View source for Baltic languages

{{short description|Branch of the Indo-European language family}}
{{for|a subgroup of the Uralic language family|Baltic Finnic languages}}
{{distinguish|Balti language}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox language family
| name = Baltic
| ethnicity = [[Balts]]
| region = [[Northern Europe]], historically also [[Eastern Europe]] and [[Central Europe]]
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]]
| child1 = [[Dnieper-Oka language|Dnieper-Oka]] {{Extinct}}{{Indent|1}}{{*}}[[Golyad language|Golyad]] {{Extinct}}
| child2 = [[East Baltic languages|East]]
| child3 = [[West Baltic languages|West]] {{Extinct}}
| map = Balts.svg
| mapcaption = {{leftlegend|#F5BD43|Countries where an East Baltic language is the national language}}
| iso2 = bat
| iso5 = bat
| lingua = 54= (phylozone)
| glotto = none
| glotto2 = east2280
| glottoname2 = East Baltic
| glotto3 = prus1238
| glottoname3 = Old Prussian
| protoname = [[Proto-Baltic language|Proto-Baltic]]
| map2 = Baltic languages in Europe.svg
| mapcaption2 = Extent of Baltic languages in present-day Europe, with languages traditionally considered to be dialects mentioned in ''Italics''<br />
'''East Baltic languages'''
{{legend|#31e6b4|''[[Latgalian language|Latgalian]]''}}
{{legend|#38A6A5|[[Latvian language|Latvian]]}}
{{legend|#005251|[[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]}}
{{legend|#4e87c7|''[[Samogitian language|Samogitian]]''}}
}}
The '''Baltic languages''' are a branch of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] [[language family]] spoken natively or as a second language by a population of about 6.5–7.0 million people<ref name="Lietuviai Pasaulyje">[https://osp.stat.gov.lt/documents/10180/1704467/15_Lietuviai_pasaulyje.pdf ''"Lietuviai Pasaulyje"''] (PDF) (in Lithuanian). Lietuvos statistikos departamentas. Retrieved 5 May 2015.</ref><ref>Latvian at ''[[Ethnologue]]'' (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

Standard Latvian language at ''[[Ethnologue]]'' (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

Latgalian language at ''[[Ethnologue]]'' (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)</ref> mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the [[Baltic Sea]] in [[Europe]]. Together with the [[Slavic languages]], they form the [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]] branch of the Indo-European family.

Scholars usually regard them as a single [[Subgrouping|subgroup]] divided into two branches: [[West Baltic languages|West Baltic]] (containing only [[extinct language]]s) and [[East Baltic languages|East Baltic]] (containing at least two [[Modern language|living languages]], [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Latvian language|Latvian]], and by some counts including [[Latgalian language|Latgalian]] and [[Samogitian language|Samogitian]] as separate languages rather than dialects of those two). In addition, the existence of the [[Dnieper-Oka language]] is hypothesized, with the extinct [[Golyad language]] being the only known member. The range of the East Baltic linguistic influence once possibly reached as far as the [[Ural Mountains]], but this hypothesis has been questioned.<ref name="Gimbutas1963">{{cite book|author-first=Marija |author-last=Gimbutas |author-link=Marija Gimbutas |date=1963 |title=The Balts |location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson |series=Ancient peoples and places 33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QdHNYgEACAAJ |access-date=3 December 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|editor-first=J. P. |editor-last=Mallory |title=Fatyanovo-Balanovo Culture |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture]] |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn |date=1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-first=David W. |author-last=Anthony |author-link=David W. Anthony |title=[The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |date=2007}}</ref>

[[Old Prussian language|Old Prussian]], a Western Baltic language that became extinct in the 18th century, had possibly [[Linguistic conservatism|conserved]] the greatest number of properties from [[Proto-Baltic language|Proto-Baltic]].<ref>{{cite journal|author-last1=Ringe |author-first1=D. |author-last2=Warnow |author-first2=T. |author-link2=Tandy Warnow |author-last3=Taylor |author-first3=A. |date=2002 |title=Indo-European and computational cladistics |journal=Transactions of the Philological Society|volume=100 |pages=59–129|doi=10.1111/1467-968X.00091 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Although related, Lithuanian, Latvian, and particularly Old Prussian have lexicons that differ substantially from one another and so the languages are not [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]]. Relatively low mutual interaction for neighbouring languages historically led to gradual erosion of mutual intelligibility, and development of their respective linguistic innovations that did not exist in shared [[Proto-Baltic]]. The substantial number of [[false friend]]s and various uses and sources of [[loanwords]] from their surrounding languages are considered to be the major reasons for poor mutual intelligibility today.

==Branches==
Within Indo-European, the Baltic languages are generally classified as forming a single family with two branches: Eastern and Western Baltic. But these two branches are sometimes classified as independent branches of [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]] itself.<ref>{{cite web|editor-last1=Hammarström |editor-first1=Harald |editor-last2=Forke |editor-first2=Robert |editor-last3=Haspelmath |editor-first3=Martin |editor-last4=Bank |editor-first4=Sebastian |year=2020 |title=Old Prussian |work=[[Glottolog]] 4.3 |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/prus1238}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Baltic languages by number of native speakers
|-
! colspan="2"|[[East Baltic languages|East Baltic]]
|-
| [[Latvian language|Latvian]] || {{Circa|1.5 million}}<ref>[https://valoda.lv/valsts-valoda/ Valsts valoda]</ref>
|-
| [[Latgalian language|Latgalian]]{{asterisk}} || 150,000–200,000
|-
| [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] || {{Circa|4.5 million}}
|-
| [[Samogitian language|Samogitian]]{{asterisk}} || 500,000
|-
| [[Selonian language|Selonian]]{{dagger}} || Extinct since 16th century
|-
| [[Semigallian language|Semigallian]]{{dagger}} || Extinct since 16th century
|-
| ''[[Curonian language|Old Curonian]]''{{dagger}} || Extinct since 16th century
|-
! colspan="2"|[[West Baltic languages|West Baltic]]
|-
| Western [[Galindian language#West Galindian|Galindian]]{{dagger}} || Extinct since 14th century
|-
| [[Old Prussian language|Old Prussian]] || Extinct since early 18th century; Revived in the 21st century 2 native speakers<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Szatkowski |first=Piotr |date=2021 |title=Language Practices in a Family of Prussian Language Revivalists: Conclusions Based on Short-Term Participant Observation |url=https://journals.ispan.edu.pl/index.php/adeptus/article/view/a.2626 |journal=Adeptus |language=en |issue=18 |doi=10.11649/a.2626 |issn=2300-0783}}</ref>
|-
| [[West Baltic languages#Pomeranian-Baltic language|Pomeranian Baltic]]{{dagger}} || Extinct since the 1st millennium BC
|-
| ''[[Skalvians#Language|Skalvian]]''{{dagger}} || Extinct since 16th century
|-
| [[Sudovian language|Sudovian]]{{dagger}} || Extinct since 17th century
|-
! colspan="2"|[[Dnieper-Oka language|Dnieper-Oka]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Dini |first=P.U. |title=Baltų kalbos. Lyginamoji istorija |date=2000 |publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas |isbn=5-420-01444-0 |location=Vilnius |pages=61 |language=lt |trans-title=Baltic languages. Comparative history}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golyad language|Golyad]]{{dagger}} || Extinct since 12th century<ref>{{cite web|title=Балтийские языки|language=Russian|access-date=29 November 2024|url=http://lingvarium.org/eurasia/IE/balt.shtml|website=lingvarium.org}}</ref>
|-
! colspan="2"|<small>''Italics'' indicate disputed classification.</small>
|-
! colspan="2"|<small>{{asterisk}} indicates languages sometimes considered to be [[dialect]]s.</small>
|-
! colspan="2"|<small>{{dagger}} indicates [[extinct language]]s.</small>
|}

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=September 2018}}
It is believed that the Baltic languages are among the [[conservative (language)|most conservative]] of the currently remaining Indo-European languages,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dN_s-Ox6EU4C |title=Translation and the Reconfiguration of Power Relations: Revisiting Role and Context of Translation and Interpreting |first1=Beatrice |last1=Fischer |first2=Matilde |last2=Jensen |date=2012 |page=120|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=9783643902832 }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Gelumbeckaitė|2018}}: "... notably East Slavic, which fostered the retention there of features of archaic Indo-European provenience"</ref> despite their late [[Attested language|attestation]].

Although the Baltic [[Aesti]] tribe was mentioned by [[ancient historians]] such as Tacitus as early as 98 CE,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.unrv.com/tacitus/tacitusgermania.php |title=Germania |author-link=Tacitus |author=Tacitus|orig-date=98 |chapter=XLV}}</ref> the first attestation of a Baltic language was {{Circa}} 1369, in a Basel [[epigram]] of two lines written in Old Prussian. Lithuanian was first attested in a printed book, which is a [[Catechism]] by [[Martynas Mažvydas]] published in 1547. Latvian appeared in a printed Catechism in 1585.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CXxdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |title=The Foundations of Latin |author-last=Baldi |author-first=Philip |publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]] |date=2002 |pages=34–35 |isbn=3-11-016294-6}}</ref>

One reason for the late attestation is that the Baltic peoples [[Northern Crusades|resisted Christianization]] longer than any other Europeans, which delayed the introduction of writing and isolated their languages from outside influence.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

With the establishment of a [[History of Germany|German]] state in Prussia, and the mass influx of Germanic (and to a lesser degree Slavic-speaking) settlers, the Prussians began to be assimilated, and by the end of the 17th century, the Prussian language had become extinct.

After the [[Partitions of Poland|Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]], most of the Baltic lands were under the rule of the [[Russian Empire]], where the native languages or alphabets were sometimes prohibited from being written down or used publicly in a [[Russification]] effort (see [[Lithuanian press ban]] for the ban in force from 1864 to 1904).<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.llti.lt/failai/Vaicekausko%20straipnis_compressed.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.llti.lt/failai/Vaicekausko%20straipnis_compressed.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Lithuanian Handwritten Books in the Period of the Ban on the Lithuanian Press (1864–1904) |author-first=Mikas |author-last=Vaicekauskas}}</ref>

==Geographic distribution==
[[File:Baltic languages.png|thumb|left|Distribution of the Baltic languages in the Baltic (simplified)]]
[[File:Baltiškos kilmės vandenvardžių paplitimas.svg|thumb|275px|right|Map of the area of distribution of Baltic [[hydronyms]].]]
Speakers of modern Baltic languages are generally concentrated within the borders of [[Lithuania]] and [[Latvia]], and in emigrant communities in the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]] and the countries within the former borders of the [[Soviet Union]].

Historically the languages were spoken over a larger area: west to the mouth of the [[Vistula]] river in present-day [[Poland]], at least as far east as the [[Dniepr]] river in present-day [[Belarus]], perhaps even to [[Moscow]], and perhaps as far south as [[Kyiv]]. Key evidence of Baltic language presence in these regions is found in [[hydronym]]s (names of bodies of water) that are characteristically Baltic.<ref>[[Vaclav Blažek|Blažek, Vaclav]]. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/41857 Baltic horizon in Eastern Bohemian hydronymy?]". In: ''Tiltai. Priedas''. 2003, Nr. 14, p. 14. {{ISSN|1648-3979}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Zinkevičius |first1=Zigmas |author1-link=Zigmas Zinkevičius |last2=Luchtanas |first2=Aleksiejus |last3=Česnys |first3=Gintautas |title=Where We Come from: The Origin of the Lithuanian People |date=2005 |publisher=Science & Encyclopedia Publishing Institute |isbn=978-5-420-01572-8 |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7MkiAQAAIAAJ&q=%22+show+very+uneven+traces+of+a+Baltic+presence%22 |quote=...the hydronyms in this region [Central Forest Zone] show very uneven traces of a Baltic presence: in some places (mainly in the middle of this area) the stratum of Baltic hydronyms is thick, but elsewhere (especially along the edges of this area) only individual Baltic hydronyms can be found...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |quote=Ancient Baltic hydronyms cover an area that includes the Upper Dnieper area and extends approximately from Kiev and the Dvina to Moscow |last=Parpola |first=A. |year=2013 |chapter-url=https://www.sgr.fi/sust/sust266/sust266_parpola.pdf |chapter=Formation of the Indo-European and Uralic (Finno-Ugric) language families in the light of archaeology |editor-last1=Grünthal |editor-first1=R. |editor-last2=Kallio |editor-first2=P. |title=A linguistic map of prehistoric northern Europe |publisher=Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura |page=133}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |quote=The original Baltic-speaking territory was once much larger, extending eastward into the upper Dniepr river basin and beyond. |last=Young |first=Steven |chapter=Baltic |editor=[[Mate Kapović]] |title=The Indo-European Languages |edition=Second |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |page=486}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Gelumbeckaitė|2018}}:"The study of hydronyms has shown that the Proto-Baltic area was about six times larger than the ethnic territory of the present-day Balts ..."</ref> The use of hydronyms is generally accepted to determine the extent of a culture's influence, but ''not'' the date of such influence.<ref>{{cite book |quote="Information about the ethnic identity of the older tribes that had lived in a given territory can be obtained only from toponymy and particularly from hydronymy. Hydronyms, especially the names of large rivers, are very resistant to changes of the population and they may supply us with information about the older population of a particular region" | last=Georgiev | first=Vladimir I. |authorlink=Vladimir I. Georgiev | title=Aspects of the Balkans: Continuity and Change | chapter=The Earliest Ethnological Situation of the Balkan Peninsula as Evidenced by Linguistic and Onomastic Data | publisher=De Gruyter | date=1972-12-31 | isbn=978-3-11-088593-4 | doi=10.1515/9783110885934-003 | pages=50–65}}</ref>

The eventual expansion of the use of [[Slavic languages]] in the south and east, and [[Germanic languages]] in the west, reduced the geographic distribution of Baltic languages to a fraction of the area that they formerly covered.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fortson|first=Benjamin W.|title=Indo-European Language and Culture|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=2004|page=378|isbn=1-4051-0316-7|author-link=Benjamin W. Fortson IV|quote="Baltic river names are found across a large swath of now Slavic-speaking territory in eastern Europe and present-day Russia, as far east as Moscow and as far south as Kiev."}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |quote=[... the southeast, in present-day Belarus] is territory which was formerly Baltic speaking, but in which Baltic yielded to Slavic in the period from the 400s to the 1000s — in part through a displacement of Lithuanian speakers towards the northwest [...] This gradual process of language replacement is documented by the more than 2000 Baltic place names (mostly hydronyms) taken over from the Balts by the Slavs in Belarus, for not only does a continuity in toponyms in general attest to a gradual process of ethno-cultural reorientation ... | last=Andersen | first=Henning | title=Reconstructing Prehistorical Dialects: Initial Vowels in Slavic and Baltic | publisher=DE GRUYTER MOUTON | date=1996-12-31 | isbn=978-3-11-014705-6 | doi=10.1515/9783110819717 | page=43}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |quote=Baltic hydronyms are attested from the [[Pripyat (river)|Pripjať basin]] northwards, so that it is clear that there were Balts inbetween the homeland of the Slavs in the Ukrainian mesopotamia (between the Dnepr and the Dnester) and the Finnic areas of the north. |last=Timberlake |first=Alan |chapter=The Simple Sentence / Der einfache Satz |title=Die slavischen Sprachen |trans-title=The Slavic Languages |volume=Halbband 2 |editor1=Karl Gutschmidt |editor2=Tilman Berger |editor3=Sebastian Kempgen |editor4=Peter Kosta |location=Berlin, München, Boston |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |year=2014 |page=1665 |doi=10.1515/9783110215472.1675}}</ref> The Russian geneticist Oleg Balanovsky speculated that there is a predominance of the assimilated pre-Slavic substrate in the genetics of East and West Slavic populations, according to him the common genetic structure which contrasts East Slavs and Balts from other populations may suggest that the pre-Slavic substrate of the [[East Slavs]] consists most significantly of Baltic-speakers, which predated the Slavs in the cultures of the [[Eurasian steppe]] according to archaeological references he cites.<ref>{{cite book |author-last1=П |author-first1=Балановский О. |title=Генофонд Европы |language=ru |trans-title=Gene pool of Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sNYPCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA208 |publisher=KMK Scientific Press |quote=Прежде всего, это преобладание в славянских популяциях дославянского субстрата – двух ассимилированных ими генетических компонентов – восточноевропейского для западных и восточных славян и южноевропейского для южных славян... Можно с осторожностью предположить, что ассимилированный субстрат мог быть представлен по преимуществу балтоязычными популяциями. Действительно, археологические данные указывают на очень широкое распространение балтских групп перед началом расселения славян. Балтский субстрату славян (правда, наряду с финно-угорским) выявляли и антропологи. Полученные нами генетические данные – и на графиках генетических взаимоотношений, и по доле общих фрагментов генома – указывают, что современные балтские народы являются ближайшими генетически ми соседями восточных славян. При этом балты являются и лингвистически ближайшими родственниками славян. И можно полагать, что к моменту ассимиляции их генофонд не так сильно отличался от генофонда начавших свое широкое расселение славян. Поэтому если предположить, что расселяющиеся на восток славяне ассимилировали по преимуществу балтов, это может объяснить и сходство современных славянских и балтских народов друг с другом, и их отличия от окружающих их не балто-славянских групп Европы... В работе высказывается осторожное предположение, что ассимилированный субстрат мог быть представлен по преимуществу балтоязычными популяциями. Действительно, археологические данные указывают на очень широкое распространение балтских групп перед началом расселения славян. Балтский субстрат у славян (правда, наряду с финно-угорским) выявляли и антропологи. Полученные в этой работе генетические данные – и на графиках генетических взаимоотношений, и по доле общих фрагментов генома – указывают, что современные балтские народы являются ближайшими генетическими соседями восточных славян. |trans-quote=First of all, this is the predominance of the pre-Slavic substrate in the Slavic populations – the two genetic components assimilated by them – the Eastern European for the Western and Eastern Slavs and the South European for the Southern Slavs ... It can be assumed with caution that the assimilated substrate could be represented mainly by the Baltic-speaking populations. Indeed, archaeological data indicate a very wide distribution of the Baltic groups before the beginning of the settlement of the Slavs. The Baltic substratum of the Slavs (true, along with the Finno-Ugric) was also identified by anthropologists. The genetic data we obtained – both on the graphs of genetic relationships and on the share of common genome fragments – indicate that the modern Baltic peoples are the closest genetic neighbors of the Eastern Slavs. Moreover, the Balts are also linguistically the closest relatives of the Slavs. And it can be assumed that by the time of assimilation, their gene pool was not so different from the gene pool of the Slavs who began their widespread settlement. Therefore, if we assume that the Slavs settling in the east assimilated mainly the Balts, this can explain the similarity of the modern Slavic and Baltic peoples with each other, and their differences from the surrounding non-Balto-Slavic groups of Europe ... the assimilated substrate could be represented mainly by the Baltic-speaking populations. Indeed, archaeological data indicate a very wide distribution of the Baltic groups before the beginning of the settlement of the Slavs. Anthropologists have also identified the Baltic substrate among the Slavs (although, along with the Finno-Ugric). The genetic data obtained in this work – both on the graphs of genetic relationships and on the share of common fragments of the genome – indicate that the modern Baltic peoples are the closest genetic neighbors of the Eastern Slavs. |isbn=9785990715707 |date=30 November 2015 }}</ref>

===Contact with Uralic languages===
Though [[Estonia]] is geopolitically included among the [[Baltic states]] due to its location, [[Estonian language|Estonian]] is a [[Finnic language]] of the [[Uralic languages|Uralic language family]] and is not related to the Baltic languages, which are [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]].

The [[Mordvinic languages]], spoken mainly along western tributaries of the [[Volga]], show several dozen loanwords from one or more Baltic languages. These may have been mediated by contacts with the Eastern Balts along the river [[Oka River|Oka]].<ref>{{cite book|author-first=Riho |author-last=Grünthal |chapter=Baltic loanwords in Mordvin |title=A Linguistic Map of Prehistoric Northern Europe |date=2012 |pages=297–343 |chapter-url=http://www.sgr.fi/sust/sust266/sust266_grunthal.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.sgr.fi/sust/sust266/sust266_grunthal.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |series=Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Toimituksia 266}}</ref> In regards to the same geographical location, [[Asko Parpola]], in a 2013 article, suggested that the Baltic presence in this area, dated to {{circa|200}}–600 CE, is due to an "elite superstratum".<ref>Parpola, A. (2013). "[https://www.sgr.fi/sust/sust266/sust266_parpola.pdf Formation of the Indo-European and Uralic (Finno-Ugric) language families in the light of archaeology]". In: Grünthal, R. & Kallio, P. (Eds.). ''A linguistic map of prehistoric northern Europe''. Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, 2013. p. 150.</ref> However, linguist {{ill|Petri Kallio|nn|Petri Kallio}} argued that the Volga-Oka is a ''secondary'' Baltic-speaking area, expanding from East Baltic, due to a large number of Baltic loanwords in Finnic and [[Saami languages|Saami]].<ref>Kallio, Petri. "[https://www.academia.edu/20252178/The_Language_Contact_Situation_in_Prehistoric_Northeastern_Europe The Language Contact Situation in Prehistoric Northeastern Europe]". In: Robert Mailhammer, Theo Vennemann gen. Nierfeld, and Birgit Anette Olsen (eds.). ''The Linguistic Roots of Europe: Origin and Development of European Languages''. Copenhagen Studies in Indo-European 6. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2015. p. 79.</ref>

Finnish scholars also indicate that Latvian had extensive contacts with [[Livonian language|Livonian]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Grünthal |first=Riho|authorlink=:fi:Riho Grünthal |chapter=Livonian at the crossroads of language contacts |editor=Santeri Junttila |url=https://journal.fi/uralicahelsingiensia/issue/view/uh7 |title=Contacts between the Baltic and Finnic languages |publisher=Uralica Helsingiensia |volume=7 |location=Helsinki |year=2015 |pages=97–102 |isbn=978-952-5667-67-7 |issn=1797-3945}}</ref> and, to a lesser extent, to [[Estonian language|Estonian]] and [[South Estonian]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Junttila |first=Santeri |chapter=Introduction|editor=Santeri Junttila |url=https://journal.fi/uralicahelsingiensia/issue/view/uh7 |title=Contacts between the Baltic and Finnic languages |publisher=Uralica Helsingiensia |volume=7 |location=Helsinki |year=2015 |isbn=978-952-5667-67-7 |issn=1797-3945 |page=6}}</ref> Therefore, this contact accounts for the number of Finnic hydronyms in Lithuania and Latvia that increase in a northwards direction.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zinkevičius |first1=Zigmas |author1-link=Zigmas Zinkevičius |last2=Luchtanas |first2=Aleksiejus |last3=Česnys |first3=Gintautas |title=Where We Come from: The Origin of the Lithuanian People |date=2005 |publisher=Science & Encyclopedia Publishing Institute |isbn=978-5-420-01572-8 |page=42 }}</ref>

Parpola, in the same 2013 article, supposed the existence of a Baltic substratum for Finnic, in Estonia and coastal Finland.<ref>Parpola, A. (2013). "[https://www.sgr.fi/sust/sust266/sust266_parpola.pdf Formation of the Indo-European and Uralic (Finno-Ugric) language families in the light of archaeology]". In: Grünthal, R. & Kallio, P. (Eds.). ''A linguistic map of prehistoric northern Europe''. Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, 2013. p. 133.</ref> In the same vein, Kallio argues for the existence of a lost "North Baltic language" that would account for loanwords during the evolution of the Finnic branch.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kallio |first=Petri |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/20252178 |chapter=The Language Contact Situation in Prehistoric Northeastern Europe |editor1=Robert Mailhammer |editor2=Theo Vennemann gen. Nierfeld |editor3=Birgit Anette Olsen |title=The Linguistic Roots of Europe: Origin and Development of European Languages |series=Copenhagen Studies in Indo-European |volume=6 |location=Copenhagen |publisher=[[Museum Tusculanum Press]] |year=2015 |pages=88–90}}</ref>

==Comparative linguistics==
===Genetic relatedness===
[[File:Balto-Slavic theories 2.svg|thumb|left|450px|Various schematic sketches of possible Balto-Slavic language relationships.]]
[[File:The epigram of Basel - oldest known inscription in Prussian language and Baltic language in general, middle of 14th c.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The epigram of Basel – oldest known inscription in [[Old Prussian language|Prussian language]] and Baltic language in general, middle of 14th c]]

The Baltic languages are of particular interest to linguists because they retain many archaic features, which are thought to have been present in the early stages of the [[Proto-Indo-European language]].<ref name="Gimbutas1963"/> However, linguists have had a hard time establishing the precise relationship of the Baltic languages to other languages in the Indo-European family.<ref name="Ancient Indo-European Dialects">{{cite book|author-first=Alfred |author-last=Senn |author-link=Alfred E. Senn |chapter=The Relationships of Baltic and Slavic |editor-first1=Henrik |editor-last1=Birnbaum |editor-link1=Henrik Birnbaum |editor-first2=Jaan |editor-last2=Puhvel |editor-link2=Jaan Puhvel |title=Ancient Indo-European Dialects |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5pCBRsfJMv8C&pg=PA139 |access-date=3 December 2011 |publisher=University of California Press |pages=139–151 |id=GGKEY:JUG4225Y4H2 |year=1966}}</ref> Several of the extinct Baltic languages have a limited or nonexistent written record, their existence being known only from the records of ancient historians and personal or place names. All of the languages in the Baltic group (including the living ones) were first written down relatively late in their probable existence as distinct languages. These two factors combined with others have obscured the history of the Baltic languages, leading to a number of theories regarding their position in the Indo-European family.

{{Disputed section|Do Baltic and Slavic languages actually belong in the same branch, given the closer ties of Baltic languages to Sanskrit than to Slavic languages? The assertion that "most" linguists support this view is not correct--or needs to be proven.|date=October 2024}}

The Baltic languages show a close relationship with the Slavic languages, and are grouped with them in a [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]] family by most scholars.{{Disputed inline|Whether Baltic and Slavic languages belong in the same branch is a matter of quite a bit of controversy. Extensive citations needed to make the case for accuracy in Wikipedia.|date=October 2024}}{{Attribution needed|reason=[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch#Unsupported attributions|Unsupported attribution]]|date=October 2022}} This family is considered to have developed from a common ancestor, [[Proto-Balto-Slavic]]. Later on, several lexical, phonological and morphological dialectisms developed, separating the various Balto-Slavic languages from each other.<ref name="Mallory1991">{{cite book|author-first=J. P. |author-last=Mallory |author-link=J. P. Mallory |title=In search of the Indo-Europeans: language, archaeology and myth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfChQgAACAAJ |access-date=3 December 2011 |date=1 April 1991 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-27616-7}}</ref><ref name="Mallory1997">{{cite book|author-first=J. P. |author-last=Mallory |title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC&pg=PA46 |access-date=3 December 2011 |year=1997 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-884964-98-5 |page=46}}</ref> Although it is generally agreed that the Slavic languages developed from a single more-or-less unified dialect ([[Proto-Slavic]]) that split off from common Balto-Slavic, there is more disagreement about the relationship between the Baltic languages.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hill |first=Eugen |year=2016 |title=Phonological evidence for a Proto-Baltic stage in the evolution of East and West Baltic |journal=International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction |volume=13 |pages=205–232 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34288492 }}</ref>

The traditional view is that the Balto-Slavic languages split into two branches, Baltic and Slavic, with each branch developing as a single common language (Proto-Baltic and Proto-Slavic) for some time afterwards. Proto-Baltic is then thought to have split into East Baltic and West Baltic branches. However, more recent scholarship has suggested that there was no unified Proto-Baltic stage, but that Proto-Balto-Slavic split directly into three groups: Slavic, East Baltic and West Baltic.<ref>{{citation|author-last=Kortlandt |author-first=Frederik |author-link=Frederik Kortlandt |year=2009 |title=Baltica & Balto-Slavica |page=5 |quote=Though Prussian is undoubtedly closer to the East Baltic languages than to Slavic, the characteristic features of the Baltic languages seem to be either retentions or results of parallel development and cultural interaction. Thus I assume that Balto-Slavic split into three identifiable branches, each of which followed its own course of development.}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon |author-first=Rick |author-last=Derksen |author-link=Rick Derksen |year=2008 |page=20 |quote=I am not convinced that it is justified to reconstruct a Proto-Baltic stage. The term Proto-Baltic is used for convenience’s sake.}}</ref> Under this view, the Baltic family is [[paraphyletic]], and consists of all Balto-Slavic languages that are not Slavic. In the 1960s [[Vladimir Toporov]] and [[Vyacheslav Ivanov (philologist)|Vyacheslav Ivanov]] made the following conclusions about the relationship between the Baltic and Slavic languages:<ref name="Dini143">{{cite book|last=Dini |first=P.U. |title=Baltų kalbos. Lyginamoji istorija |language=lt |trans-title=Baltic languages. Comparative history |publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas |location=Vilnius |date=2000 |pages=143 |isbn=5-420-01444-0}}</ref><ref>''Бирнбаум Х''. О двух направлениях в языковом развитии // Вопросы языкознания, 1985, No. 2, стр. 36</ref> 
* the Proto-Slavic language formed out of peripheral-type Baltic dialects; 
* the Slavic linguistic type formed later from the structural model of the Baltic languages; 
* the Slavic structural model is a result of the transformation from the Baltic languages structural model.

These scholars' theses do not contradict the close relationship between Baltic and Slavic languages and, from a historical perspective, specify the Baltic-Slavic languages' evolution – the terms 'Baltic' and 'Slavic' are relevant only from the point of view of the present time, meaning [[Historical linguistics|diachronic changes]], and the oldest stage of the language development could be called both Baltic and Slavic;<ref name="Dini143"/> this concept does not contradict the traditional thesis that the [[Proto-Slavic language|Proto-Slavic]] and [[Proto-Baltic language|Proto-Baltic]] languages coexisted for a long time after their formation – between the [[2nd millennium BC]] and circa the [[5th century BC]] – the Proto-Slavic language was a [[Dialect continuum|continuum]] of the Proto-Baltic dialects, more rather, the Proto-Slavic language should have been localized in the peripheral circle of Proto-Baltic dialects.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dini |first=P.U. |title=Baltų kalbos. Lyginamoji istorija |language=lt |trans-title=Baltic languages. Comparative history |publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas |location=Vilnius |date=2000 |pages=144 |isbn=5-420-01444-0}}</ref>

Finally, a minority of scholars argue that Baltic descended directly from Proto-Indo-European, without an intermediate common Balto-Slavic stage. They argue that the many similarities and shared innovations between Baltic and Slavic are caused by several millennia of contact between the groups, rather than a shared heritage.<ref name="HockJoseph1996">{{cite book |author-first1=Hans Henrich |author-last1=Hock |author-first2=Brian D. |author-last2=Joseph |title=Language history, language change, and language relationship: an introduction to historical and comparative linguistics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGH-RCW1fzsC&pg=PA53 |access-date=24 December 2011 |year=1996 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-014784-1 |page=53}}</ref>

[[File:Indoeuropean languages according to Wolfgang P. Schmid.gif|thumb|right|260px|Place of Baltic languages according to Wolfgang P. Schmid, 1977.]]

===Thracian hypothesis===
{{See also|Classification of Thracian#Balto-Slavic}}
The Baltic-speaking peoples likely encompassed an area in eastern Europe much larger than their modern range. As in the case of the [[Celtic languages]] of Western Europe, they were reduced by invasion, extermination and assimilation.<ref name="GimbutasFortson">{{cite book |last1=Gimbutas |first1=Marija |title=The Balts |publisher=Thames and Hudson |year=1963 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QdHNYgEACAAJ |location=London}}</ref><ref name="Fortson2004">{{cite book |last=Fortson |first=Benjamin W. |title=Indo-European Language and Culture |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2004 |page=378 |isbn=1-4051-0316-7 |quote=The eventual expansion of the use of Slavic languages in the south and east, and Germanic languages in the west, reduced the geographic distribution of Baltic languages to a fraction of the area that they formerly covered.}}</ref> Studies in [[comparative linguistics]] point to [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|genetic relationship]] between the languages of the Baltic family and the following extinct languages:
* [[Dacian language|Dacian]]{{sfn|Mayer|1996|p={{page needed|date=November 2022}}}}{{sfn|Duridanov|1969|p={{page needed|date=November 2022}}}}<ref name="Rosales">{{cite book|author-first=Jurate |author-last=de Rosales |title=Europos šaknys |trans-title=European Roots |language=lt |isbn=9786098148169 |year=2015 |publisher=Versmė |url=https://on.lt/europos-saknys}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-first=Jurate |author-last=de Rosales |title=Las raíces de Europa |trans-title=The races of Europe |language=es |isbn=9788412186147|year=2020|publisher=Kalathos Ediciones }}</ref><ref name="Schall">Schall H. "Sudbalten und Daker. Vater der Lettoslawen". In: ''Primus congressus studiorum thracicorum. Thracia II''. Serdicae, 1974, pp. 304, 308, 310.</ref><ref name="Radulescu">Radulescu M. ''The Indo-European position of lllirian, Daco-Mysian and Thracian: a historic Methodological Approach''. 1987. {{page needed|date=November 2022}}</ref>
* [[Thracian language|Thracian]]{{sfn|Mayer|1996|p={{page needed|date=November 2022}}}}{{sfn|Duridanov|1969|p={{page needed|date=November 2022}}}}<ref name="Rosales" /><ref name="Radulescu" /><ref>Dras. J. Basanavičius. ''Apie trakų prygų tautystę ir jų atsikėlimą Lietuvon''. {{page needed|date=November 2022}}</ref>
The Baltic classification of Dacian and Thracian has been proposed by the Lithuanian scientist [[Jonas Basanavičius]], who insisted this is the most important work of his life and listed 600 identical words of Balts and [[Thracians]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Balts and Goths: the missing link in European history |publisher=Vydūnas Youth Fund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0XLxAAAAMAAJ|language=en|year=2004 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Daskalov |first1=Roumen |last2=Vezenkov |first2=Alexander |title=Entangled Histories of the Balkans – Volume Three: Shared Pasts, Disputed Legacies |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004290365 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WDRzBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA81|language=en|date=13 March 2015 }}</ref> His theory included [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]] in the related group, but this did not find support and was disapproved among other authors, such as [[:bg:Иван Дуриданов|Ivan Duridanov]], whose own analysis found Phrygian completely lacking parallels in either Thracian or Baltic languages.{{sfn|Duridanov|1976}}

The Bulgarian linguist Ivan Duridanov, who improved the most extensive list of toponyms, in his first publication claimed that Thracian is genetically linked to the Baltic languages{{sfn|Duridanov|1969}} and in the next one he made the following classification:{{sfn|Duridanov|1976}}

{{blockquote|The Thracian language formed a close group with the Baltic, the Dacian and the "[[Pelasgian]]" languages. More distant were its relations with the other Indo-European languages, and especially with Greek, the Italic and Celtic languages, which exhibit only isolated phonetic similarities with Thracian; the Tocharian and the Hittite were also distant.}}

Of about 200 [https://www.lexicons.ru/old/f/thracian/index.html reconstructed Thracian words] by Duridanov most cognates (138) appear in the Baltic languages, mostly in Lithuanian, followed by Germanic (61), Indo-Aryan (41), Greek (36), Bulgarian (23), Latin (10) and Albanian (8). The cognates of the [[List of reconstructed Dacian words|reconstructed Dacian words]] in his publication are found mostly in the Baltic languages, followed by Albanian. Parallels have enabled linguists, using the techniques of [[comparative linguistics]], to decipher the meanings of several Dacian and Thracian placenames with, they claim, a high degree of probability. Of 74 [[Dacian–Baltic connection|Dacian placenames]] attested in primary sources and considered by Duridanov, a total of 62 have Baltic cognates, most of which were rated "certain" by Duridanov.{{sfn|Duridanov|1969|pp=95–96}} For a big number of 300 [[Thracian language#Classification|Thracian geographic names]] most parallels were found between Thracian and Baltic geographic names in the study of Duridanov.{{sfn|Duridanov|1976}}{{sfn|Duridanov|1985}}{{sfn|Duridanov|1976}} According to him the most important impression make the geographic cognates of Baltic and Thracian "the similarity of these parallels stretching frequently on the main element and the suffix simultaneously, which makes a strong impression".{{sfn|Duridanov|1985}}{{sfn|Duridanov|1969}}

Romanian linguist [[Sorin Paliga]], analysing and criticizing Harvey Mayer's study, did admit "great likeness" between Thracian, the [[Substrate in Romanian|substrate of Romanian]], and "some Baltic forms".<ref>Paliga, Sorin. "[https://ceeol-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/search/article-detail?id=1051762 Tracii şi dacii erau nişte „baltoizi”?]" [Were Thracians and Dacians ‘Baltoidic’?]. In: ''Romanoslavica'' XLVIII, nr. 3 (2012): 149–150.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Historical linguistics]]
* [[Dacian–Baltic connection]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite web|url=http://www.lituanus.org/1996/96_3_03.htm|title=Lithuania 1863–1893: Tsarist Russification and the Beginnings of the Modern Lithuanian National Movement – Strazas|website=www.lituanus.org|access-date=5 October 2017|archive-date=12 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212163750/http://www.lituanus.org/1996/96_3_03.htm|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.lituanus.org/main.php?id=search-articles-linguistics |title=Lituanus Linguistics Index (1955–2004)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121062255/http://www.lituanus.org/main.php?id=search-articles-linguistics |archive-date=21 January 2016 }} provides a number of articles on modern and archaic Baltic languages
* {{cite book |last=Duridanov |first=I. |year=1969 |title=Die Thrakisch- und Dakisch-Baltischen Sprachbeziehungen}}
* {{cite book |last=Duridanov |first=I. |year=1976 |title=Ezikyt na Trakite}}
* {{cite book|first=Ivan|last=Duridanov | title=Die Sprache der Thraker | series=Bulgarische Sammlung | volume= 5 | publisher=Hieronymus Verlag | year=1985 | isbn=3-88893-031-6 | language= de}}
* {{cite book |authorlink=Ernst Fraenkel (linguist)|last=Fraenkel |first= Ernst |year=1950 |title=Die baltischen Sprachen |publisher=Carl Winter |location=Heidelberg}}
* {{cite journal |last=Girininkas |first=Algirdas |title=The monuments of the Stone Age in the historical Baltic region |journal=Baltų archeologija |issue=1 |year=1994 |at=English summary, p.&nbsp;22 |issn=1392-0189}}
* {{cite book |last=Girininkas |first=Algirdas |year=1994 |chapter=Origin of the Baltic culture. Summary |title=Baltų kultūros ištakos |location=Vilnius |publisher=Savastis |isbn=9986-420-00-8 |page=259}}
* {{cite book|last=Gelumbeckaitė |first=Jolanta |chapter=The evolution of Baltic |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |volume=3 |editor1= Jared Klein |editor2=Brian Joseph |editor3=Matthias Fritz |location=Berlin, Boston |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |year=2018 |pages=1712–15 |doi=10.1515/9783110542431-014}}
* {{cite book |last1=Larsson |first1=Jenny Helena |last2=Bukelskytė-Čepelė |first2=Kristina |chapter=The documentation of Baltic |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |volume=3 |editor1= Jared Klein |editor2=Brian Joseph |editor3=Matthias Fritz |location=Berlin, Boston |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |year=2018 |pages=1622–1639 |doi=10.1515/9783110542431-008}}
* {{cite book |authorlink=J. P. Mallory|last=Mallory |first=J. P. |year=1991 |title=In Search of the Indo-Europeans: language, archaeology and myth |location=New York |publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn=0-500-27616-1}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Mayer
| first = H.E.
| journal = [[Lituanus]]
| publisher = [[Defense Language Institute]], [[United States Department of Defense]]
| year = 1992
| title = Dacian and Thracian as southern Baltoidic
| url = http://www.lituanus.org/1992_2/92_2_02.htm
| volume = 38
| issue = 2
| issn = 0024-5089
| access-date = 20 May 2017
| archive-date = 16 December 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171216135638/http://www.lituanus.org/1992_2/92_2_02.htm
| url-status = dead
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Mayer
| first = H.E.
| journal = [[Lituanus]]
| year = 1996
| title = SOUTH BALTIC
| url = http://www.lituanus.org/1996/96_2_06.htm
| volume = 42
| issue = 2
| access-date = 20 May 2017
| archive-date = 13 May 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210513224814/http://www.lituanus.org/1996/96_2_06.htm
| url-status = dead
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Mayer
| first = H.E.
| journal = [[Lituanus]]
| year = 1997
| title = BALTS AND CARPATHIANS
| url = http://www.lituanus.org/1997/97_2_03.htm
| volume = 43
| issue = 2
| access-date = 20 May 2017
| archive-date = 13 May 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210513220005/http://www.lituanus.org/1997/97_2_03.htm
| url-status = dead
}}
* {{cite book |last=Pashka |first=Joseph |year=1950 |url=https://www.suduva.com/virdainas/proto.htm |title=Proto Baltic and Baltic languages}}
* {{cite journal | last=Remys | first=Edmund | title=General distinguishing features of various lndo-European languages and their relationship to Lithuanian | journal=Indogermanische Forschungen | volume=112 | issue=2007 | date=2007-12-17 | issn=1613-0405 | doi=10.1515/9783110192858.1.244 | pages=244–276}}
* {{cite web
| last = Mayer
| first = H.E.
| year = 1999
| title = Dr. Harvey E. Mayer, February 1999
| url = https://www.kroraina.com/thrac_lang/h_mayer.html
}}
{{refend}}

==Literature==
* {{cite book | last1=Stafecka | first1=Anna | last2=Mikulėnienė | first2=Danguolė | title=Atlas of the Baltic languages | publisher=Latvijas Universitātes Latviešu valodas institūts; Lietuvių kalbos institutas | publication-place=Rīga : Vilnius | date=2009 | isbn=978-9984-742-49-6}}
* {{cite book | last=Dini | first=Pietro U. | title=Baltų kalbos: lyginamoji istorija |trans-title=Baltic languages: A Comparative History| publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas | publication-place=Vilnius | date=2000 | isbn=5-420-01444-0 | language=lt |page=540}}
* {{cite book | last=Palmaitis | first=Letas |authorlink=:lt:Letas Palmaitis | title=Baltų kalbų gramatinės sistemos raida |trans-title=Development of the grammatical system of the Baltic Languages: Lithuanian, Latvian, Prussian |url=http://donelaitis.vdu.lt/prussian/BR.pdf| publisher=Šviesa | publication-place=Kaunas | date=1998 | isbn=5-430-02651-4 | language=lt}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
;On Baltic hydronymy:
* {{cite journal | last=Schmid | first=Wolfgang P. |authorlink=:de:Wolfgang P. Schmid | title=Baltische Gewässernamen und das vorgeschichtliche Europa | journal=Indogermanische Forschungen | volume=77 | issue=1 | date=1973-01-01 | issn=1613-0405 | doi=10.1515/if-1972-0102 | pages=1–18}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Toporov |first1=V. N. |last2=Trubachov |first2=O. N. |year=1993 |title=Lіngvіstychny analіz gіdronіmau verkhniaga Padniaprouia |trans-title=Linguistic Analysis of Hydronyms of the Upper Dnieper Basin |journal=Spadchyna |issue=4 |pages=53–62}}
* {{cite journal | last=Васильев | first=Валерий Л. | title=ПРОБЛЕМАТИКА ИЗУЧЕНИЯ ГИДРОНИМИИ БАЛТИЙСКОГО ПРОИСХОЖДЕНИЯ НА ТЕРРИТОРИИ РОССИИ |trans-title=The Problems of Studying the Baltic Origins of Hydronyms on the Territory of Russia | journal=Linguistica | volume=55 | issue=1 | date=2015-12-31 | issn=2350-420X | doi=10.4312/linguistica.55.1.173-186 | pages=173–186| doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal | last=Witczak | first=Krzysztof Tomasz | title=Węgra — dawny hydronim jaćwięski |trans-title=Węgra — a Former Yatvingian Hydronym | journal=Onomastica | volume=59 | date=2015 |url=https://onomastica.ijp.pan.pl/index.php/ONOM/article/view/259 | doi=10.17651/ONOMAST.59.17 | pages=271–279| doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last=Yuyukin |first=Maxim A. |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=530307 |title=Из балтийской гидронимии Верхнего Подонья |trans-title=From the Baltic hydronymy of the basin of the upper Don |journal=Žmogus ir žodis |volume=18 |issue=3 |year=2016 |pages=50–56|doi=10.15823/zz.2016.16 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal | last=Fedchenko | first=Oleg D. | title=Baltic Hydronymy of Central Russia | journal=Theoretical and Applied Linguistics | issue=4 | date=2020 | doi=10.22250/2410-7190_2020_6_4_104_127 | pages=104–127 |url=https://lingua.amursu.ru/en/about-journal/volumes/2020/4/2020-4-10/| doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal | author=Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (National Research University) | last2=Gusenkov | first2=Pavel A. | title=Revisiting the "West-Baltic" Type Hydronymy in Central Russia | journal=Вопросы Ономастики | volume=18 | issue=2 | date=2021 | doi=10.15826/vopr_onom.2021.18.2.019 | pages=67–87| doi-access=free }}

;On Baltic-Uralic contacts:
* {{cite book |last=Junttila |first=Santeri |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/24411561 |chapter=The prehistoric context of the oldest contacts between Baltic and Finnic languages |editor1=R. Grünthal |editor2=P. Kallio |title=A Linguistic map of Prehistoric Northern Europe |volume=266 |location=Helsinki |publisher=Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura |year=2012 |pages= 261–296 |isbn=978-952-5667-42-4}}
* {{cite book |chapter=Proto-Finnic loanwords in the Baltic languages?: an old hypothesis revisited |last=Junttila |first=Santeri |editor=Santeri Junttila |title=Contacts between the Baltic and Finnic languages |pages=12–37 |location=Helsinki |publisher=University of Helsinki |date=2015 |url=https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/63262}}
* {{cite journal | last=Vaba | first=L | title=Welche Sprache sprechen Ortsnamen? Über ostseefinnisch-baltische Kontakte in Abhandlungen über Toponymie von Ojārs Bušs |trans-title=The Revealing Language of Place Names: Finnic-Baltic Contacts According to the Toponymic Studies by Ojārs Bušs | journal=Linguistica Uralica | volume=55 | issue=1 | date=2019 | issn=0868-4731 | doi=10.3176/lu.2019.1.05 | page=47}}
* {{cite book |last=Jakob |first=Anthony |chapter=Baltic → Finnic Loans |title=A History of East Baltic through Language Contact |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |publisher=Brill |date=2023 |pages=45–118 |doi=10.1163/9789004686472_005|isbn=978-90-04-68647-2 }}
* {{cite book |chapter=The palaeo-Baltic substrate: a methodological exploration |author=Anthony Jakob |date=2024 |series=Uralica Helsingiensia |issue=15 |pages=123–162 |title=E litoribus Balticis etymologiae |editor=Santeri Junttila |doi=10.33341/uh.148314 |url=https://journal.fi/uralicahelsingiensia/article/view/148314}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Milanova |first1=Veronika |first2=Niklas |last2=Metsäranta |first3=Terhi |last3=Honkola |title=Kinship Terminologies of the Circum-Baltic Area: Convergences and Structural Properties |journal=Journal of Language Contact |volume=17 |issue=2 |date=2024 |pages=315–358 |doi=10.1163/19552629-bja10079|doi-access=free }}

{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/litol Baltic Online] by Virginija Vasiliauskiene, Lilita Zalkalns, and Jonathan Slocum, free online lessons at the [https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/lrc Linguistics Research Center] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]]

{{Baltic languages}}
{{Indo-European languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltic Languages}}
[[Category:Balto-Slavic languages]]
[[Category:Baltic languages| ]]