Augustas Šleicheris

yr" „probably, will not be able to do be without the relevant chapters of his book, TSR Academies of Sciences A. SABALIAUSKAS ‘TMausrTs o Illjjefixepe kak 06 VYEHOM He HCYesHeT, HOKA GyAyT Project BOBaTh - Yeah. AH, 3aHHMAIOMHeCA HayKOH’* J. Boduenas de Looking at Į the past of any science, we almost always find a few names that stand there like a kind of guidelines, pointing the direction of new, unknown paths, ending the old one and beginning a new stage of science. į ar to In the history of colloquialism such a guideline is August Schleicher. Whichever author, from iš whatever position he writes the history of Indo-European linguistics, will always have to stop for a long time at this scholar and the related su jo I got it. It is true that today in the history of Indo-European studies Schleicher’s name is more often associated with the end of a past stage than with the beginning of a new one, and about his achievements is usually spoken less than about his mistakes. jo However, for Baltic studies, o and in particular for ir Slavistics, Schleicher’s name symbolizes a new era, one could say, their formation as international scientific disciplines. Ir Schleicher occupies a very specific place in the history of Lithuanian culture. In this respect, there is probably no nė nation whose language was studied by this German scholar that feels as much gratitude for him as the Lithuanians. August Schleicher was born in February 1821 19 Meiningen, in the very centre of the then still divided Germany. Jo His father, Johann Gottlieb Schleicher, was a (1793—1864), district doctor, a progressive man of to the time!. 1822 in the Schleichers family į moved ne another so far from Meiningen The City of Zoneberg. In this town spent his childhood the future scientist, ir Schleicher He was a member of the Royal Society, and later dedicated one of his works to it. ir 1835—1840 Schleicher attended the Coburg Gymnasium. In the gymnasium he was most interested in the Greek and Latin languages taught there, privately ir studied Arabic (he was taught by the director of ir the su gymnasium) became acquainted with Chinese, Sanskrit languages. Of course, for such Other subjects of the gymnasium course had to suffer heavily from the "diversion", ir Schleicher was far from the first iš students. At the high school, Schleicher's interest in various ir botany subjects became apparent, as well as his musical talents. jo Not fully finished the gymnasium course, the facts of ' A. the biography of Schleier for the Abitur are mostly taken iš S. Lefm ann, August Schleicher, Leipzig. 1870 ir J. Dietze, August Slicker than Slawist, Berlin, Germany 1966. 17. Schleicher prepared at home for the 257 examinations and, having passed them, enrolled at the end of 1840 the year į University of Leipzig Oriental Studies. ir Be Protestant theology, philosophy, Schleicher here further studied Arabic ir probably Sanskrit to Chinese languages. However, He apparently did not like the environment of the University of Leipzig; be contributed ir here, doubtless, už jail sentence student duel. Schleicher, after studying for 1841 one semester, passes the year į University of Tübingen, then The Citadel of German Theology. Here he, it seems, for the first time more extensively acquaintedta ir su Hegel's ideas, which later played such a major role in Schleicher's scientific work. Jo His interests gradually shifted from į theology to philosophy, he became increasingį ly immersed in the problems of linguistics, ir studying Sanskrit and Persian Semitic languages. 1843 at the beginning of the year Schleicher theologian says his first sermon. This sermon, however, was Schleicher's almost final farewell to ir theology. su Tų the very spring of the year he moves į The University ir of Bonn devotes itself to philology studies. Sleicher's father is a — practical man. At — iš first he is dissatisfied with his son's future profession. ir “A philologist is a poor scarecrow... and it is not worth spending money on these studies”*. He studied je classical philology, Sanskrit, and Arabic. Here he has excellent teachers. The classical philology seminars are conducted by the former Teacher of the Humboldt House Friedrich Velkeris (Welcker), who, possibly, introduced Schleicher to his ir su former student Wilhelm Humboldt's Linguistic Theory. The founder of Roman philology Friedrich Dycas (Diez) teaches him the Gothic Old ir Germanic High Germanic languages. In our view, Schleicher was very positively influenced by the Sanskrit professor jo Christian Lassen, who was the first to stimulate his interest jį in the Baltic Slavic ir languages. As a student, iš he learned the Polish language from his fellow students. 1846 Schleicher successfully graduated from the university in 1930, receiving a "for comparative grammar ir of Indian language and literature". Whereas, according to According to the Bonn University statutes, a special habilitation thesis was not required for the o doctorate, only a trial lecture was required. tą ,,De graecae linguae spirantibus, primis in de Č litterae vi et origine“, o 1846 June 2008 27 Read his introductory lecture in the Hall of the University of Bonn ..Uber den Value of Language comparison” (printed in 1850 the year). In the same year, 1846 Schleicher is granted three-year leave for scientific trips į Paris ir London. However, he spent part of that time in Belgium for medical treatment. Later works National Library of Paris. Į He just went to Paris ta po 1848 Years The February Revolution. Schleicher earned his living as a correspondent for German ir newspapers. Lankosi Brussels, Vienna. 1849 at the beginning of the year Schleicher, to learn better Czech language, will come to ta į Prague. Here he makes friends with su the future Professor of Sanskrit, University of Prague Aloizu Vaniček, who at the time had already given up his career as a lawyer and had become interested in linguistics. Vaniček teaches Schleicher Czech. But Schleicher As a politically suspicious person, he was not allowed to — stay in Prague any longer, and the Austrian-Hungarian police began to take interest in him. The police detain the money sent to him by mail. In May 1849 Schleicher leaves with borrowed funds iš Prahos ir per Dresden, Berlin returns į Bona. At the time, Schleicher had already attracted public attention with his scientific work. Was interested in them at ir the time * J. Dietze, August Slicker than Slawist, on p. 18. 258 Austrian-Hungarian Minister of Education Leo Thun-Hohenstein. 1850 the day of March 8 Schleicher is invited į University of Prague ",classical philology literature" ir extraordinary professor. Away į Prague, Schleicher finds a professor there Georgą Kurčių (Curtius), the future one of the most famous 19th-century Greek language specialists Indo-Europeanists. ir Tarp Curtius ir Schleicher, almost one-year-oir be ld people devoted to their beloved science, established a sincere gė friendship. This friendship was not hindered by the completely opposite characters of the two blacks — Curtius was reserved, cautious, Schleicher often status, even rude, than different views of — linguistics: the former always į emphasized the historical nature of linguistics, the latter tried to identify with natural sciences. ją su Jų The friendship continued until Schleicher's death, although later the two scientists worked in different places, investigating different problems. Curtius tried to help the ir Schleicher students®. As mentioned, Schleicher was initially a professor of classical philology in Prague. In May 2011, he 1851 was named a "Professor of Comparative Linguistics in Sanskrit". Schleicher jo was now able ir to teach Slavic, Baltic, Germanic, Sanskrit and ir linguistic theory at the University of Prague. A couple of years later, for his merits in linguistics, which he earned during his famous trip to Lithuania, Schleicher was appointed an ordinary professor of German and comparative linguistics and Sanskrit. Schleicher's subsequent life in Prague was unsuccessful, and the environment of scientific work itself became totally unbearable. The reason for this failure was the difficult political and social conditions of the time. Anyway, Schleicher was a German. He studied at the German University of Prague. Although Schleicher was a man of democratic views and great tolerance, well versed in Czech, even writing scientific works in this language and translating Sanskrit and Persian literature into it, he did not avoid various conflicts with the Czech national movement. He sometimes offended them, perhaps by being too harsh in his reviews of new works by Czech linguists or writers (for example, translations of classical Greek and Roman works into Czech). The Czechs also rebuked him as a very strict examiner at the high school abitur exams, where Sleicher was a special,,examination commissioner“ during the German language exam*?. In both cases Schleicher was perhaps formally right in his reproaches and demands, but as a foreigner and representative of a large nation, he often found it difficult to understand the feelings of a small nation suffering national oppression. On the one hand, he was in conflict with the representatives of the Czech national movement, and on the other, he was in conflict with the oppressive Austro-Hungarian authorities. The despotic Austro-Hungarian regime could not tolerate Schleicher, whose religious and political views, according to A. Vaniček, were too liberal and radical®. Since 1851, he was suspected of "republican conspiracy" and was followed by the police. As a precaution, Schleicher even handed over his correspondence, in which events of the revolutionary movement might have been reflected, to Vani- * J. Dietze, Das Bild Leskiens in den Briefen August Schleichers, —„,Beitrüge zur Geschichte der Slawistik“, Berlin, 1964, p. 355; J. Dietze, August Schleicher als Slawist, p. 28. * J. Dietze, August Schleicher as Slavist, p. 37—8. *). Dietze, August Schleicher as a Slavist, p. 39; S. Lefmann, August Schleicher, p. 37 17* 259 check, and then burned it. In October 1851, Schleicher's apartment was searched, and he was taken to Vienna and placed under police surveillance. Only after the great efforts of his friend Curtius was Schleicher able to return to Prague. He was not liked by Schleicher's Catholic university leadership. In 1854, Schleicher married Fany Strasburger, a native of Sonneberg. In 1855, their son died in be Prague, shortly ir after his birth. Schleicher's health deteriorated significantly. In the autumn semester of 1856—7 he was granted leave and came to Zoneberg to strengthen and study his native dialect. At the end of his vacation, Schleicher did not return to Prague, with which he had so many sad memories, but went to Jena, near his hometown, to become a professor for half the salary. In Jenna, Schleicher feels at first "as if a bird has been released from a cage or a dusty cottage into freedom and a green forest." However, soon afterwards, he was disappointed. The socio-political situation and the difficult material conditions were such an annoyance for Schleicher that he said of Jena, which he had compared to freedom and a green forest a few years earlier, with bitter irony: “Jena is a big bull, and I am a frog in it,” and in one letter compared Germany of that time to a herd of stray sheep that go wherever Sunes leads them. In spite of the difficult conditions, Schleicher worked hard in Jena. His extremely diverse and rich reading activities attracted listeners not only from Germany, but also from foreign countries. One after the other, his capital works appeared, a multitude of articles that touched almost all the current problems of Indo-European studies at the time. Schleicher gradually became a central figure in European linguistics. His contributions to the sciences were widely recognised abroad. In 1857, Schleicher was elected a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1862 he was invited to work at the University of Warsaw (Szkota Gléwna) under excellent conditions. In the same year, Schleicher was invited to move to St. Petersburg. In 1863, he declined an invitation to attend Dorpat University. In 1867, Schleicher was elected an honorary member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb. However, the success of these titles did not improve Schleicher- 's life. The poor University of Jena did not raise his salary. In order to humanely support his family (Schleicher had two sons and a daughter), he had to work hard. In a letter to his friend from Prague G. Kurtius Schleicher complained: ".. I am 46 years old and still have to write every year for sweet bread, because we cannot live on 900 Thaler..." * Schleicher hoped that a professorship of Slavic studies would be established at the University of Leipzig, and that he, as the most suitable person in Germany to occupy this position, would be able to move out of the “Jena misery” one day. Three years later, however, Sleicher’s beloved pupil August Leskin took over the planned chair of Slavic studies at the University of Leipzig, and Sleicher himself never left the troubled city of Jena: on 6 December 1868 he died suddenly here of what was probably an unknown disease at the time — lung tuberculosis. According to another of his students, Johann Schmidt, Schleicher- ’s last words were: “I have longed for the truth all my life, but things should be much, much better.” * J. Dietze, ZfSI, 1960, II, p. 269. 7 J. Dietze, August Schleicher as a Slavist, p. 43, 45. * J. Dietze, Contributions to the History of Slavistics, p. 368. * J. Schmidt, KZ, 18, 1869, p. 319-20. 260 * * We mentioned at the beginning that Sleicher's name is now more often associated with the end of a previous period of Indo-European linguistics than with the beginning of a new one. Iš realSchljų eicher completed Franco Bopo, Rasmaus He found the beginning of comparative-historical linguistics. Such works of Schleicher as ,,Compendium of comparative Grammar of the Indo-European Languages" (Weimar, 1861 —2; four editions in German in fifteen years, to, translation in English be Italian), „Die deutsche ir Sprache" (Stuttgart, 1860; published five times), Die ,, Languages Europe's in systematic review" (Bonn, 1850; published ir in French), „Die Forms of Church Slavic Sprache" (Bonn, Wien, Prag, part 1852; published in Russian), Handbuch ir der litauischen , Sprache“, 1—2 (Prague, 1856—7), „Lautund Theory of forms of the polabic Sprache" (St. Petersburg and Riga, published 1871; after po Schleicher's death), is the peak of the mid-nineteenth-- century Indo-European studies. How popular they were in their time Sleicher’s ideas on theoretical questions of linguistics are clearly shown by the fact that a small study by Schleicher, “Die Darwinsche Theorie und die Sprachwissenschaft- ”, was published in German within a few years. (three times), French, English, Russian, Hungarian. Today, when examining the creative legacy of Schleicher, it is possible to talk extensively about this scientist as a language theorist, Indo-Europeanist, Germanist, Slavist, Baltist, discuss his views on the proto-language of Indo-European languages, genealogical classification and many other issues. This shows how much erudition, wide interests and simply huge creative potential was the scientist August Schleicher. However, the greater part of his creative legacy — the stage of linguistics — has already passed. Many of Schleicher's contemporaries disagreed with a large part of his statements, especially with his view of language as a living organism, his attempt to transfer Darwinian concepts such as "the struggle for existence" and "natural selection" to linguistics. Schleicher's work on the development of Indo-European languages and proto-language was criticized by his most talented students. Sleicher’s studies of individual Indo-European languages or their groups greatly overshadowed his studies of the general problems of Indo-European studies and his rather short-lived theoretical views, which nowadays appear mostly only as a kind of curiosity in the textbooks of linguistics. This is especially true of the Slavic and Baltic languages. į Without dwelling on Schleicher’s Slavistic works in more detail, we will only quote the evaluation of his main work in this field, given by the well-known Soviet Slavist S. Bernstein, exactly a century after the publication of this work: “The most important date in the history of comparative grammar of Slavic languages was 1852. It was in that year that two works were published, which formed an epoch in the history of our science. I am thinking of the first volume, phonetics, of Miklošičius,,Vergleichende Grammar of Slavic Sprachen“ ir the fundamental work of Schleicher ,,Theory of Forms of Church Slavic Language explained and compared”... In terms of methodological ir accuracy and interpretation of facts, Schleicher's be work undoubtedly outperformed Miklošičius's grammar. It can be said that In the middle a. of the 19th century, Schleicher's Formenlehre was the greatest achievement of our science... The great merit of Schleicher 261 was that he began to use Lithuanian language material for comparative study of Slavic languages. Later this material helped to solve many important questions of historical phonetics, Schleicher’s “Lautund Formenlehre der polabischen Sprache”, it can be said, even until 1929, i.e. until the appearance of T. Leer-Splavinsky’s grammar of the Polabic language, was the main book for studying the structure of the Polabic language. Also about the above-mentioned "Die Formenlehre der kirchenslawischen Sprache" V. Jagičius wrote in 1910: "Schleicher's grammar has not lost its charm even now, distinguishing itself by its coherence and clarity of teaching, it is especially suitable as an introduction to comparative grammar for beginners Slavists"". However, if in discussing the formation of comparative Slavic linguistics and the introduction of data from Slavic languages into comparative Indo-European studies, we can still mention other linguists besides Schleicher, although not as so much deserving, then, when talking about the emergence of Baltistics as part of Indo-European studies, we must reserve a completely unique place for Schleicher, and the first scientific grammar of the Lithuanian language written by this German linguist should still be mentioned as a true scientific masterpiece. We have mentioned that Schleicher became interested in the subjects of baitistics while still studying at the University of Bonn, encouraged by his Sanskrit professor Christian Lassen. Initially, Schleicher considered the Baltic languages to be only an auxiliary tool in his study of the problems of Slavic languages, and in determining the place of Slavic languages among other Indo-European languages. He appeared to be more intensely interested in this problem in 1849. In a letter to Vaniček dated 12 October that year, Schleicher wrote: "In the future, I am particularly interested in the relations between the Slavic and Baltic languages. I started preparatory studies this summer, I studied Russian seriously, I read Karamzin and Lomonosov. The great Serbian folk songs were still too difficult for me, so I read the Bible, this convenient tool for learning the language." At the end of 1849, Schleicher wrote his first work in Czech directly related to the problems of Baltic studies, "Z čeho povstaty potohtasky b, b a co jim odpovida v litevském jazyku" (Bonn 31 October 1849; manuscript in the Leipzig University Library). The German version of this article,,Was entspricht im Litauischen dem kirchenslawischen bund was published in the year. In Sleicher's book 5?“ 1850 ‘The Sprachen Europas in systematischer Übersicht” (Bonn, 1850), in which the aforementioned article was published, we find a footnote where Sleicher speaks about his future plans: “The author has long been determined to learn Lithuanian ir grammar on the spot, as well as Balto-Slavic languages in general, to devote his next years, perhaps o even the whole future.” ir In a letter dated February 14, 1852, A. Schleicher complained to Franc Miklošičius that his trip to study the Lithuanian jo language ‘kabo ore’. The material situation of Schleicher himself is — difficult, ne he has no funds at all, he does not expect parental inheritance, '0 C. B. Bepumreiin, Ouepk cpanBunTrejisnoli TpaMMaTHKH CJIABSKHCKHX S3bikOB, Mocksa, 1961, p. 112—3 (the text of this work consists of 1952/3 ir 1953/4 lectures given in the academic year). "HU. B. i roo, Ucropus caassinckoit OuJiojnornu, CM6., 1910, p. 716. 12 J. Dietze, August Slicker than Slawist, p. 27. 12 Quoted iš J. Dietze, August Slicker than Slawist, p. 29, 262 but still indebted to his brothers and sisters, ir so asks F. Milošević's intercession for money for the trip. Schleicher's mood is sad (a few months ago the apartmejo nt was searched...), so he ir "it would be morally appropriate to breathe fresh air for longer". "So, anyway, I'm longing aš for a trip į Lithuania ir su with greatest tension I await the decision of the Higher — Academy”, concludes Sleicheris!. 1852 in April of this year ,, Formenlehre der kirchenslawischen Sprache", Schleicher devoted all his free time to learning Lithuanian. True, he knew that good Lithuanian du language specialists — Friedrich Kuršaitis ir Ferdinand Nesselmann — lives In the Kingdom. However, iš jų good Lithuanian grammar Schleicher did not expect, because, as he wrote in one of his letters of August (1851 1st) 15 To Miklošičius: „Kuršaitis knows Lithuanian, but he lacks a broader education, Neselman does not want to write any grammar, worst of all, both have long lived in discord...“1* ir — Not received iš Vienos Answer of the Academy of Sciences on authorizatir ion of travel funds į Eastern In the case of Prussia, tą Schleicher solves the problem in a rather original way. 1852 in May 2008 į The Austrian-Hungarian Minister of Education, Count Leo Thun-Hohenstein. Schleichiš er his buddy A. When Vaniček's sister tells him where the ir minister is going to have lunch, he gets a brief į audience and verbal permission to travel. ja ir Vienos After the Academy of Sciences finally allocated guilders for travel 600 expenses, Schleicher 1852 arrived in Karaliaučiai on 31 May. There, he first visited F. Kuršaitis, wanting him to teach Lithuanian in practice. Kuršaitis, however, does not show any greater enthusiasm, he tests Schleicher a little bit on his Lithuanian spelling, and does not give any specific answer to his request to teach him the language. Schleicher asks Kuršaitis that, if he changes his iš mind later, he should at least inform him in writing about his consent or disagreement, because then he will know if he will stay in Karaliaučius for a longer time. Nesselmann welcomes Schleicher with great pleasure. However, as a German himself and having learned Lithuanian from books, the living Lithuanian language cannot teach Schleicher. Neselman allows Schleicher to use his Lithuanian collections, introduces him to Lithuanian literature in Karaliaučius, and recommends him several provincial pastors who would be useful to him on his journey through the Lithuanian-inhabited areas of East Prussia?®. With the recommendations of F. Nesselmann, Schleicher immediately left from Karaliaučius and went to the Lithuanians of East Prussia. In five months he visited many places (Ragainė, Tilžė, Priekulė, Smalininkai, Pilkalnis, Kaukėnai, Būdviečiai, Kraupiškiai). When communicating with people, he learns Lithuanian quite quickly. Schleicher was very gifted in learning the living language, as he himself said, he had "the talent of a parrot". In the above-mentioned letter to F. Miklošičius, Schleicher boasts that today (i.e. June 11) he spoke to one person in Lithuanian for the first time in the fields. In a letter to A. Vaniček dated July 6, he wrote that he was already able to talk to Lithuanians, and that he understood everything. Every day he learns a lot of new Lithuanian words, Dietze, ZfSI, IV, J. 1965, p. 540. '* Idem, p. 538. 16 Pig. A. Schleicher's letter of June 11, 1852 to F. Miklošičius, —J. Dietze, ZfSI, TV, 1965, p. 542. 263 reads and writes a lot in Lithuanian, only speaks Lithuanian with his teacher. At first, he hears, instead of speaking Lithuanian, he always spoke Czech, and even now, when speaking Lithuanian, he gets one more Czech word. In this letter, A.Schleicher also states that he learned Lithuanian thanks to his knowledge of Slavic languages?". Schleicher communicates with Lithuanians on various occasions. They participate in their weddings, baptisms, funerals, graduations. He is interested in their national dishes, household items, everything related to Lithuanian spiritual culture and everyday life'*. -Of course, Sleicher had to experience a lot of hardship in such a backward country as East Prussia in the middle of the 19th century, especially in the Lithuanian-inhabited areas, because the Lithuanian language was best preserved there among the poorest and darkest strata. In his letters, Schleicher writes that in his room (even in the best cottage in the whole village!), the rotten floors reveal damp soil, flies keep him busy inside, and when he goes outside, herds of marsh mosquitoes attack him. Especially Schleicher complains about poor food, besides, plates are a strange thing to his mistress — they all eat from a common bowl??. However, the archaic forms of the Lithuanian language make it easier for him to endure all the difficulties, and among the Lithuanians of East Prussia, as he later wrote in the preface to his grammar, Schleicher feels “like a diligent collector of plants or a hunter who, seeing a rare grass or a killed beast, forgets the journey through the bushes and swamps that has exhausted him”?*. His report to the Vienna Academy of Sciences was titled,,Briefe... über die Erfolge einer nach Litauen unternommenen wissenschaftlichen Reise“. In fact, Schleicher's trip was a success. In the middle of October, he returned to Prague with a large collection of Lithuanian studies and, most importantly, with a good knowledge of Lithuanian, where, having systematized the material, he wrote his famous Lithuanian grammar in a few years. Before publishing the grammar, Schleicher published two more small Lithuanian studies. In 1853, his work “O jazyku litevskėm, zvlaštěč ohledem na slovansky” was published in the Czech magazine “Časopis Českého muzea” (27, 1853, pp. 320—34). This is the report of A. Schleicher, which he read in June 1853 at the meeting of the philological section of the Czech Society of Sciences. In this work, Schleicher compares Slavic and Baltic languages and concludes that Slavic languages have preserved an older morphological structure than Baltic languages, while the phonetic structure of Baltic languages surpasses that of Slavic languages in its archaicity. In the same year in the works of the Vienna Academy of Sciences- ®! he publishes an article under the general title “Lituanica”, in which he examines the issues of Lithuanian spelling, discusses the manuscript dictionary of J. Brodovskis, the 1547 catechism of M. Mažvydas, and classifies Lithuanian verbs. When writing the grammar of the Lithuanian language, Schleicher used not only the material he had collected himself, the earlier grammars (of D. Klein, K. G. Milkas, G. Ostermejer) and the works of F. Kuršaitis already published at the time, but also invited the Lithuanian teacher from East Prussia, Kumutaitis, to Prague as a consultant, with whom he spent a longer period of time. '* B. Beneš, Wilhelm von Humbolt, Jacob Grimm, August Schleicher, Winterthur, 1958, p 19 J. Dietze, ZfSI, IV, 1965, p. 543; J. Dietze, August . 89. Schleicher als Slawist, p. 32; B. Beneš, ten pat, p. 89. 20 A. Schleicher. Lithuanian Grammar, Prague, 1856, p. V. #1 Meeting reports d. Kaiserl. Akademie d. Wiss. Vienna. Philos. - History. Klasse 11, 1853, p. 76-156. lived his stay Eastern During Prussia ir iš from whom he mainly ir learned the living Lithuanian language (Kumutaitis lived near In the dust, the dust, the dust. Gross-Kakschen). Schleicher wrote the Lithuanian su grammar ir with larger and smaller breaks for seven years, beginning well before — his trip į Eastern He finished 1848 Prussia in the ir middle of the 1855 year, working most intensively, of course, the last three years. 1856 April of the year Schleicher's book ‘Lithuanian Grammatik was released In Prague**. 1857 in the year was released ir ‘Lithuanian Reading book and Glossary". These two large books (first — 342, second — 352 pages) ir constitute Schleicher’s textbook of Lithuanian language, with a common title .,Handbuch der Lithuanian "Language". In the preface to the book Schleicher observed that at least the work at jo least "provide researchers with reliable material". Of course, this work has gone very far in this task. In his grammar, Schleicher described the structure of the Lithuanian language for the first time in the history of studying ir the su jo Lithuanian language in such a comprehensive and consistent manner. It was the first Lithuanian grammar written by a professional linguist. After briefly discussing the place of Lithuanian language among other Indo-European languages, the significance of this language in linguistics, some knowledge of Lithuanian dialects, in the first section of the grammar (p. 7—85) Schleicher describes the — Lithuanian language of it Eastern The high-speed rail — system of Prussia. In this chapter he focuses on the issues of root vowel change. This was the first time in the history of Belarusian grammar that this question was addressed. When writing about the change of root vowels, Schleicher, it seems, was very helpful F. Nesselmann's dictionary, where words are often grouped according to etymology. The words that he ir jo for talc Kumutaitis was not aware of them, Schleicher ir simply marked them as taken iš Neselman- 's dictionary. In grouping the common root words of the Lithuanian language, Schleicher, it must be said, has made very few mistakes (For su example, with the word dyti be he without reason compares Slavism morai, „neStuvai funerals- “, with gods — Slavism dyvas, with Zodzis of the same root he considers the verbs near and irti, the word gardus he associates with the verb drink). The second section of grammar (p. 86-169) is devoted to word formation. This broad and complex problem is dealt with in Schleicher's grammar, as the author himself admits, only in general terms. Thirty-five years later, this kind of gap in Schleicher’s grammar was partially filled by his most beloved pupil Augustas Leskynas, who wrote a truly capital work for those times, “Die Bildung der Nomina im Litauischen” (Leipzig, 1891). Very significant is the last paragraph of the chapter on word formation, “Einiges ūber entlente worte”, in which Schleicher, if not the first in the history of Lithuanian language research, tries to formulate the criteria for determining borrowings, very perspicaciously observing that, for example, lit. dūšia is a Slavism, because next to the lit. root dus-(cf. dausa, dūsauti) we would expect the Lithuanian form *dusė, next to the Lithuanian root of animal Lithuanian origin cannot be the word žyvyti, etc. ** In the section on morphology (p. 170—254) Schleicher discusses the conjugation of nouns and verbs in Lithuanian. In an effort to show as accurately as possible the diversity of the Lithuanian dialect and personification, he is not 2 A satisfied with his own translations. J. G. Calve'sche publishing bookshop; su this publishing house for a dozen years po J. Basanavičius agreed ir "Aušra" printing business. 8 Ms. Skardžius, The Slavic Borrowing words im Old Lithuanian language, Kaunas, 1931, p. 14. 265