Language ‘nationalisation’: one hundred years of standard Lithuanian

More than a hundred years have passed since Lithuanian was shaped into a standard language. The chronology of the period marks key changes in language functioning and ideologies. This chapter introduces the period of formation of Standard Lithuanian (SL), then the years of Soviet modernism and, finally, the period of accelerated globalisation, with its outset coinciding with the restoration of Lithuania’s independence. Much attention is given to the historic con-text, which has led to a clearly articulated ideology of standardisation. Reference is made to fairly scarce data on SL usage