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| One of my work colleagues is Lithuanian, and she seems pretty down on her country for various personal reasons, so out of curiosity I thought I'd have a read about the nation, to see if it's as bad as she was making out. Plus I was just curious. Anyhow, to cut to the point. Apparently the languages Lithuanian and Latvian are the only two living languages of the Baltic branch of Indo-European group. "The Lithuanian language (lietuvi? kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 0.2 million abroad. "Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they are not mutually intelligible. It is written in an adapted version of the Roman script. Lithuanian is believed to be the linguistically most conservative living Indo-European tongue, retaining many features of Proto Indo-European." As I read further and came to the demographics I was amazed to read (this bits directly from wiki) "Since the Neolithic period the native inhabitants of the Lithuanian territory have not been replaced by any other ethnic group, so there is a high probability that the inhabitants of present day Lithuania have preserved the genetic composition of their forebears relatively undisturbed by the major demographic movements, although without being actually isolated from them. The Lithuanian population appears to be relatively homogeneous, without apparent genetic differences among ethnic subgroups." Even the traditional 'folk' music sounds arcane. "Lithuanian folk music belongs to Baltic music branch which is connected with neolithic corded ware culture. Two instrument cultures meet in the areas inhabited by Lithuanians: stringed (kankli?) and wind instrument cultures. Lithuanian folk music is archaic, mostly used for ritual purposes, containing elements of paganism faith. There are three ancient styles of singing in Lithuania connected with ethnographical regions: monophony, heterophony and polyphony. Folk song genres: Sutartin?s, Wedding Songs, War-Historical Time Songs, Calendar Cycle and Ritual Songs and Work Songs." Wow. I can't think of any other bordered nation like that...maybe they just like to stay at home or are really good at repelling invaders. Just thought I'd share, as I thought it was an interesting little nugget. Reply | with quote | Posted by Monganaut 27th July 2014ce 15:01 |
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