''Universitas lingvarum Litvaniæ'' (; ) is the oldest surviving

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

of the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

published in the territory of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

. It was written in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and was published in the Lithuanian capital

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

by the Vilnius University Press in 1737. Its author is unknown, however the grammar of the Lithuanian language shows that the author may have originated from the districts of Dotnuva,

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. Kėdainiai were first mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle ...

, Surviliškis,

Šėta Šėta is a small town (''miestelis'') in Kėdainiai District Municipality, Kaunas County, central Lithuania. In 2011, it had a population of 935. It is located by the Obelis river. The flows into Obelis in the center of the town. A dam on Obe ...

. It was written independently as there is no influence of the grammar of the Lithuanian language of

Lithuania Minor Lithuania Minor (; ; ) or Prussian Lithuania (; ; ) is one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is a historical region of Prussia, where Prussian Lithuanians (or Lietuvininkai) lived, now located in Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Obla ...

Latin and Polish influences

The structure of the ''Universitas lingvarum Litvaniæ'' and the classification of parts of language were influenced by the Latin and Polish grammars of that period. The most important feature of the ''Universitas lingvarum Litvaniæ'', which distinguishes it from other grammars of the Lithuanian language of that period, is the understanding of the system of

accentuation In linguistics, and particularly phonology, stress or accent is the relative emphasis or prominence given to a certain syllable in a word or to a certain word in a phrase or sentence. That emphasis is typically caused by such properties as i ...

of the Lithuanian language and fairly consistent marking of

adjectives An adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main parts of speech of the English language, ...

Expanded edition, reprints, and translations

In 1829, Simonas Stanevičius published an expanded variant of the ''Universitas lingvarum Litvaniæ'' in Vilnius with a title ''Grammatica brevis linguæ Lituanicæ seu Samogiticæ'' (; ). In 1896,

Jan Michał Rozwadowski Jan Michał Rozwadowski (7 December 1867 – 13 March 1935) was a Polish linguist and a professor at the Jagiellonian University. He was also the president of the Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or P ...

republished it in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. In 1981, the facsimile edition together with the Lithuanian translation was published by in Vilnius.

References

External links

Online scanned version of the ''Universitas lingvarum Litvaniae'', 1737

Vilnius University Library Vilnius University Library or VU Library (also ''VUL'') is the oldest and one of the largest academic libraries of Lithuania. It was founded in 1570 by the Jesuits and as such is nine years older than Vilnius University. VU Library holds 5.4 mil ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Universitas lingvarum Litvaniae 1737 non-fiction books 1737 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 18th-century books in Latin 1829 non-fiction books 1981 non-fiction books Grammar books Lithuanian books Lithuanian grammar History of Vilnius Vilnius University Works of unknown authorship

Latin and Polish influences

Expanded edition, reprints, and translations

See also

References

External links