Compendium Grammaticæ Lithvanicæ
Title page of the book
AuthorChristophorus Sapphun [lt], Theophylus Gottlieb Schultz [Wikidata]
CountryDuchy of Prussia
LanguageLatin
SubjectLithuanian grammar
GenreEducational book of the Lithuanian language grammar
Published1673

Compendium Grammaticæ Lithvanicæ (Lithuanian: Lietuvių kalbos gramatikos sąvadas; English: Compendium of the Lithuanian Grammar) is a prescriptive printed grammar of the Lithuanian language, which was one of the first attempts to standardize the Lithuanian language.[1][2][3][4] The grammar was intended for pastors who knew little or no Lithuanian so that they could learn the language and communicate with their Lithuanian-speaking parishioners.[5]

Authorship

The initial Latin version of the Compendium Grammaticæ Lithvanicæ was written by Christophorus Sapphun in c. 1643, however the edited version was published by Theophylus Gottlieb Schultz in Königsberg in 1673.[1][2][6][7][8] The preface of the Compendium Grammaticæ Lithvanicæ contains indication that it is the work of Schultz's teacher Sapphun, however on the title page Schultz indicated his surname, therefore it is believed that he edited the Sapphun's manuscript.[9]

It is from a similar period as Daniel Klein's Grammatica Litvanica, published in 1653, which is regarded as the first prescriptive printed grammar of the Lithuanian language.[10][11][12][13] However, the philologists concluded that the foundations of the Compendium Grammaticæ Lithvanicæ and the Grammatica Litvanica grammars were laid by their authors independently of each other and that coincidences could have appeared later during the editing process of those grammars.[14]

Content

The Compendium Grammaticæ Lithvanicæ contains eight chapters: the first is about the spelling and phonetics, the second and eighth are about prosody, the third is about nouns (nouns, adjectives, numerals), the fourth is about pronouns, the fifth is about verbs and participles, the sixth is about intransitive parts of speech, and the seventh is about syntax.[5] Most of the examples given in the book are with Lithuanian endings (e.g. names Jonas = Jonas, Jonuttis = Jonutis, etc.), therefore it allows to highlight the tendency of spelling the endings of words in the Old Lithuanian writings.[15]

Authors of the Compendium Grammaticæ Lithvanicæ removed letters f, h, x from the Lithuanian alphabet, but included letters j, ů, and letter y was moved to the end of the alphabet, according to the Latin alphabet tradition.[16]

Compendium Grammaticæ Lithvanicæ distinguished three dialects of the Lithuanian language: Samogitian dialect (Latin: Samogitiæ) of Samogitia, Royal Lithuania (Latin: Lithvaniæ Regalis) and Ducal Lithuania (Latin: Lithvaniæ Ducalis).[17][18] The Ducal Lithuanian language is described as pure (Latin: Pura), half-Samogitian (Latin: SemiSamogitizans) and having elements of the Curonian language (Latin: Curonizans).[17] Authors of the Compendium Grammaticæ Lithvanicæ singled out that the Lithuanians of the Vilnius Region (Latin: in tractu Vilnensi) tend to speak harshly, almost like Austrians, Bavarians and others speak German in Germany.[17]

Extant copies

To this day, only three copies of the Compendium Grammaticæ Lithvanicæ are known. They are kept in Kraków (one in the Jagiellonian Library and another in the Czartoryski funds of the National Museum of Poland) and in Saint Petersburg (one in the National Library of Russia).[1][2][5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Zinkevičius, Zigmas. "Kristupas Sapūnas". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Zinkevičius, Zigmas. "Kristupas Sapūnas". Mažosios Lietuvos enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Knygų leidybos pradžia Lietuvoje" [The beginning of book publishing in Lithuania]. Spaudos.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  4. ^ Stundžia, Bonifacas; Eigminas, Kazimieras (1997). Compendium grammaticae Lithvanicae: Sapūno ir Šulco gramatika (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Sapūnas Kristupas". Emokykla.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  6. ^ Jomikas, Petras (1989). "The Lithuanian language and nation through the ages: Outline of a history of Lithuanian in its social context". Lituanus. 34 (4). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  7. ^ Ulvydas, Kazys (1995). "II. K.Sapino ir T.Sulco "Compendium Grammaticae Lithvanicae"". Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai (in Lithuanian) (XXXIII): 15–21. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  8. ^ Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthias (11 June 2018). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 1626. ISBN 978-3-11-054243-1. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  9. ^ Zinkevičius, Zigmas. "Teofilis Gotlibas Šulcas". Mažosios Lietuvos enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  10. ^ Kaunas, Domas; Žemaitaitis, Algirdas. "Danielius Kleinas". Mažosios Lietuvos enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  11. ^ Novickas, Elizabeth (2004). "The printer and the scholar: the making of Daniel Klein's Grammatica Litvanica" (PDF). Archivum Lithuanicum. Chicago: University of Illinois Chicago. 6: 17–41. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  12. ^ "LR Konstitucija - 14 straipsnis". Lrk.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  13. ^ Labutis, Vitas (2004). "Pirmųjų spausdintų lietuvių kalbos gramatikų sintaksė" [The syntax of the first printed grammars of the Lithuanian language]. Archivum Lithuanicum (in Lithuanian) (6): 51–62. ISSN 1392-737X. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  14. ^ Kazimieras, Eigminas; Stundžia, Bonifacas; Buchienė, Tamara; Palionis, Jonas (1999). "Sapūno ir Šulco gramatika" (PDF). Archivum Lithuanicum (in Lithuanian). Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute (1): 163. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  15. ^ Gudelienė, Birutė (2016). "The Endings of Proper Names in Simonas Daukantas' and Simonas Stanevičius' Translations of Epitome Historiae Sacrae". Lituanistica. 62 (1): 38–44. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  16. ^ Gelumbeckaitė, Jolanta (2009). "Lietuvių kalbos ortografijos reformos (Mažoji ir Didžioji Lietuva)". In Temčinas, Sergejus; Miškinienė, Galina; Čistiakova, Marina; Morozova, Nadiežda (eds.). Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės kalbos, kultūros ir raštijos tradicijos (PDF). Bibliotheca archivi Lithuanici (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas. pp. 21–22. ISBN 9786094110269. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  17. ^ a b c Zinkevičius, Zigmas (2009). "Senųjų lietuvių kalbos gramatikų duomenys ir ano meto tarmės". Lituanistica (in Lithuanian). Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Press. 55: 52–54. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  18. ^ Aleknavičienė, Ona (2020). "Lietuvių tarmių samprata Povilo Frydricho Ruigio gramatikoje Anfangsgründe einer Littauischen Grammatick (1747): centras ir periferija" (PDF). Archivum Lithuanicum. Lithuanian Institute of History (22): 85. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
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