The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.
| Population | 2,955,200 in Lithuania (including 3,460 Tatar) or about 80% of the population (1998). Population total all countries 4,000,000 (1993 UBS). |
| Region | Lithuania. Capital is Vilnius. Also spoken in Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Poland, Russia (Europe), Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan. |
| Alternate names | LIUTUVISKAI, LIETUVI, LITOVSKIY, LITEWSKI, LITAUISCHE |
| Dialects | AUKSHTAITISH (AUKSHTAICHIAI, AUKSTAITISKAI, HIGHLAND LITHUANIAN), DZUKISH (DZUKISKAI), SHAMAITISH (SAMOGITIAN, ZHEMAITISH, ZEMAITIS, ZEMAITISKAI, ZEMACHIAI, LOWLAND LITHUANIAN), SUVALKIETISKAI. |
| Classification | Indo-European, Baltic, Eastern. |
| Comments | Aukstaitiskai speakers can understand Suvalkai easily, Dzukai with a little difficulty, and vice versa. Zemaitiskai is difficult for all others to understand. Second languages Russian or English used with foreigners. All domains. All ages. Highlanders look down on lowlanders. Some speakers have reserved attitudes toward Russian and Polish. National language. Dictionary. Grammar. Postpositions; genitives, relatives after noun heads. Literacy rate in first language: 99%. Roman script. Christian, Muslim (Tatar). Bible 1735-1998. |