped these forms survive alongside the forms zušu, vācieši, pašu, lauži. Under the influence of Lithuanian, the consonants k, g before i in some cases did not become c, dž (paluoģis, greķinieks). Among the morphological features, the subjunctive mood of verbs should be noted first. In the first-person singular, Lithuanian endings have been introduced throughout: būčiau, duočiau, iečiau, nākčiau, dzievuočiau, zināčiau, pirkčau⁵¹. Under the influence of Lithuanian, second-person plural forms also arose: duotumit, varētumit⁵². ⁴⁷ Cf. J. Plākis, Kursenieku valoda, 29. ⁴⁸ Cf. ibid., 16. ⁴⁹ Cf. ibid., 18. ⁵⁰ Cf. J. Endzelīns, Filologu biedrības raksti, 12, 170-1 (1932); J. Endzelīns, Latviešu valodas gramatika, 178-9. ⁵¹ Cf. J. Plākis, ibid., 34-5; J. Endzelīns, Par kurseniekiem un viņu valodu, 4; A. Bezzenberger, Über die Sprache der preussischen Letten, 96-7. ⁵² Cf. J. Plākis, ibid., 35; A. Bezzenberger, ibid., 97. 147 The accusative plural forms of personal pronouns mumis, jumis are likewise explained solely by the influence of Lithuanian53. Such forms are used in neighboring Lithuanian dialects54. The Lithuanian suffix -ybė has displaced the Latvian suffix -ība! veselība, teisybė55. Lithuanian influence also explains expressions such as: es viskuo taru, es nieka nitaru, es kuo nārin turu, viņi tveras viens citu (= Latv. viņi ķer viens otru)56. THE LITHUANIAN DIALECT OF THE FISHERMEN OF THE CURONIAN SPIT and the influence of the Lithuanian language on the local Latvian language К. Ф. МОРКУНАС и А. И. САБАЛЯУСКАС Abstract The article gives a brief history of the population of the Curonian Spit. It notes that most inhabitants arrived at different times from Latvia, Lithuania, and other countries. Almost all long-established residents of the Curonian Spit had long known three languages: Latvian, Lithuanian, and German. The article then describes the features of the local Lithuanian dialect. Phonetics. The dialect is characterized by complete retraction of stress. Stress shifts from a short or long ending to a long or short stem, e.g.: bãrzda~barzdà “beard,” mãži~mažì “small ones,” vaikai~vaikái “children,” sèssuo~sesuõ “sister.” It is characteristic that in the dialect under observation, stress is often shifted even from endings with falling quantity, e.g., árklams~arkliāms “to the horses,” and from the middle of a word to its beginning. This is explained by the influence of Latvian. In some cases, however, stress remains on the ending, e.g.: mažái “little,” daugiaũ~daugiaũ “more,” padarīs~padarýš “will do, will do (plural).” The article also emphasizes that often even one and the same speaker of the dialect places stress differently in individual words. In an open, unstressed primary ending, ē and o (stressed examples are almost never found) are pronounced as ē (or e) and a, respectively, e.g.: žèmė (or žẽmė)~žẽmė “earth,” būva~būvo “was”; in other positions these vowels (both unstressed and stressed) are pronounced as in the standard language. The diphthongs ie, uo, ai, ei are also most often pronounced as in the standard language, and only in individual words as in Samogitian dialects, e.g.: priẽs<priẽs “before,” nũ<nuõ “from,” šuõ<šuo “dog,” vakãlis (in the standard language vaikẽlis) “little child.” Unstressed long vowels in an open ending have shortened, e.g.: dárba~dárba “work” (acc.), nãkti~ ~nãkti “night” (acc.), víru~vyrų “men.” Often ancient short 53 Cf. J. Plākis, Kursenieku valoda, 26; A. Bezzenberger, Über die Sprache der preussischen Letten. 75. 54 Cf. F. Kurschat, Grammatik der Littauischen Sprache, 234, Halle, 1876; J. Aleksandravičius, Vakarine pajūrio žemaičių tarmė, 59, Vilnius, 1951 (manuscript). 55 Cf. J. Plākis, ibid., 20. 56 Cf. J. Plākis, ibid., 29. For other Lithuanianisms in syntax, cf. A. Bezzenberger, ibid., 104–9. 148 Vowels, and sometimes even long vowels that have become short, disappear at the open end of a word, e.g.: aug~auga “grows, grow,” tūr~tūri “has, have,” lóp~lópo “patches, patch.” At the closed end of a word, a most often disappears, e.g.: bernùks~bernikas “boy,” séns~sēnas “old,” but sometimes it is retained in those same words. The combinations *dj, *tj before ancient short a and the diphthong ai are most often pronounced d, t, e.g.: neléid~neléidzia “does not let in, do not let in,” trēteis~trečiais “with the third ones,” but affricates also sometimes occur (e.g., they pronounce briedei and briedžai “moose”). In the dialect under study, only soft l is pronounced, e.g.: liga~liga “illness,” šliūta “broom,” sù gálva “from the head.” This pronunciation is explained by the influence of German. Under the influence of German, the consonant s before p and t becomes š, e.g., špiritas~špiritas “spirit,” študēntai~studēntai “students.” Morphology. Nominal dual forms are used relatively often in the dialect (most frequently masculine nominative and accusative forms). To express the inessive and illative, a prepositional construction -ē “in” with the accusative is used, e.g., į klaipėdą~į Klaipėdą “in Klaipėda; to Klaipėda.” The instrumental singular of feminine nouns with stems ending in -i most often ends in -i, e.g.: širdį “with the heart,” žuvi “with fish,” and very rarely in -im (žuvim<žuvimi “with fish”). Some remnants of consonant-stem forms have also been preserved in the dialect, but for the most part nouns with this stem type are already declined according to other stem types. Quite a few athematic verbs occur in the dialect. Most often these are third-person forms, e.g.: ēsti~ēsti “is, are,” eit~eiti “goes, go,” miegti~miegti “sleeps, sleep.” Instead of the habitual past-tense forms used in standard Lithuanian, compound forms are used in the dialect under study, e.g., lù'bėjom vėst (in standard Lithuanian vėždavome) “we used to carry.” Syntax. This section provides examples of some case and prepositional constructions (e.g.: nominative with an infinitive and with a participle, negative accusative, etc.), notes the use of some conjunctions in complex sentences, and so on. Vocabulary. The dialect’s vocabulary is characterized by an abundance of Latvian and German loanwords. The dialect also contains old Lithuanian words that are rarely encountered in other Lithuanian dialects. * * * The Latvian language of the fishermen of the Curonian Spit was greatly influenced by Lithuanian. This influence can be felt in the language’s vocabulary, phonetics, morphology, and syntax. A very interesting fact is that Lithuanian numerals from 11 to 19 have entered the Latvian language system. 149