# Baltistics > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Baltistics > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Baltistics.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltistics > Source revision: 1342364561 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Multidisciplinary study of the language and culture of the Baltic nations}} {{More citations needed|date=January 2022}} '''Baltistics''', also referred to as '''Baltic studies''', is a multidisciplinary study of the language and culture (history, literature, folklore and mythology) of the [Baltic nations](/source/Balts).{{cite web |title=About the Website |url=https://litbalt.weebly.com/about-the-website.html |website=Literatūrinė baltistika |access-date=18 January 2022 |language=en}} Baltistics by its subject splits into Lithuanistics, Latvistics, Prussistics, etc. Special attention is paid to the language studies, especially to the [reconstruction](/source/comparative_method) of the [Proto-Baltic language](/source/Proto-Baltic_language), which [some linguists have argued](/source/Lithuanian_language) is the same as the [Proto-Balto-Slavic language](/source/Proto-Balto-Slavic_language), while others ([V. Toporov](/source/Vladimir_Toporov), [V. Ivanov](/source/Vyacheslav_Ivanov_(philologist)), [V. Mažiulis](/source/Vytautas_Ma%C5%BEiulis) etc.) have believed that the [Proto-Slavic language](/source/Proto-Slavic_language) has formed out of from the Proto-Baltic peripheral-type dialects.{{cite book|last=Dini|first=P.U.|title=Baltų kalbos. Lyginamoji istorija|url=https://archive.org/details/dini-baltu-kalbos.-lyginamoji-istorija-2000|publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas|location=Vilnius|year=2000|pages=128-150|isbn=5-420-01444-0}} Currently there are about 30 centres of Baltistics, most of them based in Europe, the [University of Vilnius](/source/Vilnius_University) considered to be the most active centre. == History == [[File:LT-2014-10litų-Baltistika-b.png|thumb|A commemorative [Lithuanian litas](/source/Lithuanian_litas) coin, dedicated to Baltistics, depicts an [amber](/source/amber) disk from the [Neolithic](/source/Neolithic) era]] First signs of researching and comparing of the [Baltic languages](/source/Baltic_languages) – [Lithuanian](/source/Lithuanian_language) and [Latvian](/source/Latvian_language) – were seen in the writings of the grammar creators ([Daniel Klein](/source/Daniel_Klein_(grammarian)), ''Grammatica Litvanica'' 1653, [Gotthard Friedrich Stender](/source/Gotthard_Friedrich_Stender), ''Lettische Grammatik'' 1783). For the first time, scientifically Baltic languages were researched and compared with other [Indo-European languages](/source/Indo-European_languages) in the 19th century, when [Franz Bopp](/source/Franz_Bopp) in 1816 laid the ground for [comparative linguistics](/source/comparative_linguistics). In his ''Vergleichende Grammatik'', published in 1833, Lithuanian was included. [Prussian language](/source/Prussian_language) was researched by [Georg Heinrich Ferdinand Nesselmann](/source/Georg_Heinrich_Ferdinand_Nesselmann) (''Die Sprache der alten Preussen an ihren Ueberresten erlaeutert'', 1845) and [Erich Berneker](/source/Erich_Berneker) (''Die preussische Sprache'', 1896). It was Nesselmann who first suggested the term "Baltic languages". From 1718 to 1944, a seminar for the study of the Lithuanian language took place in the [University of Königsberg](/source/University_of_K%C3%B6nigsberg). == Current status == Despite the trend in education since the latter part of the 20th century towards economic rationalism and its impacts on humanities departments,{{Cite web |url=https://theconversation.com/defunding-arts-degrees-is-the-latest-battle-in-a-40-year-culture-war-141689 |title=''Defunding arts degrees is the latest battle in a 40-year culture war'' |date=2 July 2020 |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-date=27 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427074737/https://theconversation.com/defunding-arts-degrees-is-the-latest-battle-in-a-40-year-culture-war-141689 |url-status=bot: unknown }} baltistics as a course of study is still offered by a surprising number of universities in the [Baltic region](/source/Baltic_region) and further afield. The majority of universities offering such programs are located in [central](/source/central_Europe) and [northern Europe](/source/northern_Europe), with courses offered at an undergraduate level at the [University of Greifswald](/source/University_of_Greifswald),{{Cite web |url=https://www.uni-greifswald.de/studium/vor-dem-studium/studienangebot/studienfaecher/s/skandinavistik-bachelor/ |title=''Skandinavistik [Scandinavian Studies]'' |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-date=22 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522183902/https://www.uni-greifswald.de/studium/vor-dem-studium/studienangebot/studienfaecher/s/skandinavistik-bachelor/ |url-status=bot: unknown }} [Goethe University Frankfurt](/source/Goethe_University_Frankfurt){{Cite web |url=https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/49354120/Bachelor |title=''Skandinavistik, Bachelor of Arts'' |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601022225/https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/49354120/Bachelor |url-status=bot: unknown }} in Germany, [University of Warsaw](/source/University_of_Warsaw){{Cite web |url=http://baltystyka.uw.edu.pl/?page_id=193&lang=en |title=''Welcome to Baltic studies!'' |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-date=16 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916022545/http://baltystyka.uw.edu.pl/?page_id=193&lang=en |url-status=bot: unknown }} in Poland, [Masaryk University](/source/Masaryk_University){{Cite web |url=https://www.muni.cz/en/bachelors-and-masters-study-programmes/24109-baltic-studies |title=''Baltic Studies'' |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-date=7 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207141508/https://www.muni.cz/en/bachelors-and-masters-study-programmes/24109-baltic-studies |url-status=bot: unknown }} in the Czech Republic and [Stockholm University](/source/Stockholm_University) in Sweden. Some universities also offer individual modules as part of broader programs, for example the Bachelor of Linguistics at the [University of Mainz](/source/University_of_Mainz),{{Cite web |url=https://www.sneb.uni-mainz.de/wie-studiere-ich-sneb-sprachen-nordeuropas-und-des-baltikums-im-bachelor-system/ |title=''Wie studiere ich SNEB (Sprachen Nordeuropas und des Baltikums) im Bachelor-System? [How do I study SNEB (Languages of Northern Europe and the Baltic) in the Bachelor system?]'' |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-date=26 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626011134/https://www.sneb.uni-mainz.de/wie-studiere-ich-sneb-sprachen-nordeuropas-und-des-baltikums-im-bachelor-system/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}) Germany, which offers language modules in Lithuanian or Latvian, as part of a Bachelor in Scandinavian Studies at the [University of Vienna](/source/University_of_Vienna),[https://skandinavistik.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/p_skandinavistik/Studium/Erweiterungscurricula/EC_Ostseeraumstudien2.pdf Ostseeraumstudien [Baltic Sea Region Studies 2]], [University of Vienna] Austria, or courses for specialists in comparative historical linguistics by the philological department at [Moscow State University](/source/Moscow_State_University).{{Cite web |url=https://www.msu.ru/info/struct/dep/philol.html |title=''Филологический факультет МГУ [Department of Philology, MSU]'' |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020141200/https://www.msu.ru/info/struct/dep/philol.html |url-status=bot: unknown }} In North America, there is an undergraduate Baltic studies program offered by [Washington University in St. Louis](/source/Washington_University_in_St._Louis).{{Cite web |url=https://scandinavian.washington.edu/baltic-studies-program |title=''Baltic Studies Program'' |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-date=28 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128234854/https://scandinavian.washington.edu/baltic-studies-program |url-status=bot: unknown }} == See also == * [Slavic studies](/source/Slavic_studies) * [Indo-European studies](/source/Indo-European_studies) *[:Category:Balticists](/source/%3ACategory%3ABalticists) *[:Category:Balts](/source/%3ACategory%3ABalts) ==References== {{Reflist}} == Further reading == * Gimbutas, Marija (1963). [https://archive.org/details/TheBalts The Balts]. London : Thames and Hudson, Ancient peoples and places 33. * Compiler [Adomas Butrimas](/source/Adomas_Butrimas) (2009). „Baltų menas / Art of the Balts“. Vilnius : Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla. {{ISBN|978-9955-854-36-4}} == External links == * [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baltic-languages Baltic languages | Britannica.com] {{Regional Cultural Studies}} {{Authority control}} Category:Ethnography Category:European folklore Category:European studies Category:Linguistics --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Baltistics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltistics) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltistics?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.