Editing Lithuanian language (section)

===Indo-European vocabulary===
Lithuanian retains [[cognate]]s to many words found in classical languages, such as [[Sanskrit]] and [[Latin language|Latin]]. These words are descended from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]. A few examples are the following:
* Lith. {{Transliteration|lt|sūnus}} and Skt. {{Transliteration|sa|sūnu}} (son)
* Lith. {{Transliteration|lt|avis}} and Skt. {{Transliteration|sa|avi}} and Lat. ''ovis'' (sheep)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|dūmas}} and Skt. ''d<sup>h</sup>ūma'' and Lat. ''fumus'' (fumes, smoke)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|antras}} and Skt. {{Transliteration|sa|antara}} (second, the other)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|vilkas}} and Skt. ''vṛka'' (wolf)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|ratas}} and Lat. ''rota'' (wheel) and Skt. ''rat<sup>h</sup>a'' (carriage)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|senis}} and Lat. ''senex'' (an old man) and Skt. ''sanas'' (old)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|vyras}} and Lat. ''vir'' (a man) and Skt. ''vīra'' (man)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|angis}} and Lat. ''anguis'' (a snake in Latin, a species of snakes in Lithuanian)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|linas}} and Lat. ''linum'' (flax, compare with English 'linen')
* Lith. {{lang|lt|ariu}} and Lat. ''aro'' (I plow)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|jungiu}} and Lat. ''iungo'', and Skt. ''yuñje'' (mid.), (I join)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|gentys}} and Lat. ''gentes'' and Skt. ''játi'' (tribes)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|mėnesis}} and Lat. ''mensis'' and Skt. ''masa'' (month)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|dantis}} and Lat. ''dens'' and Skt. ''danta'' (tooth)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|naktis}} and Lat. ''noctes'' (plural of ''nox'') and Skt. ''naktam'' (night)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|ugnis}} and Lat. ''ignis'' and Skt. ''agni'' (fire)
* Lith. {{lang|lt|sėdime}} and Lat. ''sedemus'' and Skt. ''sīdama'' (we sit)

This even extends to grammar, where for example Latin noun declensions ending in ''-um'' often correspond to Lithuanian ''-ų'', with the [[Latin declension#Fourth declension (u)|Latin]] and [[Lithuanian declension#Table of noun declension endings|Lithuanian fourth declensions]] being particularly close. Many of the words from this list are similar to other Indo-European languages, including English and Russian. The contribution of Lithuanian was influential in the reconstruction of [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]].

Lexical and grammatical similarities between Baltic and [[Slavic languages]] suggest an affinity between these two language groups. On the other hand, there exist a number of Baltic (particularly Lithuanian) words without counterparts in Slavic languages, but which are similar to words in Sanskrit or Latin.<!-- Not from the list above. Cf. Russian сын, овца, дым, волк, etc. --> The history of the relationship between Baltic and Slavic languages, and our understanding of the affinity between the two groups, remain in dispute (see: [[Balto-Slavic languages]]).