ABSTRACT
There are two main dialectal divisions: zemait or Lower Lithuanian, and aukstait or U pper (High) Lithuanian. The sixteenth century saw the beginnings of Lithuanian literature in the shape of religious and devotional writings. The great landm ark in the development of the literary language is the publication in 1818 of the rural epic poem Metai (T h e Seasons’) by K. Donelaitis. The modern literary language is based on the aukstait dialect. Writing in all genres flourished during the period of independence between the wars.
