Search Results (4)

(1) Background: The article addresses the issue of geospatial dynamics of Lithuanian–Slavic ethnolinguistic boundaries in Southeastern Lithuania (SEL) that were influenced by long-term Lithuanian–Slavic linguistic competition. The aim of the study was to reconstruct the Lithuanian–Slavic ethnolinguistic boundaries and reveal the intensive contact zones in the late 19th century based on published data. Additionally, the study aimed to assess the geospatial changes in the ethnolinguistic situation in the research area during the period 1890–2021. (2) Methods: The ESRI ArcGIS technology geoprocessing tools were applied for boundary reconstruction and geospatial change detection. Cartographic materials, statistical data, and national census information were utilized in the process. (3) Results: The gained results provided a better understanding of Lithuanian–Slavic ethnolinguistic dynamics over space and time in the research area. The study reveals that the ethnolinguistic boundary in the Vilnius–Trakai urbanized area shifted in favor of the Lithuanian language, suggesting its potential influence on the metropolitan suburbs in the future. However, insufficient social infrastructure and weak economic development in rural settlements have led to a negative migration balance, a low birth rate, and rapid population aging. These challenges might have a negative effect on the future survival of the Lithuanian language in the multilingual rural area of SEL, especially considering the recent geopolitical realia in the region. (4) Conclusions: The study anticipates an increase in the influence of the Lithuanian language in the Vilnius–Trakai metropolitan area at the expense of further decline in the rural Lithuanian-speaking population in the next decade. Full article

The paper explores the pivotal role of mothers in maintaining the Lithuanian language within the Lithuanian diaspora, drawing upon Spolsky’s family language policy theory and Curdt-Christiansen’s dynamic family language policy model. Analyzing data collected in 2011–2013 and 2015–2017, the study investigates various factors shaping family language policy, with a particular focus on the mother’s influence. It examines the interplay between the mother’s role, emigrants’ language ideology, Lithuanian identity, language acquisition, proficiency, and language usage across different domains and emotional dimension of language attitudes. Quantitative analysis, considering respondents’ parents’ ethnicities, reveals that respondents with Lithuanian mothers exhibit stronger connections to Lithuanian identity, more frequent acquisition of Lithuanian as their first language, higher proficiency, and increased usage of Lithuanian within the family and as an inner language. Moreover, positive language attitudes towards the heritage Lithuanian language are more pronounced among those with Lithuanian mothers. However, emotional attitudes towards language did not significantly differ based on parental ethnicity. The paper concludes by discussing the heightened responsibility of mothers in language maintenance within the diaspora and the challenges they face in fulfilling this role. Full article

The natural tendency for language variation, intensified by Spanish’s territorial growth, has driven sibilant changes and mergers across the Spanish-speaking world. This article aims to present an overview of the most significant processes undergone by sibilant /s/ in various Spanish-speaking areas: devoicing, weakening, aspiration, elision, and voicing. Geographically based phonetic variations, sociolinguistic factors, and Spanish language contact situations are considered in this study. The sibilant merger and its chronological development in modern Spanish, along with geographic expansion, have resulted in multiple contemporary dialectal variations. This historical lack of stability in these sounds has marked modern regional variations. Tracing and framing the sibilants’ geo-linguistic features has received much attention from scholars, resulting in sibilants being one of the most studied variables in Spanish phonetics. In this article, we provide a concise approach that offers the reader an updated sociolinguistic view of the modern cross-dialectal realizations of /s/. It is essential to study sibilant development to describe Spanish dialects, the differences between Transatlantic and Castilian varieties, and the speech features found in Spanish speaking communities in the Americas. Examining sibilance from different approaches with a representative variety of Spanish dialects as examples advances the importance of sociolinguistic phenomena to index language changes. Full article

This paper examines the interplay of phonological, morphological, and lexical variation focusing on adjectives in Japanese dialects. Previous studies of adjectives in the Niigata dialects of the Japanese language analyzed the ongoing changes in dialectal variation amongst the young generation of Japanese. In this paper, the data derived from the geolinguistic survey and dialect dictionaries are used to verify the estimated changes in phonological, morphological, and lexical variation. The variation of adjectives is examined by classifying forms with regard to the distinction between standard/dialectal forms. The phonological types of adjectives played a role in the interpretation of the phonological variation and change. Most changes of phonological types are phonologically explained but include change by analogy. The lexical variation is intertwined with phonological variation and morphological variation. The morphological distributions which vary according to the conjugation form are one example of lexical diffusion. Full article