Terminai, kurie nepainiotini : kuršių, kuršininkų, naujoji kuršių, Nerijos kuršių ar kopininkų kalba

Abstract

Before the German invasion in the 13th century, the Kurshes, relatives of the Lithuanians, lived in Kuržemė, the West of Latvia. They occupied western areas of Samogitia up to the Curonian Bay, which bears the name of the Kurshes. A great number of southern Kurshes were killed in severe bat-tles between the Order and Lithuania. Many of them survived in the North, in the area of the present Kuržemė, and became Latvianized in due time. Known as good fishermen, the Kurshes held on their trade even when subjugated by the Germans. In search for better places to fish they moved along the seashore from the North towards the South, and even reached the present Gdansk. The first settlers spoke Curonian. In time, after the Latvian language became dominant in Kuržemė, the settlers, too, be-came Latvian-speaking, and used Curonianisms in theirs speach. The earlier Curonian-speakers inte- grated with the majority of settlers. Then a peculiar ethnic group was formed, today called kuršininkai, who speak the language of kuršininkai - a certain version of Latvian - named so in order to distin-guish it from the authentic (dead) Curonian language.