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

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.

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