Perspectives on Language Attitudes and Use in Lithuania's Multilingual Setting

Abstract

EU accession negotiations have impacted on and generated ongoing interest in Baltic language and citizenship legislation. There is however no detailed knowledge of prevailing language attitudes amongst mainstream and minority populations in Lithuania. This paper investigates attitudes to minority language use and to the (officially reinstated) state language, and considers aspects of linguistic identification in the historically densely multilingual and multiethnic areas of Eastern and South-Eastern Lithuania. Our findings, based on newly acquired data from a major survey, show that although language loyalties are complex, attitudes towards Lithuanian are overall positive. Moreover, the results also point to the potential development of relatively stable bilingualism (for Lithuanians and Russians) and trilingualism (for Poles) in this region.