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Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Lithuanian Language: Application of GIS Tools and Geospatial Analysis Methods in Language Perception Studies

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Published/Copyright: November 3, 2025
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Abstract

The article presents the Spatial AidasData Infrastructure for the Lithuanian Language (SDI4LTL), developed by Lithuanian geolinguists on the basis of the Esri ArcGIS platform, which is used for the optimisation of the processes of linguistic spatial data collection, analysis, and sharing. SDI4LTL will ensure systematic monitoring of linguistic and sociolinguistic processes in Lithuania, which are expected to change intensively due to various socioeconomic, demographic, and geopolitical factors. To reveal the potential of SDI4LTL, Geographical Information System (GIS)-based tools and methods are used to analyse the data of perceptual dialectology: 4,022 gymnasium students' responses to an online questionnaire on the use of the dialect and their perception of the dialect user (i.e., more than 12,000 associations of a dialect speaker) were analysed.

The geospatial analysis identified the areas of highest and lowest dialecticity in Lithuania, the degree of prestige of the local language variant used by the younger generation, the values of the dialect-speaking associations, and the correlation of the results.

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Published Online: 2025-11-03
Published in Print: 2025-11-25

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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