Dialectal Changes in the Northern Part of the Southern Samogitian of Raseiniai (2nd Half of the 20th Century – 2nd Decade of the 21st Century)

  • Diana Dambrauskienė
Keywords: Southern Samogitian subdialect of Raseiniai, Kelmė area, dialecticism, dialectal indicator

Abstract

    The article addresses dialectal speech (dialecticism) in the northern part of the Southern Samogitian of Raseiniai in the 2nd half of the 20th century and the 2nd decade of the 21st century. Dialectal changes are revealed by analysing the dialectal data of two periods (the fragments of manuscript texts of the 2nd half of the 20th century and the audio recordings of the 2nd decade of the 21st century) from seven points of Lithuanian Language Atlas, which were considered the best representatives of the subdialect of Raseiniai in the 20th century: Kurtuvėnai (LLA 195), Kušleikiai (LLA 225), Padubysys (LLA 226), Kražiai (LLA 257), Kelmė (LLA 258), Adomaičiai (LLA 292), and Pakražantis (LLA 293).
    The usage of dialectal features has undergone certain changes over more than six decades. However, in the 2nd decade of the 21st century the representatives of the subdialect of Raseiniai of the older and oldest generation use the local varieties of the subdialect of Raseiniai (dialectal speech), which developed on the basis of the features of the traditional subdialect.
    The differences between minimum and maximum dialectal indicators and the variations in dominant indicators prove that the area of Kelmė already exhibited dialectal heterogeneity in the 2nd half of the 20th century. However, more pronounced variations in dialectal values demonstrated in audio recordings compared to textual fragments imply a careful conclusion about a more rapid change of the subdialect in the 21st century as a result of the processes of convergence.

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