Многоязычие в Великом княжестве Литовском в зеркале древних фамилий

Abstract

Multilingualism in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as reflected in old antroponyms

This article analyses historical anthroponyms in the Vitebsk and Mogilyov areas of Belarus. The dialects of this area are categorised as transitional within the Balto-Slavic, West-East Slavic and Russian-Belorussian dialect continua. The materials used for the study are business texts from the 15–17th centuries as well as birth registers of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The analysis has shown that in the eastern part of Belarus, the surnames of ancient knightly clans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania are related to the history of a given territory. The anthroponyms reflect the phonetic, lexical, word-formation processes that have taken place in the languages of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. What is characteristic, the anthroponyms in the analysed region often mix and impose ranks. This has been caused by the difficulties in the development of antroponyms, as well as the interference of different languages and the cultural specifics of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.