<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><mads xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/mads/" xmlns:mods="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.loc.gov/mads/
mads.xsd"><authority><topic authority="http://AATesaurus.cultura.gencat.cat/aat/getty_en">Balto-Slavic</topic></authority><related type="broader"><topic>Indo-European</topic></related><variant type="other"><topic>Balto-Slavic languages</topic></variant> <note xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[ Baltic and Slavic languages are here groped into a single branch due to the exclusively shared features; developed in the early Common Era with Baltic and Slavic tribes occupying a large area of eastern Europe, including much of present-day Poland and the states of Belarus, Ukraine, and westernmost Russia. The earliest Slavic texts, written in a dialect called Old Church Slavonic, date from the 9th century CE; the oldest substantial material in Baltic dates to the end of the 14th century. ]]></note></mads>