Pasaulis ir lietuvių kalba : indoeuropiečių ir lietuvių kalbų giminystė

LTKnygos pagrindinis tikslas - seniausių kalbų ir lietuvių kalbos santykių išaiškinimas. Leidinyje svarstoma indoeuropiečių ir lietuvių kalbų giminystė. Indoeuropiečių kalbų šeima yra viena reikšmingiausių. Šios kalbos yra paplitusios visoje Europoje, didelėje Azijos dalyje, beveik visoje Šiaurės ir Pietų Amerikoje, Australijoje, Afrikoje. Šiuolaikinės kalbos atsirado prieš kelis tūkstantmečius iš indoeuropiečių prokalbės. Per tą laikotarpį vienos kalbos atsirado ir išnyko, kitos skilo ir rutuliojosi, keitėsi. Mūsų kaimynų latvių kalba pakito nedaug. Tačiau mažiausiai iš visų naujųjų, taip vadinamų ide. kalbų, pakito lietuvių kalba. Knygoje išsamiai analizuojami lietuvių kalbos fonetiniai ir gramatiniai archaizmai, seniausia leksika, pagrindiniai lietuvių ir kitų seniausių indoeuropiečių kalbų panašumai ir skirtumai. Olegas Poliakovas rašo: "Turime didžiuotis ne tik Lietuvos tūkstantmete istorija, jos gražia gamta, bet visų pirmiausia jos romiais, darbščiais, gal kiek mąsliais žmonėmis, gebėjusiais per daugelį šimtmečių trukusius karus, marą, badą ir okupacijas išsaugoti savo gimtąją kalbą, archajiškiausią iš visų šiuolaikinių ide. kalbų." Jeigu senų senovėje daug kas manė, kad Žemė laikosi ant trijų dramblių, tai pagrindiniai dalykai, ant kurių laikosi Lietuva, yra jos žmonės, gamta ir kalba, tvirtina Olegas Poliakovas.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Indoeuropiečių kalbos; Indoeuropiečių kalbų istorija; Senosios indoeuropiečių kalbos; Istorinis kontekstas; Kultūrinis kontekstas; Indo-European languages; The history of Indo-European languages; Ancient Indo-European languages; Historic context; Cultural context; Indoeuropiečių prokalbė; Indoeuropiečių kalbų genetinė klasifikacija; Indoeuropiečių prokalbės skilimas; Struktūrinė lingvistika; Senųjų laikų indoeuropiečių tautos; Hetitų ir lietuvių kalbų santykiai; Sanskrito santykis su lietuvių kalba; Dabartinė lietuvių kalba; Indoeuropiečių prokalbės rekonstrukcija; Proto-Indo-European language; The genetic classification of Indo-European languages; The desintegration of Proto-Indo-European; Structural linguistics; The ancient Indo-Europeans; The relationship of Hittite with Lithuanian; The relationship of Sanskrit with Lithuanian; Modern Lithuanian; Reconstruction of their prolanguages.

ENIndo-European (I.E.) languages are amongst the most important languages of the world because they are sp read all over Europe, over a huge part of Asia, in almost all of North and South America, in Australia, and to some extent in Africa. They are spoken by 44.78% of the world population. All Indo-European languages are derived from a common ancestor - the ProtoIndo-European language (PIE). The history of I.E. languages is closely connected with the history and culture of the peoples who spoke these languages. The book has briefly considered the ancient I.E.. languages: Hittite, Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, Latin, Gothic, Old Norse, Old Irish and Old Church Slavonic. The languages have been examined in a broad historic and cultural context, and in relationship to their closest relatives and to Lithuanian. It has been shown that different events and changes in the history of the I.E. peoples were directly reflected in their languages, especially in the vocabularies. It has been argued that Lithuanian and its dialects have an important role in the investigation of the prehistory of these languages and reconstruction of their protolanguages. Modern Lithuanian presents a peculiar phenomenon for comparative linguistics. It can be directly compared with the I.E. languages that have long vanished or been changed in such a way that they are not now intelligible to their modern speakers. The systemic comparison of Hittite, Sanskrit, Old Greek, Latin, Gothic, Old Norse, Old lrish and Old Church Slavonic to Lithuanian has led to a series of conclusions: Stress in PIE was mobile and there were no phonological oppositions of pitch accent. In the Vedic language pitch accent was phonologically irrelevant.The phonologically significant pitch accents in Ancient Greek and Lithuanian are innovations of different origin. In Lithuanian stress is mobile, and oppositions of pitch accent occur only in root syllables, while pitch accents are independent of the morphophonological structure of the word. In contrast to Lithuanian, the mobility of stress in Ancient Greek was limited, and oppositions in pitch accent could only occur in final syllables. Moreover, in Lithuanian the pitch accents are etymological - in stressed position they remain the same irrespective of changes in the morphophonological structure of the word. [...] In many respects, the vowel system of Lithuanian is more archaic than those of Hittite, Sanskrit, Gothic, Old Irish and Old Church Slavonic. With some modifications it has maintained the I.E. opposition of short and long vowels. [...] In comparison with ancient Indo-European languages Lithuanian retains a very archaic nominal system. With some modifications it has maintained the main I.E. declensions, seven cases, the dual (in dialects), and many old LE. endings. The neuter gender in Lithuanian was lost. Old Prussian indicates that it was in its grammatical system earlier. Besides, there are some traces of the neuter in Lithuanian adjectives. The nominal system of Sanskrit with eight cases and the neuter was a little more archaic than that of Modern Lithuanian. In modern Indo-Aryan languages and in other I.E. language groups it has been so simplified that many languages have become entirely analytical. The verbal system in Lithuanian, especially its tense system, has undergone important modifications in comparison with Sanskrit, Ancient Greek and Old Church Slavonic.An earlier tense system in Lithuanian was much more complicated. Ablaut in verbal roots indicates that forms with a short vowel could earlier belong to the aorist tense and those ones with a long vowel to the perfect tense: Lithuanian has preserved many words descended from PIE vocabulary. It has retained numerous cognates found in ancient LE. languages. Many elements of PIE vocabulary have been already lost in modern languages. We should note that Lithuanian is recorded from the 16th century but is compared with the languages whose texts originate from the 1st or even the 2nd millennium Be (Anatolian languages). This is why many of their archaic forms may be lost from Modern Lithuanian. Lithuanian presents an extraordinary phenomenon among all modern Indo-European languages. It has maintained much of the language structure of the ancient Indo-European languages and their vocabulary. In many aspects Modern Lithuanian stands close to Proto-Indo-European and helps us to reconstruct it. [...] Languages are very important phenomena of global culture. Every language is unique and significant, and must be protected because it reflects the spiritual and materiai culture of a specific nation. In Lithuanian is reflected not only the spiritual and material culture of the Lithuanian nation but also that one of the distant ancestors of all Indo-European nations. The Lithuanian language is worthy of recognition as part of the UNESCO World Heritage. [From the publication]