LTMonografijoje pateiktas pradinis Kuršių nerijos kuršininkų kalbos fonetinių ir fonologinių ypatybių tyrimas. Jis atliktas remiantis garso įrašais, kurių didžiąją dalį sudaro 1980‒2014 m. išeivijoje surinkta medžiaga iš Kuršių nerijos gyventojų, kurių gimtoji kalba buvo kuršininkų, t. y. latvių kalbos geolektas. Naudoti ir ankstesni, 1961 m., Lietuvoje daryti įrašai. Kadangi tiriamojo geolekto atstovų, galinčių pateikti naujos medžiagos, beveik nebėra (bent autorei jie nežinomi), šie įrašai laikytini paskutiniais kalbos dokumentavimo darbais. Be to, šis kuršininkų kalbos tyrimas yra atliktas po ilgametės pertraukos ir yra didžiausios apimties. Kuršių nerijos kuršininkų kalbos statusą galima apibrėžti remiantis skirtingais kriterijais: kaip latvių kalbos dialektą, kaip Lietuvos valstybės teritorijoje gyvavusį geolektą, kaip Prūsijos tautinės mažumos kalbą, kaip išskirtinai žvejų bendruomenės sociolektą, kaip iš Kuršo kilusios ir savarankišką etninę grupę sukūrusios bendruomenės etnolektą. Visa tai kartu sudėjus, kuršininkų kalba atitinka kriterijus, leidžiančius vadinti ją atskira baltų kalba. Fonetikos ir fonologijos bruožams ir jų raidai ištirti naudingiausias yra žvilgsnis iš geolingvistikos, taigi ir dialektologijos, perspektyvos, todėl šioje monografijoje šiai latvių kalbos atmainai pavadinti vartojama ir geolekto sąvoka. [...]. [Iš teksto, p. 186]
ENThis monograph presents initial research into the phonetic and phonological features of the Kursenieku language on the Curonian Spit. It was performed based on audio recordings, with most material collected between 1980 and 2014 from the inhabitants of the Curonian Spit in exile, whose native language was the Kursenieku (New Curonian) language, i.e. a geolect of Latvian. Previous recordings made in Lithuania in 1961 were also used. Since there are almost no representatives (at least they are not known to the author) of the geolect studied who can provide new material, these records should be considered the last works of documenting the language. In addition, this study into the language of the Kursenieki was conducted after a long break and is the largest in scope. The status of the Kursenieku language on the Curonian Spit can be defined based on different criteria: as a dialect of the Latvian language, as a geolect spoken on the territory of the Lithuanian state, as a language of the Prussian national minority, as a sociolect exclusively of the fishing community, as an ethnolect of the community that evolved in Courland and created an independent ethnic group. All this put together, the Kursenieku language meets the criteria that allow us to call it a separate Baltic language. To study the features of phonetics and phonology and their development, it is most useful to look at it from the perspective of geolinguistics, and therefore also of dialectology; consequently, in this monograph, the concept of a geolect is also used to name this variety of the Latvian language.The disappearance of the Kursenieku geolect was caused by external circumstances independent of the community: the geopolitical status of the region (a small number of users), the language policy of Prussia and Germany (lack of written language and Germanization), Lithuanian state policy (linguistic and cultural autonomy in the Klaipėda region, practically extending the privileged position of the German language) and the consequences of World War II (forced emigration of the population). In addition to these, internal reasons are also important (the dominant language of one of the parents in mixed families, interaction of Baltic dialects), the most crucial of which is the loss of the prestige of the mother tongue. The material of the recordings was studied by acoustic methods, without the use of computer programs for instrumental phonetics research. The task set was not only to determine the phonological features of the Kursenieku geolect, but also to take into consideration the peculiarities of their evolution and the reasons for change. Formed in the 15th and 16th centuries and living in the conditions of language interaction in the Prussian Duchy, the geolect being pushed out of use for the last hundred years changed rapidly. Change in its lexical and grammatical structure is especially noticeable. The monograph aims to clarify essential changes in phonetics and phonology. To achieve this aim, not only audio recordings are compared chronologically, but also phonetic peculiarities that are reflected in written sources, and also previous research. Comparing the data recorded in the 1930s study of Juris Plakis with the later ones (made in the second half of the 20th century) changes can be seen, which were noticed by Christliebe El Mogharbel, who studied the records of the diaspora speakers of several generations.However, her synchronic description is limited to stating the facts, rarely explaining the reasons. In agreement with the conclusion of previous researchers that the Kursenieku language of the Curonian Spit is a variety of the Latvian language formed on the basis of the Curonian subdialects of the Latvian language, we have established here that the traditional concept of dialect applies to this idiom with certain reservations: 1. Phonetic research confirmed Adalbert Bezzenberger’s guess that the language of the inhabitants of the Curonian Spit shows features of various Curonian subdialects of Latvian, which are separated from each other by a considerable distance. Such diversity was determined by the migration of colonists from different parts of the Curonian Spit in different periods. The author of the monograph considers the previously prevailing statement that the Kursenieku language mainly shows the features of the subdialects southwestern Kurzeme (the ethnographic part of former Courland) as too categorical and insufficiently substantiated. It has been established that the traces of northern dialects of Courland (the Livonian dialects of the Latvian language) in the Kursenieku language are most evident in the strong reduction of vowels at the end of the word, almost regular palatalization of consonants before the front row vowels, insertion of vowels in TR (explosive consonant+ sonant) and SR (spirant+ sonant) compounds, lengthening of reflexive endings in present tense forms and several other not so clearly seen peculiarities. The insertion of a vowel after mixed diphthongs (anaptyxis), the preservation of the historical 'uu', 'ui', and 'ub' in the roots, the loss of the consonant 'n' in 'ln' compounds and other, less noticeable peculiarities can be considered features of the Curonian subdialects of the Middle Latvian dialect. [...]. [From the publication]