Latgalian and other regional varieties of the Baltic languages: Interdisciplinary solutions and research opportunities

 

Organizers:

 

Description:

Baltic languages such as Lithuanian or Latvian, which are the primary languages in their respective countries but whose use on an international scale is limited, are not traditionally called “lesser-used languages”. However, the livelihood of these languages too depends greatly upon the number of speakers, linguistic attitudes, the language’s official status, the production of modern normative literature, documentation of the language, the availability of digital solutions, and other such factors (UNESCO 2003). Aside from Lithuanian and Latvian, one finds in both Lithuania and Latvia a number of regional language varieties, for which these same factors are no less important.

The most well-represented of all regional Baltic language varieties is Latgalian, which has the oldest traditions and is still used widely today, including in written form. The International Standardization Organization (ISO) stated that Latgalian as a regional variety of Latvian is still developing and considered no longer endangered but stable (Eberhard, Simons, Fennig 2024). From a digital integration perspective, it can be described as upwardly mobile with the potential to spread. In Latvia about 8% of all residents use it daily, and in Latgale about a third (Oficiālās statistikas portāls 2023). To ensure that the language will develop further and retain its prestige, it also needs a linguistic foundation: fundamental theoretical linguistic studies and research concerned with language growth, usage and digital solutions.

At this time certain other regional language varieties are in use in both Lithuania and Latvia, for example the Žemaitian dialect of western Lithuania or the Tamian dialect in Latvia’s Kurzeme region. Therefore, we invite researchers whose interests are related to either Latgalian or other regional Baltic language varieties to submit applications in these areas:

  • language documentation, manuscripts, digitalization (both of folklore and historical texts as well as of modern texts and their selection for corpora, standardization problems, etc.);
  • the creation of normative sources (grammar-related questions and lexicography);
  • language use in various sociolinguistic areas (news, education, family, etc.);
  • language prestige and other questions which have an influence on the practicalities of language;
  • the interconnection between regional languages and national, minority, and other languages in the context of multilingualism.

All these areas are permeated by the field of digital humanities, a crucial foundation for data extraction, linguistic or interdisciplinary analysis, and uninhibited research. In the context of regional languages and their varieties, the technical opportunities to use platforms, websites, and digital media are highly valuable, taking into account limited financial and human resources. In this workshop we invite researchers to share their experiences of how various digital opportunities affected, changed, or transformed the traditional views and methods in humanities and social science research, especially that of regional languages and cultures. However, digital solutions are not the main goal of this workshop, therefore we also invite researchers working with classical research methods and perspectives.

 

References

 

Abstract submission: 

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