James Hong: Career: …in the sports comedy film Balls of Fury. In the Kung Fu Panda films (2008, 2011, and 2016), Hong voiced the character of Mr. Ping, the main character’s adoptive father. In 2022 he played the role of Gong Gong, the father of protagonist Evelyn Wang (played by Michelle Yeoh) in…

Ed Balls is a British politician who was a member of the Labour Party, particularly involved in economic policy. His various government posts included shadow chancellor (2011–15). Balls attended schools in Norwich and Nottingham before studying at Keble College, Oxford, where he earned (1988) a

Ed Balls is a British politician who was a member of the Labour Party, particularly involved in economic policy. His various government posts included shadow chancellor (2011–15). Balls attended schools in Norwich and Nottingham before studying at Keble College, Oxford, where he earned (1988) a

Paul-H.-B. d’Estournelles de Constant was a French diplomat and parliamentarian who devoted most of his life to the cause of international cooperation and in 1909 was co-winner (with Auguste-Marie-François Beernaert) of the Nobel Prize for Peace. In the French diplomatic service he reached the rank

Bally, city, southeastern West Bengal state, northeastern India. It lies on the west bank of the Hugli (Hooghly) River, opposite Baranagar, and is part of the Haora (Howrah) urban agglomeration as well as the larger Kolkata (Calcutta) metropolitan area. Bally was constituted a municipality in 1883.

stylistics: …the ideas that derive from Charles Bally (1865–1947), the Swiss philologist, and Leo Spitzer (1887–1960), the Austrian literary critic. According to followers of these thinkers, style in language arises from the possibility of choice among alternative forms of expression, as for example, between “children,” “kids,” “youngsters,” and “youths,” each of…

Ballycastle, town, Causeway Coast and Glens district, Northern Ireland. It is situated along Ballycastle Bay, opposite Rathlin Island, where Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland, is said to have hidden in a cave. Ballycastle is at the mouth of Glenshesk and close to Knocklayd (1,695 feet [517

Bray: The remains of Ballyman Church, rebuilt in the 12th and 13th centuries, are nearby in the Bray River valley. The area has electronics and engineering industries. Pop. (2002) 26,244; (2011) 26,852.

Ballymena, former district (1973–2015) within the former County Antrim, now in the Mid and East Antrim district, northeastern Northern Ireland. The former district of Ballymena bordered the former districts of Magherafelt to the west, Ballymoney and Moyle to the north, Larne to the east, and Antrim

Ballymena, town, Mid and East Antrim district, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1626, it lies in the River Main valley 24 miles (40 km) northwest of the city of Belfast. The town is the market center for the surrounding countryside and has been long known for its production of linens and woolens; more

Ballymoney: Ballymoney town is now a thriving agricultural centre with textile and engineering industries as well as several bacon- and ham-processing plants.

Ballymoney, town and former district (1973–2015) within the former County Antrim, now part of Causeway Coast and Glens district, northern Northern Ireland. The town of Ballymoney, located on the eastern side of the valley on a tributary of the River Bann, was the birthplace of James McKinley,

Dublin: After national independence: …developments in the towns of Ballymun and Ballyfermot; unfortunately, these proved no more immune to the crime and vandalism that plagued such buildings practically everywhere. Recognizing this, in the early 21st century Dublin City Council approved the demolition of nearly all the tower buildings in Ballymun as part of a…

Down: …has some textile industry, while Ballynahinch, located farther west, has agricultural machinery and metal-fabrication industries. Newcastle in the south and Killyleagh in the east are popular seaside resorts. Tollymore Forest Park, about 1,200 acres (500 hectares) of forest on the slopes of the Mourne Mountains in southern Down, was the…

lemon balm, (Melissa officinalis), aromatic herb of the mint family (Lamiaceae), grown for its lemon-scented fragrant leaves. Lemon balm is native to the Mediterranean region and Central Asia and has naturalized in parts of North America and elsewhere. It is widely cultivated in temperate climates

balm, any of several aromatic herbs of the mint family, grown for their fragrant leaves. The best-known balm plant is Melissa officinalis, also called balm gentle or lemon balm, which is cultivated in temperate climates and used as a scent in perfumery, as a flavouring in such foods as salads,

Canada balsam: …greenish liquid exuded by the balsam fir of North America, Abies balsamea. It is actually a turpentine, belonging to the class of oleoresins (natural products consisting of a resin dissolved in an essential oil), and not a balsam.

lemon balm, (Melissa officinalis), aromatic herb of the mint family (Lamiaceae), grown for its lemon-scented fragrant leaves. Lemon balm is native to the Mediterranean region and Central Asia and has naturalized in parts of North America and elsewhere. It is widely cultivated in temperate climates

Lanford Wilson: Balm in Gilead (1965), Wilson’s first full-length play, is set in a crowded world of hustlers and junkies. The Rimers of Eldritch (1967) examines life in a small town.

balm: Balm of Gilead, or balm of Mecca, is the myrrhlike resin from Commiphora gileadensis of the Arabian Peninsula. The balsam fir (Abies balsamea) is sometimes called balm fir, or balm of Gilead fir, and the balm of Gilead poplar (Populus X jackii) is related to…

poplar: Common species: The buds of the balm of Gilead poplar (P. ×jackii), which is similar, are used to make an ointment. The western balsam poplar, also called black cottonwood (P. trichocarpa), grows some 60 metres (195 feet) tall and is one of the largest deciduous trees of northwestern North America.

José Manuel Balmaceda was a liberal reformer and president of Chile (1886–91) whose conflict with his legislature precipitated a civil war in 1891. Balmaceda was elected to the Chilean congress from the Liberal Party in 1870. While serving in the cabinet of President Domingo Santa María (1881–86),

Pedro Pascal is a Chilean-born American actor who became famous with a series of hugely popular TV shows, including Narcos (2015–17), The Mandalorian (2019– ), and The Last of Us (2023– ). He is especially known for portraying antiheroic father figures. Pedro Balmaceda (as he was originally known)

Pierre Balmain was a French couturier who in 1945 founded a fashion house that made his name a byword for elegance. His clients included the Duchess of Windsor, the Queen of Belgium, and many of the leading film stars of the 1950s, as well as the experimental writer Gertrude Stein and her

Pierre Balmain was a French couturier who in 1945 founded a fashion house that made his name a byword for elegance. His clients included the Duchess of Windsor, the Queen of Belgium, and many of the leading film stars of the 1950s, as well as the experimental writer Gertrude Stein and her

mountaineering: History: …Michel-Gabriel Paccard, and his porter, Jacques Balmat. A year later de Saussure himself climbed to the summit of Mont Blanc. After 1850 groups of British climbers with Swiss, Italian, or French guides scaled one after another of the high peaks of Switzerland. A landmark climb in the growth of the…

atom: Bohr’s shell model: The model also explains the Balmer formula for the spectral lines of hydrogen. The light energy is the difference in energies between the two orbits in the Bohr formula. Using Einstein’s formula to deduce the frequency of the light, Bohr not only explained the form of the Balmer formula but…

Johann Jakob Balmer was a Swiss mathematician who discovered a formula basic to the development of atomic theory and the field of atomic spectroscopy. A secondary-school teacher in Basel from 1859 until his death, Balmer also lectured (1865–90) on geometry at the University of Basel. In 1885 he

Stark effect: …the characteristic spectral lines, called Balmer lines, of hydrogen were split into a number of symmetrically spaced components, some of which were linearly polarized (vibrating in one plane) with the electric vector parallel to the lines of force, the remainder being polarized perpendicular to the direction of the field except…

Jaime Luciano Balmes was an ecclesiastic, political writer, and philosopher whose liberal ideas were strongly opposed by conservative Roman Catholics. Receiving a doctorate in civil and canon law from the University of Cervera, Balmes returned to Vich and taught physics and mathematics. In Madrid

Russia: The 20th century: included the poets Valery Bryusov, Konstantin Balmont, and Zinaida Gippius. The second, more mystically and apocalyptically oriented generation included Aleksandr Blok (perhaps the most talented lyric poet Russia ever produced), the poet and theoretician Vyacheslav Ivanov, and the poet and prose writer

Balmoral Castle, private residence of the British sovereign, on the right bank of the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, at 926 feet (282 metres) above sea level. After its acquisition (1852) by Albert, the prince consort (husband of Queen Victoria), the small castle then on the land was replaced

Henry Balnaves was a politician and diplomat who was one of the chief promoters of the Reformation in Scotland. Converted to Protestantism while on the European continent, Balnaves favoured an Anglo-Scottish alliance, ecclesiastical reform, and a vernacular Bible. After returning to Scotland, he

Baloch, group of tribes speaking the Balochi language and estimated at about five million inhabitants in the province of Balochistan in Pakistan and also neighboring areas of Iran and Afghanistan. In Pakistan the Baloch people are divided into two groups, the Sulaimani and the Makrani, separated

Balochi language, one of the oldest living languages of the Indo-Iranian group of the Indo-European languages. A West Iranian language, Balochi is spoken by about nine million people as a first or second language in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, India, and Baloch diaspora communities. Balochi is

Baluchi rug, floor covering woven by the Baloch people living in Afghanistan and eastern Iran. The patterns in these rugs are highly varied, many consisting of repeated motifs, diagonally arranged across the field. Some present a maze of intricate latch-hooked forms. Prayer rugs, with a simple

Baluchistan, traditional region of southeastern Iran, the greater part of which is in Sīstān va Balūchestān ostān (province). With harsh physical and social conditions, the region is among the least developed in Iran. Precipitation, scarce and falling mostly in violent rainstorms, causes floods and

Balochistan, westernmost province of Pakistan. It is bordered by Iran (west), by Afghanistan (northwest), by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces (northeast and east), by Sindh province (southeast), and by the Arabian Sea (south). Although an indigenous population of the region passed through

Pakistan: The Balochistan plateau: The vast tableland of Balochistan contains a great variety of physical features. In the northeast a basin centered on the towns of Zhob and Loralai forms a trellis-patterned lobe that is surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges. To the east and southeast…

Pakistan: Political process: …Front in Sindh, and the Balochistan Students Union in Balochistan.

Balochistan: The University of Balochistan was established in Quetta in 1970. The Balochi Academy and the Pashto Academy, also in Quetta, promote the preservation of traditional cultures. Area 134,051 square miles (347,190 square km). Pop. (2003 est.) 7,450,000.

Jānis Balodis was an army officer and politician who was a principal figure in the foundation and government of independent Latvia. He was commander in chief of the army and navy in Latvia’s war of independence and later was a cabinet member and vice president. Graduated from the military academy

Jean Balon was a ballet dancer whose extraordinarily light, elastic leaps reputedly inspired the ballet term “ballon” used to describe a dancer’s ability to ascend without apparent effort and to land smoothly and softly. The ballet term is also thought to derive from the French word ballon

Baluchi rug, floor covering woven by the Baloch people living in Afghanistan and eastern Iran. The patterns in these rugs are highly varied, many consisting of repeated motifs, diagonally arranged across the field. Some present a maze of intricate latch-hooked forms. Prayer rugs, with a simple

Luba: …by a paramount chief (bulopwe or balopwe), although smaller independent chiefdoms already existed. The Luba empire was fragmented by Belgian colonization between 1880 and 1960, and the breakdown of the empire resulted in the development either of smaller chiefdoms or of small autonomous local lineage groups.

Balor, in Celtic mythology, chief of the chaotic race of Fomoire—the demonic race that threatened the Irish people until they were subdued in the second great battle of Mag Tuired (Moytura). When Balor was a boy, he looked into a potion being brewed by his father’s Druids, and the fumes caused him

Lovedu, a Bantu-speaking people of Northern province, S.Af. Their immediate neighbours include the Venda and the Tsonga. Agriculture is their major economic activity, with corn (maize), millet, squash, and peanuts (groundnuts) cultivated by hoe. Animal husbandry is a secondary means of food

Balqash, city, east-central Kazakhstan. The city is a landing on the north shore of Lake Balqash (Balkhash). Balqash is a major centre of nonferrous (copper, predominantly, and molybdenum) metallurgy. It came into being in 1937 in connection with the construction of large copper-smelting works for

Lake Balkhash, lake, situated in east-central Kazakhstan. The lake lies in the vast Balkhash-Alaköl basin at 1,122 feet (342 meters) above sea level and is situated 600 miles (966 kilometers) east of the Aral Sea. It is 376 miles (605 kilometers) long from west to east. Its area varies within

Lake Balkhash: …lake lies in the vast Balkhash-Alaköl basin at 1,122 feet (342 meters) above sea level and is situated 600 miles (966 kilometers) east of the Aral Sea. It is 376 miles (605 kilometers) long from west to east. Its area varies within significant limits, depending on the water balance. In…

Balquhidder, village, Stirling council area, historic county of Perthshire, Scotland. It lies near the east end of Loch Voil. Balquhidder is famous as the burial place of the outlaw Rob Roy (Robert MacGregor), who died in 1734. His grave and those of some of his family are marked by three ancient

John Murray, 2nd earl and 1st marquess of Atholl was a leading Scottish Royalist and defender of the Stuarts from the time of the English Civil Wars (1642–51) until after the accession of William and Mary (1689). The son of the 1st earl of Atholl in the Murray line, Atholl was the chief supporter

Balranald, town, southern New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on the Murrumbidgee River, near its junction with the Murray River. Balranald was settled in 1847 and proclaimed a town in 1851, and it was an important livestock-ferrying point in the 1860s. It was gazetted a municipality in 1882

balsa, (Ochroma pyramidale), fast-growing tropical tree in the mallow family (Malvaceae), noted for its extremely lightweight and light-coloured wood. Balsa can be found from southern Mexico to Bolivia and is a common plant throughout much of its range. The wood has long been used in many

basketry: Uses: …Peru, Ireland, and Mesopotamia: the balsa (boats) of Lake Titicaca, made of reeds and sometimes fitted out with a sail also made of matting; the British coracle, the basketry framework of which is covered with a skin sewn onto the edge; and the gufa of the Tigris, which is round…

balsam, aromatic resinous substance that flows from a plant, either spontaneously or from an incision; it consists of a resin dispersed in benzoic or cinnamic acid esters and is used chiefly in medicinal preparations. Certain of the more aromatic varieties of balsam have been incorporated into

wild cucumber, (species Echinocystis lobata), climbing plant of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to eastern North America. The true balsam apple is Momordica balsamina. The wild cucumber has leaves with three to seven sharp lobes; forked, coiled tendrils; six-petaled white flowers; and a

Ericales: Balsaminaceae: Balsaminaceae, the touch-me-not family, includes two genera and about 1,000 species of fleshy herbs. Hydrocera, with one species, is Indo-Malesian, while Impatiens (touch-me-not genus), with all the other species, grows throughout the family range, which is mostly Old World—mainly Africa (especially Madagascar) to the…

Canada balsam: …greenish liquid exuded by the balsam fir of North America, Abies balsamea. It is actually a turpentine, belonging to the class of oleoresins (natural products consisting of a resin dissolved in an essential oil), and not a balsam.

balsam: Balsam of Peru, a fragrant, thick, deep brown or black fluid used in perfumery, is a true balsam, the product of a lofty leguminous tree, Myroxylon pereirae, growing in a limited area in El Salvador and introduced into Sri Lanka. It is mentioned in pharmacopoeias…

balsam: Balsam of Tolu (Colombia), a brown balsam thicker than balsam of Peru, is used in perfumery and as a constituent in cough syrups and lozenges. It becomes solid on keeping. It also is a product of equatorial America.

balsam poplar, North American poplar (Populus balsamifera), native from Labrador to Alaska and across the extreme northern U.S. Often cultivated as a shade tree, it has buds thickly coated with an aromatic resin that is used to make cough syrups. It grows best in northwestern

12 Angry Men: Cast:

12 Angry Men: Cast:

George Clooney: Personal life: …his marriage (1989–93) to actress Talia Balsam, Clooney vowed never to remarry, and his various relationships became fodder for the tabloids. In 2014 he wed Lebanese English lawyer Amal Alamuddin. The couple had twins, Alexander and Ella, in 2017. The family became naturalized French citizens in 2025.

Ericales: Balsaminaceae: Balsaminaceae, the touch-me-not family, includes two genera and about 1,000 species of fleshy herbs. Hydrocera, with one species, is Indo-Malesian, while Impatiens (touch-me-not genus), with all the other species, grows throughout the family range, which is mostly Old World—mainly Africa (especially Madagascar) to the…

Alessandro, count di Cagliostro was a charlatan, magician, and adventurer who enjoyed enormous success in Parisian high society in the years preceding the French Revolution. Balsamo was the son of poor parents and grew up as an urchin in the streets of Palermo. Escaping from Sicily after a series

Theodore Balsamon was the principal Byzantine legal scholar of the medieval period and patriarch of Antioch (c. 1185–95). After a long tenure as law chancellor to the patriarch of Constantinople, Balsamon preserved the world’s knowledge of many source documents from early Byzantine political and

Theodore Balsamon was the principal Byzantine legal scholar of the medieval period and patriarch of Antioch (c. 1185–95). After a long tenure as law chancellor to the patriarch of Constantinople, Balsamon preserved the world’s knowledge of many source documents from early Byzantine political and

Mexico: Physiographic regions: The hot, dry Balsas Depression, which takes its name from the major river draining the region, is immediately south of the Cordillera Neo-Volcánica. The depression is formed of small, irregular basins interrupted by hilly outcrops, which give the area a distinctive physical landscape.

Balsas River, river in south-central Mexico, one of that country’s largest rivers. It rises as the Atoyac River at the confluence of the San Martín and Zahuapan rivers in Puebla state and flows southwestward and then westward through the Balsas Depression into Guerrero state, in which it is the

teosinte: …mays), was derived from the Balsas teosinte (Z. mays parviglumis) of southern Mexico in pre-Columbian times more than 6,000 years ago.

Balsas River, river in south-central Mexico, one of that country’s largest rivers. It rises as the Atoyac River at the confluence of the San Martín and Zahuapan rivers in Puebla state and flows southwestward and then westward through the Balsas Depression into Guerrero state, in which it is the

baʿal shem, in Judaism, title bestowed upon men who reputedly worked wonders and effected cures through secret knowledge of the ineffable names of God. Benjamin ben Zerah (11th century) was one of several Jewish poets to employ the mystical names of God in his works, thereby demonstrating a belief

Honoré de Balzac was a French literary artist who produced a vast number of novels and short stories collectively called La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy). He helped to establish the traditional form of the novel and is generally considered one of the greatest novelists of all time. Balzac’s

Balt, member of a people of the Indo-European linguistic family living on the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea. (The name Balt, coined in the 19th century, is derived from the sea; Aestii was the name given these peoples by the Roman historian Tacitus.) In addition to the Lithuanians and the

Egypt: Administrative changes: …Ottoman Empire in 1838 (the Convention of Balta Liman) was technically binding on Egypt, Muḥammad ʿAlī succeeded in evading its application up to and even after the reversal of his fortunes in 1840–41.

Civilista: …corrupt military regime of President José Balta (served 1868–72). Pardo was elected president in May 1872, taking office that summer after a military coup to block his accession failed.

Paris: The Halles of Paris: …halls (10 originals, designed by Victor Baltard and built between 1854 and 1866, and two 1936 reproductions) and their neighbourhood were designated for renewal. The renewal projects were delayed for several years, however, by bitter disagreements over how the area should be used. The old market halls were used temporarily…

Belshazzar was a coregent of Babylon who was killed at the capture of the city by the Persians. Belshazzar had been known only from the biblical Book of Daniel (chapters 5, 7–8) and from Xenophon’s Cyropaedia until 1854, when references to him were found in Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions. Though

José Saramago: Baltasar and Blimunda). With 18th-century Portugal (during the Inquisition) as a backdrop, it chronicles the efforts of a handicapped war veteran and his lover to flee their situation by using a flying machine powered by human will. Saramago alternates this allegorical fantasy with grimly realistic…

Baltazar de Zúñiga was a Spanish diplomat and statesman who led his country into the Thirty Years’ War and renewed the war against the Dutch Republic (see Eighty Years’ War), creating strains that eventually produced the decline of Spain as a great power. Zúñiga, the second son of the count of

Baltic Germans, members of an ethnic group (known in German as Deutschbalten or Baltendeutsche) that mostly lived in what are now Estonia and Latvia from the 13th to the 20th centuries. They comprised most of the nobility, as well as the merchant and administrative classes, of these territories

Balthasar, legendary figure, said to be one of the Magi who paid homage to the infant Jesus. Although their names are not recorded in the biblical account, the names of three Magi—Bithisarea, Melichior, and Gathaspa—appeared in a chronicle known as the Excerpta latina barbari in about the 8th

Belshazzar was a coregent of Babylon who was killed at the capture of the city by the Persians. Belshazzar had been known only from the biblical Book of Daniel (chapters 5, 7–8) and from Xenophon’s Cyropaedia until 1854, when references to him were found in Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions. Though

Hans Urs von Balthasar was a Swiss Roman Catholic theologian who rejected the ultraconservatism of the French schismatic archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and the progressive views of the Swiss theologian Hans Küng in favour of a deeply personal spirituality. Balthasar studied philosophy at the

The Alexandria Quartet: …which consists of Justine (1957), Balthazar (1958), Mountolive (1958), and Clea (1960), is set in Alexandria, Egypt, during the 1940s. Three of the books are written in the first person, Mountolive in the third. The first three volumes describe, from different viewpoints, a series of events in Alexandria before World…

Saint Fridolin of Säckingen: …principally from the 10th-century monk Balther of Säckingen) describe him as a man of noble birth who became an itinerant preacher in Ireland, travelling from town to town, and then crossed over to France. He lived for a while at a monastery at Poitiers and then travelled to the Rhine,…

Balthus was a French painter who, in the midst of 20th-century avant-gardism, explored the traditional categories of European painting: the landscape, the still life, the subject painting, and the portrait. He is best known for his controversial depictions of adolescent girls. Balthus was born of

Baltistan: Baltistan is chiefly inhabited by Baltis, Muslim tribes of Tibetan origin who eke out a meager living growing crops (mainly barley and fruits).

Bălți, city, northern Moldova, on the Râut (Reut) River. It dates to the 15th century. Bălți is a major railway junction and the centre of the rich agricultural Bălți Steppe. Most industries are concerned with processing farm produce, notably flour milling, sugar refining, and wine making, but

Moldova: Relief: …the level plain of the Bălți steppe (500 to 650 feet [150 to 200 metres] in elevation) and also by uplands averaging twice this elevation, culminating in Vysokaya Hill (1,053 feet [321 metres]). The northern uplands include the strikingly eroded Medobory-Toltry limestone ridges, which border the Prut River.

Poland: The coastal plain: The Baltic Coastal Plain stretches across northern Poland from Germany to Russia, forming a low-lying region built of various sediments. It is largely occupied by the ancient province of Pomerania (Pomorze), the name of which means “along the sea.” The scarcely indented Baltic coastline was formed…

Northern Crusades, series of military campaigns carried out from the 12th to the 15th century in the eastern Baltic Sea region. The stated goal of these campaigns was to convert the local tribes from paganism to Christianity, although as the campaigns unfolded, other factors also played a part. The

Baltic Entente, mutual-defense pact signed by Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia on Sept. 12, 1934, that laid the basis for close cooperation among those states, particularly in foreign affairs. Shortly after World War I, efforts were made to conclude a Baltic defense alliance among Finland, Estonia,

ship: The tramp trade: …is carried out in the Baltic Mercantile and Shipping Exchange in London, commonly known as the Baltic Exchange. Other exchanges, especially for special cargoes, are in operation. For example, a large part of the immense world oil transportation business is chartered by brokers based in a number of ports.

Finno-Ugric religion: The Finno-Ugric peoples: When the Baltic Finns came to the regions bordering the Baltic Sea is not certain. The latest possible date would be about 1500 bce (the evidence being the Baltic loanwords in proto-Finnic), when the “proto-Finns” still maintained contact with the Mordvins and the Sami. A much earlier…

Baltic Germans, members of an ethnic group (known in German as Deutschbalten or Baltendeutsche) that mostly lived in what are now Estonia and Latvia from the 13th to the 20th centuries. They comprised most of the nobility, as well as the merchant and administrative classes, of these territories

surströmming: Baltic herring, a fish that is smaller than the Atlantic herring. Once a familiar staple in Sweden, it is especially popular today in northern Sweden, where most surströmming is produced on the island of Ulvön. The fish is caught in the spring (right before spawning),…

Baltic languages, group of Indo-European languages that includes modern Latvian and Lithuanian, spoken on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, and the extinct Old Prussian, Yotvingian, Curonian, Selonian, and Semigallian languages. The Baltic languages are more closely related to Slavic, Germanic,