FURTHER ON kubelo
In the article “On Several Lithuanian Loanwords,” while proposing a new etymology for the Lithuanian word kūbilas, S. Karaliūnas questioned the authenticity of its variant kūbelas, recorded in Laukuva. The facts show that this doubt is unfounded.
It has long been known that some Samogitian dialects have the suffix -elas in certain words alongside the suffix -ilas. Discussing the suffix -elas, P. Skardžius cites the Samogitian word krėtelas “shaking sieve”2, alongside other dialect examples. In the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language we find: erželas II1 835, II2 1151 (from S. Daukantas’s writings), krėtelas VI 522 (from Šilalė, Tirkšliai, and S. Daukantas’s writings). V. Grinaveckis has recorded the following Samogitian words with the suffix -elas: brēzgēls ~ brizgelas, ėržėls ~ eržėlas, sprāgėls ~ sprāgelas3 and, besides these, also krėtelas, Siāutelai (a village in the Šilalė district).4
The material of the Atlas of the Lithuanian Language5 shows that the form sprāgelas is used quite widely among Samogitians (Būdv iečiai, Eigirdžiai, Gargždai, Kerviai, Kuršėnai (Rekčių village), Leckavą, Mickiškė, Padvarėliai, Pajūris, Pėžaičiai, Pievenai, Pikeliai, Plikiai, Priekulė, Ramūčiai, Rietavas, Skabučiai, Šiauduva, Šilalė, Švėkšna, Tirkšliai, Tryškiai, Vainutas). Sometimes both forms are used in parallel — sprāgilas and sprāgelas (Eidžiotai, Kaunatava, Puokė, Šlapgirė, Židikai).
The authors of this brief article have recorded the following words with the suffix -elas: diobels (Užventis), ėržėls, krētē·ls (Pāvandėnė, Viekšniai), diobā·ls ~ dėbelas, ėržėls, krātā·ls ~ krėt elas (Švėkšna).
In some dialects that have native words with the suffix -elas, loanwords have also become established alongside them: āsilas, kātilas, kūbilas6, pronounced as follows: ēsēls ~ ėselas, kūbelas7, ē·sē·ls (Pāvandėnė), kā·tē·ls, kōbē·ls (Pāvandėnė, Viekšniai), kōbē·ls (Vainutas), kūbels (Kuršėnai, Rekčių village), kā·tā·ls8 ~ kātelas, kōbā·ls ~ kūbelas (Švėkšna). S. Daukantas also writes kūbilą with e: “...made turned cartwheels, carts, sledges, sleighs or sledges, tubs and other vessels...”9 “They themselves made an equal share of household furnishings, namely: tubs, barrels, spinning wheels...”10
All this shows that kūbelas (with e) is not an accidental form. This is confirmed by Švėkšna kā·tā·ls, kōbā·ls, where a in this case can only have arisen from e, and especially by the form kūbelus (genitive plural)11 recorded in Plaškiai.
B. Vanagienė, V. Vitkauskas
1 See Iš lietuvių leksikologijos ir leksikografijos (Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai, 12), Vilnius, 1970, pp. 181—183. The article’s author writes: “The variant kūbelas of that word is known from Laukuva, LKŽ VI 748 (if e here does not denote i, pronounced as a broad sound in the Samogitian dialect).”
2 P. Skardžius, Lietuvių kalbos žodžių daryba, Vilnius, 1941, p. 175.
3 Vl. Grinaveckis, Phonetic Features of the Northwestern Dūnininkai Dialects and Their Development. — Vilnius State Pedagogical Institute Research Papers, 11, Vilnius, 1960, p. 44.
4 V. Grinaveckis, Šalteniai, Not Šaltiniai. — Language Culture, 16, Vilnius, 1969, p. 62.
5 Based on the manuscript map prepared for the Atlas of the Lithuanian Language.
6 Although S. Karaliūnas’s proposed etymology of this word is very interesting, it is nevertheless difficult to abandon the traditional connection with Slavic (which came from Germanic) kъblъ (see E. Fraenkel, Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Göttingen, 1962, p. 304.)
7 See V. Grinaveckis, cited articles.
8 Perhaps katalas (from A. Juška’s dictionary), LKŽ, 5, p. 404, arose from a similar pronunciation.
9 Budą Senowęs-Lētuwių Kalnienų ir Žamajtių iszraszę Pagal Senowęs Rasztų Jokub's Laukys, Petropilie, 1845, p. 21.
10 Ibid., p. 71.
11 Lietuvių kalbos tarmės (Chrestomatija), Vilnius, 1970, p. 170.
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