LIETUVIŲ KALBOS SINTAKSĖS TYRINĖJIMAI

LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI XXV (1986)

KAZIMIERAS GARŠVA

SYNTACTIC FEATURES AND TEXTS OF THE LITHUANIAN DIALECTS OF LATVIA^*

1. INTRODUCTION

The Latvian SSR has at least six dialects of long-established Lithuanian communities: Vilnius dialect (Ciskodas, Indrica, Uodegėnai, etc.), Utena dialect (Subačius, Gāršvinė, Aknysta), Kupiškis dialect (Nēretos), Panevėžys dialect (Skyronys), Šiauliai dialect (Ūkrai), and Telšiai dialect (Vadakstis) (cf. Garšva 1985). Except for Indrica, to which Lithuanians moved in 1893–1903 from the environs of Ignalina–Rimšė, and perhaps Ciskodas, all the other dialects may be the northern continuation of the main Lithuanian-speaking area. Between Ciskodas and Nēretos, the long-established residents most often call themselves lietuvininkai.

All these dialects provide a wealth of data for the study of comparative dialectology and contacts between Baltic languages. Texts in the Lithuanian dialects of Latvia also supplement our knowledge of dialect syntax.

Among the peripheral Lithuanian dialects, only texts from the Lithuanian-speaking communities of Latvia had not previously been published; they are also lacking from the most comprehensive collections (Lietuvių kalbos tarmės 1970; Zinkevičius 1978). The texts presented here are not only the first, but from many places they are also the last (with the construction of the Daugpils hydroelectric power plant, Indrica, Augustiniškiai, and Misiūnai will be relocated and flooded altogether). In 1977–1983, the author recorded 30 tape reels in Latvia (recording duration = 25 hours). The author transcribed many of the texts; some were transcribed (to achieve greater accuracy) by university lecturers A. Girdenis (No. 28), O. Kosienė (Nos. 8, 22, 23), and B. Stundžia (Nos. 7, 24).

We use conventional transcription, while keeping it as simple as possible. Since Lithuanian pitch accents occur only in long syllables, the sign for the circumflex or acute accent itself indicates that the vowel forming the nucleus of the stressed syllable is long, while the first or second component of a diphthong is half-long. Long vowels are specifically marked only in stressed syllables pronounced with the mid (*) pitch accent, and in all unstressed syllables. In a diphthong, both the acute and circumflex signs (ái) indicate a mid pitch accent sustained across both components, whereas the grave accent (ie, ai, etc.) indicates an exceptionally short pronunciation of a sound or one of its components, reminiscent of the so-called broken pitch accent. A grave accent and a subscript dot (i.) mark stressed half-long vowels without a pitch accent¹. When a word has two or more stresses, the main stress more often—

^* To the memory of Genovefa Misiūnienė (1891.X.25–1984.V.7), the best text consultant, and of many other Lithuanian residents of Latvia.

¹ By tradition, marking the half-length of stressed vowels with the mid pitch-accent sign is also illogical (cf. Garšva 1977, 77–78; even earlier, J. Kazlauskas and A. Girdenis had arrived at a similar view).

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The final stress is thus on the last syllable (cf. gaidžis, etc.); secondary stress in post-tonic sounds ie and uo (especially when lengthened and sung) is marked with a dot above.

When the vowel e before hard consonants and the vowel a after palatalized consonants coincide phonetically and phonologically, they are marked identically—with the sign a (æ='a), indicating the palatalization of the preceding consonant. Minor phonetic features, often also self-evident, are not specified in detail (they will be discussed in the next article). The phonetic features of the texts are not uniform. Pauses between sentences are marked with a single slash (/), while those between syntagms are marked with a comma, colon, or the like.

From the available texts, excerpts of greater linguistic importance and more interesting content have been selected. The largest share (about one third) of the tape recordings comes from Uodegėnai. The parents’ Čiskodas speech is merely “quoted” in rather incoherent texts; thus Uodegėnai is now the most remote enclave of long-established Lithuanian speakers in Latvia, whose highly distinctive dialect was still used until recently as a means of communication (mostly between G. Misiūnienė and her daughter Elena; the author also drew on letters written in dialect by the latter, which are unstressed). Of the approximately 40 remaining Uodegėnai residents (around 1900 there were 47 families, more than 200 people), can 10 still speak some Lithuanian? Around 1935, the residents of Uodegėnai received Lithuanian newspapers and books, and those wishing to attend a Lithuanian school were even registered.

The Uodegėnai dialect can provide an indication of how people spoke in about 10 other villages in the Krāslava area (cf. Garšva 1984, 88)³, since the words recalled by G. Misiūnaitė, the last resident of Misiūnai village (7 km to the southwest), now Belarusian-speaking⁴, are similar to those of Uodegėnai.

The speech probably differed little throughout the assimilated area between Uodegėnai and Skrudėlynė⁵, divided by the Daugava River: in the vicinity of Naujinis (20 km to the east), Jāunbornė (Neiborno, 8 km to the southwest), and elsewhere⁶.

There is an undeniable connection between the Lithuanians on the right and left banks of the Daugava. From Jāunbornė, Lithuanian villages on the river’s right bank are interspersed among villages of Belarusians, Latgalians, and Old Believer Russians. Contacts with the left bank of the Daugava are indicated by a considerable number of borrowings from Belarusian, which are absent from the local Latgalian dialect. The old Uodegėnai cemetery was also not in Borovkoje, but closer to the Daugava and the Belarusian-speaking area—in Užinkalne (also called Stygėvičiai, beyond Dzer gališkiai). Residents of Misiūnai and Augustiniškiai went to church in Jāunbornė; G. Misiūnienė’s great-grandmother Bičiul’¹, born around 1820 and a Lithuanian speaker, also married into Uodegėnai

² Four of them live elsewhere.

³ J. Endzelīnas (1981, 279) yra nurodęs, kad, be Uodegėnų, lietuviai gyvenę ir Mulkiuose. Vietinių žmonių atminimu, ten daugiau kalbėta latgališkai.

⁴ Ārklis, člertas, kājas, kaliādas “Christmas,” mergėita, and so on.

⁵ Skrudėlynė is 20 km to the southwest. There, the stressed vowel o was also still pronounced as a (Grinaveckienė 1980, 223, note 2).

⁶ “In Ellernojė too (opposite Naujinis—K. G.), Lithuanians used to live here and there in earlier times. […] Further on, there were more of them around Neibori. Middle-aged people say that while growing up they never heard those people speak in any language other than Lithuanian. A few Lithuanians have remained to this day, as if monuments. No one knows where they came from, and even the oldest people do not remember. […] In 1864 […] the impoverished people, hearing that they would have to pay several tens [to redeem the land], became frightened, abandoned the places of bondage, and scattered wherever they could.” — Žvalgas. Isz Žemgalos.—Tėvynės sargas, 1898, No. 7, p. 17.

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from the other side of the Daugava (in Jāunborne, the Lithuanian Bičiuliai lived until 1920; surnames there included Krauklis, Mikītis, Tārvida, and so on).

Somewhat earlier, the Lithuanians in the vicinity of Krāslava may also have been connected with those in the vicinity of Breslauja. Judging from the surnames in the nearest village of Pliūšai (Pliustai), 7 km north of Augustiniškės—Grodź, Kārdel’, Luksza, Pitkun, Ragiel’, Szākel’, Szemel’—and other evidence (in 1984, eight older residents of Pliūšai were interviewed, but could no longer recall anyone ever speaking Lithuanian), the village may essentially have become Belarusian by the mid-19th century. A. Vidugiris (Гаучас, Видугирис 1983, 48) believes that as late as the end of the 19th century these inhabitants were bilingual or mixed, while B. Makauskas (Makowski 1983, 236), drawing on the population censuses of 1919 and 1921 and the 1939 elections, reports that even then there were up to 10% “Lithuanians” as far as 80 km southeast of Pliūšai (in the Perebrōdai, Miōrai, and Nikolājevo districts—at that time these would have been the easternmost Lithuanian enclaves).

In the vicinity of Krāslava, as in many other parts of Latvia, the Lithuanian population may have settled as early as the 13th–17th centuries. According to data from excavations conducted by archaeologists of the Institute of History of the Latvian SSR in 1982–1984, people were already living in Misiūnai in the 10th century and near Augustiniškės (3 km east) in the 13th century. A loanword in the Uodegėnai dialect, kiāmulas ‘husk’, could also indicate that Lithuanians lived in these places at least as early as the 13th century (provided this is not a hypercorrection; in the 13th century, the Latgalians would have begun pronouncing the word čaumala; cf. Būga 1961, 97–98, 275–276, 572). The word šykstas ‘a piece of split wood’ < šiksts > seiksts may also have been borrowed before 1519–1753 (Būga 1961, 570–574). K. Būga (1961, 99–100, 266) believed that Lithuanians must have lived in Īžvalte, 5 km north of Uodegėnai, at a time when the Latgalians themselves still pronounced *Užvalda instead of Īzvalda (many place names in the area indicate that Lithuanians lived there until relatively recently). The name Uodegėnai itself, like the names of the villages Augustiniškės and Misiūnai, is Lithuanian, derived from the word (v)uodegà ‘tail’ (the Latgalians call it (st)aste, while local residents have not heard the form vedegōs). Many other village place names are Lithuanian as well: Lūkštupelis, the meadow Lūkštai (Latvian Līču pļavas), and so on (see text no. 11).

The following abbreviations are used below: Akn – Aknystà (officially Aknīste, Jēkabpils district), Cs – Ciskodas (Tiskādi, Rēzekne district, Sākstagals area), Dgp – southern environs of Daugavpils (Gryvā, Kalkuonē, Mēdinas, Grendzā), Eg – Eglāite (Eglaine, Daugavpils district), Gršv – Gārsvine (Gārsene, Jēkabpils district), In – Indrica (Krāslava district, Kalnieši area), Nr – Nēretos (Nereta, Stučka district), Sbč – Subāčius (Subate, Daugavpils district), Skrn – Skyrōnys (Šķirāni, Bauska district, Brūnava area), Uk – Ūkrai (Ukri,杜bēles district), Vdks – Vadakstis (Vadakste, Saldus district). Most examples were recorded in Uodegėnai (Vodiģēni, Odigjāni, Krāslava district, Borōvka area); no abbreviation is used for them. The locations of the settlements are discussed in greater detail in an earlier article (Garšva 1985).

2. SYNTACTIC FEATURES

J. Endzelīns’s well-known statement (1979, 510, 515) is that Latvian syntax is more reminiscent of western Europe (German), while Lithuanian syntax is more reminiscent of the east (Slavic languages). Most syntactic differences between the Lithuanian spoken in Latvia and other Lithuanian dialects are not archaisms, but rather arose under the influence of Latvian. Nevertheless, there is no substantial divergence between Lithuanian as spoken in the two republics.

As in neighboring Eastern Aukštaitian varieties, in the area between Ciskodas and Skyrōnys constructions are used not only with the locative (cf. gyviana mīsu baznīcā Cs), but also with the illative: aik tvārtan Cs, Aknistōn aštuōni kilometrai Sbč, pēreiti Lātvijan Gršv, dēdi pēčun Akn, vēže Suvainiskin Nr, vāra vidōn Skrn. The singular illative is used also in the Panevėžys dialect, though its final consonant n has now usually disappeared, cf.:

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and in the Panevėžys dialect as well, though the final consonant n has now usually disappeared, cf.: aik lauka | laukàn, šal’n ‘away’, li.pk žemė | žemèn, and so on.

Between Uodegėnai and Eglaitė (in the Vilnius and neighboring Utena dialects, perhaps with the exception of Ciskodas and Indrica), the locative is confused with the illative: that is, instead of the locative, the illative is very often used (especially in Uodegėnai), while occasionally the locative is used instead of the illative, e.g.: a) bū.va’ trìs tvartėliai: vienan kárvyje, kitàn arklỳs, trečian àvižas; mum gi čemadànas mesàs bū.va’ ažūpkalin; vakaràn, rytàn, unksci giēda; pùpas daržàn pjāvie; tvàrtan nieka nièr, dykas; b) kaimýnbus indìrė akýtie; ateina bažnýčiai Dgp; mūja karčiamòj mūna vyras Eg. These forms are also occasionally used in their proper contexts: linus mina rijàj; impuolau tan upālin; šaublė lāidzes debesin. Similarly, both local cases are expressed by the same forms in the Southern Aukštaitian dialect (Zinkevičius 1978, 46, 54), while the use of the locative instead of the illative in the Eastern Aukštaitian dialect of Latvia has been explained, most likely, as the result of Latvian influence (Grinaveckienė 1983, 113—114).

In certain expressions in Uodegėnai, the illative is also used instead of the accusative and instrumental, cf.: rūdenin bū.va’ daug mūsiu’; mūna mergà pylė kartàn su manim. It is unclear whether the form ànas darbànù ‘work’—recorded only once—can be considered a variant of the illative.

North of the Raguva—Ukmergė—Molėtai—Salakas line, shortened plural illative forms are used, phonetically identical to the locative (Zinkevičius 1978, 54): kuniguos nàja Cs, išvažàva kapuòs Laukesòs Dgp, žagenys sudìeja Eg, važiuosiu svečiùos par juos Sbč, dėda medi.nuos sūduos Grsv, atsigaibàinam Naratōs Nr, sū.riš kūlias Skrn. Only the colonists of Indrica differ from the long-established Lithuanian population in Latvia, often retaining the full plural illative: dali.na chutariuosna; dūrysna pasprabūja. But in Uodegėnai, too, the plural illative (cf. apynius sù.dedu vidùn tamuos buràkuos, Latgalian t.bmùs burakùs) is occasionally used with locative meaning (niažbnai, kas tamuos namuos gyviàna).

The singular locative is sometimes used instead of the accusative, and the preposition per ‘through’ with the accusative; in the plural it is used instead of the instrumental (especially with numerals), and so on: àtnesà švÿntiej (‘on Sunday’) piena; pinkiazdìašbm kapaìku dienài (‘per day’) ràikia makiēt Cs; dvidèšim devintuos [mìàtuos] sudàlbė šbtu šalu; kiaturiàzdesimtùos miàtuos išàla Dgp; trijųs, kiaturiùos (‘in threes, in fours’) kūla; mùša trijųs Akn; àteina pùsbelj pirmàsias adynas; kasdiena:s ašaroju, kad nier mamyties. Following the Latgalian expression gāja gamurs, in Uodegėnai they also say raikia ait ganùos, ganýt; trys diena:s namuos, a ketvirtà ganùos.

In the eastern dialects, it seems, three types of superlative adjective forms are also used, formed from the pronoun pats, pati and the positive or comparative forms of pronominal adjectives, or from the plural genitive of the positive degree and its superlative form (cf. Grinaveckienė 1983, 115; the latter form was not recorded by the author): va.ve.rūšis ‘lark’ pāts pirmasei skrīnda Dgp; pāts šiānasaī aš In; pāts seniešnise im pėnšiz’s.

In Uodegėnai, the instrumental is used instead of the usual singular genitive, dative (less often), and accusative forms of the pronouns aš, tu, and savęs: tavim tėvas su màmu peni, vaikai manim nepeniės; anà, gi žēli.ja, tavim gerè; dabar anys manim

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they “left”; they rent a house from me; they spend the summer with me; there is no one for oneself.

The neuter gender of adjectives, impersonal verbs, and the nominative plural of participles (the latter feature was also recorded in Subačius) are replaced by the masculine singular nominative of adjectives or participles, or by an adverb: I feel cold in my legs; it is awful for you that I did not think of you; the provisions for Mikalojus were abundant, they were heavy; it was never thought that this year one would have to part from one’s dear mother; it would be laid out and all finished; only a few such people remain who speak Lithuanian; they sold them after slaughtering them; the bells have rung Sbc. In Uodegėnai, neuter adjectives are still sometimes pronounced as well (It was hard for Juzupėlis), so their replacement is recent and arose under the influence of Latvian (cf. it was dark, Latvian t ùmss). In the vicinity of Daugavpils, the feminine gender is expressed by masculine forms only by people who have largely forgotten the dialect (cf. Grinaveckienė 1983, 112).

After verbs of motion, some eastern highlanders use not only the illative but also the purposive: I’ll go home to lie down (1. d.) Cs; she went to pick mushrooms; the brother drove off to have a look; he wouldn’t even go to have supper Nr. The purposive has the same functions as the infinitive; both forms may be used for the same purpose also after an infinitive: what are you waiting for, then, to do | one has to go to serve. In Uodegėnai, alongside the reflexive purposive ending -ūs, uos is used: he’ll go to wash | to wash, to drive (the infinitive has the ending -ties, adjectives -ūs | uos, cf. there is nothing to be afraid of; white). A genitive noun may occur alongside the purposive.

In Lithuanian, the purposive is found among the Kupiškėnai, Anykščėnai, and a very small part of the neighboring Utena dialect speakers (around Vyžuonos, Alanta, Utena) and Panevėžys dialect speakers (around Vabalninkas) (cf. Zinkevičius 1966, 390; 1978, 70, 72). The purposive has disappeared in other dialects. In the Vilnius dialect, the purposive is used only in the Lithuanian enclaves of Latgale—in Ciskodas (rarely, recorded in a folk song) and Uodegėnai. It is more likely an archaism than a borrowing, although the Latgalians also have the purposive (cf. I will go to eat, aizbrauce laulòtùs “(they) went away to get married,” Скринда 1908, 48; Endzelīns 1982, 587). The ending -uos of the reflexive form does not correspond to Latgalian -ūs; instead, in the vicinity of Krāslava, Latgalians use the ending -ys. The purposive is still actively used by the surviving northern Kupiškėnai around Nėretas and Sūseja.

Kaip ir kitose rytų aukštaičių vietose, apie Kalkuonę (Grinaveckienė 1983, 119), Ciskodą su veiksmažodžiu reikia ir bendratimi eina vardininkas, plg.: raĩkia dárbas darýt, nier kam kalbiàt Cs. Uodegėnuose gal dėl slavų k. įtakos pasitaikė vienaskaitos vardininkas ir po veiksmažodžio rãsti: kad galè.tumet rast žmògus (bet negal rasti žmogaus, rasti gerus žmò.nius). Dar plg. nãmie niẽr kas pàlie k Uk. Matyt, dėl slavų kalbų įtakos vardininkas kartais pradėtas vartoti ir vietoj papildinio galininko, kreipinio šauksmininko: ẽš tau dùosu pirãgelis Cs; nà tau kãulinis, duok man’ gialužbì.ni; kiškìalis niàbagiàlis, alk miežãliu pjãutu (1. d.).

Throughout the border regions, under the influence of Latvian, the dative with the verb to have has become widespread in place of the nominative construction with to be (the latter may also be omitted): the brother’s wife was Lithuanian Cs; I had three brothers; he had a brother-in-law; one of our brothers had three sons; everyone has been sent one package each; there are many children for me; we don’t have such bushes. Akn; in Naratõs he had a center Nr

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and so on. As can be seen, the verb to be is often moved to the end of the sentence (cf. Belarusian tãta naš litò.vec bul in the vicinity of Krāslava). Word order is inverted to emphasize a particular word, cf.: and what will they do to me today; he gives his father a needle to hold; I have long since needed to die. The expression až do. ár tiakaũ jòjì.s “I also had to ride,” was recorded in Aknysta.

Case constructions of nouns in the dialects are often replaced by prepositional constructions (cf.: he scatters oats for the horses “for the horses,” apples with hot water), although the reverse also occurs (we came to that mound of earth Nr). Some fuller prepositions have been retained (nuõg, tẽrpu), but many of their meanings (ant, nuõ, etc.) and even the prepositions themselves (až, da, piẽ starp) have been borrowed. Prepositions govern the singular genitive (dèl, na, nuo), dative (da, prie), accusative (ant, par), genitive and accusative (ažù), dative and instrumental (lig), plural genitive (dėl, nuo), accusative (ažù), instrumental (da), and accusative and instrumental (par), and so on.

Below we provide examples of recorded prepositional constructions. They are distributed very unevenly.

aĩž, cf. Latvian aiz “behind”: there was a garden behind the road; pull it out for me from behind the apron In Uodegėnai and Ciskodas, aĩž (aiz) is used as a preposition and a prefix.

ańt „į, pas“: ãina un Eglãiti, Ìukštu Sbč; unt malūno nuvežė Skrn; vẽde un sãva seserìm. Prielinksnio į reikšme ant labiausiai paplitęs tarp Subãčiaus ir Skyrõnių, dar plg. Uodegėnuose ir Ciskode vartojamą jo fonetinį variantą na.

aplìnk “around”: around six o’clock in the evening Dgp.

ažù (až) “behind, instrumental,” etc.: behind the little lake, behind Skirščinia. Dgp (also cf. behind Skardupja. Akn; here the first u may have been adapted to the standard language); I married a man Eg; beyond Subačius, Lithuania Sbč; he has to walk behind the wolves Sbč; that one puts her behind her son Akn; he is finishing becoming Latvian, leaves [them] to the Latvians Akn; he learned from the bricklayer Nr.

da “to, as far as, toward, up to”: a) the brother went alone to the market, to Riga; he looked after [them] for his father and mother; she goes to the bathhouse, home; b) it stretches to Įžvalta from Vùodigienù; four kilometers to the church; c) they took them to themselves, to the son; the daughter comes to me; go to the children; d) she comes to the window. This preposition (and the corresponding prefix) is very widespread in the Uodegėnai dialect. It was borrowed from Slavic languages through the local Latgalian dialect, cf.: kačia, navar da gõldam “cat, not allowed at the table,” da mežam “into the forest,” and so forth (also cf. Endzelīns 1982, 602—603).

dėl: he scatters oats for the horses | for two cows; he opened the little gate for the sheep for Christmas; for seed, seeds Eg; a knife for cutting bread Akn; a half-quarter for the cow Uk. In those same places, alongside the construction dėl + genitive, the dative (+ infinitive) is also used to express purpose.

iñ “into, to, locative”: she didn’t come to work; come to us | to us Cs; on that string there are seven beads; into the pension. The preposition was recorded in Uodegėnai and Ciskodas as a substitute for ant (ànt and ẽ are confused by eastern dialect speakers in many places, cf. Zinkevičius 1978, 55). The construction in mùms (instead of in mùm) is probably later, arising under the influence of Latvian.

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lig: lig Daũgavai bū.va Lietuvà Dgp; lik Nėretai Akn.; lig kàr „karų“ Skrn. In Skyrónys, as in the Panevėžys dialect area in Lithuania, lig is used not with the singular dative, but with the instrumental (and genitive).

nė “on, into, across (behind), dative, locative,” see ant, in: a) atsisėdīs nu kiálma; aš kaip sėdėjau na tą zla·stana; būpt nu žàmies; sėdėit nu lùnga; b) tu válgyk, nesidabák nu manų, kad aš láju; dabàr nu (im.) pėnsijas nèja; žūriu nu bliùda; c) a kiek gi nu diena·s reiks makiėt? Cs; d) diediena sàka· nu manų; e) galėjau iškiàpt visadù nu vieta·s; kai mu sala·s givènam; tu nu laũka· niagùlasi; vynu no vaĩnų nùmusie. Phonetically, na (nu) may coincide with the preposition nuo. Semantically, in Uodegėnai and Ciskode na is the main variant for ant and in, apparently not recorded anywhere else. Most likely this preposition was borrowed phonetically from Slavic na, rather than arising through the sounds un (t) (u and n) changing places. Such a borrowing is uncommon in Latgalian, cf.: pùlbes nu aruoda nispràksta – a mouse does not jump out of a granary.

nuõ „from, out of“: a) ānas na· izdaũguvas bū.va·; rùnkəs sopa nu dárba Cs; atvażāva atsipūst na dárba; skirties no ma·mutė·s (= with grandmother); b) niuo Lietuvàs bū.va atvażāvis Cs; žmānu atvāvede nu Lietuvàs Cs; na medzia· sutaisytas; dunkščýs bū.va na šaudų; na tās mamās atėmie. The meaning “out of” is borrowed from Latvian; it is also found along the Lithuanian border (Endzelins 1982, 604—606). Related to this meaning (Latgalians pronounce it nu) are also the following Uodegėnai constructions: linùs iškùlsta nu spalìu “thresh the chaff out of flax”; šaũdus išblāgża nuo tų varpýtiu “shake those little ears of grain out of the straw” (in the dialect, the genitive and accusative are switched, and nuo “out of” is placed with the genitive).

nuõg: atsitraũki nug manų (lit.) Cs. In the speech of older people, nuõg is also occasionally found at the other eastern Aukštaitian extreme—for example, around Linkuva.

par “across, at, by, from, behind, instrumental, locative”: a) par mūsų laũku gialu-žinkelis ėja Eg; aš jai su pliòtku par riėtais; b) yr šakė par mùni Cs; auga par manim; kų aš dirbau par tiėvu, par matti, tų aš ažmiršau Cs; bū.va dvi šàsaris par jaunèsniji brāli In; aš tinai kálau par juos In (and Gršv); par jům niaštrỳna dèlgies?; takiū balių par mùm nèr (a) Sbč (and Cs, Dgp); jau Litvà par mùm isibeiks; par “from” Šy deri niatòli Eg; c) sùklumpam par stãlu, par durim, par pušýtiem; par kapaìs šaũkias Altkirka; d) par vidu saũšus; e) anà gi jamiėšnie par manim; dekavājam par klapataìs; kalbam pãterus par tais bernia·keliais; f) ānas būva par kàtu, par dōktoru; par liùno šaũke Skrn; par kaimynam šaũkia Cs; g) āi, visakā bū.va· par gyvì; par viduri lyknie; āina alnis pirmdsei, mažasei par vi.duri Akn (par vidurį “in the middle” is also said around Žeimelis, cf. Šlavas 1972, 430).

The meaning “at” is recorded not only for par, but also pas by the same informant in the Daugavpils area (Gryva, Kal(k)uonė, Medinai, Grendza, Subačius, Aknyšta, and the Daugėliškis area). This usage is more likely to be authentic than borrowed from the standard language used by the note-taker. The meaning “at” of “par” may be used as far as Neretai.

After the preposition par (at), pronouns may take a different case than other nominals. In the singular, after par in Uodegėnai, the case is not accusative (as with all other nominals) but instrumental (as in Latvian, cf. Kabelka 1975, 136, 208): par kùom kàltava·s, par tùom pinigai; par jùom pameta manim “at his place he leaves me”; par kuorùom

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further. In the plural, after par (at) the instrumental is most often used (Ciskodas, Uodegėnai, Gryva, Subačius, Aknyšta; Skyrónys, Ūkrai), but in isolated localities (Indričá, Grendžà, Garšvinė) the accusative is also found. Constructions of the type kas par (across) + nominative (accusative) (cf. a kas čia par arkliūku Dgp, pažurbėt, kas par märkyam) have been borrowed into Lithuanian and Latvian, apparently from Polish (cf. co za) or German (cf. was für, Endzelīns 1982, 610).

In Uodegėnai the phrase par kū (in Kal̇kuonė — ažu kū) means “why”: par kū tiek mažà valgė?; ažu kū niàsuka? Uodegėnai par tū (in Ciskode — par tuo) means “therefore”: mòn to mažà reikie ait ganuos, par tū ka aš mažà buvai.

paskui “after”: a tėvas nežinau kiek miatu gyviana paskui mamàs.

pō: vadžija pa didzidiju keliu “along the great road.” In Uodegėnai and Ciskode, pa is also said, as in Latvian (-u), and so on.

priē “by, about, at”: a) āugau prie tėvų; prie pačiai Èglainiai gyviana Eg; krì.ta žemė prie bālai Sbč; nelāide pìrkt žemės prie rubežiu Akn; prie kìalmais āuga Dgp; b) apsivälga šilta miėsà prie rùdiniai “around autumn, in autumn”; prie vakarui “around evening, in the evening” the temperature cools; c) prie mum(s) jau buva˙ daug kartu lietus. Between Indriča and Aknyšta, the singular dative is used after the preposition prie; in Vadakstis (the Samogitian area), the genitive is used (prie Žagarės); at least around Grenžda and Subačius, the plural instrumental is used, while in Vadakstis the genitive is used (prie pōnu). In Uodegėnai and especially around Ciskodas, the Latvian pie is also used instead of prie:

prō: piērmalā pra girnām “mill”; pria. skūrstini išskranda ōran.

tērpū: terpu mum kalbėt, sūnus labai augštai savim niàša. Used between Ciskodas and Subačius with the singular genitive (in Uodegėnai also with the dative); terpà savẏ Cs (Būga 1911), tià.rpu sà.vi Dgp may be a genitive with the s dropped (cf. sà.vis—Uodegėnai, sāvis—Medinas). Following Latvian, in Skẏrónys one says sāva starp’, while in Subačius stōrpa.

In Ciskodas and Uodegėnai, the adverb in comparative constructions kaip is phonetically identical to kai: āina (būsi) kai pardūota Cs; àki·s kai guzikai; kai su bìazdalu smirdieja; tāks kai vilkas bū.va tas šuvd; vàlgi·k smėl.nai, kai namuos; further cf. aš dirbau kai (= Slavic kak) virtuvies mergička Vdks. Occasionally kai is pronounced ka˙ (cf. Latvian kā “how”): tākie ka˙ šarmù.kžnė lāpai. The conjunction kōlaik is used: šāk šāk jāuna mērge, kālaik vāiniukuota Cs; i da grāba darbīsime, kālaik numirsīme; further cf. kōlai (= kōlei) triōbas sukēlam Gršv.

As in Latvian, the subordinating conjunction kàs is also used in the sense “which” (sometimes kur⟧ performs the same function): nier takių žmānių, kas pa lietuviškai pakalbėtu; padeda ma·mytei, kas sirgsta; sūnus, kas padeda lietuviam, kas išaugam su namini kalbu; tas vilkas, kas e·riukūs pjāuna; tie kidturi būva takie, kas (kur) kalbiā·ja. pa lietu.višku Cs (and cf. kur žālbi pjāuna, tas pjautbvas; stalāi bū.va, kur āude). In those same Uodegėnai, the conjunction “which” is also known: kurā·s supvivielb [būl'ba·s], aran.

In the texts there are compound sentences with mutually related conjunctions, but more sentences of this kind are subordinate, cf.: a) kāks gi tu žmā·gūs, kāks gi tu gi·vinta.jis?; kas āina da bažnyčiai, kas namuos palīnka; man jau tēip i tēip gerēi; b) kad velīka.s pasisupsi, ti žodai niakūys Dgp; vaikai kadū nepenie·s, kų

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aš tadù darýsu; kadu jum bus gerei, tadu atvažiuosit; aš kai jaunà buvaũ, tai stiprà buvaũ Dgp; kai sù.veria nýtys, tai diãda skėtan; kaip pradeda taip tekėt [pienas], tai kri.žiškai pamėlži Akn; kaip ýr, taip ir gyvìana.m (... giaŕai); kũ tu padarýsi, kaip ýr, taip ýr; kũ tu ti suprãsi, kas ýr, tũ i vàlgai; kũ pavàlgiau, tas giaŕai; kiek galėjau, tiek pririnkau; kiek rōzu apsv.veda, tiek isì.skira Gršv; kur mūsų nėra, ti gerai; a kurą sėklai, tũ sėklai. The conjunctions kãd… tai, kadà… tadà, kaĩ… tai, kaĩp… tai, kaĩp… taĩp, kàs… tã, ką… tas, kiẽk… tiek, kuŕ… teň, kuriã… tã, and so on, are used. A certain substitute for the conjunctions kaĩ… taĩ could be kaĩ… taigi (taigi singles out, intensifies, and emphasizes the sentence): kaĩ jaunì būva.m, taigi kaimýndai suveidava. Akn.

In sentences of various types, intensifying and resumptive words such as nei, tai, ten, tiek, and others can be omitted more often than in the standard language (cf. Lietuvių kalbos gramatika 1976, 842), without affecting the meaning of the sentence: pridėt ni atimt nianó-riu Dgp; jau siánas, kam gi tu giúras; viẽkas gyvint, ne maĩšas siūt Sbc; jau senóu gývie, niadiok diẽve bū.va.; kur aũga apiniaĩ, atãžilas eina Dgp; grėbia su abiẽm rùnka.m, kiẽk pasigrėps.

3. TEXTS

Cìskodas

1. My mother did not speak Lithuanian / not at all / father and father's father spoke Lithuanian / all the household spoke Lithuanian long ago / but whoever did not learn it, could not speak Lithuanian, that one spoke Latvian / I remember well, my father's brother, Jurgis, he knew Lithuanian / my father was thirteen years younger than him / those old people have died, there is no one to speak it with / when I die, you will not hear a single word, no one will speak it / if you know how, it is good to speak, but if you don't know, what can you speak / I learned to speak Lithuanian in one week, when only one Latvian was left / fifty-seven years, when I was in the army, six years and two months / with the golden [one] I could speak, but with the Žemaitian [one] I could not at all / my father and father's father already said the Lord's Prayer in Latvian / there were two Lithuanian priests for us, Tumasūnas and Urbelis / one lived to be fifty-five, the other seventeen / that professor from Vilnius [P. Būtėnas] came to priest Urbelis / well, he has documents, that this and that / there had once been a manor, written down long ago, that nine households had been brought there / the master was a Gudian, and his wife was Lithuanian / well, she brought nine households / well, they came, yes, you know, and they spoke, that two hundred and fifty years ago, when they / and well, whoever can speak Latvian understands / well, and he traveled around with the priest / the priest had a horse harnessed and traveled around / ah yes / well, who knows how to speak Latvian? And he ordered it, so that when the children marry, they marry Latvian women / take Latvian wives, but do not Latvianize them / then all the Latvians will disappear / he had come in 1926 / I have also been to him /

* Instead of the expected acute accent, a circumflex is marked when the vowel is pronounced weakly and greatly lengthened. This phenomenon, as well as the neo-acute of retracted stress (not distinguished here from the neo-circumflex), still needs to be investigated.

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The priest knows who can speak Latvian / there were settlements everywhere, Slaboda, Kalna Sloboda, Lejas Slabada, there were, you know / and Kukuciai too, everywhere / everywhere, those who know how to speak Latvian / they did not speak in Buodžiai and Kurtyniai / nor in Pilveliai / they did not speak there then / already fifty years ago, when nobody spoke Lithuanian / Girnakaliai, Kėjdānė, Lejas Slabada, Kalna Sloboda, Slabada / only those people spoke / in Kukuciai three people still spoke / Bazulis, Trečiukas, and Čepulis / in Girnakaliai there were eight householders, all spoke Latvian / all eight / there were six in Slabada, four spoke / and in Kalna Sloboda there were thirteen families, only eight spoke, eight: Zvidrins, Bongaris Augusts, Bongaris Antuonas spoke, well, that's three; Trečiukas spoke, Čepulis, Bikšta spoke / in Pilveliai Skirmantės Ignas spoke, and Skirmantas Jozupas / oh, Marazas Janis spoke / and in Kurtyniai three Čepulis people spoke, Ročka, Augustāns / Augustāns spoke it well, oh, he was Latvian / Prancis Jūza, Augusts, there were two brothers, spoke well; further away, Šaukai Jaskūnai, and now Kukuciai / when the Girnakaliai are gone, the Jaskūnai will be gone too, from the age of twenty / the Šviedėliai—now Zvidrini / formerly they were called Viengaliai, now Gruzdeliai, those are Russians /

Jazùpas Nòvikas (Nòviks Jāzeps), born 1896, of Girnakaliai (^34b) village (now Dzērkali). The surname of Novikas and Kovalevskis’s grandparents was Bérkus (-as). All informants in the Ciškodas area, when short of Lithuanian words, add Latvian ones.

2. hurry up, the cart is going to run away, it will get somewhere / we have to go now / and how much will we have to pay per day? Fifty kopecks a day we have to pay / and what are you doing over me? the young man, and the kosas, and the swan / and what I did for my father, for my mother, I have already forgotten / and I don't know what I did there, that's how it is / what is needed, that's what one does / what mother says, that's what we do / mother teaches, so we do it, and we will even live to see the grave, as long as we do not die / and then nothing will be needed. / the man is a good storyteller. He knew how to cut / the man understood, but could not speak / because here you cannot hear / nobody speaks / mother spoke the same way / she could not hear a single word / but my brother could converse / what kind of Lithuanian are you, you can't talk / my head hurts / my hands hurt from work / let's go thresh / we thresh with these hands / let's go dance the polka / girl, how are you? a spoon?

Bòndarė Leukàdija, Jānio (1889 – 1981).

3. little green mushroom, by the end window / the window opens, the mushroom leans out (riddle) I harness my gray-brown horse, in the morning and evening / I rode, I rode through the little forest, along the green meadow / I met a crowd of young women, a big crowd / all young, all beautiful, all crowned with wreaths / my dear young woman, you are the only one sold / you have a little son in your arms, like a little rue flower / Sharkienė Varnienė, give your wolf [to me]? / two die, two are born, two go to the priest / five thresh the grain, six thresh in the barn /

* Each line of this song was repeated twice.

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I got muddled, I collapsed, I drove across two fields / I drove across two fields, I unlocked two chests / yesterday evening, yesterday evening, there was no fear / I got married at midnight, the girl was already beyond her prime / young, handsome, you girl, step away from me. / Why are you so crooked, why don’t you turn toward me? /

Regina Vilūma-Riks, born in 1903 in Žemojōje Slabadoje.

4. I drank and drank, drank my fill, and will go home to bed; I’m young, with little hair, so that no one else can lie down beside me / the hare runs across the furrows, the drum beats, girls, come and watch, let the hare loose / begin, begin, young girl, while there’s still time, I’ll take your wreath, and you’ll be as if sold / I’ll go, I’ll go to Lithuania; I won’t be there long, Lithuania has black bread and gives a big slice of it /

Kovalēvskis Jazūpas (1903–1983), gyv. Girnakaliuose.

Indriča

5. My father was born in 1890 / in Baltgūdze; there was a mill nearby / there was a manor. Indriča / the lord lived here. / They lived in a row. / We were the first Lithuanians to settle in Indriča / when it was bought, nine in Indriča, and twelve in Bindari, twenty-one householders there were. / There was a lot of land here, one large, long house in Bindari, such that three families could live there / and then they built houses. Each for themselves / how many householders, each for themselves / divided up the farmyards and gardens, into plots, then built each a house / near the Krāslava road, perhaps you know, no? And there was one more Lithuanian, my godfather lived there / he was here then. He came / Lithuanians lived there. / There were three or four households here. / They came from Nōviki, Uodagāni / how they came, I don’t know, but they came from Lithuania, and they bought land. They lived there, in this Indriča. / But they became Latvian, Latgalians / there were bell ringers, church caretakers, in the churches of Krāslava / they were my mother’s relatives, those who died. / My mother was older, the two of them / the bus goes to Daugavpils often / so one has to travel this road / Krāslava is perhaps twelve kilometers / and that’s maybe eight or ten / not so far /

Valinskas Liūdas (1887–1981), g. Magūnų k. (3 km į š. nuo Rimšės) ir 1889 m. tėvų atsivežtas į Indričą.

Uodegėnai

6. Many children were born here, when Lithuanians came here. / Very, very long ago, very long ago / both mother and grandmother and grandfather—all were Lithuanians here / how God gave me such a long life / I’ve already worn through two pairs of shoes, one I’ve taken off, the second I’m about to wear out / I’ve walked so much, worn my heels down so much / there, you see, we live on that hill, where the homestead was / when you go to the end of the street, you climb a little hill, there’s our cemetery there, and our houses stand there / when I was young, there was nothing!

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I used to sing in Kraslava / but now I can’t sing anymore / when we would go to the house to work, and to church, my grandfather would ask me to sing / however many of us there were, five or six, we sang / my grandfather would say: “Come on, let me hear: look what a fine little voice you have, if only you could sing day and night!” / When I was young, I was quite foolish / she said: “Come on, let’s sing!” / There is such a little forest behind the barn / she would ask us to sing as we walked along the little path / and there, look, that forest, that’s her place / well, we’d come there singing on Sunday / and on Sunday grandmother and the children who no longer went to church would come out / they’d sit down by the furrow and listen as we sang / and there was one who couldn’t go to church / she couldn’t walk there on Sundays / what had happened to her legs, they were like rags / and then she said goodbye / she would come out with a crutch like that / sit down beside the mound and cry / we sang songs, sang to Brōsnija before the island / she sat down and cried at the song / she said: “Oh, how beautifully you sing! How I listened and cried; why did I become so crippled? / A young person, and so crippled—how did I end up like this? / Why must I go to church, crippled as I am?” /

I had three brothers; I was the fourth, a girl / when I married, things were better / there were children, everything was there: what to put on, what to stroke / my family was very large: her own children were three, and her mother, and her two sisters—and how many of us there were altogether / I both dressed them and washed them / there were twelve hectares of land / and one had to cut rye with a sickle / nowadays they don’t use sickles, they use a machine, but then they used little sickles, you know, bent like that / we cut the rye, cut the vetch oats, mixed vetch with oats, then it was easy to cut with a sickle / the gardens were overgrown with weeds, grass ate them up; we couldn’t let them lie fallow / we’d hoe them by turns, one for one, another for another, then for a third, going around to all of them / they ate it up, got tired, lay down / then there were still weeds in the gardens / we’d cut the barley, spread it out, put straw in the middle so it wouldn’t spill, and they would thresh it / and what did you thresh it with? Nothing at all / there was hardly any bread in the old days / we felt sorry for the children, for the bread / Father would bring bread and give a little loaf to the grandchild so that it wouldn’t go hungry / Father would come at noon: “Who nibbled the bread?” Those children wouldn’t eat it, and they didn’t cut the bread / but she came and shouted: “Who nibbled the bread?” My heart would ache if I didn’t give the children bread / Józupėlis went to the school: “We’re taking the loaves, a handful with two fingers” / “Mother, don’t give him so much bread; he’ll hand it out to the children” / The poppy plants were sown in the garden / it was spring; last year she had brought the poppy seeds from the storeroom / she gathered them, gathered them, and then she fell asleep / then the old women came, talking and trying to wake her / they talked and talked, but she said nothing / that was all / then they took her and laid her down; she was in a coma for three days, couldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink / afterward she regained consciousness in the eleventh month / it was necessary to feed her with a spoon /

7. It would be better if they were young like that, if only they could be, and if they could die, lie down, fall asleep, and have everything / but one has to sleep, one has to suffer, and still can’t get up / the newspaper is there for us, grown in the garden, there’s plenty of it / I gather them, wash them (and) chop them up, take them, or with a little knife, and then put them in the sack, pour sugar over them for the winter / I thresh the beans and tie them up in bundles / as for the chickens, they’re no good, they walk around and scratch / but when there are no chickens, such good roosters grow up; then I pull them out, pull them out, hang them up, dry them, then thresh them, winnow them, and pour them in / look how the millstones grind the grain, the stones grind it, […]

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I put the potatoes in, pour hot water over them, and then the rest; when the potatoes are cooked, I add a handful of carrots, and then those are cooked too. I pour it out / it tastes good with sour cream; when I blanch it, and when the meat is cooked there / I add potatoes and sour cream; it tastes very good, better to me than cabbage /

8. What is blooming here? There aren’t any (berries) / well, the berry blossoms / and these white ones here / they are different, those are kind of blue / and the little stars, little stars, now they are blooming / they are white / not white ones / and here it is white, it is / there’s no grey one, only the little white ones / and those tall ones, those are the ones that grow / in the meadow, the buttercups, and many tall ones in the bushes, like them / I was in the bushes a long time ago, I’ve forgotten / and here there are the cuckooflowers and those / and what are those? / and some sort of stalk sticking out, yellow / and a tail, oh, oh, oh / and, oh, that hedgehog / once it was at our place, in the garden, that sort / it dug up its little snout; you won’t find it / oh, sharp needles / and you eat meat, hedgehog / well, how much of it is there, it’s tasty, they say /

9. Magpie, crow, how many children do you have? Two died, two got married, the fifth went to the barn / kitten, poor thing, go sow barley / either a little rye, or a little rye / kitten, poor thing, go get a little beer / either I can, either I can, either, either, either / the hare scampers along the field, the rooster beats the drum, the hen blows the little pipe, the little sparrow measures out the grain.

An old man was peeling a little tree / peeling, peeling that little tree, he had peeled it halfway, then a bee flew out / flew out, and went into some sort of burrow / bees, perhaps / it flew into that burrow and sat there / half peeled, half unpeeled / the bee flew back, thump thump thump thump, who’s in my little burrow? And the little tree says:

I’m the little tree, the poor little thing, half peeled, half unpeeled / I have eyes like little panes of glass, horns like awls; when I charge, I’ll stab you through /

The bees are frightened and run away / the bee goes, goes, goes, meets a wolf, I don’t know where it met him […] the wolf gave the bee a ride, and the hare goes, goes, they go in threes / goes, thump thump thump thump, who’s in the bees’ burrow? She says again: I’m the little tree, the poor little thing, half peeled, half unpeeled; when I charge, I’ll stab you through / they’re frightened; when it charges, it’ll stab them / again they go along the road / they go, go, where do they meet? / that one comes along, and nothing comes of it / then the little tree, half peeled, half unpeeled, lives in that burrow / long ago, I knew all of it from beginning to end / we were little children; what did we do, what did we hear, what didn’t we hear /

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Genovėfa Mišiūnienė-Ungurytė (1891–1984), illiterate, spoke Lithuanian, Latgalian, and Russian.

10. I was young [before I married], I was twelve years old. / Such a silly girl I was! When I turned twenty-five, I was just full of silliness / at twelve years old—wind through my head / fooling around and having fun everywhere / you don’t yet know how to do work / in the old days we had to herd the horses, but now I’ve finished school, all the work / and then we had to sit at home and do the work / people didn’t live very long in the old days, God willing / our little hens were slaughtered, our little pigs were slaughtered / the little pigs were rounded up and slaughtered / when it was time to harvest rye, our little fingers were like this / there wasn’t a single finger that hadn’t been cut; all of them were cut / and how much trouble you have now / now, indeed, it’s good to live / for young people to have it like this / they don’t know anything about work / they live a good life / when we came to this house, there were two horses in the stalls, three sheep / we didn’t come to this house from Šūkas / I liked growing flowers very much / when I was young, I had the whole porch full of flowers; there was nowhere to go / I’m old now, and I still grow them / I took them out with their big leaves and planted small ones / when I die, then they’ll all be thrown out / you don’t like talking with me now / you’re young, I’m old / if you had someone young like that to talk to, you’d tell them everything / our speech is rough, not as soft as Lithuanian / Lithuanians speak Lithuanian / Lithuanian will soon die out among us / oh, it would be interesting if one could speak Lithuanian / you understand all kinds of speech, you hear how people speak! That would be a joy / if I were young, I’d travel around with you / I’d go everywhere /

Regina Savickienė-Baliulytė (1889–1978).

11. There are fish in that lake, just like in the other one / there’s a town beyond the clearing / in 1928 [at the age of eighteen] these houses were already here / what a meadow, what bushes, and everything had its own name / well, we live here, here are the Beggars’ Hills / and over there, where those pine trees are, that’s where there used to be graves / whoever happened to come across them, whoever made it there, the beggars used to wander around, as they say / when I was already herding, there were bones and skulls there; when we were driving the cattle up the hill, we’d let them loose / whoever finds a dead person by the road; they must have been there since long ago / oh, how / here is the pine-spinner / the snake lives in the barn, they call that little hill Stātasei / the boletus hills / those were their names / there’s a little stream over there, a river flows, and there are meadows / there are many such places / the pine meadow, and farther over there—not pine trees, but alders / the ragiėjai, they go straight and you find them more quickly / every place had its own name /

Ksaveras Ungurys (1905–1984).

12. Where we live in the forest, there is a flat meadow / farther there is a meadow on the hill, with loosestrife, reed canary grass, cow-wheat, dock, a pond, and a puddle / there used to be an anthill by the river; we called them mešai / when I grew up with my father, he spoke Lithuanian / my brother, in Salaspils, knew it / Grandma didn’t know Lithuanian; we taught the children Latvian / she understood Lithuanian better than I did / well, everyone’s elders have died, and the young ones can’t manage it / a loaf of white bread, cheese, perhaps Ungurys can speak / we meet, we talk / Mrs. Mišiūnienė wouldn’t speak by herself if she weren’t feeling well / there are few people left who can speak Lithuanian / the language gets all mixed up / bread for nine years, and I’m thirteen / she lives by the river; when she goes to Barauki, it’s a very rough road /

Vladislovas Ungurys, born 1913.

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Gryvà

13. My mother was a little deaf, and my father was from Gryvà / my brother was born in Gryvà. / I was like a Niderkūnas; every day I had to speak [Lithuanian] / when I came here, very rarely / already forty years. / The forest calls out sharply / long ago, when I was eight years old, it called, and now it calls sharply / I worked as a brigadier / I liked working, keeping things in order / I had everything good / and where did so much grain come from in Lithuania? I watched how much had been sown, and how much barley had been sown / and such things / some sow with one row, others sow with two rows / with two [it goes] faster, a wider ploughshare can be used / in spring I helped with threshing, and sowed barley / barley in the threshing barn / you sprout the barley, dry it, grind it / pour hot water over it, leave it for five hours, and then it must be strained / and then the beer / a tub, a barrel / add yeast / into a bucket. It comes to twenty grams / and sugar / if the beer is to be beer, then sugar is not needed / but if it is to be strong, then [make it] strong / and into a wooden tub, a hundred grams of hops / I had lots of hops here / when I dug a pond, dug it out, and now there are none / where the hops grow, shoots come up / you dig out the shoots, carry them away, plant them / then you put up stakes, and they grow / well, good, it shouldn’t be weak / you can keep it in sacks / you can keep it wherever you want / a magpie is watching, just before dusk it flew in / they went to sleep at dusk. / In Latvian: sparrow, crow, cow, cuckoo, crow, hen, rooster, duck, goose, pig, piglet, sheep, cow, calf, bull-calf, and in Russian it was...

Jonas Jadževičius, born in 1899 in Niderkūnai. His father was from Gryvòs, his mother from the Kal̇kuonė area.

Kal̇kuonė

14. Well, when it comes to talking, if I understand, why shouldn’t I speak? I am Lithuanian, and my father was Lithuanian, and my grandfather / I remember, and he died. He was here / here he used to go. / He had neither land nor anything / he walked around with a couple of boards from a sawmill / Father worked as a bathhouse attendant for a Jewish man. / Some four kilometers, there beyond Maskalūnas, that’s where he lived. / I don’t know where Grandfather was born; I haven’t asked Father / I can’t say, I don’t want to lie. / It seems to me this way: neither they came here nor sent anyone, nothing. / It was already in the lowlands, hundreds of years ago, let’s say, they lived here. / In Daugavpils and in Latgale / sometimes you come out of church, women are standing and talking / speaking Lithuanian / with honey, with cinnamon, or was it there too / our people used to be fond of it here / long ago they would speak [in the countryside] Lithuanian, Latvian, Polish / and now they sing only in Polish / in Gryva: one after another died, there’s no one left to sing—in Polish and Latvian / I was Lithuanian, and I’ll die Lithuanian / I’m not ashamed that I understand Lithuanian /

Petras Kergalvys (> Kergels), (1898—1982), resident of Papušinė.

15. Why don’t they turn back? A small forest for that? A third part here was different, but otherwise [they were] Lithuanians / nowadays the Belarusians; everyone who was Lithuanian has died. / Everyone has gone away to the cemeteries, and in another three years there will be neither Russians, nor Poles, nor Lithuanians—only these Belarusians will remain / how can a Lithuanian be here? One neighbor died, another, a third died Lithuanian, a fourth died / who knows, all the Belarusians sit down in this church / where could they have come from? Well, there’s nothing / only they speak...

232

...then / those among themselves really speak Lithuanian* / you go to Janėnas / he calls us, saying that your tongue is broken / your father was very weak / sick / we all stayed just as we were born. / I went to work for a piece of bread wherever there was work / I tended cattle / well, at my uncle’s, at your father’s, at my brother’s / they couldn’t let me go to school / when there was nothing to eat / we had our own little plot of land, here about thirty hectares / and I was born on this land / and my parents were born here. / A little farther off, where Janėnas is / and here someone bought this land / it stretched far away, as they say, in Pasolok / this place was ancient, already in the days of Nicholas / there was a large forest, and now again they’re driving them out / and calling them sharply, as I remember /

Jūzė Janėnas, born in 1907 in Papušinė.

Mėdinas

16. Well, this land here is ours: Gryva, Svėntas, Grendza—all were Lithuanian before. Then, in the twenties, they were separated; well, we were already leaving for Latvia. The Smalinė parish remained Lithuanian, but this side of the parish remained here, not far away. Smalinė was a small place; there used to be a pillar. The Kaunas governorate was there, and here, in Kurliandija, in the Kaffa district, Kuonės county used to be. Then they began to divide things up. There used to be a church, a school; there was a library in Meduma, in Grendza, in Kalniškiai, in Daugpils. The paths were narrow; the young people didn’t understand the other language. They told her, “Go to the neighbor and ask for a sieve, to sift with.” A sieve—that’s a sietas. She said, “I’ve forgotten.” That Russian woman had a Lithuanian woman who had married her husband; she didn’t have one, you know, at home. She asks them, “Where did you come from?” “I’ve forgotten what it’s called.” Well, she says, “You showed me what I need.” She shows her how to sift. There was this kind of sieve, so he copied it down: gaũdze, as in Latvian. I only have s’ùlije; I want to write it down as in another nation’s language. “Ah,” I say, “there’s no need.” They had written down elksnis for me. “Go away, you fools, I don’t want to.” I’m Liskdirs. I stood for a long time in the Lutheran church; Ulmanis fixed it. There are six Latvian Lutheran churches around us, where Lutherans go to pray. Around us the Latgalians are scattered: Meduma, Grendza, Svėntas, Laukasa; most of them are Lithuanians. Now they’ve all mixed together; it’s very hard to understand. If you went to our neighbors, they’re Latgalians. They’d say that there aren’t any Lithuanians here. There are many Latvians now too, many around here. The neighbor used to have two old people, but they’ve died; their daughter married and went away to Daugpils. They live in Daugpils, scattered about. Their parents died; they took it and sold it, and a Latvian, Russian, Belarusian, or someone bought it. My son also lives in Daugpils, another in Riga. My daughter married an electrician in Elektrėnai. This year Bindaris died; Jananai live by the little lake, beyond Skirščinai. People change a lot, like water. Here around us, many people come together from all sorts of places. Almost everyone knows and speaks Russian; most of them do. One is a Latvian, another is from Belarus—a Belarusian—and the third is someone else. He says, “I don’t know Latvian,” and that one doesn’t know Latvian. In general, among the three languages, everyone needs to know at least…

Augūstas Liskinys, born 1911, 6 km northwest of Mėdinas (by Lake Ilgis), formerly Smiltynė parish.

* Correctly.

* A lengthened vowel in an open syllable, intermediate between a half-long and a long vowel, is sometimes marked with a circumflex and a half-length sign (i., ũ.).

233

Grendžà

17. Everyone here is from here, locals. Mother used to live farther back, among the potatoes. Here, in the Grendza parish, she grew up. When Mother was born, she was already a hundred—eighty-five, my mother used to be. The old woman, in the forest; perhaps here (she was born), by the yellow bog. There were many people around Dauguva, all around the forest. I went away to Latvia, and forgot how to speak. There were four brothers there, all Lithuanians. They spoke Lithuanian beautifully, those from Lithuania, from the Miciūnai area, beyond the school. Well, our place was five kilometers away; the road to Stelmuižė goes by. Two farmers lived there. I went to school there too, at that school. The farmer had established the school; it was there until it was set up here. We just learned to read in Latvian; there was a Lithuanian teacher. There were many [children] in our time: Prakėliai, Čiblai, Janėnai. Now they’ve all grown old. And my father wouldn’t let me go anywhere later, you know, the old people. “Herd the cows, go outside.” Three cows and a pig, everything, sheep. However much I wanted to study, he wouldn’t let me. They taught me to sew, that was all. My father was a tailor. We didn’t have our own land before; we lived in rented places. And then he bought some forest and bushes—goodness, how long it took us to clear it, to fix up the house, and we grew old. The house was left behind; nobody lives there now. There you have your own land. My sister’s son lives in Medini. All sorts of animals come through: deer, elk, with legs like cows. There are no deer here. The year before last, four wolves slaughtered four sheep in Svėntmuižė. They went out with guns. The she-wolf ran off, but the wolf stayed.

Zàkiene-Jėraite Zofija, born 1912.

Eglàitė

18. They spoke Latvian, Lithuanian, and Polish, all sorts of ways, and Russian / we all grew up together, at the Šiderės manor / Mother and Father spoke Latvian, until the children were little / they threshed with flails / Father used to say that (in 1850) people were riding to Riga, so they wouldn’t get wet / they rode to Riga. People / they buried them in one grave / they buried them first, from the western end, below the coffins / Viņčelis knows / we used to bake pies for the saints / well then, however much you made, that was all / all sorts of kūčiukai and silkės, we would boil wheat / there was only meat in the sausage, and blood from the pig, with groats / there were no machines for making sausages then / and there used to be plenty of cabbage / the bees did not survive, they went away to somewhere else / we would make a little broom from birch twigs, in the meadow, and there / (i) it was ten or twelve kilometers to Lūkšta / whether she walked or went by cart / the rye was harvested, the sheaves stood in stacks, then we’d go home / we’d bring in the grain, lay it out neatly, then thresh / with a flail, then plow, harrow, sow turnips / fill up the seeder, and sow / and nowadays they plant potatoes / and there used to be dogs and wolves, they were red, mangy / we went to the bog to gather cranberries / those worm-eaten boletuses grew there / a narrow-gauge railway ran along the edge of our fields; it had already been there when I was born /

Šeškienė, born 1883, 1.5 km east of Eglàitė.

The speech of this informant, and perhaps of the more distant one (No. 19), seems to show somewhat greater influence from Slavic languages.

234

Subāčius

19. There lived one old woman, one little woman / she had nine sons and one daughter, the tenth / then she had nine horses and one mare, the mother of those horses / the girl grew up, and then she said to her mother: I was all alone, I had no one else, no brother, no one? She said, child, you have nine brothers, they live beyond the nine seas / I’ll go, she said, to visit you / what should she take them, what gifts? She knitted shawls and gloves / she gave all her brothers a little horse each, a little colt each / the girl harnessed those brothers / to that little mare / she rode across nine seas, dressed herself beautifully. She dressed up, took the gifts / she rode and rode, looked, came to water, there was nowhere to cross, one had to step into the water / she stood there / she looked, a witch came riding, crouched down and waited / the girl was in a hurry, she had to get dressed, she had to bathe in this river / she had to take a bath / and the little dog: yip yip, yip yip / nine brothers, don’t bathe in this river / this river is a blood river, the other river is a milk river / the witch ran up to the dog to kick it, broke one leg / broke it off and threw it away / what is the girl to do now, she has to bathe / she got down from the cart, took off her clothes / so the witch took her clothes, dressed herself in them, put on her little garments, harnessed her horse, got into her cart and drove off / I’m not speaking properly, I need to speak carefully / my son-in-law speaks carefully, from a book / the poor little one, Al’anūt’a, burst into tears, she had to put on the witch’s little clothes /

Zablockienė V., born 1903, spoke Polish in childhood.

20. My father’s whole family is from Bāltmuižė / Mother’s mother may have been from Ōnuškis; Mother came from there / I haven’t heard from my own old people that there was a big graveyard here, swamps, and in those swamps there were very old white horses; then they started calling it Bāltmuižė, Bāltmuižė / Mother also used to tell us that when the French came through here, they used to hide in these bogs, those bogs / they would saddle their horses and the French would ride through those bogs, shouting: Come home, let’s go, we’ve already come out of here / they shouted names, Katre, Mare / where the Subāčius Lutheran church is, perhaps they also say that the Grapienė farmstead was once there / and then, down the hill, as we say, the coachman with the cart rode, Grapienė with more horses, and then they had to let the coachman’s horses drink there, and she herself sat there, letting them down the hill to the pond / she drowned there with all the horses / the bells rang, all twelve days for the church / it used to be Catholic, that church; now it’s Lutheran / well, about Gāršvini, people have also said that a woman was digging up bitter herbs, and the lord was riding through there, he may have started asking, what are you digging up here, she may have started explaining about the bitter herbs / well, and so it was called Gāršvini / the old people of Gāršvini used to say that they spoke Latvian in the church, they held Lutheran services / they come outside, speak Latvian: “when it pours, it really pours; it rained heavily that day” /

Jurkėnienė O., born 1897 in Bāltmuižė (3 km northeast of Subāčius). Father is local, mother from Ōnuškis.

235

Gāršvinė

21. I was already twenty-one when I came here / I began to live / my old woman died. / I had a brother, he got into a fight / I was left alone / I had to look for a farmhand / all the buildings collapsed, rotted away, the windows were covered with dog’s parsley, inside / there was nothing. / Until we rebuilt the buildings, we put all our strength into it / the war broke out, and I couldn’t make a living / now I can’t complain, now they give me everything / I worked for them all the time, and my daughter works / I have a cow, and there’s milk, and everything / and I, as they say, don’t need to cry over a crust of bread / I don’t understand many words grammatically, as I didn’t learn them at home, that’s how it is / there wasn’t any proper school here / I went through all three grades, all three classes / when the war was going on, there was some kind of school / the teacher called one boy and showed him this, how this tooth-like thing, where the coal blows in the forge / he doesn’t say it in Latvian, but in Lithuanian he says: duntuvė / but in Latvian it comes out plēše.s / so everyone burst out laughing, and the teachers laughed too / he knew Lithuanian, but didn’t know Latvian, everyone at home speaks Lithuanian / they’re Latvians, Lutherans, they don’t know how to say anything in Latvian /

Ramoniėnė, born 1905 in Brūnkenų village (4 km south of Gāršvinė).

Aknystà

22. We used to laugh too / we’d say, we were born and grew up in Latvia, we could easily forget our native language / I had two brothers / when they were about twenty years old, in the war of that world / then we returned from Russia / my brothers each lived a few years and went to Kaunas / started working and studying on their own / the eldest was a pilot / Jonas Mikėnas / he now teaches ceramics, he’s a professor, a reader / the difference between us is ten years / well, when he started going to my school, then, when he came here, he’d come over, and draw here, and do carving / he’d go out, help out, whatever there was to do at home, whatever work was being done / but he did much more of his own work / he was everywhere, and here too, sometimes he’d lie upstairs in summer / and he’d draw on the dung, and everywhere, and he’d even go out into the fields wherever / he’d go, gather mushrooms, I know he gathered them for me, we’d go mushroom-picking / we used to go pick mushrooms / there used to be more forests here / later they parceled it out for those new settlers, there was less left / he really liked fishing / his father-in-law had nets, everything / his father-in-law was still alive then, when he was / but later he went to Paris to study, and when he returned from Paris, then it all began again, and the work / he’d come only once in a while, but not as often / whereas at first he’d spend the whole summer at home / he couldn’t come from Paris, his father died, and then he couldn’t come / where would a student get so much money, and they gave him a scholarship / well, good thing that brother, the pilot, helped / but we didn’t have anyone at home / the first years I went to school in Aknystà, I don’t know, for a couple of years or so / but later I went to school in Jēkabpils, and then in Russia, studied at a vocational school, later at the institute / at the institute that same year there were fifteen boys, they lived in a dormitory / but at home there were all sorts of shortages, the land was poor / Father used to say, he’d come back with a sack of potatoes / so everyone threshed at home and there was all sorts of trouble / juōg-

236

…would come back, it was spring, he’d say, “We’ll bake green potatoes with their skins on,” he’d say, “there’s nothing to eat” / she kept asking Mother for work, “Mother, give me work” / Mother would hand her a scythe, the one used to cut bushes, and then she’d cut the young growth / later the woman laughed, saying, “We don’t chop down young linden trees” / “Just think, you were cutting down a forest with a scythe” /

Mūrelienė-Mikėnaitė Liudvika, born 1913 in Skardupyjė (5 km northwest of Aknyštōs; a sister’s recollections about the artists Jonas and Juozas Mikėnas). In texts 22 and 23 ē = ę, and = ǫ.

23. If a person was somewhat weak, then they’d fall ill / so they’re no longer writing it down, there, Mikėnas, he writes mīk’ā.ns / he doesn’t write taup’rs, but rāups / this old woman, whoever’s left, you see, also leaves some of her own / I’ve read a little history and went to school a bit, so I can hold my own / Latvian history is very short and not weighty / when we went to work, when the threshing crews got organized, many Latvians went / well, fewer Lithuanians / I used to tell them, you tell me this / well, if you’re real Latvians, name a month in Latvian / but we have our own words, our language is fuller, richer / well, I always put them in their place, with a few words we’d finish them off / under Ulmanis we had our own society here in Aknìstoi, the youth group had been established / we’d put on Latvian evenings, our choirs were Latvian / this Raupjū’s father was very energetic, the teacher was a woman, Paula.nít’a / she came to Kaunas, as in the last period she taught / we, my brother, my sister, cousins, Mūrelienė from Skardupys, everyone / Šviesa and Rùta, there were two societies in Aknystà / there was a choir, we’d put on plays, we’d travel to distant places to perform, with shoes on / we’d go from one place to another / people say about us, they went to Gāršvinė, they speak differently; they went to Baltmuižė, they speak differently / “Little brother from Gāršvinė, you won’t go, so you won’t come with us” / that’s how it was said; our dialect is shorter / they speak pure Baltmuižė dialect / she lived somewhere around four or five kilometers from Subačius, right by the road /

24. In the four-cylinder mill, never thresh in three or five / with two, the threshing won’t work; eight people, so that each one beats, but there’s no one to knock it out, no one to feed it / if threshing with a thresher / you need to know how to knock it out, and when you need to knock it out / there’s a little river here / I think it was in 1938 that they began building the bridge from Aknìstà, so they diverted it a little / well, they said it went as far as Bauska, or wherever the copper is / it was a narrow little river here, with very steep banks / but now they’ve straightened it, made it straighter / well, it’s fairly wide, eight meters across / as people used to say, that at least three people drowned in this river, in those pools / you see, if someone falls in there, they can’t get back out / the pools are deep, you know / and the water always swirls there / well, what do you call it, it sort of churns / it’s a pity when the weather is cold; you’d go, fish, show someone, bathe, and then come back out of that river yourself /

Urbanāvičius Kazys, born 1903 in Riūkų village.

237

Nãretos

25. Now, you see, they no longer remember when the border was here among us / Mother and grandmother said that they went to this church, and then they were still Lithuanian, but afterwards everyone became Latvian. / The gray-haired ones all held on, and two or three more households held on from the old days of the Lithuanians / we, you see, were born here, lived here, and will die here / we won’t go anywhere now / now, after this war, wherever anyone goes / another one dies, someone else gets displaced / now, how many have gone to the towns, how many have moved away. / The whole region here is full of Latvians. / They served one mistress after another / Lithuanians were nearly all mixed up, the Bundinikas family / and people from this end began going away to work as servants. / They married in Vėžė. / When they light candles at the graves of the dead, they leave them there. /

I sat down on a little stone and sighed, my dear God. / My old father, my little brother, and I, a young girl, grew up / I have three little sisters, like green little rue plants in the garden / one little sister saddled the horse, the second fastened the spurs / and that third one, the very youngest, opened the gates and saw me off / our brothers, our dear young ones, when will you return from Warsaw / I will return from Warsaw, in another little year, on this very day / our brothers, our dear young ones, and what will you bring from Warsaw / for one little sister a rue wreath, for the second a silk kerchief / and for that third one, the very youngest, a gold ring for her whole life / the hills and little hills stood tall, the little aspens and willows blossomed / we did not live to see our little brother return from Warsaw / a horse comes running, snorting, its saber flashing at its side / our brothers*, our dear young ones, where have you left our little brother / your little brother beyond Warsaw lies in blood and dirt /

* The singer’s mistake; lines 6, 8, and 20 are repeated a second time.

238

The sun rose, brother, you fell silent; the little sun set, as they buried you / where the head fell, a rose bloomed; where the blood splashed, the butterflies shimmered /

Elzbieta Giniōčia, born 1907 in Buivydosė (3 km north of Suvainiškis), resident of Tupinai.

Skyrónys

26. Now, you see, barley; soak it for sowing / keep it for two days, drain it, and spread it on a warm floor / until it sprouts, like malt / then, with your hands, spread it out so it doesn’t sprout too much, and dry it / either in the oven or wherever it is to be dried / and dry it until it is completely dry / and then crush those grains / then grind them / but they need to be ground carefully / grind them not into flour, but into groats / and then make beer / but you need hops / the wooden vats are made of good wood; they can’t be made from just any wood / you need three wooden vats / one is where you put it to drain / then, to set it up like this: at the bottom of the vat, bore a hole in the stave, and in that vat lay a little piece of wood, a small one, across the twigs, lay it crosswise all over / and on those twigs put straw on top / wrap the hops in that straw, with all the little shoots, put them on top of the straw / then put the mash on top, when it boils, it will boil quite quickly; pour water over it and stir / well, and let it settle for a couple of hours, and only then drain it / then draw off the liquid again / the ladle is used for that mash, whatever there is / and add yeast between that mash, and rye / rye malt, pour it into a barrel and seal it tightly; that’s how it is / I am the one who stirs it / then you put the grains in, and at the end stir it; soak those grains in hot water in a pit / spread out the wicker, lay it in rows, and put hops in it / the threshing flail is a long stick, with a little striker tied onto a cord /

J. Fãtaras (Pàtars), born 1908.

Ukriai

27. One sister of mine lived in Aucė, [and] the other in Lielauce; they were Latvian there, and so too … between us. “You just don’t go through those bushes, child; go to bed, I’m not afraid of anything.” Such a little beetle, it is hiding money … what four of them are for us, and for the little cars; and from the morning they run off. There’s no way to get anything here, there’s nobody to get anything from. And so it is with us: Catholic, Lithuanian, and on the other side, small … Those parents died long ago. Father’s father was Latvian; he was from the Ukrainians. The barn was blown apart; there was nobody. Half-starved because of the war. “Are you going home now?” “Everything is brown with us; tomorrow, who knows if it will rain. Berries with berries for the soup …”

Paulina Nõrbutienė, born in 1912 in Snikeriai village, married into Bileikiai village (Auce parish, 4 km north of Akmenė).

Vadakstis

28. We were three Lithuanian girls, children, Lėdžiai and Pučinskai; there weren’t any more. They themselves wanted the border clothes, and then they pulled Latvian clothes over them; but here the little spoons remained in Latvia, right there, not far away, and those borders …

239

And two kilometers farther, there in Aucė, Aucė is full of Lithuanians, and of Latgalians. My mother taught my children everything in Lithuanian, little Lithuanian songs. My daughter was little then; she would say, “Come on, sing, come on,” as she was taught. She sang “The Foxes,” “The Bunny.” And whoever was there—there were many Lithuanian workers, right there among our Lithuanians—they would say, “Let’s sit down by the stove, at a friend’s, and talk.” They really wanted to be able to sing in Lithuanian. When we went, that’s how we went to Aucė; we crossed over to go to school, from Bileikiai, Aucė parish. In Žagarė, I used to herd geese. Mother came back from the refugees, when she had been driven away. Grandmother would say, “Where will your children go? And you, in Latvia, live as Lithuanians.” *

Emilija Sabulienė, born in 1907 in Priedulė district, Sakai village (6 km east of Vadakstis). She lived in Žagarė and married into Šaukšteliai (Ukriai parish).

LITERATŪRA

Būga K. Ciskodo parapijos lietuvių šnekta. 1911, rankraštis (VVU MB).

Būga K. Rinktiniai raštai. — V., 1961, t. 3.

Endzelīns J. Darbu izlase. — Rīga, 1979, t. 3, d. 1; 1981, t. 4, d. 1; 1982, t. 4, d. 2.

Garšva K. Akcentuacijos ir vokalizmo sąryšis šiaurės vakarų panevėžiškių tarmėje. — Kn.: Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai, 1977, t. 17, p. 76—88.

Garšva K. Lietuvių kalbos tarmės ir jų kontaktai Latvijoje (1. Lietuvių kalbos tarmių Latvijoje istorija). — Lietuvos TSR Mokslų Akademijos darbai. A serija, 1984, t. 2(87), p. 83—91.

Garšva K. Lietuvių kalbos tarmės ir jų kontaktai Latvijoje (2. Lietuvių gyvenamosios vietos ir kalbų funkcionavimas). — Lietuvos TSR Mokslų Akademijos darbai. A serija, 1985, t. 1(90), p. 118—126.

Grinaveckienė E. Daugpilio apylinkių lietuvių šnektos fonetika. — Kn.: Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai, 1980, t. 20, p. 223—239.

Grinaveckienė E. Kai kurios Daugpilio lietuvių šnektos gramatikos ypatybės. — Kn.: Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai, 1983, t. 23, p. 107—123.

Kabelka J. Latvių kalba. — V., 1975.

Lietuvių kalbos gramatika. — V., 1976, t. 3.

Lietuvių kalbos tarmės (Chrestomatija). — V., 1970.

Makowski B. Szkolnictwo litewskie w Polsce w latach 1920—1939. — Acta baltico-slavica, 1983, t. 15, s. 175—241.

Šliavas J. Žeimelis. — 1972, mašinraštis (VVU MB).

Zinkevičius Z. Lietuvių dialektologija. — V., 1966.

Zinkevičius Z. Lietuvių kalbos dialektologija. — V., 1978.

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* Pakeltas (e)=(ę).

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К. ГАРШВА

СИНТАКСИЧЕСКИЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ И ТЕКСТЫ ЛИТОВСКИХ ДИАЛЕКТОВ ЛАТВИИ

Резюме

В статье впервые обсуждаются синтаксические особенности 14 литовских диалектов, существующих в Латвии, и прилагаются 28 текстов. Описываются локатив, иллятив, супин, конструкции с предлогами aĩt, ažù, dã, dẽl, į̃, lĩg, nã, nuõ, paŕ, priẽ и т.п., а также другие грамматические явления. Установлено, что на местные литовские диалекты большое влияние оказывает латышский язык, а в восточных районах — и славянские языки. В указанных пунктах Латвии (за исключением Индрицы и, может быть, Цискоды) коренные литовцы проживают с XIII - XV вв.

Фонетическая транскрипция в статье несколько упрощена. Кроме автора статьи, некоторые тексты расшифровывали преподаватели Вильнюсского государственного университета А. Гирдянис (№ 28), О. Косене (№ 8, 22, 23), Б. Стунджа (№ 7, 24). Наибольшее внимание уделяется диалекту Уодягёнай (Краславский р-н). Так как в Цискоде литовский язык в качестве средства общения почти не применяется, в настоящее время Уодягёнай является живым островком литовских старожилов, наиболее отдаленным (на 60 км) от основного ареала распространения литовского языка.

K. GARŠVA

SYNTACTICAL FEATURES OF LITHUANIAN DIALECTS IN LATVIA AND TEXTS

Summary

For the first time syntactical features of 14 Lithuanian dialects in Latvia are being discussed with addition of 28 texts. In the paper locative, illative, supine, constructions with prefixes aĩt, ažù, dã, dẽl, į̃, lĩg, nã, nuõ, paŕ, priẽ, etc., the contacts of the Lithuanian language with the Lettish and Slavonic languages are described.

In 14 localities of Latvia (excepting Indrica and perhaps Ciskodas, Lettish Tiskādi) Lithuanian people lived from the 13th–15th cc. Great attention is paid to the dialect of Uodegēnai (Lettish Vodīgēni, Odigēni, Krāslava District, 60 kilometres away from the main territory of the Lithuanian language). Other dialects described exist in localities, which in Lettish are called Akniste, Gārsene, Grīva, Grendze, Kalkūne, Medumi, Nereta, Subate, Šķirāni, Vadakste.