Galindian language

{{short description|Extinct Baltic languages}}The term '''Galindian''' is sometimes ascribed to two separate Baltic languages, both of which were peripheral dialects: * a West Baltic language referred to as '''West Galindian'''; * a Baltic language previously spoken in Mozhaysk region (present day Russia), referred to as '''East Galindian''' or Golyad<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=galindai |encyclopedia=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/galindai/ |access-date=2022-01-28 |language=lt |trans-title=The Galindians}}</ref>

==Name== There are three proposed etymologies for the denomination ''Galindian'':<ref name="Dini">{{cite book|first=Pietro U.|last=Dini|title=Foundations of Baltic languages|translator-first1=Milda B.|translator-last1=Richardson|translator-first2=Robert E.|translator-last2=Richardson|publisher=Vilniaus universitetas|place=Vilnius|date=2014|isbn=978-609-437-263-6}}</ref>{{rp|pages=308–309}} * Proto-Baltic {{Lang|mis|*Galind-}} meaning 'outsider' ({{langx|lt|gãlas}} 'wall; border').<ref>{{cite book|first=Kazimieras|last=Būga|year=1924|language=lt|title=Lietuvių tauta ir kalba bei jos artimieji giminaičiai|trans-title=The language and nation of the Lithuanians and its close relatives|place=Kaunas}}</ref> This is supported by the etymology of the common Old Russian term for the Galindians {{Lang|orv|Голядь}} {{lang|orv-latn|Goljad'}} > Proto-Slavic {{Lang|mis|*golędь}} > Proto-Baltic {{Lang|bat|*Galind-}}); the Proto-Slavic *''ę'' denotes a nasal ''e'' (/ẽ/) * It is derived from the root {{Lang|mis|*gal-/*gil}} found in Baltic hydronyms;<ref>{{cite book|last=Nalepa|first=Jerzy|year=1971|chapter=Próba nowej etymologii nazwy Galindia czyli Golędź|language=pl|trans-chapter=Proposal of a new etymology of the name Galindia or Golędź|title=Opuscula slavica 1|series=Slaviska och baltiska studier|volume=9|publisher=Slaviska institutionen vid Lunds universitet|place=Lund|pages=93–115}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Vytautas|last=Mažiulis|author-link=Vytautas Mažiulis|year=1981|pages=318–319|title=Prūsų kalbos paminklai|trans-title=Monuments of the Prussian language|language=lt|publisher=Mokslas|volume=II|place=Vilnius}}</ref> and * The name means 'the powerful ones' ({{langx|lt|galià}} 'power, strength') and also Celtic languages ({{langx|ga|gal}} 'strength', {{langx|cy|gallus}} 'power', ''Galli'', ''Gallia'').<ref>{{cite book|last=Schmid|first=Wolfgang P.|year=1998|chapter=Galinder|trans-chapter=Galindians|title=Reallexikon der germanischen Alterskunde|trans-title=Dictionary of Germanic antiquities|language=de|volume=10|edition=2nd revised and enlarged|editor-first1=Heinrich|editor-last1=Beck|editor-first2=Dieter|editor-last2=Geuenich|editor-first3=Heiko|editor-last3=Steuer|place=Berlin, Boston|publisher=De Gruyter|pages=325–327|isbn=978-3-11-015102-2}}</ref>

==Proposed relation== Golyad and West Galindian have been proposed by scientists to have had a common origin that is based on two ancient authors using the common name of Galindian for both of them.{{r|Dini|page=309}}<ref>{{cite book|language=pl|chapter=Zagadnienie Galindów|trans-chapter=The Galindian question|title=Studia Historica. W 35-lecia pracy naukowej Henryka Łowmiańskiego|trans-title=Studia Historica. On the 35th jubilee of Henryk Łowmiański's scientific work|editor-first=Aleksander|publisher=Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe|editor-last=Gieysztor|year=1958|place=Warsaw|pages=37–41|first=Jan Szczepan|last=Otrębski}}</ref> In order to prove this hypothesis, they investigate common features between Prussian/West Galindian and Golyad.{{r|Dini|pages=309-310}}

Marija Gimbutas suggested that both the Golyads and West Galindians name could both originate from the word for end or borderland in Lithuanian ({{lang|lt|gãlas}}) and Latvian ({{lang|lv|gàls}}).<ref name="The Balts (Ancient Peoples and Places)"/> There has also been a suggestion that the West Galindians' name could come from the Prussian word for death ({{lang|prg|gallan}}).<ref name="Bojtar">{{cite book|date=2013|author=Pauli Rahkonen|title=South-Eastern contact area of Finnic languages in the light of onomastics|chapter=4|isbn=9789637326189|publisher=Central European University Press|pages=109–111|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PmDTEAAAQBAJ|access-date=2024-11-15}}</ref> This name could have come from the Golyad being the furthest Baltic tribe in the east.<ref name="The Balts (Ancient Peoples and Places)">{{cite book|url=https://prussia.online/Data/Book/th/the-balts/Gimbutas%20M.%20The%20Balts%20%281963%29,%20OCR.pdf|date=1963|author=Marija Gimbutas|publisher=Praeger|title=The Balts|pages=27, 28|access-date=2024-12-21}}</ref>

Some theories that propose a relationship between West Galindian and Golyad are that the West Galindians migrated from their homeland in Prussia towards the Protva basin.<ref name="Bojtar"/> People believe this migration would have been one in the Migration Period and would have occurred between the 5th and 7th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|date=1 January 2000|author=Endre Bojtar|title=Foreword to The Past: A Cultural History of the Baltic People|chapter=2|isbn=9789525866155|publisher=University of Helsinki|pages=209}}</ref> In this theory, another group who also migrated West during this period, the Goths, are believed to have also inspired the language and culture of the Golyads.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g20OEAAAQBAJ|date=11 December 2020|author=Walther Friesen|title=The Russia-Germans - An Indigenous People of Eastern Europe: An Outline of Its History|chapter=1|isbn=9783752646337|publisher=Books on Demand|pages=20|access-date=2024-11-16}}</ref> Another theory is that the Golyads were West Galindians that were captured during wars with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Russian duchies, but this is unlikely as local Slavs would not have replaced their own names for regions with names from their prisoners of war.<ref name="Bojtar"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Baltic languages Category:West Baltic languages Category:Medieval languages Category:Extinct Baltic languages Category:Extinct languages of Europe