LTLietuvos istorija „visada pasižymėjo etnine, religine ir kultūrine įvairove. Čia sugyveno skirtingos etninės grupės ir nepanašūs žmonės, kryžiavosi prekybiniai keliai, religinės tiesos, kultūrinės epochos bei mados, susidurdavo didžiųjų galybių interesai" (Potašenko 2008: 7). Žinoma, čia skambėjo ir ne viena kalba. Galima teigti, kad kultūrų ir kalbų įvairovė buvo ypač ryški Lietuvos miestuose. Pavyzdžiui, „jau iki XVI a. vidurio dauguma vilniečių kalbėjo lietuvių, rusėnų, lenkų ir vokiečių kalbomis, o XVI a. karaliaus dvare, miesto bažnyčiose ir gatvėse dar skambėjo italų kalba" (Potašenko 2008: 20). O kur dar lotynų kalba, vartota tikybos ar mokslo tikslais. Kitaip tariant, Vilnius buvo ta erdvė, kurioje visuomet reiškėsi ir daugiakultūriškumas, ir daugiakalbystė. Turbūt ir istorijos, ir dabarties požiūriu didesniu ar mažesniu mastu taip galima pasakyti apie dažną miestą, vadinasi, ir apie didžiuosius Lietuvos miestus - Kauną ir Klaipėdą. Taigi šiame skyriuje analizuojant projekto „Miestai ir kalbos" kiekybinių ir kokybinių apklausų duomenis ir ieškoma atsakymų į tokius klausimus: kokios daugiakalbystės tendencijos ir kokie šio reiškinio tipai vyrauja didžiuosiuose Lietuvos miestuose? kokia Lietuvos daugiakalbystės reiškinių situacija Europos Sąjungos daugiakalbystės (ir daugiakalbystės politikos) kontekste. [Iš straipsnio, p. 27]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Daugiakalbystė; Kalbos miestuose; Tarmės miestuose; Sociolingvistika; Multilingualism; Languages in cities; Dialects in cities; Sociolinguistics.
ENThis chapter analyses the data of the quantitative and qualitative surveys of the project "Cities and Languages" and tries to answer the following questions: What patterns of multilingualism are characteristic of Lithuania's cities? The data is analysed along the following typological dimensions of bilingualism: early/late; simultaneous/ sequential; balanced/dominant; receptive/productive; elective/circumstantial; active/passive (or dormant); incipient; ascendant; and recessive. [Baker 2006: 4-5; Butler, Hakuta 2006:116-117] What is the situation of Lithuanian multilingualism in the context of European multilingualism and EU multilingual policy? The study carried out within the framework of the project "Cities and Languages" supports the hypothesis that Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda are multilingual cities in several respects. On the one hand, various ethnic groups with different mother tongues cohabitate in these cities. In other words, geographical or community multilingualism can be found here. On the other hand, various individuals show different degrees of multilingualism. This kind of individual variability is also characteristic of mother tongue use (a relatively high proportion of the respondents report having two or three languages as their mother tongue) and non-native language use (a large proportion of the respondents report proficiency in one or more nonnative languages). The majority of the inhabitants of the three cities under investigation consider as their mother tongue the language indicated by their ethnicity. There arc people, however, who tend to adopt the language of a bigger ethnic group (Lithuanian, Russian, Polish) as their native language. This choice may be influenced by their life in a mixed family, various historical circumstances or successful communication in the chosen language.It could be claimed, therefore, that the urban population contains specific linguistic groups who identify themselves as speakers of a few native languages and that the most distinct group consists of individuals from mixed-family backgrounds and those who for various reasons have chosen Lithuanian as their personal adoptive language. Both cases are instances of ascendant and active multilingualism. However, in the case of adoptive languages, we have circumstantial and possibly dominant bilingualism. For example, it is quite possible that a persons overall proficiency in Lithuanian is lower than their proficiency in their ethnic mother tongue, but the person may have developed specific skills in Lithuanian which indicate that their bilingualism is balanced. This is most likely characteristic of people from mixed family backgrounds. It is also quite possible that the declared second mother tongue is a basis for late bilingualism. Early bilingualism is more likely characteristic of individuals from mixed families. Whether bilingualism is simultaneous or sequential depends on the specific family situation. Lithuania is a small country and Lithuanian is one of the less widely used languages. This explains why Lithuanians need to learn foreign languages. Since Lithuanian is the country's state language, non-Lithuanian speakers are expected to learn it. Therefore, the non-Lithuanian inhabitants of three major cities are bilingual as they learn and use a second language. With regard to Lithuanian as the state language, it may be suggested that the bilingualism of non-Lithuanians is ascendant, active, circumstantial and productive. Whether it is dominant or balanced will depend on the specific individual. It is most likely that such bilingualism will be late. However, it may be possible that in certain circumstances such bilingualism will be early, for example, when Russian parents decide to send their child to a Lithuanian kindergarten.On the other hand, it can be suggested that the non-Lithuanian inhabitants of Lithuanian cities have adopted Lithuanian as their personal adoptive language. The research shows that the majority of non-Lithuanians think that they have a good command of Lithuanian. They show a positive attitude towards it and say that it is useful and appropriate in the various spheres of public life. This implies that Lithuanian is an established language in the linguistic repertoire of non-Lithuanians. With regard to other non-native languages, it may be assumed that the prevailing type of multilingualism is elective and late and that it is dominant (the native language dominates over the non-native) rather than balanced. Whether multilingualism is receptive or productive will depend on the specific communicative needs of the individual language user. Our research suggests that receptive bilingualism is more common than productive. For example, Russian and Polish are much better understood than they are spoken or written. In terms of bilingual development, it may be suggested that incipient bilingualism is characteristic of the majority of the target population. Ascendant bilingualism, however, is more visible in the case of English. In other cases, bilingual development will depend on individual needs to use a specific language. If there is no need or context to use the language, bilingualism will become recessive. A good example is Lithuanian speakers' proficiency in Russian; senior citizens no longer use Russian in their everyday lives, therefore some of their productive skills such as writing may have deteriorated. The younger generation, who developed incipient bilingualism at school but have no opportunity to practise the language after school, will also lose their Russian skills so that their incipient bilingualism will turn into recessive bilingualism. [...]. [From the publication]