Family Language Policy and dialect maintenance in the Lithuanian diaspora.

This article examines dialect maintenance within the Lithuanian diaspora across three major emigration waves using Spolsky's Family Language Policy (FLP) framework and Curdt-Christiansen's dynamic model. It finds that FLP regarding Lithuanian dialects varies according to the historical period of emigration, shaped by differing language ideologies and sociopolitical contexts in Lithuania at the time of departure. The first wave (late 19th century to 1939) primarily used native dialects without a standard language, resulting in mixed dialectal varieties in diaspora communities. The second wave (World War II refugees), composed largely of educated elites, adopted and promoted standard Lithuanian at home, reflecting the pre-war national language ideology. The third wave (post-1990) shows more positive attitudes toward dialect use in private and public spheres abroad, yet families often face challenges in passing dialects to children due to the dominance of standard Lithuanian in heritage language education. Overall, external factors such as national language policy and educational systems strongly influence FLP and dialect transmission in the Lithuanian diaspora.