LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI, IV

LIETUVOS TSR MOKSLŲ AKADEMIJA

FIGURATIVE MEANINGS OF WORDS AND THEIR PRESENTATION IN THE DICTIONARY OF THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGE

S. KĖZYTĖ

The purpose of explanatory dictionaries is to provide as precise a semantic, grammatical, and stylistic characterization of the words of a language as possible. The Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, for the first time in the history of Lithuanian lexicography, covers the vocabulary of the language so extensively and presents facts of language semantics so analytically—word meanings, nuances of meaning, various instances of word use in language, and characteristic phraseological combinations.

Distinguishing word meanings, nuances of meaning, and instances of use; establishing the relationships among meanings; and determining their order in a dictionary entry—these are the most difficult parts of lexicographic work. The value of the results of semantic analysis of a word, and of an explanatory dictionary as a whole, depends on how well this work is carried out.

Word meanings are not all of one type. In addition to its primary, nominative meaning, a word usually has secondary, derived meanings, which may be literal or figurative.

The question of a word’s figurative use is important and interesting from a lexicographic point of view, since it is closely connected with the problem of word polysemy. A dictionary entry must show which cases of meaning transfer are widespread in the language and should be regarded as independent word meanings, and which are used more narrowly and do not alter the semantic structure of the word. In addition, it is important to determine which literal meaning of the word the figurative meaning is most closely related to, since this determines its place in the sequence of the word’s other meanings.

All these questions can be properly resolved in lexicographic work only by examining the phenomenon of semantic transfer and the relationship between a word’s literal and figurative meanings.

1. The Relationship Between Literal and Figurative Word Meanings

Words express not only thoughts but also feelings. In speaking, a person often does not merely state a fact but also expresses their attitude toward the subject under discussion. Language reflects how speakers evaluate phenomena in reality. “A word has not only grammatical and lexical meanings,” notes the Academician—

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mikas Vinogradovas, — at the same time, it also expresses the subject’s — collective or individual — evaluation, which plays a creative role in the process of semantic change”¹. To evaluate reality and express their emotions, speakers or writers must choose words that are expressive and vivid, and that evoke emotions in the listener or reader.

There are two sources of expressive vocabulary in language: pictorial words and words used figuratively.

Words denoting the same object, action, or phenomenon may have different emotional and stylistic connotations, because some words express a concept objectively, while others also convey a certain emotional tone, for example: head — noggin, to walk — to trudge, to eat — to gobble, and so on.

Various suffixes can also give words used in their literal sense an emotional connotation (e.g., little human, brat, dear old dad, etc.).

However, both pictorial words and words whose emotional connotation is imparted by the relevant suffixes directly express a certain feeling or evaluation on the part of the speaker when used in their literal sense, since the expressive emotional element is inherent in them as an element of their lexical meaning. The basis of a word’s figurative meaning is an image. “A word used metaphorically,” says Ch. Casares, “does not act by itself, but conveys an image; its effectiveness is greater the more vivid the mental image evoked by it”².

When the purpose is merely to name the object of thought and state a fact, rather than to express one’s attitude (positive or negative) toward it, words are used in their literal, emotionally neutral sense. Take, for example, the word kirmyti:

kirmýti,-ija(-ýja),-ijo(-ýjo) intr.³ 1. K, R to be eaten by worms; to rot:...In clear weather the mushrooms soon begin to rot Lš.... 2. K fig. pejor. to lie about, to sleep lazily:...Go and lie down, why are you dozing here for no reason! Sk. He spends day and night lying about, and still he’s not had enough sleep! Vj.... 3. fig. pejor. to be idle, to hole up: It’s so beautiful outside, yet they’re all lying around in the hut Gs. You good-for-nothings, why did you hole up in the forest for so long? J. Balč....

The first meaning of this word is its literal, nominative meaning, which has no emotional element. Its purpose is to state a fact (cf. In clear weather the mushrooms soon begin to rot). By contrast, the second and third meanings of the word kirmyti are used not to denote the action directly associated with the concept expressed by this word, but actions of an entirely different kind: here the intention is to emphasize the similarity of idleness, laziness, and useless existence to the process of worm-eating and decay. Such an analogy not only evokes corresponding mental images, but also expresses disapproval and opposition to these phenomena.

A word acquires a figurative meaning when a word denoting some phenomenon of reality (an object, action, state, quality, etc.) is deliberately applied to another phenomenon on the basis of some shared characteristic, ana-

¹ B. B. Виноградов, Русский язык, 18, Москва—Ленинград, 1947.

² Х. Касарес, Введение в современную лексикографию, 122, Москва, 1958.

³ The abbreviations and symbols used here are the same as those in the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language.” Omissions in the quoted text of the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language” are marked with an ellipsis.

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logy, a certain mutual relationship among them. The purpose of such transfer is to express a more abstract, general, broader concept more vividly, concretely, and tangibly; to stimulate the listener’s imagination; to characterize the phenomenon being discussed, that is, to express one’s emotions—approval, admiration, sympathy, enthusiasm or, conversely, indignation, contempt, condemnation, irony, and so on. An example is the word leech. The word’s literal meaning is ‘a leech’ (e.g., Put on a leech to draw out the blood Vksl). In the statements “That land is wonderfully beautiful, having driven off the leeches S. Nėr. He freed us from the bondage of landlords, bankers, and other leeches tsp. I did not believe that he was so good to us and a leech to others P. Cvir,” the word leech is used figuratively and applied to a person. Here the word leech replaces the emotionally neutral word exploiter, expressing hatred, contempt, and disgust toward such a person. Formally, this figurative meaning is related to the first, literal meaning of the word leech, ‘a leech’, because it is derived from it, but semantically it is closer to the word exploiter. The word leech itself is emotionally neutral. It acquires an emotional coloring only when used figuratively in place of the word exploiter. In the appropriate context, a derived word meaning may be a stylistically strongly emphasized variant-synonym of another, neutral word⁴.

When using a word figuratively, a speaker or writer can use that same word to express another concept. A word’s figurative meaning, being a derived meaning of a word, is a vivid substitute—with a certain emotional tone—for another emotionally neutral word denoting the same reality⁵.

The literal and figurative meanings of the same word, even when they denote very different phenomena, are closely related, because the word’s figurative meaning relates to reality as though mediated by the literal meaning of that same word.

Figurative meanings of words arise in two main ways, determined by the twofold relationship between literal and figurative meaning: in the case of metaphor, this relationship consists in the similarity of the phenomena being compared; in metonymy—

⁴ Cf. E. P. Курилович, Заметки о значении слова. — «Вопросы языкознания», 3, 75—76, 1955.

⁵ Meaning transfer also occurs when a new object, not yet having a name, is named after a familiar object because of a similarity or some logical connection between them. Terms formed in this way are especially widely used in language. For example, when the word kalavijas ‘a steel weapon, long, narrow, with sharp edges; a sword’ is applied to name other objects of similar shape, the following new meanings have arisen in the language: 1) ‘a part of the lever of an old-fashioned well; a thick pole laid across a buried log (pėdžia), with a heavy object (a counterweight) tied to one end and a small pole with a bucket to the other; the lever’s counterbalance, permėtė, permata, plunksna’; 2) anat. ‘a sword-shaped bone’; 3) bot. ‘a plant growing near marshes, lakes, and rivers, with sword-like leaves; sweet flag (Acorus calamus)’; 4) bot. ‘yellow flag (Iris)’. The word meanings formed in this way are not regarded as figurative meanings, since they are direct, nominative meanings of the word, emotionally neutral and lacking expressiveness or artistic effect. Such words may be synonyms of other words (cf. kalavijas — permėtė — permata — plunksna); they may replace other words, but not as substitutes with an emotional tone, rather as neutral names for the same objects.

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my (and its subtype—synecdoche), the relationship consists in some form of association between the phenomena being compared (e.g., spatial, temporal, causal, material, and so on).

The same word may have both metaphorical and metonymic figurative meanings. For example, on the basis of the literal meaning of the word išsižioti, ‘to open one’s mouth’, the following metonymic figurative meanings have arisen in the language (the result is stated in place of the cause): 1) ‘to be astonished’: If a pupil starts asking the teacher to explain the other underlined items in this passage as well, then, it seems to me, the teacher will have no choice but to spread his hands and be astonished J. Jabl. The beasts will be astonished when they see me so beautiful, thought the long-tailed one P. Cvir; 2) ‘to say, to let something slip’: I told one person, and they blabbed it to everyone Ds. They beat him up so badly there’s no time even to open one’s mouth (to answer back) Trgn; 3) ‘to start shouting’: Why have you opened your mouth here like a barn door? Ds; 4) ‘to die’: When you die, who will get the money? Lp. A separate meaning, ‘to crack, split; come unstuck’, arose through metaphorical transfer, based on the similarity of the impression produced by the action: Nothingcha stayed in the sun, and then it split open Eiš. When baking pies, one must not shout, or the pies will split open Ud. All the potatoes have split open (collapsed) Er. He patched the shoes, but they split open again Er.

The literal meaning of the word klupinėti is ‘to stumble frequently’ (e.g.: Why are you crawling around on your knees here now?! A drunk man runs stumbling, runs in fits and starts, digging up the ground with his face J). The word klupinėti is used figuratively in the following examples: For seven years Aleksas stumbled around in the fields of Lamsargis J. Avyž. You go alone, get on with those chores Gs. For if you do this, you will not stumble Ns1841,1. On closer examination of these examples, it is clear that the word klupinėti is used with different meanings in them. In the first two sentences we have metonymy: here the word klupinėti means ‘to work hurriedly, in fits and starts, stumbling from exhaustion, to work hard’; that is, the name of a specific movement is used in place of the name of a whole complex activity. In the third sentence we have a metaphor: the word klupinėti is used to express abstract notions of moral decline and erring vividly and concretely, and so these are likened to the image of a person who continually stumbles.

These examples show that the same word, when used metaphorically and metonymically, has different meanings. Thus, different ways of transferring a word are associated with semantic differences.

2. Figurative use of a word and figurative meaning of a word

It is easy to see that some words are used figuratively in contexts repeatedly invoked by a broader or narrower group of speakers, while others, conversely, are used narrowly, only on certain occasions, in a particular situation, or in an incidental context by an individual. Thus, figurative meanings of words may be established and widespread in the language, or narrow, contextual, and occasional; in other words, there may be a figurative m e a n i n g of a word and a figurative u s a g e.

Word meanings are a historical, constantly changing phenomenon. A new meaning of a word does not arise at once; it is the result of a process that lasts longer or shorter

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periods of time. A word with meanings accepted by society and established in usage can be used in a new, creative way and thereby acquire new semantic nuances. Conversely, a use of a word that occurs at first only on certain occasions may spread and become established in the language, that is, become a meaning of the word. Academician Shcherba notes that a word’s meaning and its use are one of the main oppositions on which a dictionary entry is based⁶.

A dictionary entry must reflect what has taken root and is used consistently in the language of society, of a particular linguistic community, and what constitutes only a narrower semantic variant used in a particular context. Consequently, dictionary compilers constantly face the question of whether to present a metaphorically used word in the dictionary as an independent figurative meaning of the word, or merely as a metaphorical adaptation of the word to a particular instance, one that does not create a new meaning or extend beyond the bounds of the word’s literal meaning.

Every newly emerging metaphor is like the first stage in a change in a word’s meaning. “Every new use of a word,” says W. Doroszewski, “corresponds to a new situation, and every new situation contains certain elements of difference compared with those in which the word had previously been used⁸. First, the word’s literal meaning is used metaphorically in a particular context, in a particular situation, as a semantic neologism with vivid imagery and expressiveness. Let us take the following examples:

awl feminine noun (1) K; SD366 1. a sharp metal tool with a handle, used for piercing a small hole:... The awl broke Er. Slender as an awl Krtn. || figurative: That awl (of a nimble cow) is worse than all the cows: it no longer eats wherever it happens to be, but just keeps running Km....

1 skull masculine noun (1, 3), kiaušas (4) 1. SD34, Sb, Vb, Skr the bones enclosing the brain, the skull: One can dig up all kinds of bones and skulls in this place Trgn.... || figurative: The forest stood bristling with gray hairs on the black skull of the hill trš....

to bleed, bleeds, bled intransitive verb 1. K, DŽ for blood to flow from a wound: The hand with which he clutched his chest was bleeding J. Mac. || figurative: And like an unhealed wound, that question of the land keeps bleeding and bleeding for us! A. Gud-Guz. The wrongs are still bleeding J. Avyž....

In these examples, a nimble cow is compared to an awl, a hilltop to a skull, and the openness of a painful question and the consequences of wrongs to the bleeding of an unhealed wound. The words used metaphorically here evoke vivid images; this figurative use has a real basis, a concrete point of support—a very close connection with the word’s literal meaning.

That vividness and concreteness of the image, and the closeness of its connection with the literal meaning, are distinguishing features of figurative usage, as noted by Soviet lexicologists and theoreticians of lexicography alike. Academician V. Vinogradov-

⁶See L. V. Shcherba, “An Essay on the General Theory of Lexicography,” Izvestiya AN SSSR. Otdeleniye literatury i yazyka, 3, 89–117, 1940.

⁷Metaphoricalness is understood here in the broad sense, that is, other kinds of tropes are also meant.

⁸W. Doroszewski, Z zagadnień leksykografii polskiej, 93, Warszawa, 1954.

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vas says that “in the case of a figurative word’s use, the image formed on the basis of the direct nominative meaning usually does not wear away or fade, and the persistence of vivid imagery is a symptom that the new meaning in the semantic structure of the word has not yet crystallized or become concentrated⁹.

In the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” instances of figurative usage are presented after illustrations of the word’s direct meaning, following a parallel (||) sign and the abbreviation prk. indicating figurative usage.

Sometimes it is not equally easy for everyone to perceive the connection between figurative usage and the direct meaning, because a rarer, less familiar, less widely used, or dialectal word may be used metaphorically. In the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” such instances of figurative usage are explained in illustrative examples, for example:

grėimas (<grėjimas) noun masculine (4) a thin film on scalded or boiled milk, or on some other liquid; a thin layer: A layer of cream formed on the boiled milk Ut. I like the grain grėimas Rk.... What kind of grėimai are floating in this beet soup? Ob. || The tree trunks were coated with a thin layer of soot rš. || figurative: This year the oats are just grėimas (poor, sparse) An.

kauzōti,-ōja,-ōjo intransitive verb BŽ 50, Kos243 to ferment, foam; to become porous; compare gauzōti: Beer kaužo when you add yeast, that is, it froths J. When bread, milk, or cream sours after being kept for a long time, it kaužoja, bubbles J.... Snow kaužoja in the sun Skr. The porridge kaužoja (foams) in the pot Skr. The kissel kaužo Erž. Our fallow field kaužoja so beautifully (swells) Up. || figurative: The sons kaužo(ja) (get angry, sour) because he wrote everything down for strangers Dr.

Explanations are also provided in illustrative examples when the situation is not entirely clear from the context available, for example:

griuvėsiai noun plural (2) Sb, Kp, M, Š the remains of a collapsed building: Today only ruins remain of that palace rš.... || figurative: Do not be frightened when you see such ruins (such a frail person) at your school J. Jabl.

× kačērga (Belarusian качарга) feminine noun (1), kačergà (3) 1. poker, stirrer: Where is the poker? I’ll get the fire going Dkš.... || figurative: I saw the poor woman walking around with that kačerga (crutch) Upt....

In figurative usage, the semantic distinction is most often determined by different usage environments and different contexts. If there are more such instances of usage, each sometimes needs to be explained in the illustrative examples, since their meanings may vary somewhat from one utterance to another, for example:

įkabinti (inkabinti)... 3. reflexive intransitive, transitive verb to cling, latch on:... The child walks holding on to his mother’s skirt Š.... || figurative: Kasparas, without even saying hello, got caught up in that conversation A. Gud-Guz.... He is so attached to those horses (fond of them), apparently he won’t sell them Er. The bilė just takes hold (takes root, begins to grow), the hazel grows quickly Er. The fire won’t catch (won’t start burning properly) — pour more on

⁹ V. V. Vinogradov, “The Main Types of Lexical Meanings of the Word.” — “Questions of Linguistics,” 5, 9, 1953.

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kerosene Ktk. The Jėvaičiai have already settled in and begun to live well (began to live well, prosper) Skdt....

In all the examples presented here, figurative usage does not create new, independent word meanings.

When a semantic coinage is repeatedly used with the same meaning in a variety of combinations and collocations with other words, it may spread and become an independent figurative meaning of the word. “Potentially, most words can have many metaphorical meanings,” says Ch. Casares, “but in reality only a few of them are realized; moreover, not all of them are sufficiently vigorous and widespread to be considered to have entered the common language¹⁰. Thus, a distinction must be made between the possibility of using a word metaphorically in a particular context for stylistic purposes and a figurative meaning of a word that is widespread and vigorous in the language. In the first case, a new meaning of the word cannot yet be established, whereas in the second a new meaning may be distinguished in the dictionary.”

This can be illustrated with examples of the use of the word liepsnoti. The primary, nominative meaning of this word is ‘to burn with a flame’: Malka liepsnoja OG304. Pradėjo liepsnoti ugniakuras J. Jabl. Ten priešų padegti liepsnoja sodybų gimtinių stogai S. Nėr. The figurative use of this word’s meaning occurs in the following sentences: Jau leidžias saulutėlė, gražus pavakarys. Auksiniuose spinduliuose liepsnoja pagirys. S. Nėr. Saulėleidų kalnas liepsnoja paraudęs T. Tilv. Stiprėjo šaltis, ir dangus vakarų pusėje liepsnojo šviesiai raudonais debesimis J. Dov. Things lit and reddened by the sun’s rays are compared here to things enveloped in flames and burning, so that a vivid, concrete image of blazing arises. The connection between the metaphorically and vividly used word liepsnoti and its literal meaning is very close, distinct, and evident. Such examples of figurative usage are not listed as a new meaning in the Dictionary, but are attached to the literal meaning after the parallel sign and the label prk.

We also find the following instances of the use of the word liepsnoti: Nuo jaunystės aš liepsnojau neges­tančiu troškimu pašvęsti savo gyvenimą valstybės gerovei rš. Širdis džiaugsmu krūtinėje liepsnoja! trš. Kautynių įnirštimi tebeliepsnojo karių veidai rš. Jis ryžtingai žengė dviejeta žingsnių priekin, ir prieš pono akis vietoj žavingo mergaitės paveikslo staiga atsirado pykčiu liepsnojantis berno veidas V. Myk-Put. Negęstamu skausmu liepsnoja krūtinė S. Nėr. Eik čia, į glėbį, baltas gulbinėli, pasiklausyk liepsnojančios širdies B. Sruog. Kur meilė liepsnoja, te pagėidos gensa BM452. These examples show that the range of use of the word liepsnoti has expanded, since it is used in various combinations. Although in the expressions mentioned a strong feeling, or its outward manifestation (on the face, and so on), is likewise compared with blazing, the image of an object blazing and enveloped in flames no longer arises here with the same concreteness and vividness as in those cases where

¹⁰X. Casares, Introduction to Modern Lexicography, 124, 1958, Moscow; see also O. S. Akhmanova, On the Question of the Word in Language and Speech. — “Reports and Communications of the Faculty of Philology,” 5, 29—30, Moscow Order of Lenin State University named after M. V. Lomonosov, 1948.

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we are speaking of objects blazing in the sun’s rays. The impression of blazing is nevertheless fainter and weaker here; therefore such figurative uses of the word may already be presented in the dictionary as a new, separate, independent figurative meaning of the word liepsnoti: ‘to be overcome by some feeling; for a feeling to manifest itself intensely’.

Let us take some more examples. The literal meaning of the word užkariauti is ‘to seize in war, to conquer’. The second, figurative meaning of this word, ‘to gain through work and toil’, is regarded as an independent meaning in the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” on the grounds that expressions such as užkariauti širdį, protą, jausmus, pasitikėjimą, palankumą, simpatiją and so on are used more frequently and no longer evoke a vivid image of warfare; that is, the imagery of such figurative uses has faded considerably. The meaning ‘painful, unpleasant, difficult’ of the word kartus is likewise given in the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language” as an independent figurative meaning, since it is widespread in the language: in this sense, the word kartus is used with a large range of words (cf. Nepasisekimas kartus, pralaimėjimas sunkus LeninasIX122. Karti toji pareiga, bet juo labiau ir garbinga! A. Gud-Guz. Kad būtų gyvenimas malonus — kova dėl jo karti S. Nėr. Pirmą kartą jo mažoji galvelėj pradeda gimti karčios mintys J. Bil. Kartus tam [našlaičiui] labai yra svietas A. Strazd. Mano žirgelis parneš karčią žinelę Sn. Kam tokie kartūs žodžiai? tsp). The imagery of the word kartus has also faded through habitual use. The weakening of imagery and the associated change in a word’s meaning are also influenced by the fact that, as M. Loiman points out, “the listener is generally inclined to devalue and weaken emotionally forceful expressions, perceiving them as equivalent to neutral designations for the same concept”¹¹.

Independent figurative meanings of words that have developed from figurative usage are marked in the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language” with the label prk., which not only indicates the nature of new word meanings that have arisen in this way, but also supplements the definition, helps connect the new meaning with the literal one, and accounts for the semantic leap that occurs when the name of one phenomenon is transferred to phenomena that may be very different in nature.

That metaphor is most vivid and alive in figurative uses of a word, and that metaphorical quality fades when figurative usage becomes habitual, at which point a separate figurative meaning of the word may be entered in the dictionary—this seems straightforward and clear. Lexicographers, however, face their greatest difficulties because the vitality of metaphors varies in degree, and speakers may feel that vitality differently and subjectively.

Figurative use of a word and a figurative meaning of a word are extreme cases that are relatively easy to distinguish, since, as already mentioned, figurative use is usually more situational and occasional in nature and gives language a stronger emotional-stylistic coloring than a figurative meaning, which is a widespread, more conventional meaning of a word. Between these two extreme cases, however, there are usually transitional degrees, interme-

¹¹ See M. Leumann, Zum Mechanismus des Bedeutungswandels. — „Indogermanische Forschungen“, XLV Band, zweites Heft, 116, Berlin-Leipzig, 1927.

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stages, since the change in meaning is an ongoing process, arising from the fact that language is not a static, lifeless, unchanging phenomenon. These transitional degrees, as regular facts of language development, also find their way into the dictionary, but it is sometimes very difficult to decide whether to leave them within the bounds of literal meaning or regard them as a case of polysemy, i.e. present them as a new figurative meaning. “There are no objective criteria,” says N. Feldman, “that would help to determine precisely how close each particular word at such an intermediate stage is to one case or the other”¹². Let us take the following examples:

to clear intr. to become clear, brighter: The weather promised to clear rš. || fig.: His face lit up, cleared (cheered up) a little rš. Jurgis listened to Ignotas seriously and soon brightened A. Gud-Guz. Now my old age has brightened all the more tsp....

to ossify intr. 1. to harden, turn into bone, or become fused with bone: Membranes can ossify over time P. Aviž.... || fig.: Grammar weighed on me with its ossified forms trš. Old people’s opinions, like the joints of their bones, have ossified rš....

to be frightened intr. see to be startled: I was frightened (usually: I got frightened) Kp. || refl.:... Eg-lė was frightened: she herself remembers how she once promised to be the bride of snakes S. Nėr. He was frightened by the tearing wolves K. Donel.... || fig.: After that rain, the rye had been “frightened” (stopped growing), but then recovered Klov. The cabbages are so “frightened” (wilted, drooping), just waiting for rain Srv. Our oats are somehow “frightened” (small, poor) Vdžg.

The connection between all these metaphorically used words and their literal meaning is very close; the basis for the juxtaposed images is clear—the comparison can easily be reconstructed. Yet these are not accidental instances of figurative use, occurring only in particular contexts. They are used more widely and consistently in the language, with a greater variety of other words, but in every case they are linked by semantic commonality. For example, the word to clear, used metaphorically, means ‘to become happier, more cheerful’; the word to ossify means ‘to become unchanging, rigid’, while the word to be frightened means ‘to grow poorly, look unhealthy (of plants)’. Thus, such cases can already be regarded as capable of becoming new word meanings. Figurative uses of a word are not usually yet linked by semantic commonality, so it would be harder to formulate an explanation encompassing the various instances of figurative use. Let us compare, for example, the figurative use of the first meaning of the word to eat away: The sun ate away (melted) the crusted snow rš. In a few weeks the piglets will eat away the sow considerably (the nursing sow will lose weight) Užp. Now and then I too have “eaten away” (finished spinning) a distaff Slm. We see that in another context the word to eat away is used in quite different ways.

When encountering instances of metaphorical word use that occupy what seems to be a transitional stage between figurative use of a word and a figurative meaning of a word, one considers their degree of metaphoricity and expressiveness,

¹² Н. И. Фельдман, Об анализе смысловой структуры слова в двуязычных словарях. — «Лексикографический сборник», 1, 20, Москва, 1957.

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prevalence and vitality in the language, and variety in its combinations with other words; on this basis, an attempt is made to determine whether a new, independent figurative meaning of the word should be assigned its own entry in the dictionary article.

3. Individual poetic metaphors and metonymies

A word with familiar, widespread meanings in language may be used by writers with new meanings. By using a word in new combinations in an individual, unusual way, its semantic associations can be extended. An author’s style and originality may be especially evident in the metaphorical use of words. N. Shvedova, discussing the distinctive features of a writer’s language, observes that “unusual, metaphorical usage in many cases gives a word new nuances, broadens the scope of its lexical and stylistic application, and reveals the possibilities latent in the word”¹³. In seeking new, more vivid, more original substitutes for the name of the same phenomenon, and pursuing a particular artistic purpose, a writer creates individual metaphors and metonymies, sometimes unusual and unexpected when they are based on an association between compared images that is not always readily grasped. For example, the usual meaning of the word aizyti is ‘to tear, score, split’ (cf. Thus water has worked and labored in the earth’s crust since time immemorial, tearing and crumbling everything Mš. The chest was soon smashed into tiny fragments Up. Thunder split the birch into tiny splinters Brs. We found the house split and riddled with holes Plng. Just you wait, thief, I’ll split your head open! Gr). S. Nėris used this word creatively, applying its meaning to the sphere of more abstract phenomena: Laughter rends the forest—bloody, dreadful: The owl rings the bells of hell S. Nėr. In this stanza we also find another unusual combination of words, namely bloody laughter. Here the poet creates the metaphorical epithet bloody for the word laughter, drawing on the widespread meaning of this word in language, ‘associated with bloodshed’ (cf. A bloody and arduous struggle began S. Dauk. The life of nations is reflected in language, their peaceful and bloody relations with their neighbors K. Būg. I shall ride off to war, to that bloody battle TŽI164. Reaction celebrated a bloody victory trš. The serfs of Dirvėnai manor incurred a bloody punishment V. Myk-Put).

A writer can use the semantic range of a neutral word very broadly and in a great variety of ways from an emotional and stylistic point of view. Consider these examples: The morning breeze blows and herds lambs in the sky S. Nėr. There he is, nearing thirty. Other friends of his age already run farms on their own, are married, and have had one or two squealing joys Vaižg. Everyone knew and loved you: both the manor houses and the village homespun Mair. Salomėja Nėris calls white little clouds lambs, Vaižgantas calls a baby joy, and Maironis calls a peasant, a villager, homespun. These words are used here figuratively and replace the actual, literal names of things only temporarily, in a particular situation. They are understood in the company of the corresponding words, in a particular context, but such instances of figurative usage do not justify the conclusion that the word lamb has the meaning ‘little cloud’,

¹³ Зр. Н. Ю. Шведова, Об общенародном и индивидуальном в языке писателя. — «Вопросы языкознания», 2, 123, 1952.

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the word džiaugsmas the meaning ‘baby’, and the word sermega the meaning ‘peasant’. Such meanings are merely instances of authors’ inventiveness and individual, innovative application of a word; they are poetic devices created for stylistic purposes. Academician V. Vinogradov says: “In a work of art, the words of the common language are transformed in emotional-imagistic and aesthetic terms”¹⁴. Words and word meanings skillfully used in a work of art can take on entirely new semantic and emotional colors, often individual and distinctive to a particular author.

When individual metaphors and metonymies are encountered in practical lexicographic work, the question arises whether they should be included in a dictionary of the kind that the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language is.

Dictionaries generally include from literary works those instances of figurative usage that are more widespread in the literary language and more or less typical, since it is neither possible nor necessary to include in a dictionary every example that reveals the creative individuality of writers or every variant of creative word use. Such literary-language dictionaries as, for example, the Dictionary of the Modern Russian Literary Language published by the Institute of Russian Language of the USSR Academy of Sciences, do not include instances of individual, author-specific word use that show the distinctive features and peculiarities of an author’s style¹⁵, because the purpose of literary-language dictionaries is to represent the norms and usage of the language’s lexicon that have achieved a degree of stability and tradition. The Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language likewise does not aim to present every instance of word use recorded in any work of fiction. On the contrary, depending on the nature of the word’s use, it seeks to exclude linguistic facts that are entirely accidental or erroneous. Of course, determining whether a particular use of a word is accidental is difficult, since not all examples from writers’ works are excerpted, and so an instance of usage may happen to lack further illustrative examples. Thus the number of illustrative quotations available cannot be used mechanically to judge whether a usage is accidental or uncharacteristic. Criteria must be sought that would make such selection more objective and well-founded.

“A writer’s individuality,” Acad. Shcherba points out, “has a social foundation; otherwise we would be unable to understand these ‘individualities’ or to evaluate a writer’s ‘style’”¹⁶. That social foundation is the meaning of a word shared by the speech community, reflecting objective reality. The value of metaphors and metonymies likewise depends on how much reality they reflect, that is, on how real and clear the basis for comparing the concepts is. “An objective criterion for the reflection of reality in metaphor may be the social-historical …”

¹⁴ В. В. Виноградов, Язык художественного произведения. — «Вопросы языкознания», 5, 6, 1954.

¹⁵ Зг. Инструкция для составления «Словаря современного русского литературного языка» (в пятнадцати томах), 21, Москва—Ленинград, 1958; Л. С. Ковтун, О построении словарной статьи. — «Лексикографический сборник», 1, 97, Москва, 1957.

¹⁶ Л. В. Щерба, Опыт общей теории лексикографии. — «Известия АН СССР. Отделение литературы и языка», 3, 92, 1940.

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practice, the social experience of the people preserved for us in folklore¹⁷. Folk poetry and colloquial speech are figurative, rich in metaphors and metonymies. The poetic devices of folk creativity are generally realistic and more firmly established; they can therefore serve as a basis for assessing the value of a writer’s stylistic devices and determining whether they accord with the inner laws of language and are created in keeping with the entire system of word meanings and the language system. Let us take concrete instances of the use of the word žydėti ‘to bloom’ as an example. On the basis of the direct meaning of this word, ‘to unfold (of a flower); to be in bloom’, the following figurative meanings have developed in the language: 1) ‘to have favorable conditions for development; to thrive, flourish’: Bloom, Armenia, splendid flower in the crown of my great Homeland! P. Cvir. At the beginning of that age, the grain trade was still flourishing A. Janul. Now his happiness bloomed like a rose in summertime. I. Simon. The rose blooms, the lily blooms, my youth blooms beside my dear mother LTR (Vik). Misfortunes branched out, misfortunes leafed, misfortunes bloomed at the gate JV634. Bloom, my little son, like a peony in the garden JD945; 2) ‘to look beautiful and healthy’: Soon she undressed her and seated her at the table among blooming faces, beside her wife rš. She is all blooming (beautiful, lively) Kt. A face radiant with health rš; 3) ‘to stand out in bright red, to redden (with blood)’: When he fell once, the earth trembled; when he fell a second time, blood bloomed JD 1537. The earth and blood began to bloom [from the blows of the rods] JD1113; 4) ‘to be visible, to be reflected in facial features (of some positive mental quality or inner experience)’: Courage and patience bloomed on every face S. Dauk. A gentle radiance blooms on Eglė’s cheeks — Žilvinas escorts his wife and children S. Nėr. A pleasant smile blooms on her lips rš; 5) ‘to shine, glitter’: The little stars bloom in the sky TŽI196. The child is so beautiful, his eyes are simply blooming Up.

Besides these more established instances of use, more or less widespread in folk colloquial speech, folk poetry, and the language of belles lettres, further examples of the use of the word žydėti may be cited: The morning of the revolution is dawning — the sun will bloom red S. Nėr. At such a time, when one side of the sky bloomed with clear weather while darkness collapsed on the other, the fields burned with especially vivid colors P. Cvir. Mother scatters words like vetch, and they bloom in her eyes as white tears P. Cvir. Wounds bloomed like roses on his sides P. Cvir. It seems that these examples need not be included in the Dictionary. Such combinations as the sun blooms, clear weather blooms, words bloom in one’s eyes, wounds bloom, and so on, although they do not contradict the traditions of folk creativity and their use is motivated by artistic aims, helping authors create imagery, are nevertheless more often stylistic coinages created by writers. Such instances of individual, figurative word use belong in dictionaries of writers’ language.

The dictionary should include more characteristic, usual, and firmly established poetic metaphors; however, the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language” is not strictly limited to instances of use that have certain traditions and are more typical. The type and specific character of the Dictionary make it possible to include also the works of our literary classics

¹⁷ J. Pikčilingis, Žodžių vartojimas perkeltine reikšme P. Cvirkos kūryboje. Filologijos mokslų kandidato laipsnio disertacija (rankraštis), 193—194, Vilnius, 1956.

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instances of individual word use, provided the new application of the word does not depart from its entire system of meanings, is justified by artistic aims, and indicates trends in the semantic development of the word—directions in which figurative word use in Lithuanian may continue to develop. Such instances of use can enter literary language, spread, and become typical.

A writer may depart from the usual use of a word in order to convey an image in an original, novel way; however, figurativeness that does not help us understand reality and does not reveal the characteristic features of the phenomenon depicted usually fails to fit into the system of word meanings as well (for example: White days dry up, hung out on the oak avenues like fences trš. For the gray edge of the horizon tears away from the green forests. It tears away so that a person may grow better the merry turn of days trš).

The “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language” does not include instances of figurative word use marked by narrow individualism and artificiality, whose imagery has an unclear, unsuitable, and unrealistic basis, since they are detached from reality and estranged from the usual use of words in folk colloquial speech, folklore, and the works of other writers; they are created without regard for the inner laws of language, merely to display one’s originality and astonish others with one’s “ingenuity” (such word use is generally characteristic of representatives of formalist movements or beginning writers¹⁸).

4. Figurative Word Meanings That Have Lost Their Imagery

A figurative meaning that has developed in a language may gradually lose its characterizing function, that is, it may become a nominative—the direct—meaning of a word. It is therefore sometimes difficult to determine strictly whether in a particular instance we still have a figurative meaning or already a nominative meaning of the word that is entirely neutral in emotional terms. “The boundaries that separate the direct use of words from figurative use,” observes L. Bulakhovsky, “are in many cases quite relative: the main factor indicating this distinction is usually how accustomed we are to a certain combination of words—concepts, how usual and unpretentious it is in our everyday speech, and how much new and fresh artistic ‘discovery’ it contains¹⁹. For example, the word pakirsti, among other meanings, means ‘to cut partway through, without cutting down completely’ (cf. A felled spruce got caught in another and hung there J. Dalgi, I say, I’ll let it go and cut my forefinger J. Balt). This meaning provided the basis for the development of the figurative meaning ‘to weaken, overcome’ (cf. The serf system of the manor economy was undermined by the abolition of serfdom LeninasIII159. We have fundamentally undermined the social stratification of the village trš. The enemy did not undermine my will S. Nėr. Hard work undermines a person’s health Kp.

¹⁸ In his dissertation “The Use of Words in a Figurative Sense in P. Cvirka’s Works,” J. Pikčilingis mentions, among other things, such individual metaphors used by P. Cvirka at the beginning of his creative work, in his earliest stories—metaphors lacking a logical basis and created for external effect: In the willow branches the wind frizzed the twigs. His eyes spilled out even more, his lips folded. Baltramiejus let out a bubble of laughter. The rye field turned into corpses of feet. Soon spring came after the bare footprints pressed into the snow, following them, barking.

¹⁹ Л. А. Булаховский, Введение в языкознание, часть II, 30, Москва, 1953.

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All these troubles lay a person low Al). The meaning of the word pakirsti, ‘to weaken, overcome’, no longer evokes the image of striking (with an axe or something else); in other words, there is no longer a close, tangible connection here with the literal meaning of the word pakirsti, ‘to fail to cut all the way through’. The imagery of this figurative meaning has faded; from an emotional and stylistic point of view, it may be said to be neutral. Characterizing such a meaning with the label prk. indicates only that it arose from figurative use, whose imagery has faded through frequent, habitual use. Or let us take another example. The primary meaning of the word gimti is ‘to come into the world by birth’ (cf. Although many babies were born, two thirds of them died before reaching the age of two A. Vien. A heifer born in winter Pls). When this meaning was transferred to the sphere of other phenomena, the language developed the meaning ‘for something new to come into being, appear, arise’ (cf. The struggle between the old and the new, between what is dying and what is being born—this is the basis of our development Komunistas1948,5. From the old, the young is born Mkk. In the Lithuanian village a new person was born—the collective-farm peasant Tiesa1949,55. A day is born, and food is born with it Gs. How difficult it is for new words to be born for new concepts and new phenomena A. Gud-Guz. Without work, neither city mansions nor a new harvest in the fields are born A. Vencl. In my mind was born the keenest desire to sail across the oceans myself J. Bil). In the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” this meaning is marked prk., but it is now hardly metaphorical: in all the cases listed here, when using the word gimti with this meaning to denote a new phenomenon, we no longer sense an obvious, close connection with the literal meaning of gimti—the basis of the image—because this meaning no longer has expressiveness or force; moreover, the speaker no longer intends to make an impression, stir the imagination, or evoke a corresponding image. Likewise, in our everyday speech the meaning ‘to be nipped by frost’ is no longer “pretentious”; it arose from the vivid use of the word pakąsti in the sense ‘to damage with one’s teeth, to nibble’ (cf. The flowers nipped by autumn blushed and turned mottled rš. A little frost will come and a narrow breeze, and nip your little branches and green leaves Bink), or the meaning ‘the inhabitants of a village’, which arose by metonymic transfer from the meaning ‘village, settlement’ of the word kiemas (cf. He used to call the whole village a Slunkius in jest K. Donel. We had all gathered in the whole village this evening Šlu).

Such figurative meanings of words are widespread and established in the language, and no longer have an artistic impact. In such cases, the comparison—the basis for juxtaposing images—is either no longer felt at all or emerges very faintly. In the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” the label prk. is generally no longer added to such meanings.

5. The place of figurative word meanings in a dictionary entry

The meanings of a polysemous word must be presented in a dictionary entry in a particular order that reveals the connections among the meanings and the unified picture of the word’s semantics. A figurative meaning is usually linked to the literal meaning by a more or less close connection; therefore, when the figurative meaning is placed immediately after the literal meaning that provides the basis for the image, the semantic relationship is clear. If the figurative meaning is moved—

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—past several other literal meanings of the same word, with which it has nothing in common, the semantic connection among the meanings is broken, and the figurative meaning is left unmotivated.

In the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” every effort is made, as far as the available material allows, to place figurative meanings immediately after the literal meanings that provide the basis for the image, for example: apkarpyti iter. 1 apkirpti. 1. to trim with scissors: Trim it along the edges so the threads won’t fray. J. The hair is long, trimmed all around I. Simon.... Hedges need to be trimmed and levelled rš.... 2. prk. to reduce; narrow, restrict: They cut down his land in those years Č. They cut back the estates of the lords Skr. The creditors cut down his little estate, and now have divided it up completely Sug. || Bourgeois democracy always remains narrow, curtailed, hypocritical tsp. 3. to sprinkle by cutting: Sprinkle straw over the tub as you trim it; sift the oat straw if you want the sap not to cool Šts.

However, it is not always easy to determine the connection between a word’s figurative and literal meanings. There are cases in which the expressiveness of a figurative meaning is still felt, but that meaning has no close connection with the word’s existing literal meanings. For example, the word sugraibyti has two literal meanings: 1) ‘to find, catch by groping (e.g., in the dark, in a liquid)’ (cf. In the dark he groped around and found a key on the dresser A. Vien. That soup is so watery, you can’t find any thickness in it at all! Jnš) and 2) ‘to gather by groping’ (cf. Put down the rake and gather up the bits of hay Jž). The figurative meaning of this word—‘to understand somewhat, comprehend, be able to do something’—has no very close connection with either of its literal meanings (cf. He can now even manage to read a book A1884,361. I can also manage a bit of German Dbk. He doesn’t quite grasp what those people are saying Sml. || refl.: Krizas manages to find his way through the surveyor’s affairs P. Cvir). In the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” such figurative meanings are placed at the end of the dictionary entry, after all the word’s other meanings.

The ordering of figurative word meanings is also related, in part, to the treatment of substantivum commune in the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language.”

Lithuanian has many common-gender nouns, marked scom. in the Dictionary, for example: išgaiša ‘someone who works slowly and lazily; someone who lives extravagantly and leaves everything lying about; a wastrel, a withered person’; klipytà ‘a crooked, bent person or a broken-down object’; padilba ‘someone who walks with their eyes lowered, does something secretly’; pamplà ‘an animal or person with a large, swollen belly’; styrà ‘someone who sticks out; a stiff person’; šipata ‘someone who is always smiling; someone who mocks others’; tvýla ‘a taciturn, withdrawn person’; užuomaiša ‘someone who quickly forgets everything’; žlabana ‘someone whose eyes are bleary, a person with runny eyes’, and others. These are mostly words denoting negative inner or outer traits of people and animals (and sometimes objects). Such words usually have no other meanings. In addition, there are masculine and feminine nouns whose one or more meanings can be used to characterize a person, for example: ginčas sm. (2) 1. K, Ak, Š, FT, J. Jabl defense of one’s opinion or case in words; stubbornness, dispute... 2. DŽ sport. a particular encounter between players on opposing teams and its resolution when the referee stops the game and throws the ball. 3. scom. a contrarian:

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Not all men are quarrels like yours, Žem. A terrible quarrel—no one can deny it, Vlkv. Whoever works backwards, stubbornly, not as instructed but as he wishes, is a quarrel, J.... Oh, what a quarrel of a girl, Skr....

plunder sf. (1) 1. a gap, ditch carried away and torn out by water... 2. land torn up, ploughed fallow land... 3. Pl. anything torn off, ripped away; a layer, bark... 4. K, LsB206 plundering, theft. 5. K, Š, BŽ261 anything torn away, taken by force; booty... 6. loss, damage; expenses... 7. scom. a person who plunders, causes a loss: Priests are a plunder of the people, Ml. A girl is the first plunder of a household (takes a share, dowry) (obs.) Km.

The third meaning of the word quarrel and the seventh meaning of the word plunder, as the examples show, have no close semantic connection with the other meanings of the respective words: they are neither derivatives of any direct meaning of these words nor figurative meanings. In the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” they are placed at the end of the dictionary entry, after all the other meanings.

However, often a meaning of a masculine or feminine noun used to characterize a person is figurative and derivative, and closely related to the direct meaning. Such word meanings, like all other figurative meanings, are given in the dictionary entry immediately after those direct meanings from which they developed, for example:

pig sf. (2) 1. K a domestic animal raised for meat and fat (Sus domesticus):... Let a pig into the room—it’ll climb right onto the table, LTR (Krk).... A washed pig will return to the mud, VP24.... The pig stinks outdoors and smells good on the table, Mrk.... 2. scom. fig. pejor. a shameless, rude, unclean person: Don’t be such a pig, J. Jabl. That Izidorius is a pig, not even saying thank you for such a good thing, Skr. Get out of here, you tar-eared pig! Trgn. 3. a haycock: Pile that hay into a haycock, in case it starts raining, Krp....

sack sm. (4) 1. a piece of fabric folded and sewn along the sides for storing loose or small items; a quantity of something that fits in a sack: The potatoes are gathered and poured into sacks, baskets, by the village potato harvesters, A. Vencl. We have sacks of wool, Gs. They haul loads, having filled the sacks, FrnS44. We planted five sacks of potatoes, Vlkv. 2. fig. colloq. an awkward, clumsy, fat person: It’s hard for such a sack to even move, Rm. It’s hard for him to run, being such a little sack, Arm. 3. part of a forge bellows: Smoke comes out of the sack; it makes wind, Aps....

The basis for a figurative meaning is most often the best-known, most concrete meaning of a word. However, it is not always clear which literal meaning gave rise to the figurative one, since a word may have many literal meanings, each of which can serve as the basis for an image. Let us take, for example, the word stump (and stump). In the language it is used with the following meanings: 1) ‘a dry stump with roots’, e.g.: I brought back from the bog stumps uprooted last year Dg; 2) ‘a tree’s branched top’, e.g.: A stork had woven its nest in the crown of this tree Lš; 3) ‘a tripod made from a gnarled tree to set a bread tub and the like on’, e.g.: The stump tripod, pulled out, stands like a gnarled thing J; 4) Lkm ‘root-

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tree'; 5) Vrn 'a club with little branches for mashing porridge; a churn dasher'; 6) 'a thick tree trunk studded with pegs, for treading peat', e.g.: They travel over the reketis for treading, Up; 7) Dg 'a branched pole on which to hang pots to dry'; 8) 'a machine for threshing grain', e.g.: Today we’ll thresh the rye with a reketys, Lzd; 9) 'a device for winding and twisting yarn; a reel', e.g.: Wind the yarn off the reketys, Kb. We wind yarn from a spool either on a lenktis or on a reketys, Prl; 10) Jž, Up 'a tool for twisting ropes', and others. In a figurative meaning, the word reketis is used of a tall, stout, ungainly person or a bulky object that takes up a lot of space (That one got such a reketis for a son-in-law, Skr. Get along, you reketis! Trng. Well, that carpenter certainly made a wardrobe! A terrible reketis—there’s no room to pass, VšR). All the direct meanings of this word share a common feature—spreading out, splaying across space. This feature, present in almost every object called a reketis, can be applied to describing a person or some other object that spreads out; therefore it is difficult to say which object the speaker has in mind in a particular case when calling a person a reketis, and which direct meaning the figurative meaning is closer to, since even in the same dialect several meanings of the word reketis are often used, and all of them may provide the image underlying the figurative meaning. Thus, when it is impossible to determine precisely and clearly the connection between a figurative meaning and any one direct meaning of a word, there is no alternative but to place such meanings at the end of the dictionary entry.

In colloquial speech, it is customary to compare the most characteristic, salient feature of an animal or some object with a person’s inner or outer qualities, usually negative ones, often adding a tone of irony or disparagement. Sometimes a meaning denoting a negative trait may also carry a tone of affection or admiration. For example, a person who is angry, deceitful, and wicked is called a snake: Such a snake—don’t get involved with him! Rm. You won’t get even a glass of water from that snake, Ldvn. Men are snakes, but the women themselves are snakes too, Grg. Alongside its negative meaning, this word is also used without any condemnation or hatred, in a milder, joking sense, when speaking of a lively, energetic, clever, etc. person, with a note of admiration, e.g.: Oh, how fast, that snake! Slm. Bold, that snake—you can go anywhere with him, Dbk. Well, isn’t she beautiful, that snake! Mrk.

In all the cases mentioned here, word meanings are used to describe and characterize a person. Academician Vinogradov calls such meanings predicative-characterizing meanings²⁰. They are most often used in speech when the object being characterized is individually identified (usually by pronouns such as that, such, this, etc.) or addressed directly. The semantic function of predicative-characterizing meanings is to associate the object being characterized with a feature that is most salient and characteristic of the object denoted by the word’s direct meaning. An explanation of a word’s predicative-characterizing meaning should make clear that the word is not always used with this meaning, but only when characterizing a person who has a particular quality. Therefore, it is inaccurate, for example, to explain the predicative-characterizing meaning of the word fox as ‘a flatterer, a smooth-talking person; a clever, sly person’, or a meaning of this type for the word sack as ‘un-

²⁰ See V. V. Vinogradov, Основные типы лексических значений слова. — «Вопросы языкознания», 5, 24, 1953.

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a nimble, lumbering, obese person, since these words do not in fact have the meanings ‘a smooth-talking person; a cunning, sly person’ or ‘a clumsy, lumbering, obese person’ (one would not say, for example, “I didn’t even want to speak to a lape” or “I caught up with a maišą walking along the road”)—those words are applied to a person solely in order to characterize them.

The figurative meanings of some words are used when speaking only of male or only of female persons, for example: kirvis ‘axe’—of a coarse, blunt man (e.g.: Her husband is an axe, an axe Užp. There were so many such axes at the party Užp.); ožys ‘goat’—of a stubborn man or boy (e.g.: There’s no more hot-headed goat than you Skr. I’ve never seen such a goat Stl. You’ll never get anywhere with that goat Ds); kalė ‘bitch’—of a gossipy woman (e.g.: That woman is a bitch among bitches Gs. She weaves gossip like a bitch Ds).

There are words whose figurative meaning can be used when speaking of both male and female persons. In addition to those mentioned earlier, the following examples may be given: meška ‘bear’—of a clumsy, awkward or strong, obese person (e.g.: What a bear—he can’t budge from the spot Vad. Such a bear can carry it (strong) Ar. Such bears came in and are pushing in [to the shopkeeper’s counter out of turn] Srd); buza—of a muddled or talkative person (e.g.: Where are you going, you blabbermouth? Ds. That buža babbles without any understanding; even they don’t know what they’re saying Lš); skrabalas—of a person who talks a lot and chatters (e.g.: A skrabalas is one who, grumbling and rattling, keeps walking about and talks very fast J. Don’t listen to what that skrabalas says Srd. Old women are all skrabalai KlvrŽ). In the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” such figurative meanings are marked with the abbreviation scom. (substantivum commune), indicating that the word, when used in that sense, is of common gender. The question arises whether this is appropriate. A word may, in a given sense, be applied to persons of both male and female gender, but this does not seem to change the gender of the word. A properly formulated definition (of... a person) would make it clear that such word meanings are used when speaking of both male and female persons, while the label scom. should be assigned only to nouns that are genuinely of common gender.

When discussing the figurative meaning of a word, it should not be forgotten that not only an individual word but also a phrase can be used metaphorically. In free combinations, the words used are separate lexical units, each with its own lexical meaning, whereas a phrase used figuratively becomes lexicalized and functions as if it were a single word. The words making up such a phrase are merely “potential” words; they no longer have their literal meanings, since their meanings are subordinated to the meaning of the phrase as a whole. Here we are dealing not with the meaning of an individual word, but with the meaning of a phraseological unit as a particular lexical unit. The question of how phraseology should be presented in a dictionary is broad and complex. It is touched on here only because there are sometimes uncertainties about where phrases used figuratively belong in a dictionary entry.

In the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” beginning with volume III, efforts have been made to present phraseological units in accordance with current requirements of lexicographic theory, but there are still cases in which a word used in a phraseological unit is treated

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as a free-standing word used figuratively. For example, the figurative meaning ‘a hard life or difficult work’ is given for the word kalvarija, illustrated by sentences such as: In Turkey, the Armenians’ life is an endless kalvarijų keliai Šlc. We’re going to the black kalvariją (durpių kastį) Šts. However, the illustrative examples do not show that the word kalvarija has the figurative meaning ‘a hard life’ or ‘difficult work’—that meaning arises only from the phrases kalvarijų keliai and juodoji kalvarija. By extracting one component from these phraseological units—the word kalvarija—and giving it a new meaning, ‘a hard life or difficult work,’ in the dictionary entry, one distorts not only the semantics of the word kalvarija but also the meaning of the phraseological units themselves. It is equally inaccurate to present fixed phrases used figuratively as illustrative examples of a word used figuratively. Consider, for instance, the following example:

kilsnoti,-oja,-ojo 1. Iter. dem. of kelti ‘to lift’; kiloti, kilšč(i)oti:... Vaikas kilsnoja rankas į viršų rš. || figurative: Jau nuo seno vieni daugiau, kiti mažiau kilsnojo galvas (nerimo) rš....

In the sentence “Jau nuo seno vieni daugiau, kiti mažiau kilsnojo galvas,” it is not the word kilsnoti that is used figuratively, but the entire phrase kilsnoti galvas. This phrase can also be used literally (e.g., a child kilsnoja galvą), but when used metaphorically it has an entirely new meaning: ‘to be restless, to stir’. If, in the example given, only the word kilsnoti were used figuratively, the question would arise what word it is an expressive substitute for, and what emotionally neutral word it replaces here. That question cannot be answered, because here the expressive substitute is not the single word kilsnoti, but the phrase kilsnoti galvas, which replaces the word nerimti, which has a more abstract meaning.

Thus, both the label prk. following a parallel sign and the label following a sense number indicate the figurative use of a single word, whereas figurative phraseological combinations are marked in the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language” with a triangle and a diamond.

CONCLUSIONS

1. A word is used in a figurative sense in order to replace an emotionally neutral name for a phenomenon with a vivid, expressive word carrying a particular emotional tone.

2. A word’s figurative meaning is a secondary, derived meaning of that word.

3. The vividness, emotional force, and artistic impact of words used figuratively are not equally pronounced in all cases. This depends primarily on how widespread the figurative meaning of a word is in the language and how frequently it is used.

4. The “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language” distinguishes between the figurative use of a word and its figurative meaning.

5. The figurative use of a word consists of vivid, expressive instances in which one of a word’s meanings is applied to a particular situation. These are characterized by the vitality of the metaphor and the closeness of its connection to the word’s literal meaning—as the basis of the image

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through which it is formed. In the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language", instances of figurative word use are placed after the illustrative examples of the word’s literal meaning, following the parallel sign and the abbreviation prk. Instances of figurative word use vary across contexts, so they are explained in parentheses in the illustrative examples.

6. When the figurative use of a word becomes widespread and established in the language, the range of its application and combination with other words expands, and a new meaning arises, which the dictionary presents as an independent figurative meaning. Its metaphorical character and connection to the word’s literal meaning are still felt, although frequent, customary use may make them fainter. The vividness of such word meanings may disappear altogether; that is, the meaning may lose its characterizing function and become a literal, nominative meaning of the word. In such cases, the dictionary no longer includes the abbreviation prk.

7. The placement of figurative meanings in a dictionary entry is determined by how evident their connection to the word’s literal meaning is: when that connection is clearly visible, the figurative meaning is placed immediately after the literal meaning that provides the basis for the image; when the connection is difficult to establish, the figurative meaning is placed after all the word’s other meanings.

8. A word used in a figurative sense must be distinguished from a phraseological word combination used figuratively. In the former case, the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language" uses the abbreviation prk.; in the latter, it uses the triangle and diamond symbols.

FIGURATIVE MEANINGS OF WORDS AND THEIR DISTINCTION IN THE “DICTIONARY OF THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGE” OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE LITHUANIAN SSR

С. Ю. КЕЗИТЕ

Abstract

The question of using a word in a figurative sense is closely connected with the problem of word polysemy, the semantic development of a dictionary entry, and the accurate reflection of objective linguistic reality in the dictionary.

The “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language” distinguishes figurative use and figurative meaning of a word as qualitatively different phenomena. The basis for distinguishing the figurative use of a word’s literal meaning is its particular expressiveness and emotionality, its closeness to the word’s central literal meaning, as well as its more restricted use. Figurative use of a word is marked by two vertical lines (||) and accompanied by the label prk. (figuratively).

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Cases of figurative word use that have become established in the language and are more widespread and stable across various contexts are distinguished in the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language” as separate meanings, with a new number and the label prk., which is placed before the definition of the word’s meaning.

Since the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language” is not intended to be normative, nor does it aim to describe every instance of an unusual use of a word encountered in speech, this article considers the selection of individually authored metaphorical uses of words and offers some guidance on taking a more objective approach to this question.

The article presents more difficult cases of including figurative meanings of words in a dictionary entry, which are connected with the peculiarities of the Lithuanian language and directly relate to the specific nature of the “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language”.