The Curonian language (; ; ), or Old Curonian, was a Baltic language spoken by the Curonians, a Baltic tribe who inhabited Courland (now western Latvia and northwestern Lithuania"Kuršiai" [Curonians] (in Lithuanian). Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 8 November 2023.).
Classification Curonian was an Indo-European language of the Baltic branch, as proven by Jānis Endzelīns.
Curonian's relation to other Baltic languages is unclear: Some scholars consider it to have been an East Baltic language, intermediate between Lithuanian and Latvian. Others, like Vytautas Mažiulis, classify it as a West Baltic language that became closer to the Eastern branch due to extensive contact. Linguist Eduard Vääri argues that it is possible that Curonians were Baltic Finns.
History Old Curonian disappeared in the course of the 16th century.
Since the end of the 20th century, there has been a revival of scientific and cultural interest in Latvia and Lithuania in the now extinct Baltic languages and tribes, including Yotvingian, Curonian, and Old Prussian.
Lexicon Samogitian words such as (mosquito), (duck), (swallow), (skylark), (hare), (stone), (marsh), and (winter wheat) are considered to be of Curonian origin.
Further words show similarities with Old Prussian: and Old Prussian: compared to , , all meaning wheel.
Corpus Evidence from other languages Curonian left 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.
Onomastics There are only few onomastics in the region considered to have been inhabited by the Curonians.
There are attested names of Curonian noblemen such as: , , , , .
Potential text in Curonian Additionally, the Pater Noster reported by Simon Grunau is speculated to be in Curonian.
Lord's Prayer after Simon Grunau
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“ Der Kurenwimpel Curonians in Memelland Curonian placenames in Memelland Studentu zinātniskās konferences "Aktuāli baltistikas jautājumi" tēzes Loreta Stonkutė. Kuršininkų tarmės lituanizmai. p.43, 44