Lithuanian language Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Lithuanian

Lietuvių kalba

Native to Lithuania

Region Europe

Native speakers 2.96 million (Lithuania)
170,000 (Abroad)
3.13 million (Worldwide) (date missing)

Language family

Indo-European

Balto-Slavic
- Baltic
  - Eastern Baltic
    - Lithuanian

Dialects

Samogitian, Aukštaitian

Writing system

Roman script

Official status

Official language in Lithuania
European Union

Recognised minority language in Poland

Regulated by Commission of the Lithuanian Language

Linguasphere 54-AAA-a

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The Lithuanian language is a Baltic language. It is from Lithuania, spoken in a few countries in Europe, as well as in the Americas and Australia.

Lithuanian and Latvian are the only remaining Baltic languages. Both languages have many things in common. Lithuanian, however, adopted fewer words and phrases from German and other languages. However, long ago Lithuanian was affected by the Slavic languages, so the main barbarisms were replaced with Lithuanian words only in 1920, by Lithuanian philologist Jonas Jablonskis and others.

The front cover of the Katekizmas, published in East Prussia in 1547.

There are two main dialects of Lithuanian. Samogitian is the dialect mostly used in West Lithuania, the other, widely used in the whole country is Aukštaitian (High-landers' dialect). The standard Lithuanian comes from West-Aukštaitian.

The first book written in Lithuanian is Katekizmas by Martynas Mažvydas. It was published in East Prussia in 1547.

Images for kids

Area of the Lithuanian language in the 16th century
The oldest surviving manuscript in Lithuanian (c. 1503), rewritten from 15th century original text
A map of European languages (1741) with the first verse of the Lord's Prayer in Lithuanian
Lingwa Lietowia (Lithuanian language) mentioned among the European languages in a 15th century Chronik des Konstanzer Konzils written by Ulrich of Richenthal, dedicated to the Council of Constance (1414–1418)
The Grand Dictionary of the Lithuanian language consists of 20 volumes and contains more than half a million headwords.
Linguistic, ethnographic, and political map of Eastern Europe, by Casimir Delamarre (1868), which shows that the Lithuanian was the majority language around Vilnius and Kaunas.
Lithuanian language, mentioned as one of the languages of the participants of the Council of Constance in 1414–1418
Panegyric to Sigismund III Vasa, visiting capital Vilnius, first hexameter in Lithuanian language, 1589
Old Lithuanian language primer for kids (1783 edition), published in Vilnius, Grand Duchy of Lithuania
An example of a text in the Old Lithuanian language – a manifesto of the Vilnius Uprising of 1794 against the Russian Partition, originally issued and distributed in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in spring of 1794.
Old Lithuanian language edition of the Constitution of 3 May 1791

Lithuanian language facts for kids

Images for kids

See also