Abstract
Translation needs tools, the oldest and most widespread of which are (bilingual) dictionaries. In the absence of the necessary language pair dictionary, translators seek advice in foreign language dictionaries. Translators have frequently been the authors of dictionaries themselves. Latvian and Lithuanian nations and languages, though kindred, have had a rather different history. Both historically and politically, developments in Latvian have been more parallel to Estonian than Lithuanian as both fell under German and Lutheran influence while Lithuanian had a Polish-bound Catholic history. Yet the development of their writing, translation and lexicography has followed a remarkably similar process and testifies to the common space of knowledge (Wissensraum). As with their lexicography, their bilingual dictionaries grew out of a connection between translation and religion. Both countries underwent a national awakening/awareness in the 19th century that led to a greater variety of translations and dictionaries. Notably, monolingual Latvian and Lithuanian dictionaries appeared only in the 20th century, testifying to the importance of bilingual lexicography in ensuring language contact. Bilingual dictionaries have dominated the lexicography scene of Latvia and Lithuania from the start until the present day. The twentieth century, with its expanding translation needs, produced an even greater variety of translations and bilingual dictionaries in both countries.
Highlights
Language is the most distinctive feature of culture (Nida 2001, 13)
In a multilingual environment translators are to a large extent the main developers of the language, translation being the medium through which new notions and words enter the language, both expanding its potential and ensuring its development
As was the case with Latvian, early Lithuanian dictionaries were compiled for the practical needs of the German protestant pastors in Lithuania Minor to enable them to communicate with the Lithuanian peasant population of the region
Summary
Language is the most distinctive feature of culture (Nida 2001, 13). Language, apart from its daily use (which in Saussurian terms is speech) can be seen in its pure form in dictionaries, grammars and corpora. Dictionaries are linguistic tools, and ‘cultural objects, integrated as such into a culture: they bear witness to a civilization’ (Dubois 1971, 8). They reflect language and culture, but they form the current framework for language norms, use and possibilities. As Baltic translation started with religious texts, the appropriate method was a close, literal, formal transposition of God’s Word. This meant that equivalents (which dictionaries tend to offer) were sought and maintained. The tradition of faithful rendition (Nida’s (1964) formal equivalence, Newmark’s (1981) semantic translation), survived for centuries and was the main strategy in ‘serious translations’ as distinct from localizations
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