| Original Message |
Karjangus
Posted Sep 20, 2004 3:56 AM
...I think the term "Prussian-Lithuanian" needs to be defined as "predominantly (Old)Prussian including other Baltic ancestry, such as Curonian or Lithuanian....
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No, because then "Prussian-Lithuanian" - on the basis of which modern Lithuanian was formed - would have to be considered an Old-Prussian dialect, a very esoteric idea.
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Dear Mr. Szemkus:
It's not language I'm referring to in above definition but rather ethnicity which in the case of "Prussian-Lithuanians" is comprised mainly of (Old) Prussians and of other Balts (Lithuanians, Curonians). The language spoken by Prussian-Lithuanians is a blend of (Old) Prussian, Curonian and Lithuanian.
As you know, use of the (Old) Prussian Language had faded under the restrictive German occupation in "East Prussia" until according to Tolkemita Texts D 616, the last Prussian speaking people were found in the Samland and Tapiau area in 1802.
Already in 1684, the Chronicler Hartknoch wrote: "There are no more villages where all people understand the old Prussian language, but here and there a few old people can be found who understand it." This signifies that the Prussian language probably died out in the 18th and early 19th century, resisting almost six centuries of prohibition and obstruction.
The Prussians however, who returned to their native land from periods of exile in Lithunia had undergone a process of Lithuanization which included the usage of various Lithuanian dialects. In the areas around S^ilute, Taurage and Klaipeda (Prussian: Lamata, German: Memelland), elements of the Curonian language, (Old) Prussian dialects and the later dominant Lithuanian blended into a new Lithuanian dialect, also known as Prussian-Lithuanian or Minor/Little Lithuanian (German: Preuszisch-Litauisch, Kleinlitauisch).
The exception to this rule is Klaipeda (German: Memel) where since its conquest and subsequent foundation as a colony by the German Order, German had always been spoken.
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I believe the "Heimatpatriot" himself descends from Prussian-Lithuanians and not from Old Prussians as he claims and doesn't want to face up to this since he hates Slavo-Lithuanians (VIRS`´ININKAS means "leader" in modern Lithuanian) That is why he created his concept of "Ureinwohner".
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From what I understand, Heimatpatriot is not quite fond of those non-native Lithuanians that moved or were forced to move into "Memelland" to replace the "Ureinwohner" right after WW II. On the website
http://jahrbuch.annaberg.de/purvinas.html
which Beate recommends, one can read about the destruction of cemetaries and desecration of graveyards by Catholic and Sovietized Lithuanians in that area. If these stories were true, then there does seem to have been some major culture gap between the Protestant Prussian-Lithuanians and the Catholic Auks^taic^iai/Z^emaic^iai (who I assume are identical with what you call Slavo-Lithuanians).
Heimatpatriot's concept of "Ureinwohner" (which translated means native, indigenous, autochthonous) includes (Old) Prussians and Curonians—which is correct—but excludes Lithuanians and includes Germans—which of course is nonsense.
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Many Germans that find out about their Lithuanian ancestry do not really like this idea and opt for "Old Prussian" ancestors, which is highly unlikely in the case of the Memelland. I suspect that you yourself might descend from Lithuanians, Karajangus.
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The million dollar question is: What is the percentage of "pure" Lithuanians amongst Prussian-Lithuanians? Based on that figure one could compute the probability of any given Prussian-Lithuanian being of "pure" Lithuanian descent. I personally suspect this figure to be quite small for the reason that the border which was established between Lithuania and German-occupied Prussia in 1422 by the treaty of Melno Sea was a static border until 1923 (politically) and 1945 (expulsion and deportation of all Prussian-Lithuanians for the simple reason that they were German speaking).
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Friedrich Kurschat's dictionary can't be found on the web, you can get hold of his nephew's more extensive dictionary: Alexander Kurschat, Litauisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch, which contains all of his uncle's material.
However there's a reprint of Friedrich Kurschat's Littauische Grammatik of 1870 at http://wwww.elibron.com.
A reprint of an older Prussian-Lithuanian dictionary by Nesselmann (1850) is available from the Saendig Reprint Verlag.
Regards
Lutz Szemkus
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Thank you for the tips!
Kind regards
Karjangus |
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