Profesorius Michalas Hasiukas – Lenkijos lietuvių šnektų tyrėjas

ENThe article presents the interview with Professor Michał Hasiuk, a researcher of Lithuanian dialects in Poland. In his scientific works, Michał Hasiuk has devoted special attention to dialectology of the Lithuanian language (especially to Lithuanian dialects from the territory of Poland) and the Yotvingian language. He has studied vowel and consonant changes and analysed phonetic processes taking place in the Seinai dialect. He has organized several dialectological expeditions in Seinai, Punskas and Vižainis regions, where he collected and recorded dialects. The records of Vižainis dialect are particularly important and unique, since the dialect is already nonexistent. Thanks to his efforts, the Department of Baltic Studies, where he taught descriptive and historical grammar of the Lithuanian language, the history of the Lithuanian language and dialectology, got the right to conduct classes for students in the specialty of Lithuanian Philology.In 2002, the specialty of Latvian Philology was opened at the University of Adam Mickiewicz, also thanks to Michał Hasiuk. In the interview, Professor tells about his scientific work, how and why he got interested in the Lithuanian language. He remembers the first activities, as well as the problems and difficulties he encountered during his training in Soviet Lithuania. He recollects the people he met there. He talks about research trips to collect Lithuanian dialects in Poland: how he collected material, which places he visited, how he was treated by the residents and local authorities. This sentimental journey takes us to Punskas and Seinai region of those times, as it was seen by the researcher. It is possible to understand that the performance of any scientific research during the Communist period was not easy.