On past-current-future relationship between Sanskrit and the Lithuanian language

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Sanskritas; Lyginamoji kalbotyra; XIX a. kalbotyra; Antanas Poška; Indijos studijos; Lyginamasis žodynas; Sanskrit; Comparative linguistics; Antanas Poška; Indian studies; Comparative dictionary; 19th century linguistics.

ENLithuanians love to take pride in the fact that the Lithuanian language has kept its old structure, which is very close to the proto-language of all Indo-European languages. And one way to prove it is to look at the similarity between the Lithuanian language and Sanskrit. Lithuanians are fond of quoting Antoine Meillet, who once said that anyone who wants to hear how Indo-European ancestors used to speak should go listen to a Lithuanian peasant talk. This attitude dates back to the 19th century, a time when historical comparative linguistics flourished and scholars were searching for reasons behind the similarities of different languages. It was then that the theory of the Indo-European proto-language emerged as a tool to explain regular similarities of languages, consistent rules of shift in sounds, and shared structural features. As research concerned languages with the oldest written texts available, there was a lively interest in Sanskrit; furthermore, Lithuanian was found to possess many archaic characteristics as well. And so, in the middle of the 19th century, an attitude took shape that the similarity between the Lithuanian language and Sanskrit was enormous. What does that mean in the processes of formation of the Lithuanian language and identity? The Lithuanian national rebirth was largely a socio-linguistic process. When the nation began to grasp its identity, it needed a socio-cultural framework of values. An ideology of the Lithuanian language had to be developed. In addition to their unique characteristics, the processes of development of the value of the national language shared some of their features with other European languages. [Extract, p. 4-5]