Summary

Geolinguistic investigation of subdialects in Babtai area

Laura Geržotaitė

The recent geolinguistic and sociolinguistic situation in the area of Babtai is discussed in the paper. The material studied embraces mainly dialect voice records done during the expeditions in 2012 from the villages on both banks of the Nevėžis River in the former Babtai Valsčius.

According to the classification of Lithuanian dialects by Zigmas Zinkevičius and Aleksas Girdenis, the Babtai subdialects studied are situated at the margins of the areas of two Western Aukštaitian subdialects: Kaunas and Šiauliai. The border speeches belonging to the margins of the Western Aukštaitians of Veliuona and the Middle Aukštaitians were also in the older classification by Kazimieras Jaunius and Antanas Salys.

The latest voice records showed complex linguistic situation in the area of former estates. The records witness the maintained in general but very changed dialectal belonging of the area studied. The speech at the margins of the both Kaunas and Šiauliai West Aukštaitian subdialects is closer to the Kaunas one, but it often turns to the non-dialect Lithuanian language.