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Concept
Samogitian language
Summary
Samogitian (Samogitian: žemaitiu ruoda, žemaitiu kalba, žemaitiu rokunda, žemaičių tarmė) is a dialect of the Lithuanian language, although it is sometimes considered a separate language. Samogitian is spoken mostly in Samogitia (in the western part of Lithuania).
The Samogitian language, heavily influenced by Curonian, originated from the East Baltic proto-Samogitian dialect which was close to Aukštaitian dialects.
During the 5th century, Proto-Samogitians migrated from the lowlands of central Lithuania, near Kaunas, into the Dubysa and Jūra basins, as well as into the Samogitian highlands. They displaced or assimilated the local, Curonian-speaking Baltic populations. Further north, they displaced or assimilated the indigenous, Semigallian speaking peoples. Assimilation of Curonians and Semigallians gave birth to the three Samogitian subdialects: "Dounininkų", "Donininkų" and "Dūnininkų."
In the 13th century, Žemaitija became a part of the Baltic confederation called Lietuva (Lithuania), which was formed by Mindaugas. Lithuania conquered the coast of the Baltic sea from the Livonian order. The coast was populated by Curonians, but became a part of Samogitia. From the 13th century onwards, Samogitians settled within the former Curonian lands, and intermarried with that population over the next three hundred years. The Curonians had a huge cultural influence upon Samogitian and Lithuanian culture, but they were ultimately assimilated by the 16th century. Its dying language has enormously influenced the dialect, in particular phonetics.
The earliest writings in Samogitian language appeared in the 19th century.
The earliest writings in Samogitian language appeared in the 19th century.
Samogitian and its subdialects preserved many features of the Curonian language, for example:
widening of proto Baltic short i (i → ė sometimes e)
widening of proto Baltic short u (u → o)
preservation of West Baltic diphthong ei (standard Lithuanian ie → Samogitian ėi)
no t' d' palatalization to č dž (Latvian š, ž)
specific lexis, like cīrulis (lark), pīle (duck), leitis (Lithuanian) etc.
Official source
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