LITHUANIAN LANGUAGE IN THE GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA: BETWEEN FUNCTION AND STATUS Cover Image

Літоўская мова ў Вялікім Княстве Літоўскім: паміж функцыяй і статусам
LITHUANIAN LANGUAGE IN THE GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA: BETWEEN FUNCTION AND STATUS

Author(s): Alieh Dziarnovič
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Палітычная сфера
Keywords: Sociolinguistic Situation; Catechization; Book Printing; Offi cial Language; Diglossia; Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Summary/Abstract: The article att empts to answer the question why the Lithuanian language, despite its fi rst writt en fi xations since the 16th century and a rich tradition of book printing since 1547 (predominantly in Prussia), did not acquire offi cial status in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). The author sees a possible answer in recognizing the fact that in multiethnic and multicultural GDL society of the 15th–17th centuries a situation of many diglossias existed, when each language had its precisely defi ned social functions. Unlike bilingualism, diglossia as a sociolinguistic phenomenon requires speaker’s evaluation of his own idioms by the “solemn-daily” scale. Two language systems (offi cial and popular) could not be used in the same social sphere.

  • Issue Year: II/2012
  • Issue No: 01
  • Page Range: 046-076
  • Page Count: 31