Language shift in Lithuania, 1850–1900: A reinterpretation

Abstract

The second half of the nineteenth century was a period of particularly intense linguistic change in Lithuania. This period has generally been viewed as one in which a shift was taking place among many speakers from Lithuanian to Polish, in such numbers that the very survival of the Lithuanian language was under threat. However, an alternate interpretation is possible when one considers that previous researchers failed to deal in sufficient complexity with important taxonomical, geographical, and sociological aspects of this alleged shift. This article proposes a reinterpretation of the sociolinguistic situation in Lithuania at that time, suggesting that the overall linguistic picture was much more stable than has often been supposed.