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

Abstract

    The article addresses dialectal speech (dialecticism) in the northern part of the Southern Samogitian of Raseiniai in the 2^nd half of the 20^th century and the 2^nd decade of the 21^st century. Dialectal changes are revealed by analysing the dialectal data of two periods (the fragments of manuscript texts of the 2^nd half of the 20^th century and the audio recordings of the 2^nd decade of the 21^st century) from seven points of Lithuanian Language Atlas, which were considered the best representatives of the subdialect of Raseiniai in the 20^th 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 2^nd decade of the 21^st 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 2^nd half of the 20^th 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 21^st century as a result of the processes of convergence.