• =?UTF-8?Q?Knygne=c5=a1io_Diena_=28Lithuania=29_=2816_March=29?=

    From Ross Clark@21:1/5 to All on Sun Mar 17 22:00:33 2024
    "Day of the Book Smugglers" is Crystal's English, though Google
    Translate gives me "Book Carrier Day".

    It all goes back to a period (1863-1904) when the Russian Tsars
    (starting with Alexander II) attempted to stamp out all forms of
    Lithuanian language and culture in what was then their province of
    Lithuania. A creepy governor, Count Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov (his
    surname means "ants") was entrusted with carrying out this project.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Muravyov-Vilensky

    Naturally it was a crime to publish, sell or read books in Lithuanian.
    But various people managed to establish clandestine smuggling networks, obtaining Lithuanian books and periodicals from neighbouring countries
    and distributing them. (One estimate is that more than 5 million items
    found their way into the country during this time.)

    March 16 is the birthday of Jurgis Bielinis, one of the leading
    smugglers, who became something of a folk hero.

    https://www.ramuva.lt/index.php/istorijos/musu-mintys/108-kovo-16-knygneio-diena

    One site seems to indicate that "Su Knygnešio Diena!" is how you would
    say "Happy Book Smugglers Day!" in Lithuanian. I mention this only
    because it relates to a topic that came up recently on a.u.e. In place
    of the ubiquitous holiday-greeting "Happy..." in English, Russian just
    uses the preposition "S" (with) (plus the instrumental case of course).
    I'm guessing that "Su" is the Lithuanian cognate of this.

    Here's a page announcing last year's Knygnešio Diena:

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=896288054958596&set=a.502140551040017&type=3&locale=lt_LT&paipv=0&eav=AfZ3QNvcsN8tZR5oZhKVoJbv88ZWXkSfYVZcCoGaT3UltCd5dlUR2VfHy2iE5KWZ4G4&_rdr

    The celebrations don't look all that colourful or exciting, but it's a
    nice idea, worthy of commemoration. Jim McCawley, who believed all
    linguists should celebrate Hangul Day along with the Koreans, might have considered this one also worth a party -- people risking death to keep
    their national language alive.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Aidan Kehoe@21:1/5 to All on Sun Mar 17 17:01:27 2024
    Ar an seachtú lá déag de mí Márta, scríobh Ross Clark:

    [...] Here's a page announcing last year's Knygnešio Diena:

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=896288054958596&set=a.502140551040017&type=3&locale=lt_LT&paipv=0&eav=AfZ3QNvcsN8tZR5oZhKVoJbv88ZWXkSfYVZcCoGaT3UltCd5dlUR2VfHy2iE5KWZ4G4&_rdr

    The celebrations don't look all that colourful or exciting, but it's a nice idea, worthy of commemoration. Jim McCawley, who believed all linguists should
    celebrate Hangul Day along with the Koreans, might have considered this one also worth a party -- people risking death to keep their national language alive.

    Thanks for that, never heard of it, and great to see a culture celebrating something like this.

    --
    ‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /
    How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’
    (C. Moore)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)