Iš Gervėčių tarmės semantinių dialektizmų

LEKSIKOS TYRINĖJIMAI LIETUVOS TSR MOKSLŲ AKADEMIJA ON SEMANTIC DIALECTISMS OF THE GERVĖČIAI DIALECT A. VIDUGIRIS Every language, and thus every dialect, is a system that is constantly changing. Different components of language systems change at unequal rates. The lexicon is the most prone to change. This depends on both internal (intralinguistic) and external (extralinguistic) factors. The principal impulses driving language development are internal—that is, systemic changes associated with the internal regularities of development, the so-called “pressure” of the system1. External impulses, associated with various historical, political, economic, and social conditions, also play a considerable, sometimes even very great, role in language development. Therefore, when examining the lexicon of the Gervėčiai dialect, it is useful to take a look at the geographical position of this area and at certain aspects of its past. The Gervėčiai area, comprising 16 villages, is one of the most compact Lithuanian-speaking enclaves in the Byelorussian SSR (Grodno region, Astravyets district). In terms of distance, this area is also one of the Lithuanian-speaking places closest to the east of Vilnius (about 60 km), and lies within the ethnographic Lithuania of the 13th–16th centuries2. At present, however, the Gervėčiai area is no longer directly contiguous with the main Lithuanian-speaking territory anywhere. When and at what point these ties were finally severed can readily be established from the 1827 reports by parish priests of the Vilnius Diocese on language use in their parishes. For example, the intervening parishes of Buivydžiai and Bistryčia were still entirely Lithuanian-speaking at that time, while in the neighboring parish of Varnionys people already spoke a mixture of languages. There were still 26 Lithuanian-speaking villages in the Mikailiškės area. In the Lavoriškės area, many people already spoke Slavic, but Lithuanian was still their native language, since a dozen or so years earlier everyone there had spoken Lithuanian3. As for language use south of Gervėčiai, all that is known is that at the beginning of the second half of the 19th century the older generation along the Vilnius–Ashmyany roads still spoke Lithuanian4. Thus, in the first half of the 19th century (and approximately until its middle), the Gervėčiai area had not yet become detached from the main Lithuanian-speaking territory; only as the intervening areas became Slavicized did Gervėčiai gradually separate from the rest of the Lithuanian-speaking expanse. According to local people, the Gervėčiai estate owner (the grandfather) and the local parish priest contributed greatly to the survival of this enclave without its becoming Slavicized: even in serfdom times, they strictly forbade mixed marriages and, in general, the mixing of the population. Of course, it is unlikely this was done consciously for cultural purposes. 1 M. A. Borodina, The influence of foreign-language systems on language development. — Questions of Social Linguistics, Leningrad, 1969, p. 89. 2 J. Jakubovskis, Tautybių santykiai Lietuvoje prieš Liublino uniją, Kaunas, 1921, p. 3—7. 3 Records concerning the churches and monasteries of the Vilna Diocese, 1827. Lietuvos TSR centrinis istorinis archyvas, f. 694, b. 1, nr. 769. 4 W. Syrokomla, Wycieczki po Litwie w promieniach od Wilna (do Oszmiany — do Kiernowa — do Kowna), t. 2, Wilno, 1860, p. 58. 2* 19 After the intervening areas became Slavicized, the group of Lithuanian-speaking villages clustered around Gervėčiai found itself surrounded by the Belarusian-speaking area. As a result, a considerable number of archaic features of morphology, syntax, and vocabulary seem to have been preserved in the Gervėčiai dialect; on the other hand, the specific conditions of isolation and close contact with Slavic languages gave rise here to many new morphological forms, especially verbal forms (cf. derivatives with the suffixes -dvti, -uiti), new syntactic constructions, and, above all, various lexical innovations—native words, borrowings, calques, and shifts in the meanings of old words. This article seeks to examine, to some extent, words whose meanings have changed, the so-called semantic dialectisms. Describing such dialectisms is not easy, if only because of the richness and variation of the dialect’s vocabulary. The dialect has many lovely words, quite a few of them rather rare, for example: abūšlaitė “oven lid,” ámas “oath,” bizdžiõnas “dragonfly,” gimtis “birth,” įsas, -a “short,” luõtas “boat,” sopagalỹs “tart place,” trynėlė “woodworm.” There are many derivational morphological and phonetic-morphological formations: ažudarinys “pen, enclosure,” bulbienis “potato haulm,” darblius, -i “hardworking,” kraušis “shore,” mėnasis “month,” šoknūs, -i “lively, sprightly,” vievurstys “skylark,” žangsnys “step,” and so on. There are also many synonyms and doublets: broliūkas: našlaitė; krėklė “woodpecker”: skirpštis, kiėmas “village”: sõdžius (rare), pérkalas: sėdāklė. Some such doublets have arisen through interaction between Lithuanian and Slavic languages, for example: skalšininkas “household spirit, imp”: kūtas: sparūžius, klegėti “to speak”: amanyti. Often the same thing is called one name in one village and another in a different village, for example: raugienė (Gėlūnai, Gaigāliai): saldienis (Knystiškės, Pelegrinda): tašla (Girios, Pelegrinda), pėmpė (Gervėčiai, Girios, Galčiūnai): plūnė (Gėlūnai, Gaigāliai, Milcėjos). In part, this may be connected with the old administrative boundary between Vilnius and Ashmyany counties, which ran somewhere through the Gervėčiai area5. Many words with closely related or formerly even identical meanings have become lexically or stylistically differentiated in the dialect, for example: trauklýs “an abscess, usually infected from outside,” votis “an abscess that has arisen spontaneously,” šunavotė “a boil, a small painful bump without a head,” sopulys “usually any sore or wound,” although sopuliūkas is also used for boils or small abscesses; kalỹtė, kalāitė “any female dog” (neutral in meaning): čiurālė (a fairy-tale character), šūnaramunė “daisy”: ciuciūkas (more commonly a children’s word, derived from the little black insects hiding in flowers, called ciuciūkas). This has happened because “language ‘does not tolerate’ meaningless identities, and an absolute, or complete, synonym that has arisen eventually ousts its partner or makes it change meaning and become incomplete6.” The dialect therefore abounds in words whose meanings have changed. We might call these systemic semantic dialectisms, as distinct from contextual ones, which this article pays little attention to. Thus, semantic dialectisms here are understood as neutral words that are identical in form to the corresponding words in standard Lithuanian or other dialects, but differ from them in their content, that is, in meaning. However, given that the lexical composition (vocabulary) of standard Lithuanian has hetero- 5 In the map appended to Cz. Jankowski, Powiat Oszmiański, vols. 1—3, Petersburg, 1896—1898, the boundary between the Ašmena and Vilnius districts is drawn along the Aluošia and Ašmena rivers as far as the Neris. Thus, the following larger Lithuanian villages that have survived belonged to the Vilnius district: Gaigāliai, Gėlūnai, Gervėčiai, Gudiniņkai, Miciūnai, Mockos, while the Ašmena district included Galčiūnai, Girios, Knystiškės, Milcėjos, Pelegrinda, Pėtrikai, Rimdžiūnai, etc. The only uncertainty is whether parishes were indeed divided in this way in earlier times, or whether only the aforementioned map is inaccurate. 6 J. Pikčilingis, Leksinė ir gramatinė sinonimika, Kaunas, 1969, p. 8. 20 ronimini7 character (this is essentially reflected also in the Dictionary of Contemporary Lithuanian, Vilnius, 1954; hereafter DLKŽ), the criteria for distinguishing these dialectisms remain unclear. If we blindly rely on DLKŽ and consider only words whose form is the same both in the dialect and in that dictionary, but whose meaning in the dialect is different, we would have to present pure semantic dialectisms together with mixed (semantic and formal) dialectisms, while excluding many of the clearest semantic dialectisms solely because they are included in the cited dictionary with that meaning or are not mentioned in it. Semantic dialectisms are best classified on the basis of their functions, that is, by examining how widely and variously certain words are used in the dialect under description and how widely they are known with those meanings in other dialects. Unfortunately, it was not possible to verify the distribution of the meanings of all the words presented in the article, owing to a lack of information. Moreover, some subjectivity may also have arisen in selecting semantic dialectisms because of the fragmentary nature of the collected material8. Like every word, so-called semantic dialectisms may have only one meaning or more than one. According to the number of meanings (semantic variants), semantic dialectisms can be divided into monosemous and polysemous. Monosemous are dialectisms that have only one meaning in the dialect, different from that of standard Lithuanian; polysemous are those that, in addition to specific, more narrowly known meanings, retain other, more widely known meanings (most often also in standard Lithuanian). Furthermore, the semantic dialectisms presented here can be divided into two groups purely according to form, that is, into words that are more widely and more narrowly known, although most of them do appear in DLKŽ. I.1. First to be presented are words widely known in standard Lithuanian that have in the dialect a narrower or broader meaning differing from, or differing in scope from, their standard Lithuanian meaning. It is true that, under the influence of standard Lithuanian, especially younger speakers sometimes use dialectisms with specific meanings (e.g., dobilas, gylys, pašaras) with other meanings as well, but traditionally they are considered monosemous words: bradinys “three-panel fishing net”: Bradzinis trisų žuvauc: vienas aina iš ažvačos, du pirmagali. būklė “life, existence”: Prie mā būklės jū nebūvo. Reika pradėcie naują būklę. dăngstis “roof”: Plėš(k) ir dunksci. (Ginklą) unkišė dunkscin. dobiliùkas “wild, meadow clover”: Dobiliūkai balci, maži žiedėlei pievo, o kanušina, kū sėja, dzideli žiedai. gylỹs “horsefly”: Gi'lei dzideli par kārves pūola. jāvas “unwinnowed grain, grain mixed with chaff”: Dūonu kėpė su javū. Jāvas prag mēki nāitei. Javai, kap cik iškuli su mēkinom, o išarfūjei, tai jau grūdai. Plg. javinis, -ė: Javini dūonu kėpė. klegėti “to speak”: Mā momūle plonai klėga, ē tū storai. Kū jau jūm klegėc, kap rakščis regėc. Tai vis mā momā klegė. Apklegėjai mani. Neturū ungi kū žodėlo ašklegėcie, neturū ungi kū ažamāni cie. Paklegį, sumelū kū. O praklegėjo obelīs. Susklegėc buvai atvažāvus. krutėti “to work”: Krūta isijūos kap veršis jūodas. Ir ānas jai žemī krutėjo. Dzirvónas neškruta. Darbū ir, nēr kām krutēc. Atkrutėu sāvo. Kiek tu ti' aškru̇tėsi 7 For more on heteronyms or synonyms with different areas of use, see J. Gossens, Strukturelle Sprachgeographie, Heidelberg, 1967, p. 86. 8 I thank J. Lipskiene, K. Eigminas, A. Jonaityte, G. Aleksaite, and folklorists K. Grigas, N. Vėlius, and L. Sauka for allowing me to use the dialect material they had recorded. 21 The years passed, and [he/she] arrived. How much has been gathered, so much. Oh, I gathered it, my arms and legs are worn out. leaves “turnip-leaf soup”: We dried and cooked turnip leaves. We boil the leaves. to babble “to talk nonsense”: That one is like that, always babbling. hazel “hazel tree”: And the little hen can’t fly up onto the hazel tree. And someone tore my hazel-tree trousers. material “woven cloth”: They cut out some material, nothing much. manure, plural manure “rubbish”: The yard had to be swept and the rubbish carried out. Rubbish piles up. We carry the rubbish out and dump it. I sat among such heaps of rubbish with that old woman. memory “remembrance”: Jakovānis came to my mind. fodder, plural fodder “oat and barley straw and pea vines”: That fodder has been put away. We have enough oat fodder to last until St. George’s Day. heel “heel”: The heel aches. And he drove a nail into that boy’s heel (a wooden peg). hot “hot”: It’s already hot to the touch, but the boys keep playing there. He goes to ask that a hole be dug so that it can be made hot. They made it hot and buried it there with the boy, like a potato. rāndas “rim”: As many rims and horns, so many mothers. to rinse “to wash, rub”: They rinse it, rubbing and scrubbing; but when they launder it, they rinse it, then hang it on the fence. The water is soft, so it rinses out very well. Cf. washerwoman “woman who rinses”: The washerwomen rub the clothes; wealth “property”: That barn brought them wealth. A wealthy person carries wealth with them. snares “loops, traps”: The pig was hung up and snares were set. The wolf got caught in the snares and is struggling. loom thighs “the legs of a weaving loom”: The thighs are the sides, while the whole structures are the uprights. support post “support for the stove and ceiling in a smoky hut”: The huts had support posts. The bride enters the hut, stands up, and cannot pass by the post. sutrà “bad person, scoundrel”: Kō cā atajai, sūtra tū. šėkas “sick animal”: Šėkas tokōsa bā lōsa āuga. Aš jīm nešu pienēlo ir an ragēlu šėkēlo. trąšos “manure”: Išvežau visàs trušas, aisū pakratīsu. Trušas išmėždāu. trūpinti “to chop, cut into small pieces”: Cibūlū pritrūpink gražei. Cf. trupūtīs “a small piece”: Un trupučū pjāusto bōlbas (in contrast to gurinti “to crumble,” gurutīs “crumb”). tvardytis, su-si-tvardyti “to form, organize oneself”: Tadū susitvardė Lietuvà. vedėjā “two-pronged fishing spear”: Ir su tūj vedėjū gaudēm žūvi·. veizdėti, vēzdėti “to look for”: Ānas vēizdi mergōs. Brolālis jōs ir vērkė, ir vēzdējo, ir nerādo. Pavēzdzī gerai ir raši. veršis “ox (also a castrated bull)”: Nu, tai āisim par verši·, kad tavi išgert. Sanāū veršeis ārem ir akēm. 2. Alongside their traditional, widely known meanings, polysemous words in the dialect sometimes also have specific meanings that differ from those in the standard language. This group also includes general words (or their diminutive forms) that have become terms with narrow (figurative) meanings, while their original meanings are widely known in other dialects and in the standard language. akėlė “the beginning of basket weaving”: Kāšo akēles ažpintos. autėlis “a cleaning rag”: Im(k) autēli: stāuo nušluosci·č. brīgzti, ap-, su-brīgzti “to turn sour, begin to ferment”: Abrizgis pienas. Plg. Abrizgelis pienas. Pienas jau subrizgis. 22 swell, pri-brinkti “become swollen”: The cow is standing; her udder is swollen. burbuõlė “flower bud”: The buds are sprouting again; they are blooming again. daũžti(s), at-, až-, nu(si)-daũžti, “at-, už-, nu-si-mušti” (“hit oneself, get injured”): That witch hit her, and she also struck her with her little foot. With a rolling pin over the head—and he beat that child. Where you hit yourself with your finger. Then we were pushing our way into Lithuania (forcing our way in). až-dirti “lift up, raise”: He lay down and lifted his legs (upwards). dùgnas “lid”: Do you know where the lid for the pot with two handles has been put? dùšintis “mischief around, horse around”: On Sundays the children gather by the Aluoša and horse around. dvišakis “confluence”: The Aluoša and Ašmena meet at the confluence. gadinti, pa-gadinti “spoil, ruin”: He ruined the seeds; last year he left them in the field. And he ruined the children too, beat them. gaidėlis, gaidžiùkas “a meadow plant with white flowers”: The gaidėliai bloom white. When the gaidžiukai have finished blooming, little cones appear. gãmintis, iš-, pri-(si)gaminti “prepare, get ready, make”: They get ready, and so on, they prepare themselves, and so on, as if singing. So: everything had been prepared for everyone. The fodder had been prepared; they made the rye sourdough. The hay had been gathered. Nothing gets done for you; I have to look after the children and prepare the food. gãras “top of the oven, oven ledge”: The children sit on the stove and look over the oven ledge. garuoti, pagaruoti “heat a little”: In the bathhouse, steam the laundry and the clothes a little. gráusti “play”: The boys gather around the houses and play ball until dark. grãžinti, iš-grãžinti “castrate (only piglets)”: He castrates piglets, you know. We castrated the boar (male pig). grėblėlis, grėbliùkas “a grass similar to cinquefoil, but with smaller leaves”: Grėblėliai are a grass; it resembles rasiklódo. Grėbliùkai grow close to the mother plant. griẽti, nu-griẽti “scrape off”: All the crumbs (scrapings) scraped off the table and take them to the dog. grýnas “bare, naked”: The old women lie on their bare bellies. Get undressed so that you are bare. The fields are already bare. -guldýti, iš-guldýti “to castrate (but not piglets)”: And they castrate young mares too. Whether it has been castrated or not, it will still calve. kęsti “to love, like”: When I was young, girls liked me. She liked that kitten very much; it was musical, and grandpa liked it too. When I was young, I liked it very much when it was clean. kiaũlė “a kind of mushroom, a white milkcap, a milkcap”: Such white ones, they are good for winter. kiėmas 1. “village”: There may have been a hundred homesteads in our village. Cf. kiėminis, -ė “of the village”: People are in need in the village. 2. “visit”: He will come to visit him. We are already leaving the visit. kliudýti “to touch, disturb”: That was land that had been disturbed. You shouldn’t disturb the plantings. Don’t touch me. kùlnas 1. “a rooster’s spurs” A rooster’s spurs and claws. 2. “a bend, elbow (in a road)”: We went straight, but it also bends at the elbow and makes a circle. kùlnėlis “knuckle, little bone”: The fatty bacon is a handspan thick—and there’s a little bone. I’ve battered the heel of my hand. My foot heels rub. kumeláitė “a kind of mushroom”: The kumeláitės are autumnal. 23 láidyti “to milk”: Unksci aina láudzi·ė kárvu. lákštas “any kind of leaf”: Nõtrės su buinais lákštais, labai džilgasi. Gi·slõčei un takų plačių lakštų. laukas “bald, bare”: He is still very young, yet already bald. Bald, without hair. Cf. laukymas “baldness, bareness”: Jám per visu kãkų laukìmas. Kárvė lauką, per visu gálvu laukìmas. linėlis, linagalvis “a small, yellow-flowering plant”: Linželei gerai kru·cinė kap sopa. Linagalvei geltonai židzi. lūpti “to tear or pull out forcefully”: Linus lūpam. Kieta žemė, nemõžna išlūpe. manyti pri-, nusi-manyti 1. “to understand, know how, be able, think of”: Šlėkta lenkiškai mãnė. Kap anà primãno mažà mergõke. Paklegėč tas primãno. (Valgymų) nusmãnom ligi válėi. 2. “to become tired”: Jau tep nusmaniai krutec, tai Jėzus Marija kap dagėdė. mėdžias “forest”: Ė kur anas mvažau medžiu. Tėvas juos išvedė mėdžan. Atáugo jau jaunas medelis. milinis, -ė “woolen”: Da buvo milinių šūlų. Vilna un avėlės, o suverpta — šūlai milinei. minkštas, -a “fine, finely ground (of flour)”: Ča minkšči miltai. Vienanai maiši minkštai sumalta, ė kitai — rupe. pėdžia “a pole, pėdžia”: Pėdžosu unmusta kru·kai. pėnas “fodder”: Kuoman pėnu dėda. Kas neturėjo pėno, tai sniegu· nuvaro ir ginė puš’nan. Ti nei pėnu gausi. penėti, iš-, pa-penėti “to feed, fatten; to feed, provide fodder”: Anà paršus pėni. Ir kuom išpenėč kárvi. Duo paršiuo papenėč. pirkaitė “pantry”: Šaltà buvo žiemà, ale būlbos pirkaitė(je) nepašalo. Būlbas pirkaitėn supildė. plónas, -a “fresh (of sour cream)”: Plonõs smetõnos unru·ginam. rankinis, rankinaitis “handkerchief, little handkerchief”: Kur runkini· padėjai? Sviedė rankinaitį, raslėjo azeraitis. riebuma “fat”: Kap riebumos gerai undėdi, tai visa gardù. rūbelaitis, rūbelėlis “headscarf”: And on Sundays she walks around wearing her everyday headscarf. All the girls are wearing headscarves, only Maritė is without one. rūbelis “shawl (to wrap around the shoulders against rain or cold)”: I saw—there was someone walking through the yard with some kind of shawl. rumbė “scar, seam”: A scar remains when it heals. A seam is sewn in a shirt. samanėlė “a kind of field grass”: The cows really like that mossy grass. sėgti, apsi-, nusi-sėgti, -segdyti “to take off”: He went out dressed in black. He took off his coat and threw it here. You take off your dress because it’s big on you. skarinis “a coarse tablecloth, made from the end of a piece of cloth”: She spread a tablecloth and poured potatoes from the pot. And there’s already a pile of pancakes on the tablecloth; when will you manage to eat them? skaudūs, -i “bitterly cold, harsh, hot”: The cold rain keeps falling. They tie a rope (under the belly) because the horse is so fierce. skeltinis “a chunk of wood”: When firewood is chopped, we call a split piece a skelcinis. Throw the pieces of wood off to the side of the road. spirginys “fried or raw bacon bits”: The cracklings have run out. I really like (macaroni) with raw bacon bits. Susietkà brought two pancakes and two portions of cracklings and set them down. 24 ap-si-, až-, pa-spirti “to brace oneself, to prop up”: He braced himself well with a kačergas (stick). Prop the door open. The wall is propped up. šatrà “a pole for tightening a load on a cart or for hanging clothes in a cottage”: We secured the hay with a šatra so that it would not come apart. She hung the clothes on the šatra. šauktis “to be called”: That grass is called that. taršýti, pa-taršýti “to shake”: He shook him by the leg and shoved him. tvótis “to bustle about”: We bustle about all night. usnėlė “a type of blue-flowering plant”: Thistles bloom blue like little roosters. užti, až-, pa-, su-užti, -uždyti “to play, to play along, to strike up a tune”: When it plays, you have to dance. He started playing, so she cried. If only it would play like that, then she would dance. It played beautifully. vaikščioti “to ferment”: The beer is fermenting like leaven. nu-si-výti “to plait for oneself”: Go and plait yourself a little wreath, go and plait yourself some greenery. verštis “to change”: Many priests have changed here already. vištáitė “a type of mushroom, a guotė”: We call those mushrooms vištáitės. vókas “a woven grain tub”: We wove large vókas; a whole barrel of grain could fit inside. žagarinė “a woven fence”: A person weaves a žagarinė from shoots; I didn’t know it was called a žagarinė. žilas, -a “gray”: The crows are gray. I had such gray pants. žlùgtas 1. “a tub with legs”: A žlùgtas with three legs. 2. “something wet, soaked”: Completely soaked, like a žlùgtas. žuvinis “fisherman”: Then the fisherman goes to catch fish. II. Words used in a narrower territory. These are essentially dialectisms of expression or form. However, only those that are used in the dialect with a meaning different from that in standard Lithuanian are worth mentioning here. For this reason, they may be called mixed semantic dialectisms. In turn, they may be divided into lexical, morphological, derivational, phonetic-morphonological, and accentual types. 1. Lexical semantic dialectisms. All the words presented here are also listed in DLKŽ. Those that are not included in it, as they lack a basis for comparison, should—regardless of their meaning—be assigned to the section on purely lexical dialectisms, alongside words that have no distinct dialectal meaning, such as: tiesė, tiesýs “right-hand side, right-hand”, sriegas “gray-haired”, stõvai “loom” and others. Mixed semantic dialectisms are few. ašas “lever pole, a shaft with a hook”: Ūsas prikàrtas prie svìrčei. birulėlis, birulùkas “chip, splinter”: Saldì, garà arielkėle, kòts iš birulėlo. Šakos pakapotòs, tai daug birulùkų mažù liko. budė “sponge”: Budė, ku skile ùgni-. Priskina tos budės, pridžovina ir ažiba ùgni-. dideliai “intensely, loudly”: Neláis(k) didelėi (radijo), pamažin(k). grebóti “to grope, touch”: Aina prig sienom vis tep grebódama. at-si-ýkti “to remember, recall”: Niekap negalù acikč, kur aš jį ragėu. Niekàip neacikai to daikto. kirbėti, pa-, su-kirbėti “to move, stir; to begin to move”: Kap dàu galvòn, tai nè nepakirbėjo. Kap cik sukirbės kartù itó gėlė, niėko nedarik. laitas “oven floor”: Laitas iżdegė. Reika laitas najas sudėdzic. lobūtis “fontanelle”: Vaiko lobūtis da neužaugis. lūstas “food taken along when leaving home for an extended period”: Paskinkė kumėlbi, pridėjo lūsto tai mergòkei ir išvežė mėdžan. Bób, bób, duok màn lūsto daugàu, aš ėmau augti ir daugàu vàlgìc. 25 rūdė “mud”: Jéi dzornà (velėna) pratrūksta, tai žmogus šulanda tik pilvo rudėje). sąvara “loom crossbar”: Stòvu: súvaros. Un súvaros acisèda ir áudža. 2. Other mixed-form dialectisms. These are various variants or derivatives that differ from the corresponding standard-language words not only in appearance (form), that is, in word formation, the phonetic composition of the root, or stress, but also in meaning or scope of meaning. Because there are few of them, they are not further subdivided. pra-si-baidyti “to sober up, become more alert”: Miegùostas, dà neprazbaidis. nu-būti “to get rid of”: Raika tū vilku kap nór nubūcie. až-dėti, -dėdyti “to begin, to set eggs”: Bitės aždėdo móiku. náuju. ap-si-eiti “to get ready, put things in order”: Va, kól apseini, kaũlėm paduodi ir vãkaras. gériba “harvest, grain”: Gériba dzidelė auga išgūlus. Gériba prasta, lietais nér. Pàdeda kri-želų (Šiaudų pasėję javus), kad dievas saugot, nenumūšt geribėles ladai. pėr-, pri-kálti “to tie, fasten”: Jaũ as pérkalau kárvi. Pérkalsu kumelaiti. Arkli prikalau ir atsigulau. an-kliūti “to get stuck, get into”: Vilkas Ašmenõ(je) (upėje) unklùvi. su-lėisti, -leidýti “to sharpen”: Galìstùvas delgei sulaisc. Šmìrgeli nusipirkau delgei sulaisdzìc. pra-mėsti “to flavor, heap on, rub in”: Sàvo kirvi- unmėsk, tai bus pràmesta. pa-nérti “to drown”: Nuvė maudzeis ir panėrė. Nemokė plaukić ir panėrė, nustàpijo. mu-niáukti “to lower”: sėdzi galvu nuniaukis. plūksna “onion shoot”: Aik atnešk plūksnų žalų, cibùlų plūksnų. ragluolė “a kind of small fish”: Raguolė, tóka mažitė nereikalinga žuvitė. sántis “a net for catching fish, a ladle”: Suncis vienám žuvávc (virtuvėje pavõras). saulólaidis “sunflower”: Sėdzi un gonkėlu ir lùščija saulólaidzi. Pasodzinom vaikam saulólaidziu. skìrpstis “rafter”: Skirpsčius un ilgino dėdam. Lótos (grebėstai) aina per žėdmū skìrpsci. spurgà “bud, tip”: Ánas un pačós spurgõs sėdzi. už-stóti “to occupy, block”: Gérklob usto, sópa gérklob. at-si-stóti “to withdraw, leave”: Atsistà tu no mani. svìrstis “lever pole”: Ūsas prikártas prig svìrscei. tašla “fermented rye soup, sweet soup”: Tãšlos su bùlbom pazdãrom. tiktis, už-tikti, už-si-tikti 1. “to happen”: Ragi kap cikòsi. 2. “to collide, hit”: Užsìko labai skaũdzei, skaũdzei susmušė. Kóju usìcikau, kad jau negalių kap sópa. an-si-trìnti “to get dirty, blacken”: I(š)skalàuna i vė unsitrina (clothes). vadžioti “to sing in a wavering voice, to chant”: Vadzóć ar pasakíć itù: giésmėbli. iš-vélti “to bulge out, widen (the eyes)”: Kur aini išvėlus akis? Vilkas sėdòs un kėlmo, akis išvėlė, duncis išlėpė. vėpūtinė “blizzard”: Ažpūstė vėpūcinė visus kelùs. Oj, kokà būvo tadù vėpūcinė. žeibyti “to flicker”: Skaudė(jo) – tep migo gálvu, tep žeibė akìsa. III. When discussing semantic dialectisms, one cannot fail to mention semantic borrowings, or calques. Close contacts with Slavic languages and the dialect’s long-standing isolation are, of course, reflected in the Gervėčiai dialect system, especially its lexicon. For this reason, in the dialect 26 one can find quite a number of words that are characteristic of no other Lithuanian dialect, either in meaning or in formation. In meaning, and often in formation as well, many of them are analogous to corresponding words in Slavic languages, especially Belarusian. However, determining which are calques and which are independently formed words is difficult, given the kinship between the Baltic and Slavic language systems and the similarity of their derivational bases and tendencies. For example, Lithuanian (Baltic) and Belarusian (Slavic) have quite a number of old shared concepts whose content comprises the same semantic features; cf. gaidys (Latvian gailis): Belarusian певень, пятух, пявун⁹; cf. giedóti (Latvian dziedāt): Russian петь, Belarusian пець; rankena, rankėlė, ranktūris: Russian рукоятка, рукоять, ручка; užkala ‘part of a sleigh’: Belarusian, Russian набойка, etc. Their selection criteria should likewise include frequency and geographical distribution of usage, and the characteristic use of particular derivational patterns with certain meanings in one language or another. For this reason, in more than one word from the group of mixed semantic dialectisms presented above, one or another component of form or content shows closer links with corresponding Slavic (Belarusian) words, e.g. nubūti, aždėti, gėryba, etc. Thus, without deeper and broader studies, it is difficult to draw clearer boundaries between dialectal semantic dialectisms and calques. Below we present a series of clearer parallels in meaning and form between words found in the Gervėčiai dialect and in Slavic languages (especially Belarusian): balà ‘mud’ (болота ‘same meaning’): Balù šaltu dėjo (on the aching part of the body). pri-būti,-būdýti ‘to increase, to be added, to become fuller’ (:прибыль ‘to increase’): Per gaidžo žūnksni: dienà pribūvo. Kiek sàmà jau tàs (šeimininkas), arúodas tas pri-būdo. iš(si)-, prisi-, susi-duoti, -duodýti ‘to appear, to show oneself, to seem, to appear’ (cf. выдаць, выдавацца, здавацца ‘to appear, to seem’): Jái išdavė, isidúodė, kad vištos. Būvo plòpimų, kū prìzidúoda. Ir pradėjo prìzduodzìc. Un tū kapù prìzdúodo. Ar akìsa suzdúoda, ar tep. Sanaũ itósa balósa suzdúodė. at-si-eíti ‘to recover, to come to one’s senses’ (cf. Russian отойтись, Belarusian адысціся ‘same meaning’): Atseis ir būs sveikà. pér-imti, -imdyti 1. ‘to attack, to catch’ (cf. Russian перенять, Belarusian пераняць ‘same meaning’): Banditai périmdo mūs — ‘Kur áinat?’ 2. ‘to meet’: Gegùtė juõs pérėmė. Ir anà (kalė) išlèk périmdzìc. lìsti, až-, nu- lìsti ‘to fit; to climb onto, to climb down or off’ (Russian лезть, Belarusian лезць ‘same meaning’): Bàčkon aštúonos asminkos lìndo. Aná ažlìndo un pėčiaus. Nulìndo tas Ivonė-lis no lìžės. pri-si-mèsti ‘to pretend’ (cf. прыкідацца ‘same meaning’): Prisimėtė kvarù (as ill). an-, pri- mùšti, -mušdyti ‘to nail on, to nail in’ (cf. набіць, прыбіць ‘same meaning’). Ti ùnmùs-ta kuolai. Prig tám velanė́uo primūša tuˈ ratėli. Primùždė šlaustukùs akėčósa. pìltis, apsì-, pìlti ‘to slide down’ (cf. сыпацца ‘same meaning’): Jéigu perdaug privérpa, tai pilasi, apsipila šūlai. riñktis, an-, apsì-, ažsi-, nusì-, parsi-, užsi-rinkti ‘to dress (oneself), to get ready, to undress, to dress up, to take something along, to move’ (cf. Belarusian перабрацца, прыбрацца, сабрацца ‘same meaning’). Nu, tai renkiės ir važùo par tėtù. Unrenka, rakščiñ pàdeda. Ji ir apriñko, apáudė. Cìgónkom apsiriñkiˈ vaikščoja. Tadù aš jù asirinkau par saũ. Priepìrė nusirinkdom. Kazakstanì būvi paskuì pérsirinko čà. ⁹ Дыялекталагічны атлас беларускай мовы, Мінск, 1963, карта № 294. 27 rištis “...to knit together, to become knitted (said of fruit, berries, vegetables)” (cf. вязацца “the same”): Gal rištis geriau avūkai, kad lietūs (when it rains). sėdėti “to squat, to brood” (cf. сядзець “the same”): Čā višťa sēdzi. ap-sodinti “to insert, drive in, secure” (cf. аб-, на- садзіць, абсаджваць “the same”): Apsodik lopetu: Apsodinc reika kirvakoci. pri-si-statýti, -statinėti “to pretend, to put on an act” (cf. Russian представляться, Belarusian прыстаўляцца “the same”): Ānas neserga, cik tep prisstato. Negirtas ānas, cik prisstacineja, ka girtas. pra-tekėti “to spring a leak” (cf. працякаць “the same”): Pūodas jau pratekē (jo). tráukti 1. “to suppurate” (cf. рваць, нарываць “the same”): Āžraudonāvo pirštas, gāli trāukčē. 2. “to vomit”: Išgeris kad pradēs ānas trāukčē. 3. “to blast”: Traiška akmenis su dinanidu (with dynamite). ap-trūkti “to become torn, ragged, tattered” (cf. абарвацца, абарваны “torn, tattered”): Neprisriñkis, aptrūkis žmogus. vėstis, až-vėsti 1. “to fare, to go”: Jām nešveda niekas. 2. “to ferment, to set (fermenting)” (cf. завесці “the same”): Kap ažveda ālu, tai jau ir vaikščioja. Āžvešč samagōnu reika. From the many comparisons presented here, it is easy to see that, for a borrowed meaning, a wholly new derivative is usually constructed from dialect morphemes according to a Slavic word-formation model (cf. prisidžioti, atsieiti, prisimėsti), although more than one of these has, by chance, the same form as Lithuanian words (cf. apsodinti, prisistatyti, pratekėti) with a completely different meaning. That a word’s content—in this case, its borrowed meaning—is inseparably bound up with its original form is clearly shown by the adaptation of a verb form with a matching meaning, cf.: pa-si-pūlti “to come upon, hit” (cf. пападацца, папасціся “the same”): Paspuōle po põjezdu. Trīs būvo — paspuōle jāi (lightning). pra-lēisti “to accompany” (cf. праводзіць “the same”): Pralāit net Varnōnisan vīrus. Kokan kiemi cigonkāites pralāisdem. In these forms, only the root is calqued. Thus, prefixal verbs can be regarded only as partial or mixed calques, unlike pure calques (one-form or simple verbs, cf. rištis, trāukti). The list of words with altered meanings would be incomplete without mentioning borrowings used in the Gervėčiai dialect with a meaning different from that in other Lithuanian dialects, for example: diktūiti “to explain, to assert”: Senēlei tep diktūjo. Diktūjo ti āni susedi, net run-kom mokōdami. Razdiktūi tu mān, žmōgau, ungi kur āi. kačerġāl|| kačerġāitē “stick”: Su kačerġu apsispirč gerai. Kur mā kačerġāitē? Su kačerġēbī kulžuoja. kadōkas “shoe sole”: Kadōkai iš mā̃džo kōjas pagadzino. prōvyti “to tell, to narrate a story”: Ir dar kadū vaikām prōvijam pasakas. Kap pa-prōvija, tai ir laukān bijom išeit. Kad mōki, paprōvij. Aš daugāusa jau priprōvijau. stōrasta “shepherd”: Stōrasta gāne ir trūbijo. Jaū trūbija stōrasta. Of course, only a small number of words used with various specific meanings are presented in this article. Moreover, no attempt was made to register them exhaustively (both the lexicon of the Gervėčiai dialect and the dialect as a whole merit separate, extensive monographs). Here, the main focus was on selecting semantic dialectisms (in the broad sense). Their classi- 28 fication and grouping aimed to demonstrate the richness, diversity, and importance of the Gervėčiai lexicon for Lithuanian dialectology and linguistics. The abundance of borrowings and calques indeed confirms the claim that vocabulary changes more rapidly than other strata of the linguistic system (phonetics, morphology). Of course, it cannot be denied that lexical innovations are also the ones most readily noticed. Yet alongside semantic lexical innovations, the dialect contains just as many very archaic dialectisms, more than a few of which could simply be called archaisms, e.g.: kiemas, lazda, medžias, rakštis, etc. In general, most semantic dialectisms of the Gervėčiai dialect are characteristic of a broader area of the Lithuanian language, predominantly the eastern and southeastern Lithuanian dialect region. Only a few words with changed meanings used exclusively in the Gervėčiai area have been recorded, e.g.: bradinys, dušintis, javas, ląpai, lobūtis, ižti. Thus, the meanings of most of the dialectisms mentioned formed at a time when the Gervėčiai area had direct contact with the main Lithuanian-speaking territory. Many corresponding calques can also be found in neighboring peripheral Lithuanian dialects, although they may have arisen independently in these dialects as well, owing to similar conditions and contacts with Slavic languages. In general, dialect lexical material that has been suitably selected and processed can be just as important for historical comparative linguistics as dialect phonetic and morphological data. ON SEMANTIC DIALECTISMS OF THE GERVĖČIAI (Lithuanian Gervėčiai) DIALECT А. ВИДУГИРИС Abstract The article devotes considerable attention to selecting and grouping semantic dialectisms of the Gervėčiai dialect (in the Ostrovets district of Grodno region, BSSR), both by content (meaning) and by form. It is noted that the overwhelming majority of semantic dialectisms (e.g.: bidė “sponge,” būklė “life,” dångstis “roof,” gāras “upper part of an oven,” gylỹs “horsefly,” klegėti “to speak,” krutėti “to work,” laidýti “to milk,” lãkštas “leaf,” laukas “bald,” mėslas “rubbish,” trąšos “manure,” veizdėti “to look for”) are characteristic of almost the entire eastern or southeastern area of the Lithuanian language. Some of them (e.g. kiemas “village,” lazdà “hazel,” mėdžias “forest,” rakštis “coffin”) are simply archaisms. This is explained by the fact that, according to archival data, the Gervėčiai area maintained direct contact with the main Lithuanian-speaking territory until the mid-nineteenth century. Only a small number of semantic dialectisms have meanings that are restricted to the Gervėčiai dialect (e.g. bradinỹs “fishing net for 3,” dùšintis “to misbehave,” jãvas “unhulled grain,” lãpai “soup made from turnip greens,” lōbutis “spring,” īžti “to play,” and others). As a result of contact with Slavic languages (especially Belarusian), numerous calques have appeared in the dialect, e.g.: balà “mud,” atsieiti “to come to, revive, recover,” périmti “to attack; encounter,” lįsti “to climb (a tree),” rištis “to tie itself,” and others. 29