True Lithuania

Lithuanian language

Lithuanian language belongs to the Baltic group of the Indo-European languages. The only other Baltic language is Latvian. Since the 19th century, numerous linguists regard Lithuanian language as the purest surviving Indo-European language which is least changed by outside influences.

History of the Lithuanian language

A couple thousand years ago Baltic languages were spoken in a much larger area, covering also large areas of today's Poland, Russia, and Belarus. This area shrunk due to Slavic expansion and also due to the Germanic crusades that have destroyed the Old Prussian language. The Baltic area continued to shrink in 15th-19th centuries as the Baltic languages, including Lithuanian, continued to be spoken mainly by peasants whereas the nobility switched to German or Polish (depending on location), regarded to be more prestigious.

The 19th century National Revival restored the prestige of speaking the Baltic languages. Peaceful resistance defended the language under Russian Imperial occupation when it was forbidden to print Lithuanian or to speak Lithuanian in public. A secret book smuggler network was established (recognized as unique by UNESCO) which illegally imported Lithuanian books and press from Germany. Under the influence of linguist Jonas Jablonskis, the language was purified by replacing Slavic loanwords with neologisms and establishing the modern orthography. Due to this reason, 19th century Lithuanian differs more from modern Lithuanian than English of the era does differ from the modern English. However, several centuries old Lithuanian is still intelligible for a modern person.

This pre-WW1 inscription in Rozalimas, Aukštaitija region, that attributes church yard restoration to a certain Gedvilas (Giedwillo), is written using old non-standardized orthography that was largely based on Polish, e.g. it used Sz for Sh sound (currently, Czech-inspired Š is used). ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The culmination of national revival was the 1918 declaration of Lithuanian independence, although the language had to survive another onslaught of Russification under the Soviet occupations of 1940-1941 and 1944-1990. During that time, many Russian loanwords entered the Lithuanian language, often unofficially (every Lithuanian had to know and often speak in Russian, therefore, some of them began to include certain Russian words into their Lithuanian speech as well). Post-1990 generations, however, are unlikely to use Russian words in Lithuanian sentences (except for swearing) and such words are increasingly considered "not cool".

Since the 19th century, the Lithuanian language is regarded by many to be the primary definition of who is Lithuanian and who isn't. The importance of language in defining ethnicity is therefore much greater than in Britain or the USA where a person can easily be regarded to be Irish (for example) even if his native language is not Irish.

The decline of Lithuanian language and other Baltic languages over the centuries, stemmed by Lithuanian and Latvian national revivals and independence. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The Lithuanian language situation today

Today Lithuanian is the sole official language in Lithuania and while there are official areas where ethnic minorities may use their own languages (for instance as the medium of instruction in their public schools), the position of Lithuanian as a language for interethnic communication strengthened over the time since 1990. It remains to be seen whether this will be true in the future as the English language has displaced Lithuanian from many trademarks in the main cities and English slang entered the conversations.

The Lithuanian language commission which regulates the language takes a moderate stance on language purism. Unlike Icelandic, it allows new loanwords (and Lithuanian has many older loanwords). However, it often attempts to coin neologisms for new terms, with mixed success. E.g. "Spausdintuvas" (from "spausdinti" - "to print") displaced "Printeris" as the Lithuanian name for a printer, but "Skaitlys" failed to displace "Skaneris" (scanner) in popular speech.

Both local and foreign trademarks at the Panorama mall in Vilnius are mostly English-language. Only 5 out of 29 visible here are Lithuanian-language, all of them created at 1995 or earlier. European Union regulations largely render Lithuania powerless in promoting its language for local commerce. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Despite over a million of Lithuanians emigrating since the 19th century the emigrant communities typically lose the language over some three generations as nowhere do the Lithuanians make a majority and therefore they form mixed families with other linguistic groups. Currently, there are the largest overseas Lithuanian-speaking communities in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Spain. Some historical Lithuanian communities "on the wrong side of the state boundary" have been more successful at preserving the language, namely the Punsk/Punskas community in Poland where Lithuanian language schools exist and Lithuanians make the majority of the population in some towns.

In addition to standard Lithuanian, there are dialects somewhat corresponding to the ethnographic regions. Discouraged under the Soviet occupation as "tongue of the uneducated" and thus heavily declined in use, the dialects recently earned some respect. Samogitian dialect (so unique it is sometimes called a language) is even used on some local signs.

Standard Lithuanian (left) and Samogitian (right) inscriptions in the Naisiai tourist village. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Lithuanian alphabet, orthography and spelling

Lithuanian is written in the Latin script, but compared to English Lithuanian has 9 additional letters (Ą, Č, Ę, Ė, Į, Š, Ų, Ū, Ž) and lacks 3 (W, Q, X). Unlike English, the Lithuanian spelling is very regular, meaning the words are almost always pronounced as they are written, and most letters have only one possible way to pronounce them. "A" is always pronounced as in the English word "Barn", "I" is pronounced as in "Ship", "E" is pronounced as in "Get", "O" as in "Glory" and "U" as in "Pull".

The additional Lithuanian vowels sound similar to their ordinary counterparts but must be pronounced longer (e.g. "Ū" and "Ų" are both relatively similar to a long "U"). The only exception is "Ė". The additional consonants sound the following: "Č" is like "Ch" in "Charm", "Š" is like "Sh" in "Ship" and "Ž" is like "S" in "Measure". Unlike English, Lithuanian has only one digraph and that is "Ch", pronounced as "Kh" in "Khan".

In the common Lithuanian keyboard layout, all the Lithuanian letters are typed using the number keys. This way, the traditional QWERTY layout remains intact, however, the numbers have to be typed by the numeric keypad, creating an inconvenience in a computer that lacks a keypad. The keyboard pictured here also has stickers for the Russian letters (despite the long years of independence, many of the keyboards sold in Lithuania still have triple Lithuanian-Russian-English markings). ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The exact pronunciation of several Lithuanian letters differs from their English counterparts. Lithuanian "J" is like "Y" in English while Lithuanian "Y" is like "ee" in "sheep".

Lithuanian grammar

Lithuanian is a synthetic language, meaning that the same word takes different forms when it is used in different contexts. This eradicates the need for grammatical particles. What is said in English in 2, 3 or even 4 words often may be said in Lithuanian using just a single word. For instance "I will come" is "Ateisiu" in Lithuanian, "You will come" is "Ateisi", "I did come" is "Atėjau", "He/she used to come" - "Ateidavo" and so on.

The changes a word takes in different situations can be predicted, as there are only several different versions of these changes. For instance, every noun that ends with "as" would end with "o" in circumstances when in English particle "of" would be used. E.g. the name "Jonas" (John) would change to "Jono" (of John) in this case and to "Jonui" if you would want to say "for John". Similarly "Kaunas" (name of the second largest city of Lithuania) would change to "Kauno" and "Kaunui" in these cases ("of Kaunas", "for Kaunas" respectively). Therefore you don't need to learn every form of every word to learn Lithuanian - you only need to learn the main forms and the basic rules for creating the other forms.

Due to this nature of the Lithuanian language, it is common to add Lithuanian endings to foreign names and placenames when speaking in Lithuanian. Without doing this the language would become ambiguous. Therefore "London" in Lithuanian is "Londonas", and it can be referred to as Londono, Londonui, Londoną, Londonu, Londone, Londonan or Londonai, depending on what exactly has to be said about the city. Traditionally the orthography of foreign personal names is also Lituanized, but this is now getting rarer, with many (though not all) daily newspapers dropping this practice. Therefore now you are more likely to encounter George'as Bushas than Džordžas Bušas as the name of the former US president. One exception is works of fiction where the character names are almost always transliterated into Lithuanian orthography (e.g. "Don Kichotas" instead of "Don Quixote").

There are 7 cases (and 2 additional rarely used ones) of the nouns in the Lithuanian language. The verbs have only 4 tenses, however. There is singular and plural. Unlike in English (but like in most other languages) there are genders, with each word being either masculine or feminine.

Lithuanian names

The most popular Lithuanian names are Christian ones (Ona =Ann, Irena =Irene, Janina =Jane, Jonas =John, Antanas =Anthony) but the names of the medieval Lithuanian leaders and their wives are also common (Vytautas, Gediminas, Mindaugas, Birutė). Moreover, some ordinary words are today used as names (e.g. Rasa =Dew).

Due to differences in masculine and feminine endings, there are no "universal names" which could be used for both males and females. Female Lithuanian names end in "-ė" or "-a" while most male names end in "-as", "-is" or "-us".

The endings of male and female surnames likewise differ. Furthermore, every female surname has 3 variants: one for an unmarried girl (ending by -aitė, -ytė, -ūtė or -utė), one for a married woman (-ienė) and one optional marriage-neutral, introduced in the 2000s per a European Union request (-ė).

Some ethnic minority people (especially the more assimilated ones) eventually add Lithuanian endings to their names, even if the names remain non-Lithuanian, e.g. an ethnic Russian citizen of Lithuania named "Ivan Ivanov" may alter his name to "Ivanas Ivanovas" or at least "Ivanas Ivanov".

Lithuanian words and phrases

You may find some of the common Lithuanian words, including mp3 files with their spellings, here.

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  1. A triangulation point in geography is set on a hill and is a way of measuring distances, I think.To what extent is Lithuanian in a sense like this in being helpful to the Slavist who is constantly on the lookout for cognations between say English and Russian ( via a third language maybe) in his or her striving to Activate the memory for producing L2?How is it, for instance, that the English TO LEAVE (to depart, to go) is cognate with the Greek word LIPOS, sticky? Very opposite-ish meanings here: I can understand far better that LIFE “is a sticky thing” and an English word cognate to Lithuanian or Russian words on this the лип- root. My main question to Lithuanians who speak also Russian and English fluently: what are the best examples of such Lithuanian historico-linguistic “triangulation points” ?

    • Lithuanian language still has a meaning and sound relationship (originating from early language formation) when similar sounds name things that are connected or are related. In a particular case (-ti is an ending similar to -ing or additive word to) LIPTI (to stick, to climb), LIKTI (to stay), PALIKTI (to depart, to go) and there is a whole set of such words connected to each other LIPTI (to climb)->LIEPTAS (bridge)->LIEPA (Linden, also in old times a sacred tree)->LIEPSNA (fire)->LIEPTI (to order something to do)->LEPUS (gentle)->LEPTI (to become lazy)->LEPTELTI (to drop, or fall)->LEPTELĖTI (to fall, or tell a word out of context)->LAPĖ (fox). Also LIEPA->LAPAS (leaf), LOPAS (patch), LOPETA (showel or several other agricultural tools all of which were made from wood in old times), LIKTI->LIKIMAS (fate) and list goes on not only on this.

  2. Lithuanian inmigration in Argentina was also very strong:

    • Indeed, the Lithuanian heritage in Argentina is described in English in our sister website Global True Lithuania:

      However, Lithuanian language is on a major decline in Latin America as the Lithuanian communities there have mostly immigrated before 1940 and, now in their third generation, they tend to be largely intermixed with non-Lithuanians and not retaining the Lithuanian language across generations. Cultural/linguistic things such as Lithuanian newspapers, Lithuanian schools and Lithuanian-language church masses are now very rare in Latin America.

    • By the way (not that it’s terribly important), it’s spelled immigration. Most imm- words in English correspond to inm- words in Spansh (for cognates, of course).

  3. Thank-you I always enjoy reading this site I am 2nd generation..I do not speak the language but when I hear it is magical …my poor Grandmather had such a difficult time saying my name …Cynthia … father dropped the a from our name Yarmala so I grew up as Yarmal

  4. Hello! I wonder if you’d be able to help me with something. As the original post mentions, there are male/married female/unmarried female versions of Lithuanian last names. When I came across my great-grandfather and his family on Ancestry . com, everyone had the same last name, Frankaitis (or some crazy spelling variation of it) but there were no Frankaite or Frankeine. I’ve actually searched multiple sites (American and international) for all versions of the name and have come up quite empty handed.

    My father was an only child and died when I was a baby. His father passed away when my dad was a teenager. The only records of my grandfather are census reports.

    Do you have any tips to help me find more about my family? I can use all the help I can get and would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

    • I can try. Tell me how can i hellp you? my name is Donatas

    • The wife of Frankaitis would be known as Frankaitienė, rather than Frankienė in Lithuanian (Frankienė is a wife of Frankas). Likewise, a daughter of Frankaitis would be Frankaitytė rather than Frankaitė.

      However, when people would move to America, they would typically use just a single version of their surname (male) as is common in America (just as you are known as Karen Frankaitis rather than Karen Frankaitytė). Some first and second generation migrants would however still have used the original Lithuanian female surnames in their speech, but officially had the male surname written in the passport and other documents.

      Moreover, in pre-independence (pre-1918) Lithuania that was ruled by the Russian Empire, Slavic versions of surnames were often used in documents, changing the as/ienė/ytė endings by ov/ova, and likewise changing the spelling.

      As such, the surnames in memories and documents may vary greatly, both in spelling (which may be either English, Lithuanian, Russian or Polish) and endings (male-only Lithuanian, authentic Lithuanian, Slavic, no-ending English-style, etc.).

  5. When a branch is cut from a tree it withers. When a language and culture are separated from their roots it dies. The early acquisition of a mother tongue within the languages cultural sphere achieves positive outcome. Even when transported into a different culture with a different language. When imprinted for the first 4-5 years in your mother tongue, learning a second language within a different culture, will not necessarily lead to the loss of your native tongue. I came to the US age 5 and learned to speak English in school. When I went to Lithuania, after 25 years of being immersed in American culture, I had no difficulty in speaking Lithuanian, but with no formal education, my ability to read and write Lithuanian is difficult. When comparing English and Lithuanian, the harsh Germanic mixed with softer French leaves the English language with a more technical and less emotional makeup, while Lithuanian is more empathetic and softer. All Indo-European language roots pass through the most archaic of the surviving Baltic languages Lithuanian. When the roots are not nourished the tree , no longer produces fruit but withers and dies. As the Lithuanian culture struggles to survive the respect for kindness is vanishing.

  6. Hope some one can help me. Trying to find origin of my family name, Urpsis.

  7. My grandfather came from Lithuania in the late 1800’s – different dates come up on various paperwork (immigration, census)…on one marriage document his name is priyasz roslovitz. I also saw roslovie or other similar variations. By 1900 he had anglicized his name. I can’t find him on a ship manifest. If I have a better understanding of the correct spelling of his name – maybe I will find what ship he came over to the USA. His wife was One Lebacovich.

    • Was your grandfather Jewish? In general, Jews had different names from ethnic Lithuanians. Also, there were different versions, e.g. Yiddish/Polish/Russian/Lithuanian of the same Jewish name. The best place to search is the Litvaksig database (for Jews) as there you can input a name and they may return results even if it is a bit different (but similar).

      As Jews spoke Yiddish language natively, rather than Lithuanian language, their names are not Lithuanian-language names, although they may have had Lithuanian versions of their names, especially after the 1918 independence of Lithuania. In the late 19th century, however, they would most likely had just Yiddish names and their Russian version (for Russian documents that were official in the Russian Empire) and sometimes Polish version (as Polish was the dominant cultural/literary language in Lithuania until some 1880s-1890s).

  8. I am trying to find out where my grandparents are from.

    My GF was born in Jaswoiny 5/9/1888 and my GM was born in Berlinia on 11/1/1892.
    However, I can not find any documentation with these areas listed. Did they exist?

    Thank you

    • Jaswoiny is likely Josvainiai. In Polish, it was known as Jaswojnie.

      Berlinia is likely Berlainiai, a village ~10 km from Josvainiai (~30 km by roads).

  9. Hi. Hope someone can help me
    My biological father is Lithuanian (which I never met,) I am trying to find some history of him. I don’t know the proper spelling. It sound like ,u konk is. I would really appreciate it,if someone someone help me with this.

  10. Labas,

    I’m hoping someone could tell me what the name ‘Frank’ may be translated to in Lithuanian. My great-grandfather migrated to the states somewhere around 1900 with the name ‘Frank Locacius’. I cannot find any immigration records with that name. I’m thinking maybe the last name could have been Lokosius at some point?

    I really enjoy your website 🙂

  11. Hello: I am doing some research on my great-grandparents, who were from Kaunas, Lithuania. My great-grandfather, Joseph Plekowicz, came to the U.S. in 1890 or 1891. He worked here for several years until he earned enough money to send for my great-grandmother, Amelia Plekowicz and their daughter, Blanche. I have been unable to find any Plekowicz listings for Ellis Island entry, however I DID find an Emilia Plechowicz who was about the right age and arrived at Ellis Island in 1895. She had with her a four year old daughter, Bronislawa Plechowicz. Would Bronislawa be a name that might translate to Blanche?

    • It does not – however, at the time it was common to change names not necessarily by directly translating them (e.g. Antanas>Anthony) but by adopting similar-sounding shorter names, etc. So, it is possible that Bronislava became Blanche.

  12. Just found this and am enjoying it, Wioll definetly check iot frequently

  13. Which one do to think more likely? Antanas Serutis os Antanas Sirutis ?

  14. Hello, my ancestors came to Brazil in 1926 but they were only registered in 1944.
    The names were: Agota Malakauskas, wife of Antanas Malakauskas.
    Agota’s mother was named Eva Gemilis and her father Antanas Gemilis.
    The parents of Antanas Malakauskas were registered with the names of Domicela Malakauskas and Nikolas Malakauskas.
    I am looking for brothers from Agota born Gemilis and from Antanas Malakauskas, to find out if I have family in Lithuania.
    Could you tell me if Domicela is a Lithuanian name? and if Nikolas translated it right.
    Thank you

    • They are from marijampole, and I am also looking for a registry of people from this city to find the other part of the family that stayed in Lithuania. Would you know where I can see this record?

    • Domicelė would be its Lithuanian variant.
      Nikolas would likely be Mykolas or Mikalojus.
      The records are available in the Lithuanian archives. We may offer heritage search services in the archives if you would need them. Please note that due to privacy protection it would most likely not be possible to find information about people currently alive this way.

  15. Can you tell me what region in Lithuania the name Witkus is from.

    • For many surnames, this is impossible to say as the same surnames appear in various parts of Lithuania.

      The original would be Vitkus or Vaitkus. These surnames exist in various parts of Lithuania.

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