Kazlauskienė, Asta; Raškinis, Gailius; Vaičiūnas, Airenas. 2021. Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos tarties žodynas [Pronunciation Dictionary of Contemporary Lithuanian; electronic resource]. Kaunas: Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas. https://doi.org/10.7220/kalbu.vdu.lt.tartis.
The dictionary is intended for students, teachers, TV and radio presenters, actors, or anyone else interested in learning the correct pronunciation of standard Lithuanian.
Reviewed by: Prof. Dr. Vidas Kavaliauskas, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rūta Kazlauskaitė.
Online version developed by: Petras Pauliūnas.
The dictionary was considered and recommended for publication at the meeting of the Department of Lithuanian Studies of Vytautas Magnus University on 22nd November 2021 (Minutes No. 10) and at the meeting of the Council of the Faculty of Humanities on 7th December 2021 (Minutes No. 6-1).
For each headword, the dictionary provides its accented form, the accentual class, the abbreviation indicating the part of speech, and the transcription of the word, e.g. nùlis, 2 (sktv.) – [ˈnʊlʲɪs] (‘zero’).
Accentuation variants are presented with the perpendicular dash “|”. The first alternative is the one that is currently listed in the regulatory reference sources, e.g. pasaulnis, pasaulnė | pasáulinis, pasáulinė, 2 |1 (bdv.) – [pɐsɒʊˈlʲɪnʲɪs], [pɐsɒʊˈlʲɪnʲeː] | [pɐ¹ˈsɑˑʊlʲɪnʲɪs], [pɐ¹ˈsɑˑʊlʲɪnʲeː] (‘global’).
If the stress of a word depends on its meaning, this is also indicated in the entry. In such cases, a semicolon is written between the words and the variant accentual classes, e.g. Jaroslãvas; Jaròslavas, 2;1 (dkt.) – [jɛrɔ²ˈslɑːʋɐs]; [jɛˈrɔslɐʋɐs] (‘personal name’; ‘place name’).
If the stress does not vary, pronunciation variants are provided in the same square brackets, e.g.
archazmas, 2 (dkt.) – [ɐrxɐˈjɪzmɐs | ɐrxɐ.ˈɪzmɐs] (‘archaism’, singular nominative).
The main properties of sounds
Vowel sounds
There are 13 vowel sounds in standard Lithuanian. To determine their distinctive features, it is important to consider the vertical and horizontal movement of the tongue, lip activity, and sound duration.
The back-and-forth movement of the tongue conditions vowel frontness/backness.
In producing front vowels, the tongue moves forward, and the tip of the tongue approaches the lower teeth, thus forming a very small cavity in front of the tongue and a relatively large cavity behind it. This category includes the long tense vowels [æː, eː, iː] and the short lax vowels [ɛ, ɪ].
In producing back vowels, the tongue moves backwards and the back of it rises towards the soft palate, the tip of the tongue moves away from the lower teeth, and behind the tongue, deep in the mouth, a small cavity is formed. This category includes the long tense vowels [uː, oː, ɑː] and the short lax vowels [ʊ, ɔ, ɐ].
In Lithuanian, the back vowels [uː, oː, uɔ, ʊ, ɔ] are fronted when they follow palatalised (soft) consonants, e.g. gerù [ɡʲɛˈru] (‘good’, singular nominative) – geriù [ɡʲɛˈrʲʊ̟] (‘drink’, 1st person singular, present tense). In such instances, during the first phase of the articulation, the tongue moves forward and then recedes into the depths of the mouth. The vowels [ɑː, ɐ] undergo complete fronting, e.g. galià [ɡɐˈlʲɛ] (‘power’, singular nominative) – galè [ɡɐˈlʲɛ] (‘in the end’, singular locative).
The vertical movement of the tongue determines the degree of elevation of the tongue, which is directly related to the openness of the mouth: the higher the tongue rises, the more closed the mouth is, and conversely, if the tongue does not rise, the mouth opens quite wide.
The vowels in the production of which the tongue rises high, can touch the palate or its edges, and the mouth is relatively closed are called high vowels (also classified as close vowels). In Lithuanian these include [uː, iː, ʊ, ɪ].
The vowels in the production of which the tongue does not rise or even descends with the lower jaw down and the mouth is widely open are called low vowels (also classified as open vowels). In Lithuanian this category includes [ɑː, ɐ, æː, ɛ].
The other vowels occupy an intermediate position. In producing them, the tongue may rise only slightly, and the mouth may be more or less open. These are moderately elevated vowels and occupy an intermediate position with regard to the openness of the mouth. Such vowels in Lithuanian are [oː, ɔ, eː].
According to lip activity, vowels are classified into labialised (rounded) and unlabialised (unrounded). When labialised vowels are uttered, the lips are rounded and protruded. Such are [uː, oː]. In producing the other vowels, the lips are less active. When front vowels are pronounced, the lips are drawn sideways, and when the low back [ɑː] is pronounced, the lips are only slightly moved forward. Such position of the lips has a significant effect on the characteristics of these vowels, and thus they are called unlabialised.
In producing vowels, the speech organs are maintained in the position specific to a particular vowel for a certain period of time. This feature determines the duration of sounds. Based on the durational characteristics of vowel sounds, in Lithuanian two types of vowels are distinguished: long tense vowels, which include [uː, oː, ɑː, æː, eː, iː], and short lax vowels, which include [ʊ, ɔ, ɐ, ɛ, ɪ].
In Lithuanian, the duration of vowels is very important since there are many pairs of words where the meaning depends on the vowel duration, for example, skùsti [ˈskʊsʲtʲɪ] (‘to peel’) – sksti [¹ˈskuːsʲtʲɪ] (‘to denounce’), šáukštu [¹ˈʃɑˑʊkʃtʊ] (‘spoon’, singular instrumental) – šáukštų [¹ˈʃɑˑʊkʃtuː] (‘spoon’, plural genitive). This property indicates that long (tense) and short (lax) vowels are independent phonemes.
When long tense vowels are articulated, the speech organs are further away from the neutral position and thus these vowels are more tense than the corresponding short tense vowels. The tenseness in the speech organs is especially prominent when some long tense and short lax vowels are articulated, e.g. [ɑː] is undoubtedly a low back vowel, whereas when [ɐ] is articulated, the tongue is no longer retracted towards the throat and is raised a bit higher.
With regard to length, vowels in Lithuanian can be of two types. The duration of the vowels [ɑː, æː] sometimes depends on the stress. These vowels are lengthened in stressed positions, e.g. kãsa [ɐˈkɑːsɐ] (‘dig’, 3rd person, present tense) as opposed to kasu [kɐˈsʊ] (‘dig’, 2nd person, present tense). Thus, these are vowels of positional length. All the other vowels are always long despite the stress (i.e. they can be long in both stressed and unstressed positions) and regardless their position in the word (i.e. it does not matter if they appear in the middle or at the end of a word), e.g. gėl (dkt.) [ɡʲeː²ˈlʲeː] (‘flower‘, singular nominative) – glė (vksm.) [¹ˈɡʲeːlʲeː] (‘sting’, 3rd person, past tense).
There are sounds that functionally can be considered to be members of the Lithuanian sound inventory because they can be used before a vowel, a consonant, and word-finally, e.g. preangis [¹ˈpʲrʲiɛ.ɐŋʲɡʲɪs] (‘entryway’, singular nominative), prebutis [¹ˈpʲrʲiɛbʊtʲɪs] (‘porch’, singular nominative), žvėriẽ [ʒʲʋʲeː²ˈrʲiɛ] (‘beast‘, singular vocative). However, their phonetic characteristics are different from those of the afore-mentioned vowels. In producing them, the position of the tongue changes: at first it rises slightly and then descends very smoothly although no clear boundary can be established between these changes. These are [iɛ] and [uɔ]. They are called gliding members of the sound inventory (traditionally regarded as diphthongs in some works).
For a summary of the articulatory features of the sound inventory in standard Lithuanian, see Table 1.
Table 1. Summary of the articulatory features of the Lithuanian sound inventory
| Elevation of the tongue | Vowel backness and duration | |||
| Front | Back | |||
| Long | Short | Long | Short | |
| High | iː | ɪ | uː | ʊ |
| Mid | iɛ | uɔ | ||
| eː | oː | ɔ | ||
| Low | æː | ɛ | ɑː | ɐ |
Consonant Inventory
In standard Lithuanian, the consonant inventory consists of 45 sounds. They are classified according to the manner and place of articulation, the activity of the vocal cords, and palatality (softness).
The consonant classification based on the manner of articulation takes into account the obstruction in the vocal tract and how it is overcome.
The production of plosive consonants involves a complete obstruction of the airflow in the oral cavity, which is removed as the air rushes out with an explosive sound. This group includes [p, pʲ, b, bʲ, t, tʲ, d, dʲ, k, kʲ, ɡ, ɡʲ].
Nasal consonants are also produced by a complete obstruction of the airflow, but the obstruction is not removed; instead, it is bypassed: the air pressure escapes through the nasal cavity, as in [m, mʲ, n, nʲ].
Trill (vibrant) consonants are produced with a complete closure of the airflow (as the tip of the tongue presses tightly against the alveolar ridge), and part of the air comes out as the vocal tract expands briefly; it periodically contracts and expands, usually producing 2 or 3 brief occlusions. These sounds include [r, rʲ].
In producing fricative consonants, the articulators do not close completely but are brought closer together, for example, when the tip of the tongue approaches the front upper teeth. The air is blown fairly evenly through the resulting gap. In the IPA, some fricatives are transcribed by the usual characters [s, sʲ, z, zʲ, f, fʲ], the digraph ch is represented by [x, xʲ], and š, ž, h are represented by [ʃ, ʃʲ, ʒ, ʒʲ, ɣ] respectively.
Lateral consonants are similar to fricatives with regard to the manner of articulation. However, when they are produced, the articulators approach each other but not as narrowly as in the case of fricatives, so the airstream is not strong (similarly to vowels), resulting in a rather loud, sonorous sound. In Lithuanian, such sounds include [j, ʋ, ʋʲ]. If the airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, such consonants are classified as lateral approximants, which include [l, lʲ].
Affricates are more complex. These are consonants of variable articulation, which starts with a closure (as in the case of [t, d]), but the explosion that follows is very weak or non-existent and passes smoothly into the blowing phase typical of the fricatives [s, z, ʃ, ʒ]. In Lithuanian, such consonants include [ʦ, ʦʲ, ʧ, ʧʲ, ʣ, ʣʲ, ʤ, ʤʲ]. These sounds are functionally not decomposed and are included in the consonant inventory because in consonant clusters they occupy the same positions as plosives. In addition, breaking them down would create consonant clusters in word-initial and medial positions that are not characteristic of Lithuanian.
The second criterion that helps to classify consonants is the place of articulation. When pronouncing consonants, at a certain point in the vocal tract, the articulators form an obstacle (closure, narrowness, or a gap): the active articulators (such as the lips or the tongue) are moved into contact with or close to the passive articulators (such as the teeth, the alveolar ridge, and the palate).
Bilabial consonants are pronounced with compressed lips; these are [b, bʲ, p, pʲ, m, mʲ].
In producing labiodental consonants, the lower lip approaches the upper teeth; these consonants include [ʋ, ʋʲ, f, fʲ].
The anterior part of the tongue may approach the front teeth, the alveolar ridge, or the post-alveolar region. Thus, it depends on the passive articulator which consonant is pronounced: dental, alveolar, or postalveolar. The borderline between these subgroups is not clear-cut. Therefore, there is no general agreement on the classification of dental, alveolar, and postalveolar consonants in the Lithuanian language. Generally, [d, dʲ, t, tʲ, l, n, nʲ, s, sʲ, z, zʲ, ʦ, ʦʲ, ʣ, ʣʲ] are classified as dental consonants (especially the non-palatalised ones, in producing which the tip of the tongue touches the teeth), and [r, rʲ, lʲ, ʃ, ʃʲ, ʒ, ʒʲ, ʧ, ʧʲ, ʤ, ʤʲ] are categorised as alveolar. [ʃʲ, ʒʲ, ʧʲ, ʤʲ] may also be considered as postalveolar consonants.
The middle and posterior part of the tongue may rise high to the hard palate, thus producing the palatal consonant [j].
When the back of the tongue touches the soft palate, mid-palate or velar consonants are produced. In Lithuanian, these include [k, ɡ, x, ɣ]. The velar consonants [ŋ, ŋʲ] occur before other velar consonants, as in preangis [¹ˈpʲrʲiɛ.ɐŋʲɡʲɪs] (‘entryway’, singular nominative), and are variants of the phonemes [n, nʲ]. In producing the palatalised [kʲ, ɡʲ, xʲ, ɣʲ, ŋʲ], the tongue approaches the middle of the palate rather than the soft palate, and thus these are considered to be mid-palate sounds.
In producing some consonants, the vocal folds are brought together in such a way that they vibrate, while in the case of other consonants, the vocal folds are held apart. If the vocal folds are held apart and the air does not vibrate them, the consonants are said to be voiceless. In Lithuanian these include [p, pʲ, t, tʲ, k, kʲ, s, sʲ, ʃ, ʃʲ, ʦ, ʦʲ, ʧ, ʧʲ, x, xʲ, f, fʲ]. If the vocal folds are brought together and the air vibrates them, voiced consonants are articulated. In Lithuanian these are [b, bʲ, d, dʲ, ɡ, ɡʲ, z, zʲ, ʒ, ʒʲ, ʣ, ʣʲ, ʤ, ʤʲ, ɣ, ɣʲ, j, l, lʲ, m, mʲ, n, nʲ , r, rʲ, ʋ, ʋʲ]. According to this feature, some consonants in Lithuanian form pairs of correlates: [b – p, d – t, ɡ – k, z – s, ʒ – ʃ, ʣ – ʦ, ʤ – ʧ, ɣ – x], e.g. sẽgė [²ˈsʲæːɡʲeː] (‘brooch’, singular nominative) – sẽkė [²ˈsʲæːkʲeː] (‘follow’, 3rd person, past tense), bãdo [²ˈbɑːdoː] (‘famine’, singular genitive) – pãdo [²ˈpɑːdoː] (‘sole’, singular genitive), dãrė [²ˈdɑːrʲeː] (‘do’, 3rd person, past tense) – tãrė [²ˈtɑːrʲeː] (‘say’, 3rd person, past tense).
The consonants [l, lʲ, m, mʲ, n, nʲ, r, rʲ, ʋ, ʋʲ, j] are always voiced and have no voiceless correlates.
Consonants in Lithuanian, except [j], can be either non-palatalised (hard) or palatalised (soft): [b – bʲ, d – dʲ, ɡ – ɡʲ, k – kʲ, p – pʲ, t – tʲ, l – lʲ, m – mʲ, n – nʲ, r – rʲ, ʋ – ʋʲ, s – sʲ z – zʲ, ʃ – ʃʲ, ʒ – ʒʲ, x – xʲ, f – fʲ, ɣ – ɣʲ, ʦ – ʦʲ, ʧ – ʧʲ, ʣ – ʣʲ, ʤ – ʤʲ]. The consonant [j] is always palatalised.
In producing palatalised consonants, the middle part of the tongue is additionally raised towards the hard palate, touching its edges widely. Although the articulatory properties of non-palatalised and palatalised consonants differ only in the additional elevation of the tongue, in Lithuanian these consonants are independent phonemes because they can distinguish different words, e.g. nãro [²ˈnɑːroː] (‘diver’’, singular genitive) – nãrio [²ˈnɑːrʲo̟ː] (‘member’, singular genitive), galù [ɡɐˈlʊ] (‘end’, singular instrumental) – galiù [ɡɐˈlʲʊ̟] (‘can’, 1st person singular, present tense), šviesù [ʃʲʋʲiɛˈsʊ] (‘light’, impersonal) – šviesiù [ʃʲʋʲiɛˈsʲʊ̟] (‘light’, instrumental).
For a summary of the articulatory features of the consonant inventory in standard Lithuanian, see Table 2.
Table 2. Summary of the articulatory features of the consonant inventory in Lithuanian
| Manner of articulation |
Place of articulation | |||||
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar /postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
| Plosives | p b | t d | k ɡ | |||
| pʲ bʲ | tʲ dʲ | kʲ ɡʲ | ||||
| Fricatives | f | s z | ʃ ʒ | x ɣ | ||
| fʲ | sʲ zʲ | ʃʲ ʒʲ | xʲ ɣʲ | |||
| Affricates | ʦ ʣ | ʧ ʤ | ||||
| ʦʲ ʣʲ | ʧʲ ʤʲ | |||||
| Nasals | m | n | ŋ | |||
| mʲ | nʲ | ŋʲ | ||||
| Trills | r | |||||
| rʲ | ||||||
| Laterals | ʋ | j | ||||
| ʋʲ | ||||||
| Lateral approximants | l | |||||
| lʲ | ||||||
Diphthongs
A diphthong is a tautosyllabic sound sequence (that is, it occurs within the same syllable). In Lithuanian, an important property shared by all diphthongs is the pitch accent, e.g. the word katas (‘time’, singular nominative) contains the diphthong ar, but in the word mõrkos (‘carrot’, plural nominative), the sound sequence or does not form a diphthong because the stress is concentrated only on the center of the syllable, i.e. on the vowel o. Phonetically, a diphthong is a combination of sounds the articulatory and acoustic properties of which are variable and depend on the characteristics of the sounds that make up the diphthong.
In Lithuanian, diphthongs are classified into:
- diphthongs, which include ai, au, ei, ui; also, eu, oi, ou in words of foreign origin, e.g. laikù [lɐɪˈkʊ] (‘time’, singular instrumental), sveikù [sʲʋʲɛɪˈkʊ] (‘healthy’, singular instrumental), zuikiù [zʊɪˈkʲʊ̟] (‘bunny’, singular instrumental), eukalptas [ɛʊkɐˈlʲɪptɐs] (‘eucalyptus’, singular nominative), boikòtas [bɔɪˈkɔtɐs] (‘boycott’, singular nominative), klòunas [¹ˈklɔʊnɐs] (‘clown’, singular nominative);
- mixed diphthongs (vowel and consonant combinations), which include al, am, an, ar, el, em, en, er, il, im, in, ir, ul, um, un, ur; in words of foreign origin, mixed diphthongs with [ɔ] as the first constituent are also used, e.g. kapas [²ˈkɐmˑpɐs] (‘corner’, singular nominative), pélkė [¹ˈpʲæˑlʲkʲeː], kiñta [²ˈkʲɪnˑtɐ] (‘change’, 3rd person, present tense), kupis [²ˈkʊmʲˑpʲɪs] (‘ham’, singular nominative), spòrtas [¹ˈspɔrtɐs] (‘sport’, singular nominative).
In accented diphthongs, the following constituents are lengthened:
- the initial components a and e in diphthongs with the acute (or strong-initial [tvirtapradė]) , e.g. bártis [¹ˈbɑˑrʲtʲɪs] (‘quarrel’, infinitive), láukia [¹ˈlɑˑʊkʲɛ] (‘wait’, 3rd person, present tense);
- the second component in all accented diphthongs, e.g. banis [²ˈbɐrʲˑnʲɪs] (‘quarrel’, singular nominative), vikas [²ˈʋʲɪlˑkɐs] (‘wolf’, singular nominative); the sounds i and u in the second position of a diphthong retain the qualitative properties of short vowels and are represented by the symbols used for such vowels, as in laũkas [²ˈlɐʊˑkɐs] (‘field’, singular nominative).
In standard Lithuanian, the initial elements i and u with the acute and the sound o in words of foreign origin always remain short, e.g. plkas [¹ˈpʲɪlkɐs] (‘grey’, singular nominative), pùlti [¹ˈpʊlʲtʲɪ] (‘attack’, infinitive), spòrtas [¹ˈspɔrtɐs] (‘sport’, singular nominative).
For a complete list of Lithuanian diphthongs, see Table 3.
Table 3. Lithuanian diphthongs
| Type of diphthongs |
Unstressed | Acute accent | Circumflex accent |
| Diphthongs | ɐɪ | ɑˑɪ | ɐɪˑ |
| ɒʊ | ɑˑʊ | ɒʊˑ | |
| ɛɪ | æˑɪ | ɛɪˑ | |
| ɛʊ | æˑʊ (in words if foreign origin, also: ɛʊ ) | ɛʊˑ | |
| ʊɪ | ʊɪ | ʊɪˑ | |
| ɔɪ | ɔɪ | – | |
| ɔʊ | ɔʊ | – | |
| Mixed diphthongs |
ɐl ɐm ɐn ɐr | ɑˑl ɑˑm ɑˑn ɑˑr | ɐlˑ ɐmˑ ɐnˑ ɐrˑ |
| ɛl ɛm ɛn ɛr | æˑl æˑm æˑn æˑr (in words if foreign origin, also: ɛl, ɛm, ɛn, ɛr) | ɛlˑ ɛmˑ ɛnˑ ɛrˑ | |
| ɪl ɪm ɪn ɪr | ɪl ɪm ɪn ɪr | ɪlˑ ɪmˑ ɪnˑ ɪrˑ | |
| ʊl ʊm ʊn ʊr | ʊl ʊm ʊn ʊr | ʊlˑ ʊmˑ ʊnˑ ʊrˑ | |
| ɔl ɔm ɔn ɔr | ɔl ɔm ɔn ɔr | ɔlˑ ɔmˑ ɔnˑ ɔrˑ |
Sounds in fluent speech
Vowels and accent
The difference in the tension of speech organs and the duration of long-tense and short-lax vowels is maintained in both stressed and unstressed syllables, in the word-medial position, and in inflections, e.g. rto [ˈrʲɪtoː] (‘roll’, 3rd person, past tense) – rýto [¹ˈrʲiːtoː] (‘morning’, singular genitive), šlúotą [¹ˈʃluɔtɐ] (‘broom’, singular accusative) – šlúota [¹ˈʃluɔtɑː] (‘broom’, singular nominative).The accented a and e are often lengthened (thus qualifying as vowels of positional length), e.g. nešù [nʲɛˈʃʊ] (‘carry’, 1st person singular, present tense) – nẽša [²ˈnæːʃɐ] (‘carry’, 3rd person, present tense), ratù [rɐˈtʊ] (‘wheel’, singular instrumental) – rãtas [²ˈrɑːtɐs] (‘wheel’, singular nominative). The accented a and e remain short in the following positions:
- in the word-final position, e.g. rankà [rɐŋˈkɐ] (‘hand’, singular nominative), gėlè [gʲeːˈlʲɛ] (‘flower’, singular instrumental), arbà [ɐrˈbɐ] (‘or’); however, there are some exceptions: kasnãkt [kɐs²ˈnɑːkt] (‘every night’), mẽs [²ˈmʲæːs] (‘we’, nominative).
- in non-suffixed infinitives and forms made from them, except for the passive form of the past tense participle, e.g. kàsti [ˈkɐsʲtʲɪ] (‘dig’, infinitive), kàsdavo [ˈkɐzdɐʋoː] (‘dig’, 3rd person, past frequentative), kàstų [ˈkɐstuː] (‘dig’, subjunctive), but kãstas [²ˈkɑːstɐs] (‘dig’, past participle),
- in verb prefixes, e.g. àpkasa [ˈɐpkɐsɐ] (‘dig over’, 3rd person, present tense), nèkasa [ˈnʲɛkɐsɐ] (‘not dig’, 3rd person, present tense), pàkasa [ˈpɐkɐsɐ] (‘dig a bit’, 3rd person, present tense),
- in inflections of male singular pronominal forms in the nominative case, e.g. mažàsis [mɐˈʒɐsʲɪs] (‘the small one’, singular nominative), pirmàsis [pʲɪrˈmɐsʲɪs] (‘the first one’, singular nominative),
- in suffixes of the comparative and diminutive degree, e.g. mažèsnis [mɐˈʒʲɛsʲnʲɪs], mažėlèsnis [mɐʒʲeːˈlʲɛsʲnʲɪs],
- in the pronouns màno [ˈmɐnoː] (‘my’), tàvo [ˈtɐʋoː] (‘your’), sàvo [ˈsɐʋoː] (‘one’s own’),
- compound adverbs and prepositions, e.g. šiàpus [ˈʃʲɛpʊs](‘on this side’) , anàpus [ˈɐnɐpʊs] (‘on the other side’).
In the stems of words of foreign origin, the accented short vowels o and e are used, e.g. heròjus [ɣʲɛˈrɔjʊ̟s] (‘hero’, singular nominative), istòrija [ɪsˈtɔrɪjɛ] (‘history’, singular nominative), akadèmija [ɐkɐˈdʲɛmʲijɛ] (‘academy’, singular nominative), artèrija [ɐrʲˈtʲɛrʲɪjɛ] (‘artery’, singular nominative). An exception is the vowel o in older foreign words, where it has already adapted to the Lithuanian language system and is pronounced as a long vowel, e.g. dóleris [¹ˈdoːlʲɛrʲɪs] (‘dollar’, singular nominative), milijõnas [mʲɪlʲɪ²ˈjo̟ːnɐs] (‘million’, singular nominative).
Hiatus
In Lithuanian, hiatus (occurrence of two separate vowel sounds) is an infrequent phenomenon. It can occur at the junction of a prefix and a root, between two roots, between an unaccented word (clitic) and an accented word, and in words of foreign origin. Such adjacent vowels are not components of diphthongs, e.g. in the word panų (‘complex’, singular accusative masculine), the sequence ai is a diphthong since both vowels belong to the same syllable, whereas in the word pàima (‘take’, 3rd person, present tense), it is a hiatus. When two adjacent vowels co-occur, both of them are pronounced, e.g. neapýkanta [nʲɛ.ɐ¹ˈpʲiːkɐntɐ] (‘hatred’, singular nominative), ilgaaũsis [ɪlɡɐ. ²ˈɒʊˑsʲɪs] (‘long-eared’, singular nominative), įeti[iː²ˈɛɪˑtʲɪ] (‘enter’, infinitive), eksploatúoti [ɛksplɔ.ɐ¹ˈtuɔtʲɪ] (‘exploit’, infinitive), vãkuumas [²ˈʋɑːkʊ.ʊmɐs] (‘vacuum’, singular nominative), teãtras [tʲɛ.²ˈɑːtrɐs] (‘theatre’, singular nominative).In words of foreign origin, when the first vowel in the sound cluster is [ɪ] and the second component is any other vowel, it is usually recommended that the hiatus is omitted by inserting [j] instead, e.g. biogrãfija [bʲɪjɔ̟²ˈɡrɑːfʲɪjɛ] (‘biography’, singular nominative), čempiònas, –ė [tʃʲɛmʲpʲɪˈjɔ̟nɐs], [tʃʲɛmʲpʲɪˈjɔ̟nʲeː] (‘champion’, singular nominative). However, [j] is not inserted in words where i is not a vowel but is used as a sign indicating palatalisation, pvz., liãpsusas [²ˈlʲæːpsʊsɐs] (‘blunder’, singular nominative), jubiliãtas [jʊ̟bʲɪ²ˈlʲæːtɐs] (‘person celebrating a jubilee’, singular nominative).When in a vowel cluster the first element is any vowel and the second one is [ɪ], the sound [j] may be inserted or not, but the hiatus is always retained, e.g. archazmas (‘archaism’, singular nominative) can be pronounced as [ɐrxɐjˈɪzmɐs] or [ɐrxɐ.ˈɪzmɐs] and jėzutai (‘jesuits’, plural nominative) can be pronounced as [jeːzʊˈjɪtɐɪ] or [jeːzʊ.ˈɪtɐɪ].In clear compounds, [j] may be omitted, but the hiatus is retained, e.g. polietilènas [pɔlʲɪ.ɛtʲɪˈlʲɛnɐs] (‘polyethylene’, singular nominative), hidroizoliãcija [ɣʲɪdrɔ.ɪzɔ²ˈlʲæːʦʲɪjɐ] (‘hydro isolation’, singular nominative). In such cases, the position of the vowel [ɪ] is not important. The sound [j] is uttered before the word-initial ie, but it is omitted in the written form, e.g. ieškóti [jiɛ¹ˈʃkoːtʲɪ] (‘search’, infinitive), apieškóti [ɐpʲjiɛ¹ˈʃkoːtʲɪ] (‘search’, infinitive), paieškóti [pɐjiɛ¹ˈʃkoːtʲɪ] (‘search, look up’, infinitive).
Consonant alternations in relation to the vocal fold activity
In Lithuanian, when consonant clusters are articulated, the vocal folds either vibrate (in producing voiced consonants) or do not vibrate (in producing voiceless consonants), e.g. such written forms as bagsi (‘end’, 3rd person, present tense), dróžti (‘sharpen’, infinitive), išgido (‘hear’, 3rd person, past tense), vèsdavo (‘lead’, 3rd person, past frequentative), vèžk (‘carry’, singular imperative) are articulated as [²ˈbɐɪˑksʲɪ], [¹ˈdroːʃʲtʲɪ], [ɪʒʲ²ˈɡʲɪrˑdoː], [ˈʋʲɛzdɐʋoː], [ˈʋʲɛʃk].The consonants [l, lʲ, m, mʲ, n, nʲ, ŋ, r, rʲ, ʋ, ʋʲ, j] do not trigger or undergo such alternations: they neither become voiceless nor make other consonants voiced, e.g. tamsa [tɐmˈsɐ] (‘darkness’, singular nominative), išrašė [ɪʃ²ˈrɑːʃjeː] (‘prescribe’, 3rd person, past tense).Consonants also alternate in relation to the vocal fold activity when clitics are combined with independent words, e.g. iš draũgo [ɪʒ‿²ˈdrɒuˑɡoː] (‘from a friend’), už kálno [ʊʃ‿¹ˈkɑˑlnoː] (‘behind the mountain’). In the word-final position, voiced consonants become voiceless, e.g. kadà (‘when’) – kàd [ˈkɐt] (‘that’), lýgiai (‘exactly’) – lýg [¹ˈlʲiːk] (‘as if’), mãža (‘little’) – bemàž [bʲɛˈmɐʃ] (‘almost’). Consonants remain voiceless also when a word is adjacent to another word that starts with a vowel or a sonorous consonant, e.g. daug vago[dɒʊk‿²ˈʋɐrˑɡoː]. Only the preposition už is voiced before vowels and sonorous consonants, e.g. už nãmo[ʊʒ‿²ˈnɑːmoː].
Consonant alternations in relation to palatalisation
In Lithuanian, palatalised consonants are used in the following positions:
- before front vowels, as in the word léisime [¹ˈlæˑɪsʲɪmʲɛ] (‘allow’, 1st person plural, future tense),
- before back vowels (earlier in such positions, [j] would occur, but it eventually disappeared and now in writing the softening i is written instead), as in the word geriù [ɡʲɛˈrʲʊ̟] (‘drink’, 1st person singular, present tense),
- before another palatalised consonant, as in the word léisti [¹ˈlʲæˑɪsʲtʲɪ] (‘allow’, infinitive), but [k, ɡ] can remain non-palatalised in consonant clusters, e.g. bgti [¹ˈbʲeːktʲɪ] (‘run’, infinitive).
Any word-final sound, except l, in a contiguous non-autonomous word is also softened when it precedes an autonomous word that starts with a front vowel or a palatalised consonant, e.g. už eils[ʊʒʲ‿ɛɪ²ˈlʲeːs] (‘behind the row’), but dėl eils[dʲeːl‿ɛɪ²ˈlʲeːs] (‘for the row’).In the word-final position, only non-palatalised consonants are pronounced, e.g. daũgelis [²ˈdɒuˑɡʲɛlʲɪs] (‘many’) and daũgel [²ˈdɒuˑɡʲɛl] (‘many’). In fast speech, all back consonants, except l, can be softened or at least partly softened before the initial front vowel or palatalised consonant in the adjacent word.
Consonant alternations in relation to the place of articulation
The position of articulation changes for the dentals [s, sʲ, z, zʲ, ʦ, ʦʲ, ʣ, ʣʲ] when they occur in adjacency to the alveolar consonants [ʃ, ʃʲ, ʒ, ʒʲ, ʧ, ʧʲ, ʤ, ʤʲ]. In such combinations, they become alveolar, and alveolar consonants become dental, e.g. rpesčių [²ˈruːpʲɛʃʲʧʲu̟ː] (‘concern’, plural genitive), kàsčiau [ˈkɐʃʲʧʲɛʊ] (‘dig’, 3rd person singular, subjunctive), vabzdžia[ʊɐbʲ²ˈʒʲʤʲɛiˑ] (‘insect’, plural nominative), išcukrãvo [ɪsʦʊ²ˈkrɑːʋoː] (‘coat with sugar’, 3rd person, past tense). This process also occurs at the juncture of clitics and autonomous words, e.g. iš cùkraus [ɪs‿ˈʦʊkrɐʊs] (‘from sugar’).
Geminates
In Lithuanian, sequencies of identical consonants, or the so-called geminates, do not exist; that is, in such sequencies the first consonant is omitted (degemination takes place), e.g. pérrėžė [¹ˈpʲæːrʲeːʒʲeː] (‘cut across’, 3rd person, past tense), pùsseserė [ˈpʊsʲɛsʲɛrʲeː] (‘cousin’, singular nominative). At the juncture of non-autonomous and autonomous words, geminates are also eliminated, e.g. ant tvárto [ɐn‿¹ˈtʋɑˑrtoː] (‘on a barn’). Degemination often accompanies some other phonetic processes already discussed, e.g. ùžsienis (‘abroad’, singular nominative), where the alveolar voiced consonant [ʒ] precedes the dental voiceless [s], is usually pronounced as [ˈʊsʲɪɛnʲɪs].
Stress and pitch accent
In Lithuanian, one syllable in a word is pronounced with more prominence and is thus said to be stressed. The nucleus (or center) of such a syllable, which is a vowel, diphthong, or mixed diphthong, is more intense, slightly longer, and slightly higher in tone than an unstressed syllable of the same composition. If the stressed syllable is long, i.e. its nucleus consists of a long vowel, diphthong, or mixed diphthong, it can be pronounced in two ways. This is determined by pitch accent (pronunciation modulation of the long stressed syllable), which can be of the following types:
- acute (or strong-initial) accent; in accented text, it is marked by the grave diacritic (`) or the acute diacritic (´), e.g. rgti [¹ˈruːktʲɪ] (‘get sour’, infinitive), mérkti [¹ˈmʲæˑrʲktʲɪ] (‘wink’, infinitive), mnti [¹ˈmʲɪnʲtʲɪ], (‘tread’, infinitive),
- circumflex (or strong-final) accent; in accented text, it is marked by a tilde (˜), e.g. rkti [²ˈruːktʲɪ] (‘smoke’, infinitive), mekti [²ˈmʲɛrʲˑktʲɪ] (‘drizzle’, infinitive), miñti [²ˈmʲɪnʲˑtʲɪ] (‘remember’, infinitive).
The phonetic features of the pitch accent depend on the nucleus of the syllable. The pitch accent in the mixed diphthongs al, am, an, ar, el, em, en, er and the diphthongs au, ai, ei varies in the length of the first component: in the case of the acute accent, the first component is slightly lengthened, whereas in the case of the circumflex, the second component is slightly lengthened, e.g. bártis [¹ˈbɑˑrʲtʲɪs] (‘quarrel’, infinitive) – banis [²ˈbɐrʲˑnʲɪs] (‘quarrel’, singular nominative), láukia [¹ˈlɑˑʊkʲɛ] (‘wait’, 3rd person, present tense) – laũkas [²ˈlɒʊˑkɐs] (‘the outside’, singular nominative). In terms of qualitative properties, lengthened acute components are similar to long vowels. When i and u occur in the second position in diphthongs, they retain the qualitative properties of short vowels. In standard language, the pitch accent varies in the mixed diphthongs il, im, in, ir, ul, um, un, ur, in the mixed diphthongs ol, om, on, or in words of foreign origin, and in the diphthong ui with regard to the component that receives more prominence when uttered. In diphthongs with an acute, the first component is not lengthened (usually marked by the grave diacritic (`)). In diphthongs with a circumflex, the second component is slightly lengthened, e.g. plkas [¹ˈpʲɪlkɐs] (‘grey’, singular nominative masculine) – vikas [²ˈʋʲɪlˑkɐs] (‘wolf’, singular nominative), kùlti [¹ˈkʊlʲtʲɪ] (‘flail’, infinitive) – kunas [²ˈkʊlˑnɐs] (‘heel’, singular nominative).The pitch accent of long vowels can vary in intensity and pitch, e.g. vjas [¹ˈʋʲeːjɛs] (‘wind’, singular nominative) – jo [²ˈeːjo̟ː] (‘go’, 3rd person, past tense), vras[¹ˈʋʲiːrɐs] (‘man’, singular nominative) – vris[²ˈʋʲiːrʲɪs] (‘hinge’, singular nominative).Short stressed syllables have no pitch accent, and in accented text only the stress is marked (by the grave diacritic (`)), e.g. ràsti [ˈrɐsʲtʲɪ] (‘find’, infinitive), aks [ɐˈkʲɪs] (‘eye’, singular, nominative).In Lithuanian, stress is free and can occur on any syllable of the word, e.g. pãmatas (‘foundation’, singular nominative), pamatýti (‘to see’), pamãto (‘see’, 3rd person, present tense), dilgėl (‘nettle‘, singular nominative).When a word changes its form, the place of the stress may also change, e.g. pãmato (‘foundation’, singular genitive), pãmatui (‘foundation’, singular dative), pãmatą (‘foundation’, singular accusative), pãmatu (‘foundation’, singular instrumental), pamatè (‘foundation’, singular locative), pamataũ (‘see’, 1st person singular, present tense), pamataĩ (‘see’, 2nd person singular, present tense). Declined words are accentuated according to four accentual paradigms. Verbs can have a stable or a mobile stress.
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