Borrowings from Lithuanian in the subdialect of the western Bryansk region of Russia
Vasiliy Glushak – Marina Kovac
DOI: 10.18355/XL.2022.15.03.07
Abstract
This article concerns the Lithuanian lexical borrowings in one of the least-studied Russian subdialects of the western Bryansk region, located in the territory of centuries-old interaction of the Baltic and East Slavic language areas. Based on lexicographic sources and field research material, a list of Lithuanisms was compiled, including those with lexemes, previously not considered Lithuanian borrowings in East Slavic languages and dialects. The borrowings are divided into reliable and controversial Lithuanisms and Lithuanian borrowings, which either have or do not have parallel lexemes in other Slavic languages and their dialects. Borrowed lexemes are distributed according to thematic areas related to the name and characteristics of people, their behavior, work, everyday life and the world around them. Depending on the stylistic connotation, Lithuanisms are divided into neutral and pejorative. The assumption is made that the Eastern Slavs perceived the Balts as representatives of an equal culture and, in part, a 'lower' culture in relation to 'their' own. The research concludes that many people were bilingual in the territories of Baltic–East Slavic interaction, as well as the requirements for sufficient knowledge of neighboring tribes when transferring abstract and specific meanings from one language to another.
Key words: subdialects of the Bryansk region, contact linguistics, borrowings, Lithuanism, Baltism, language contacts, Balto-Slavic contacts
Pages: 72-85
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