Page 1St. Joseph’s chafer zool. “cockchafer” (Melolontha vulgaris). Cf. variant St. Juzapas’s chafer5 (Plik).
St. Peter’s ladybird (little cow) see God’s little Barbara
b) when a personal name is used attributively, e.g.,
God’s little Barbara zool. “ladybird” (Coccinella septempunctata). Cf. variants and synonyms: babuška–mariuška (Eiš, Mrk), God’s little Catherine (Vb), God’s little Mary (Jnšk, Pbr, Pn, Ps), God’s little Peter (Pbr), little Catherine–little Mary, little Mary–little Catherine, little Mary–little Karusė (cf. the personal name Karolina), little Katriusė–little Mariusė (Vb), little Mariusė–little Katriusė, little Maruška–little Petruška, St. Peter’s ladybird (little cow) (Vb), the devil’s little Mary. Also cf. German Marienkäferchen. (It may also be mentioned that in colloquial speech ladybird is sometimes confused with a tiny, light-red beetle (Trombidium holosericum).
babuška–mariuška see God’s little Barbara
God’s little Catherine see “ “
God’s little Mary see “ “
God’s little Peter see “ “
little Catherine–little Mary (little Mary–little Catherine) see “ “
little Mary–little Karusė see “ “
little Mariusė–little Katriusė (little Katriusė–little Mariusė) see “ “
little Maruška–little Petruška see “ “
the devil’s little Mary see “ “
Juzapas of the foundations zool. “common toad” (Bufo vulgaris) (Mžk).
Astronomical names:
a) when a personal name is used as an attribute, e.g.,
Abacuk's star astr. “one of the stars”.
Grigas's Plough (Jnš, Sk) astr. “one of the constellations; a constellation of seven stars in the northern part of the sky (Ursa Major).”
Jacob's staff “one of the stars”.
Noah's dove “one of the stars”.
J. Lipskienė
TRILINGUAL GLOSSARY OF TERMS
V. Kairys, A. Kaminskas, Z. Kudirka, R. Kundrotienė, M. Lipšicas, A. Mačernius, J. Norkus, J. Riaubūnas, J. Stanaitis, B. Stulpinas, A. Šliavas. Russian-Lithuanian-English Dictionary of Computing Terms, Vilnius, 1971, 600 pp.
1. Three years ago, the list of Lithuanian terminology dictionaries was augmented by another new glossary. It was prepared by a team of authors—a group of engineers from the Vilnius V. Lenin Computing Machinery Factory and the Special Design Bureau for Computing Machinery. This is a fairly substantial dictionary of computing terminology, which, alongside specialized terms in this field, also includes some groups of technical and physics terms. Both in scope and in type, it differs in many ways from the Lithuanian technical terminology dictionaries published earlier, for example, A. Novodvorsky's “English-
5 Abundant cockchafer synonymy is presented in the Lithuanian Language Atlas (Lexicon), I, map 84 (in print).
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Page 2“Lithuanian languages polytechnic dictionary” (1958), “Russian-Lithuanian languages polytechnic dictionary” (1959), etc. The publication of this dictionary was prompted by the rapid progress in the design and manufacture of computing technology in our republic.
In the national economy of the Lithuanian SSR, computing services began to be established in 1954, and by the end of 1969 there were already about 200 computing bureaus and 30 computing stations in operation; about 11,000 tabulating machines and 79 sets of punched-card computing machines were in use. Punched-card computing complexes and powerful, fast-acting electronically controlled computers began to be used in computing centers designed to process economic information. At present, these machines “are successfully used to solve the following problems: technical preparation of production; operational planning, accounting, and management of production; organization and maintenance of a standards system; technical and economic planning; keeping records of materials and raw materials, wages, manufactured products, and defective output; solving statistical and bookkeeping problems, etc.; solving mathematical and engineering problems, linear programming, network planning, etc.”1
Along with the new computing technology, many new devices, all kinds of mechanisms and their parts, and concepts relating to work and auxiliary processes, etc., also emerged. Specialists encountered an evident shortage of Lithuanian computing-technology terms2.
Russian computing-technology terminology began to be systematized and standardized somewhat earlier. Between 1960 and 1970, several terminology dictionaries in this field appeared3. The compilers of the Lithuanian computing-technology terminology dictionary drew on these works, and it goes without saying that our dictionary resembles the Russian ones in some respects (for example, in its lexicographic technique), especially the computing-technology terminology dictionary edited by Academician S. Lebedev. On the whole, however, the Lithuanian computing-technology terminology dictionary should be regarded as an original work, not a translation. In this review, we will examine the structure of the dictionary and some features of the terminology it presents, and offer several general methodological observations.
In the preface, the authors state the dictionary’s purpose and aim, namely: to help readers use technical literature in Russian, which researchers and technical professionals—especially students—encounter, and “to develop and standardize Lithuanian technical terminology.” A priori, one can say that the authors succeeded better in achieving the first task than the second: overall, the dictionary is more suitable for translation purposes than for terminology standardization. Undoubtedly, the Russian computing-technology terminology dictionaries mentioned above influenced this in some measure; standardizing terminology is likewise not their primary task. For example, in S. Lebedev’s computing-technology terminology dictionary, English terms are very often translated by two or three Russian synonyms. The Lithuanian
1 See P. Kulvietis, Gamybos mokslinis techninis potencialas ir jos efektyvumas, Vilnius, 1972, p. 68.
2 See A. Kaminskas, A. Mačernius, Kaip buvo rengiamas „Skaičiavimo technikos terminų žodynas“, — „Kalbos kultūra“, 25, Vilnius, 1973, p. 95.
3 See Англо-русский словарь по вычислительной технике, Государственный Комитет Совета Министров СССР по радиоэлектронике, Москва, 1960; Семиязычный словарь по автоматике вычислительной и измерительной технике, Москва, 1963; Акад. С. А. Лебедев, Англо-русский словарь по вычислительной технике, Изд-во „Советская Энциклопедия“, Москва, 1964.
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Page 3The dictionary’s compilers went even further. In this dictionary, a Russian term often has 3–4, and even 5–6, Lithuanian equivalents. This means that the dictionary compilers devoted all their attention to translating the Russian term as precisely as possible.
2. 0. More than half of the dictionary consists of computing terminology in Russian, Lithuanian, and English. Among the Lithuanian and English equivalents, the most commonly used or semantically closest meanings are given first; synonyms are then listed according to nuances of meaning and separated from one another by commas. More distant meanings are separated by a semicolon. Some Lithuanian equivalents are also followed, in italics, by notes and abbreviations that explain or specify the sphere in which the term is used, for example:
описьатель progr. description symbol declarator (166)4
определимость log. definability definability (167)
Optional affixes of Lithuanian and English terms are given in parentheses, for example:
подавление (nu)suppression suppression, quenching (196)
расстановка arranging (si)arrangement ordering, arrangement, spacing, disposition (244)
Variants of terms are enclosed in square brackets, for example: скрытое состояние secret [hidden] state latency state (288).
The preface states that if a Russian term has several Lithuanian (and also English) equivalents with different meanings, they are distinguished by Arabic numerals. For example:
выборка 1. selection 1. access; readout
2. selection 2. selection (35)
замена 1. substitution 1. substitution, replacing
2. substitute, replacement 2. substitute, equivalent, dummy (66)
However, this convention is not followed everywhere: such equivalents are often separated only by a comma or semicolon, for example:
закладка marking, marking off, insert, marker bookmark, flag (65)
спись inventory, list; description inventory, list (166)
expression expression, explication; expressing expression term; connective (38)
insertion insert, insertion, interposition insert, embedding (34)
Adjectives generally function as components of compound terms, whereas adjectival abstractions—names of properties—are independent terms. It is questionable whether it is worthwhile to list corresponding adjectives in the dictionary alongside adjectival abstractions, for example: generality (161); abundance (140); homogeneity (162); duality (50) and
4 Here and below, the numerals indicate dictionary page numbers. When referring to this dictionary, we will use the abbreviation SKŽ.
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Page 4general; abundant; homogeneous, still more so—their synonyms (dual, twofold) and so on.5
The dictionary does not distinguish optional components of compound terms. The nest system in the Lithuanian register is not entirely consistent. Lithuanian terms are not altered. These, of course, are not advantages of the dictionary's structure, but its shortcomings.
2.1. A term in any field must be morphologically correct, unambiguous, short, precise, and convenient to use. Yet terms very often lack at least one, or even several, of these qualities. One of the more significant shortcomings of terminology is synonymy. In terminological dictionaries, only one term, or at most two (one Lithuanian and the other international), should be used to name each concept, not 4–6 synonyms, which provide no additional information to the terminology but merely indicate either that it has not been adequately standardized or that the concepts presented in the dictionary have not been fully terminologized.
In SKŽ, a single compound concept often has two Lithuanian attributive modifiers, one of which seems to explain or clarify the other. In some cases, such usage is justifiable. This shows that the terms have not yet become established or standardized, and it is difficult to determine at once which is better, for example: untreated medium, unused medium (Russian: чистая среда) 290; direct input, immediate input (Russian: непосредственный ввод) 23; intermediate input, indirect input (Russian: промежуточный ввод) 23, etc. However, when one concept is expressed by two synonyms that do not explain each other, and one of them is nearly established in the terminology, this is unacceptable in a terminological dictionary, for example: support, abutment (Russian: упор) 328; durability, resistance (Russian: стойкость) 294; non-numerical calculations, non-quantitative calculations (Russian: нечисленные расчёты) 245, etc.
Terms are especially prone to losing precision when a Russian term is translated using 3–4, or even 5–6, Lithuanian synonyms, for example: result, outcome, consequence (Russian: результат) 254; mobility, movability, slidability (Russian: подвижность) 196; fiber, fibre, filament (Russian: волокно) 29; reception, perception, scanning (Russian: восприятие) 30; movement, sliding, displacement (Russian: передвижение) 182; reworking, alteration, replacement (Russian: переделка) 182; restructuring, reconstruction, retuning (Russian: перестройка) 187; cross, four-way junction, intersection (Russian: крест) 112; rim, ledge, edge (Russian: борт) 21; partition, pin, projection (Russian: шпонка) 376; legibility, clarity, distinctness (Russian: чёткость) 371; study, learning, investigation, research (Russian: изучение) 77; transfer, displacement, shifting, moving (Russian: перемещение) 185; prolongation; stretching, drawing tight; tightening (Russian: затягивание) 70; state, condition, status, position (Russian: состояние) 287; rod, heated element, pin, plug (Russian: штырь) 376; inclination, tilt, slope, slant, gradient (Russian: наклон) 146; stretch, area, bar, zone, location (Russian: участок) 353; snap, latch, shutter, catch, bolt, lock (Russian: защёлка) 70, and others. From such an abundance of synonyms, it would be enough to select one term for each computing concept, without trying to inventory every polytechnical concept.
5 See J. R. Kruopas, K. B. Gaivenis, Terminological Work and the Preparation of Terminological Dictionaries in the Lithuanian SSR, – Issues in the Development of Scientific and Technical Terminology, Riga, 1973, p. 30.
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Page 5The same can be said of international term synonyms. In the dictionary, they are usually listed alongside Lithuanian terms, and the Lithuanian term often seems to explain the international one, e.g.: lens hood, cap (Russian: бленда) 18, cf. German Blende; block, cabinet (Russian: шкаф) 376, cf. English block; focus, focal point (Russian: фокус) 356, cf. Latin focus; fiber (Russian: фибра) 354, cf. Latin fibra; vacancy, vacant position (Russian: вакансия) 22, cf. English vacancy, and so on. Sometimes, however, at least several international terms are given for a single concept, or one Lithuanian term and 3–4 international ones, and vice versa. There are quite a number of such synonyms in the SKŽ, e.g.: variety, modification, variant (Russian: разновидность) 239; pocket, hopper, magazine (Russian: карман) 89; pocket, magazine, magazine (Russian: магазин) 120; attenuator, dampener, attenuator (Russian: ослабитель) 168; destruction, demolition, decay (Russian: разрушение) 240; reproduction, regeneration, self-reproduction (Russian: самовоспроизведение) 259; bus, common bus, busbar (Russian: шина) 374; display, reproduction; restoration, reproduction, reconstruction (Russian: воспроизведение) 30; maximum value, maximum value, maximum magnitude (Russian: максимальное значение) 73; output diagram, initial diagram, primary diagram (Russian: исходная диаграмма) 54; coincidence circuit, logical AND circuit, “AND” circuit (Russian: схема совпадения) 305; continuous control, continuous (steady) control, unbroken control (Russian: непрерывное регулирование) 249, etc.
2.2. Closely related to term synonymy is variation. Synonyms are words with different sound structures but identical or very similar meanings, used to denote certain shades of meaning or style, whereas variants are words that differ only in morphological structure (prefix, suffix, or shorter or longer derivational form). The SKŽ includes svarbumas and svarba (Russian: важность) 22; prisotinimo dydis and soties dydis (Russian: величина насыщения) 24; trikdis and trikdymas (Russian: возмущение) 28; trukdymas and trukdis (Russian: помеха) 203; tankumas and tankis (Russian: плотность) 194; skubumas and skuba (Russian: срочность) 291, etc. This method of shortening terms is acceptable and is currently spreading in the practice of standardizing technical terminology, especially in physics. However, solely for the sake of semantic differentiation (the longer form denotes a more abstract concept, while the shorter one denotes a more concrete one), it would be inadvisable to coin every possible neologism—derivatives ending in -is or -a—which in many cases stand in for either adjective-derived abstract nouns with the suffix -umas or verb-derived abstract nouns with the suffix -imas.
The dictionary under review also contains other types of variants (prefixal, suffixal, and prepositional), indicating that the terms have not yet been sufficiently standardized, e.g.: prefixal variants—užtvirtinimas and pritvirtinimas (Russian: закрепление) 66; suveikimas and paveikimas (Russian: срабатывание) 290; (su)lyginimas and palyginimas (Russian: сравнение) 292; pri(si)sotinimo laipsnis and į(si)sotinimo laipsnis (Russian: уровень насыщения) 331; nuoseklus (pa)jungimas and nuoseklus sujungimas (Russian: последовательное соединение) 283; suffixal variants—reikšmingas skaitmuo and reikšminis skaitmuo (Russian: значащая цифра) 368; grafinė sudėtis and grafiška sudėtis (Russian: графическое сложение) 280; automatinė analizė and automatiška analizė (Russian: автоматический анализ) 12; inertinė atmosfera and inertiška atmosfera (Russian: инертная атмосфера) 16; spausdintinė schema and spausdinta schema (Russian: печатная схема) 303; sudėtinė funkcija and sudėtinga funkcija (Russian: сложная функция) 360; prepositional variants—skaičius be ženklo and beženklis skaičius
17. Lietuvių terminologija
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Page 6(Russian: число без знака) 371; signed decimal number and sign-marked decimal number (Russian: десятичное число со знаком) 375; delay by one cycle and delay of one cycle (Russian: задержка на один такт) 65; fluxless soldering and flux-free soldering (Russian: бесфлюсовая пайка) 175, etc. Some such variants cannot be considered terms at all, and their use only diminishes the stability and precision of the terminology.
A large group of variants consists of insufficiently standardized compound terms whose one component is: 1) a noun in the genitive case or an adjective with the suffix -inis, -ė, e.g.: machine time, time of the machine (Russian: машинное время) 32; emitter capacitance, capacitance of the emitter (Russian: эмиттерная ёмкость) 63; positional pulse, position pulse (Russian: позиционный импульс) 78; index calculation, index calculus (Russian: индексное исчисление) 87; collector capacitance, capacitance of the collector (Russian: коллекторная ёмкость) 62; code letter, coded letter (Russian: кодовая буква) 21; control program, control program (Russian: контрольная программа) 225; thermal radiation, heat radiation (Russian: тепловое излучение) 76; weighting function, weight function (Russian: весовая функция) 359; working stroke, work stroke (Russian: рабочий ход) 363; element chain, elemental chain (Russian: элементная цепь) 367, etc.; 2) a noun in the genitive case or a participle, e.g.: distribution panel, distributing panel (Russian: распределительный щит) 377; painting wheel, paint wheel (Russian: красящее колесо) 98; oscillation circuit, oscillating circuit (Russian: колебательная цепь) 365; correcting circuit, adjustment circuit, correction circuit (Russian: корректирующая цепь) 365; strained state, state of stress (Russian: напряжённое состояние) 287; reflected signal, reflected signal (Russian: отображённый сигнал) 267; control effect, regulating effect (Russian: регулирующее воздействие) 28; modulation generator, modulating generator (Russian: модулирующий генератор) 42; damping diode, damping diode (Russian: демпфирующий диод) 55; reflected pulse, reflection pulse (Russian: отражённый импульс) 78; insulating layer, insulation layer (Russian: изолирующий слой) 281; synchronizing system, synchronization system, synchronization system (Russian: синхронизирующая система) 276; accumulating counter, accumulator counter (Russian: накапливающий счётчик) 309; compiling language, compilation language (Russian: компилирующий язык) 386; 3) a simple adjective or an adjective with the suffix -inis, -ė, e.g.: stationary (steady-state) mode (Russian: стационарный режим) 253; elementary cell, elementary cell (Russian: элементарная ячейка) 388; optimal (optimum) filter (Russian: оптимальный фильтр) 355; absolute system, absolute system (Russian: абсолютная система) 270; dual (dual) control (Russian: дуальное управление) 329, etc. In this case, only one term that most precisely expresses the concept in computing should be used.
3.1. The SKŽ presents many new concepts in computing, for which a considerable number of neologisms had to be coined. Many of these neologisms (mostly calques) are successful and conform to the standard word-formation patterns for terms in our language, e.g.: multivariable control system (Russian: система многосвязного регулирования) 273; multiloop tracking system (Russian: многоконтурная следящая система) 273; subroutine (Russian: подпрограмма) 197; organizational link (Russian: оргасвязь) 168; echo-
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Page 7control (Russian: эхоконтроль) 385; half-sum (Russian: полусумма) 202; element by element (Russian: поэлементно) 207, etc.
Since the compilers of this dictionary relied on Russian dictionaries of computing terminology, it is only natural that some Lithuanian neologisms were also influenced by Russian. The following calques should be considered uncreative and even incomprehensible: leading (= main) frequency (Russian: задающая частота) 369; integer programming (Russian: целочисленное программирование) 229; given quantity (Russian: данная величина) 23; (pre)given limit (Russian: заданный предел) 208; specified accuracy (Russian: заданная точность) 319; automatic plotter (= plotter) 371; current collector (Russian: токосъёмник) 318, etc.
The dictionary's authors needlessly “improved” some established terms: linguistics, dropping (Russian: опускание, English dropping) 167 instead of omission, ellipsis (syntax, lexicology), deletion (morphology, phonetics); reliability (Russian: достоверность 60, доверительность 46, 208) instead of certainty (in some cases, dependability), etc.
3.2. The dictionary is rich in concepts that have no terms at all, or are designated by so-called descriptive terms, for example: printing with a rotating type wheel (Russian: печать с вращающимся литерным валом) 192; algorithm for finding secondary assignments of sequential-operation synchronous circuits (Russian: алгоритм нахождения вторичных назначений синхронных схем последовательного действия) 10; finite-memory automaton (Russian: автомат с конечной памятью) 7; algorithm for synthesis of multiple outputs of combinational logic (Russian: алгоритм синтеза многократного вывода комбинаторной логики) 11; branch-on-condition-false instruction (Russian: команда перехода при невыполнении условия) 100; memory device that does not retain information when power is switched off (Russian: запоминающее устройство, не сохраняющее информацию при выключении электропитания) 342; memory that retains information when power is switched off (Russian: запоминающее устройство, сохраняющее информацию при выключении электропитания) 343, etc. Such terminologized phrases can neither be inventoried precisely nor assigned a place in computing terminology. Some of them can be transformed, while others should not be included in the dictionary at all.
4. The dictionary also contains editorial inconsistencies. For example, it too often confuses two distinct punctuation marks in our writing, namely the dash and the hyphen. The correlation between the conjunction “and” and these punctuation marks is ill-considered when linking coordinate components of compound terms. For instance, it gives input and output constraints system 276, input and output control 329, but input-output control system 276, input-output equipment set 102, input-output unit 18, and so on.
A hyphen is the appropriate punctuation mark in compound terms such as addition-memory adder 286, multiplication-division unit 345, and the like, but is unsuitable, for instance, in terms such as start-(stop) time 33, the “up-down” method 134, and the like. It is unclear why it is written “yes-no” regulator 251, but “and-not” operator 164, n-type semiconductor 202, but an “m”-type filter 356, “or” operator 163, “OR-AND,” “OR-AND-OR” 300, but the logical operations AND-NOT 81, OR-OR 77, and so on. Such inconsistencies could easily have been eliminated.
17*
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Page 85. The dictionary under review is a welcome and necessary work. We can only rejoice that the engineers of the Vilnius Computing Machinery Factory and the Special Design Bureau for Computing Machinery undertook such a major task. The SKŽ represents well the current Lithuanian terminology of computing. However, the dictionary's extensive material is still inadequately standardized and systematized. This work is only a good beginning in the development of computing terminology. For compilers of terminology dictionaries in other branches of technology, it can serve not only as an example of dedicated work to follow, but also as a foundation on which to begin building even more perfect structures.
A. Kaulakienė
A BOOK ABOUT FISH NAMES
B. Laumane, Zivju nosaukumi latviešu valodā, Rīgā, 1973, 307 p.1
Benita Laumane’s monograph is highly relevant not only to Latvian studies but, since a considerable number of fish names have been inherited from deep antiquity, also to Baltic and Indo-European linguistics and ethnogenesis. This monograph is the first large-scale study of Baltic fish names.
B. Laumane notes that P. Tymė, reasoning that salmon live only in the Baltic Sea basin and that related names are found in Slavic, Baltic, Germanic, and Tocharian languages, had attempted to prove that the Indo-European homeland was in the Baltic region. Related to this hypothesis is the question of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Baltic Sea coast, which the author mentions in several places. Drawing on archaeologists’ view that the Balts or their ancestors migrated to the vicinity of the Baltic Sea around the eighteenth century BCE2 and established contacts there with other inhabitants of the southeastern Baltic coast—the aboriginal peoples who, in the author’s opinion3, may have been Indo-Europeans related to the Balts, as well as Finno-Ugric peoples (p. 14), B. Laumane …
The hypothesis that the aforementioned Baltic aborigines were Indo-Europeans is very important to the question of the ethnogenesis of the Balts and Indo-Europeans. At present, it is particularly strongly supported by some4. In the Mesolithic, two cultural (and, in Rimantienė’s opinion, ethnic) groups were characteristic of the eastern Baltic region: the microlithic-macrolithic and the Kunda. The microlithic-macrolithic culture belonged to Lithuania and partly to Belarus. The Kunda culture was widespread in the territories of present-day Estonia and Latvia, while in Lithuania it extended only into the far north
The review discusses only the question of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Baltic Sea coast raised in B. Laumane’s book, owing to limitations of space.1
Archaeologists currently maintain that the bearers of Corded Ware reached Lithuania toward the end of the third millennium BCE; see R. Rimantienė, Pirmieji Lietuvos gyventojai (XI—IV tūkstantmetis pr. m. e.), Vilnius, 1972 (hereafter: Rimantienė PLG), p. 96.2
3 Su nuoroda į: Л. В. Ванкина, Торфяниковая стоянка Сарнате, Рига, 1970, p. 140, 144—145, kur Sarnatės stovyklos radiniai datuojami III tūkst. pr. m. e. pirmą puse ar viduriu, o gyventojai hipotetiškai laikomi indoeuropiečiais; plg. taip pat R. Rimantienės tvirtinimą, kad „apie kokį nors kultūrinį-etninį finougrų klodą Lietuvos akmens amžiaus medžiagoje, tuo labiau senųjų, vietinių, priešvirvelinės kultūros gyventojų priskyrimą finougrų gentims, negali būti nė kalbos“ (Žr. R. Rimantienė, Lietuvos akmens amžiaus šukinė puodų ornamentika ir finougrų klausimas, — Lietuvos istorijos metraštis. 1972 metai, Vilnius, 1973 (toliau: Rimantienė LIM), p. 26; plačiau žr. p. 5—26; taip pat žr.: Rimantienė PLG; Р. К. Римантене, Палеолит и мезолит Литвы, Вильнюс, 1971 (toliau: Римантене ПМЛ).
See A. Seibutis’s popular science articles: Padavimai ir tikrovė, — Mokslas ir gyvenimas, Vilnius (hereafter: MG), 1971, No. 5, pp. 38—40; Vėlyvojo ledynmečio vietovardyžiai, — MG 1971, No. 10, pp. 16—20; Kaip Nemunas į Vyslą tekėjo, — MG 1973, No. 3, pp. 28—30, and others.4
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