Lithuania's name in writing 1009

The name of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuva) was first recorded in written sources in 1009 in chronicles of Quedlinburg (Latin: Annales Quedlinburgenses). Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the Lithuanian ( lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. Quedlinburg (ˈkveːdlɪnbʊʁk is a Town located north of the Harz mountains in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The Quedlinburg Chronicle recorded a Latinized Slavic form of the name Lietuva - Litua ^[1] pronounced [litvā]. The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages While it is clear the name originated in a Baltic language, scholars still debate the meaning of the word. The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic

Historic usage of the name

During the 11th century the Land of Lithuania was bordered by Slavic lands. Duchy of Lithuania (Ducatus Lithuaniae Lietuvos kunigaikštystė was a state-territorial formation of ethnic Lithuanians, that existed from the 12th century until 1413 Since the Slavs interacted with Lithuanians much earlier than Western countries did, it is understandable that the Quedlinburg Chronicle used a Slavic form of its name. Slavs did not create the name; they used the existing Lithuanian ethnonym. An ethnonym ( Gk έθνος ethnos, 'tribe' + όνομα onoma, 'name' is the name applied to a given Ethnic group. The Lithuanian diphthong -ie- has, in Slavic languages, shifted to the vowel -i- (и), hence Litva. In Phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (from Greek grc δίφθογγος "diphthongos" literally "with two sounds" or "with A vowel shift is a systematic Sound change in the Pronunciation of the Vowel sounds of a Language. In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract This is evidence that the Slavs borrowed this ethnonym from Lithuanians a long time ago. A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one Language from another with little or no translation ^[2]

During the next century, Lithuania's name was recorded in other languages, including German and Polish. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. In early German chronicles Lithuania's name was spelled as Lettowen. ^[3] In this form the German letter -e- is used to denote the Lithuanian diphthong -ie-, while -owen denotes the Lithuanian hydronymic suffix -uva (-ava). Lithuanian ( lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. A hydronym (from Greek hudor, "water" and onuma, "name" is a proper name of a body of water In Grammar, a suffix (also postfix, ending) is an Affix which is placed at the end of a word ^[3] The traditional Lithuanian root -liet- is encountered in various German usages of the era, such as Lettowen, and in Latin as Lethovia, Lettovia, Lettavia, etc. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome.

In 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. Rus’ (Русь rusʲ Русичи Русы are an ancient people whose name survives in the cognates Russians, Rusyns, and Ruthenians All of these names clearly originated from *Lētuvā > Lietuva, forms used by Lithuanians to identify their lands. Duchy of Lithuania (Ducatus Lithuaniae Lietuvos kunigaikštystė was a state-territorial formation of ethnic Lithuanians, that existed from the 12th century until 1413 ^[2] The current form of the name Lietuva is thought to be used by Lithuanians since the 12th or 13th century. ^[4] Despite ample historic and linguistic evidence with regard to the name's usage in different languages, there is a certain degree of debate about the etymology of the name. Etymology is the study of the History of Words &mdash when they entered a language from what source and how their form and meaning have changed over time

Etymology of the name

There have been several attempts to associate Lietuva with Celtic toponyms, and with Latin or Italian words. The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. Toponymy refers to the scientific study of place-names ( toponyms) their origins meanings use and Typology. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. But these attempts all lack strong linguistic support. According to a widespread popular belief, the word Lietuva (Lithuania) originated from a Lithuanian word lyti (to rain). ^[5][6] However, there is no serious scientific support for this theory. Since the word Lietuva has a suffix (-uva), the original word should have no suffix. A likely candidate is Lietā. Because many Baltic ethnonyms originated from hydronyms, linguists have searched for its origin among local hydronyms. The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic An ethnonym ( Gk έθνος ethnos, 'tribe' + όνομα onoma, 'name' is the name applied to a given Ethnic group. A hydronym (from Greek hudor, "water" and onuma, "name" is a proper name of a body of water Usually such names evolved through the following process: hydronym → toponym → ethnonym. An ethnonym ( Gk έθνος ethnos, 'tribe' + όνομα onoma, 'name' is the name applied to a given Ethnic group. ^[7]

A small river not far from Kernavė, the core area of the early Lithuanian state and a possible first capital of the would-be Grand Duchy of Lithuania, is usually credited as the source of the name. Kernavė, a medieval Capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, today is a tourist and archeological village (with Duchy of Lithuania (Ducatus Lithuaniae Lietuvos kunigaikštystė was a state-territorial formation of ethnic Lithuanians, that existed from the 12th century until 1413 The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė old literary Lithuanian Didi Kunigiste Letuvos, Ruthenian: Wialikaje Kniastwa Litowskaje This river's original name is Lietava. Lietava, Lietauka or Letauka is a Rivulet in Lithuania that is believed to have given Lithuania its name. ^[7] As time passed, the suffix -ava could have changed into -uva, as the two are from the same suffix branch. The river flows in the lowlands and easily spills over its banks, therefore the traditional Lithuanian form liet- could be directly translated as lietis (to spill), of the root derived from the Proto-Indo-European *leyǝ-. ^[8] However, the river is very small and some find it improbable that such a small and local object could have lent its name to an entire nation. On the other hand, such a fact is not unprecedented in world history. ^[2]

While the word's etymology continues to be debated, scientists agree that the primary origins of the ethnonym were the Lithuanian forms *Lētuvā/Lietuva, which were then used by different languages, including Slavic. It is linguistically impossible for the name to have derived from a Slavic language, since the Slavic -i- (и) could never be transliterated into the Lithuanian diphthong -ie-. ^[2]

See also

Commemorative coin dedicated to Lithuania's name millennium

• Duchy of Lithuania
• Lithuanians
• Lithuanian language

References

Further reading

• Zigmas Zinkevičius. Lietuvių tautos kilmė. Vilnius, 2005.