Role of Historical Language Materials in the Studying of the Baltic-Slavic Borderlands

The paper sets out the hypothesis that historical language materials have considerable potential for use in the study of the Baltic-Slavic borderlands. It briefly outlines preliminary results of research on language contacts in the Baltic-Slavic border area in the light of new historical sources. The investigation of dialects and their interferences in border areas with heterogeneous historical and contemporary sociolinguistic situation is a complex task. The author believes that the micro-area approach is the most productive in the study of border areas. It appears that the most appropriate approach to the study of border areas is a combination of traditional linguistic methodology with the findings of ethnographers, anthropologists and ethnohistorians.