Curonian language

The Curonian language (; ; ), or Old Curonian, is a nearly unattested Baltic extinct language spoken by the Curonians, a Baltic tribe who inhabited the Courland Peninsula (now western Latvia) and the nearby Baltic shore. Curonian was a Baltic language; some scholars consider it to have been an Eastern Baltic, intermediate between Lithuanian and Latvian, while others like Vytautas Mažiulis classify it as Western Baltic. Linguist Eduard Vääri argues that it is possible that Curonians were Baltic Finns. The attested local Finnic language, Livonian, may be the source of Finnic elements in Curonian. In 1912 Latvian linguist Jānis Endzelīns finally proved that Curonian was a Baltic language; according to him, Curonian by its qualities was in between Lithuanian and Latvian languages.

Old Curonian disappeared in the course of the 16th century, leaving substrata in western dialects of the Latvian and Lithuanian, namely the Samogitian dialect. No written documents in this language are known, but some ancient Lithuanian texts from western regions show some Curonian influence. According to Lithuanian linguist Zigmas Zinkevičius, long and intense Curonian–Lithuanian bilingualism existed.

There are attested names of Curonian noblemen such as: , Veltūnas, Reiginas, Tvertikis, Saveidis. Samogitian words such as kuisis (a mosquito), pylė (a duck), blezdinga (a swallow), cyrulis (a skylark), zuikis (a rabbit), kūlis (a stone), purvs (a marsh), and pūrai (a winter wheat) considered to be of Curonian origin. 

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Baltic states saw a revival of scientific and cultural interest in extinct Baltic languages and tribes, including Yotvingian, Curonian, and Old Prussian.

See also
Kursenieki language

References

Literature
Ambrassat, August "Die Provinz Ostpreußen", Frankfurt/ Main 1912
Endzelin, J.: Über die Nationalität und Sprache der Kuren, in Finnisch-Ungarische Forschungen, XII, 1912
Gaerte, Wilhelm "Urgeschichte Ostpreussens", Königsberg 1929
Gimbutas, Marija "Die Balten", München-Berlin 1983
Kurschat, Heinrich A.: Das Buch vom Memelland, Siebert Oldenburg 1968
Kwauka, Paul, Pietsch, Richard: Kurisches Wörterbuch, Verlag Ulrich Camen Berlin, 1977, 
Kwauka, Paul: Namen des Memellandes/ Unsere „fremdartigen“ Familiennamen, Archiv AdM, Oldenburg
Lepa, Gerhard (Hrsg) "Die Schalauer", Tolkemita-Texte Dieburg 1997
Mortensen, Hans und Gertrud "Die Besiedlung des nordöstlichen Ostpreußens bis zum Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts", Leipzig 1938
Mortensen, Hans und Gertrud: Kants väterliche Ahnen und ihre Umwelt, Rede von 1952 in Jahrbuch der Albertus-Universität zu Königsberg / Pr., Holzner- Verlag Kitzingen/ Main 1953 Bd. 3
Peteraitis, Vilius: Mažoji Lietuva ir Tvanksta (Lithuania Minor and Tvanksta) Vilnius 1992
Pietsch, Richard (künstlerischer Entwurf und Text): Bildkarte rund um das Kurische Haff, Heimat-Buchdienst Georg Banszerus, Höxter, Herstellung: Neue Stalling, Oldenburg
Pietsch, Richard: Deutsch-Kurisches Wörterbuch, Verlag Nordostdeutsches Kulturwerk Lüneburg 1991, 
Pietsch, Richard: Fischerleben auf der Kurischen Nehrung dargestellt in kurischer und deutscher Sprache, Verlag Ulrich Camen Berlin 1982
Schmid, Wolfgang P. (Hrg): Nehrungskurisch, Sprachhistorische und instrumentalphonetische Studien zu einem aussterbenden Dialekt, Stuttgart 1989
Schmid, Wolfgang P.: Das Nehrungskurische, ein sprachhistorischer Überblick
Tolksdorf, Ulrich "Fischerei und Fischerkultur in Ostpreußen", Heide/ Holstein 1991
Žadeikiene, Daiva, Krajinskas, Albertas: Kurenkahnwimpel,

External links
 Pietsch-Bildkarte „Kurisches Haff“
 https://web.archive.org/web/20090508152040/http://www.memelland-adm.de/kurenwimpel.html
 Curonians in Memelland 
 Curonian placenames in Memelland 
Studentu zinātniskās konferences "Aktuāli baltistikas jautājumi" tēzes Loreta Stonkutė. Kuršininkų tarmės lituanizmai. p.43,44

Category:Baltic languages
Category:West Baltic languages
Category:Extinct Baltic languages
Category:Extinct languages of Europe
Category:Medieval languages
Category:Languages extinct in the 16th century
Category:16th-century disestablishments in Europe