The Linguistics of the Vilnius Humanist Latinizers  Cover Image

Vilniaus humanistų „lotynintojų“ lingvistika
The Linguistics of the Vilnius Humanist Latinizers

Author(s): Pietro Umberto Dini
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Lietuvių Kalbos Institutas
Keywords: the Union of Lublin; humanists; Grand Duchy; Latinization; Agrippa; Rotundus; culture; language; Michalo Lituanus; Tractatus de moribus Tartarorum; Lithuanorum et Moschorum; Augustinus Rotundus; the Second Lithuanian Statute

Summary/Abstract: Even before the Union of Lublin (1569) there was an important linguistic controversy among Lithuanian humanists. In the wider context of a general ‘Latinization’ of the culture of the Grand Duchy, the so-called ‘Latinizers’ (Agrippa, Rotundus, Michalo Lituanus) harked back to a classical language such as Latin, the dignitas of which was considered to be undisputed. The Latin language could compete with other languages of culture used inside the Grand Duchy, primarily with Ruski. In this paper I discuss the textual aspects of the debate about the literae (Latin vs. Muscovite or Ruthenian) which may be fund in the works of Michalo Lituanus (Tractatus de moribus Tartarorum, Lithuanorum et Moschorum, 1550 [1615]) and Augustinus Rotundus (Preface to the Second Lithuanian Statute, 1576).

  • Issue Year: 1999
  • Issue No: 01
  • Page Range: 115-126
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Lithuanian