Name of Lithuania

The first known record of the name of Lithuania (Lietuva) is in a 9 March 1009 story of Saint Bruno recorded in the Quedlinburg Chronicle (Annales Quedlinburgenses). The Chronicle recorded a Latinized form of the Old Church Slavonic word for Lithuania — Литъва — Latinized as Litva (pronounced [litua]). Although it is clear the name originated from a Baltic language, scholars still debate the meaning of the word. During the 13th century the Duchy of Lithuania was bordered by Slavic lands. The Slavs did not create the name; they used the existing Lithuanian ethnonym. The Lithuanian diphthong -ie- has, in Slavic languages, shifted to the vowel -i- (и), and the short -u- became extra-short (reduced) -ŭ- (ъ) which, being unstressed, later disappeared from the East Slavic, hence Litva. This is evidence that the Slavs borrowed this ethnonym from Lithuanians a long time ago. During the next century, Lithuania's name was recorded in other languages, including German and Polish. In early German chronicles Lithuania's name was spelled Lettowen. In this form the German letter -e- is used to denote the Lithuanian diphthong -ie-, while -owen denotes the Lithuanian hydronymic suffix -uva (-ava). The traditional Lithuanian root -liet- is encountered in various German terms of the era, such as Lettowen, and in Latin as Lethovia, Lettovia, Lettavia, etc. For example, after becoming the ruler of Lithuania, Grand Duke Algirdas appeared as the King of Lithuania (rex Letwinorum) in the Livonian Chronicles. In the Rus' chronicles, Lithuania's name was written as Литъва, alongside a shortened version, Литва (Litva), where -i- (и) was already used instead of the diphthong -ie. All of these names clearly originated from *Lētuvā > Lietuva, forms used by Lithuanians to identify their lands. The current form of the name Lietuva is thought to have been used by Lithuanians since the 12th or 13th century, but there are no written sources of that time, as the oldest existing manuscript in the Lithuanian language is dated back to the 16th century.

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Concepts associés (9)

Name of Lithuania

Baptême de la Lituanie

thumb|Jan Matejko: Le baptême de la Lituanie thumb|Le baptême de la Lituanie, par thumb|Procession des nations d'Europe vers la Croix thumb|Timbre lituanien. Le Baptême de la Lituanie (en lituanien, Lietuvos krikštas) désigne la christianisation du Grand-Duché de Lituanie, réalisée en 1387-1388, sous le pontificat du pape Urbain VI, par le premier évêque de Vilnius, , en coopération avec le roi Ladislas II Jagellon. En 1387-1388, seule la Haute Lituanie est christianisée ; en 1388 est érigé le diocèse de Vilnius.

Kernavė

Kernavė was a medieval capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and today is a tourist attraction and an archeological site (population 238, 2021). It is located in the Širvintos district municipality located in southeast Lithuania. A Lithuanian state cultural reserve was established in Kernavė in 1989. In 2004 Kernavė Archaeological Site was included into UNESCO world heritage list. Kernavė is a small town in the southeastern part of Lithuania, in Širvintos district, located on the right bank of the river Neris, on the upper Neris terrace.