Dėl vadinamojo „absoliutinio įnagininko“ XVI–XVII a. lietuvių kalbos paminkluose

LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI, II LIETUVOS TSR MOKSLŲ AKADEMIJA ON THE SO-CALLED “ABSOLUTE INSTRUMENTAL” IN 16TH–17TH-CENTURY LITHUANIAN LANGUAGE MONUMENTS V. AMBRAZAS The absolute dative has been widely used in Lithuanian from antiquity to the present day. Some linguists have also mentioned another absolute construction—the absolute instrumental. The question of the absolute instrumental was associated with certain participial constructions that occur occasionally in old Lithuanian texts. A. Becenbergeris, alongside absolute datives, gave the following example of an absolute instrumental (“ein absoluter Instrumental”) with a participle: With these things thus prepared, the priests would go BrB Hebr 9, 6. According to A. Becenbergeris, the absolute instrumental probably derives from the absolute dative. There are supposedly transitional cases between these two constructions: And he commanded him, having restored him, to go away from them BrB Zuz 56; with their wives BrP 402₉. In A. Becenbergeris’s view, the latter example may be regarded as a pure absolute instrumental (“reiner Instr. absol.c”)¹. A. Becenbergeris also linked the development of the Lithuanian converb to the absolute instrumental. The converb used in absolute constructions was said to have developed either from the dative or from the instrumental. A. Becenbergeris gave the following examples of the absolute instrumental with a converb: moterischke numirus waiku ir wiru sawa schullinjie passiskandina BrP II 518₁₆; passibengus tomis dienomis BrP I 161₂; O apeius metais pataise BrB I Kar 20,26². Evidently, A. Becenbergeris regarded the absolute instrumental as one of the means of syntactic expression in Old Lithuanian. E. Frenkelis considered the question of the absolute instrumental much more cautiously. He noted that this construction is very rare and occurs in only a few passages in J. Bretkuna’s writings. Some of the constructions cited by A. Becenbergeris (BrP I 161₂, BrP II 518₁₆) could also be absolute datives; others likewise do not warrant speaking of a “free absolute instrumental” (“der freie Instr. absol.c”), since they can also be associated with the temporal and comitative instrumental³. E. Frenkelis added one more example to the constructions mentioned by A. Becenbergeris: 1 See A. Bezzenberger, Beiträge zur Geschichte der litauischen Sprache (hereafter — Beiträge...), 261, Göttingen, 1877. 2 Ibid., 261; see also 241. 3 See E. Fraenkel, Syntax der litauischen Kasus, 197, Kaunas, 1928. 47 with the doors locked, he speaks BrP II 26; according to him, this is either an absolute or a locative instrumental4. The absolute instrumental is not used in present-day Lithuanian. It has not been observed in Latvian or Old Prussian either. Slavic and Germanic languages, in whose old monuments the absolute dative is found, likewise do not have this construction5. E. Fraenkel’s doubts concerning some of the examples presented by A. Bezzenberger are therefore entirely justified. The constructions that A. Bezzenberger regarded as absolute instrumentals are not homogeneous. To clarify their nature, one must review the evidence in old Lithuanian monuments that bears on this question. 1. Of the cases mentioned above that may be regarded as absolute instrumentals, we shall first discuss adverbial-participial constructions with noun forms having the ending -u. A considerable number of such constructions are found in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century language monuments: In the month of Nissan, in the twentieth year of King Arthasastho, while he was standing by him6 before the eyes, I lifted the wine BrB Nehem 2, 1....he struck two men... and pierced them with his sword, my father knowing nothing of it BrB I Kar 2,32. For when his father died, it is as though he had never died BrB Sir 30,4. And when the time had passed, which the king had appointed... his chief chamberlain brought them BrB Dan 1,18. While the time of such abstinence lasts, no razor shall come upon his head... until the days have passed, (the time) which he dedicated to the LORD BrB IV Moz 6,5.... and when the mule came beneath the branches7 of the oak, his head caught in the oak BrB II Sam 18,9. And the rest of the people... did... likewise. And when the horse is strong8, it digs up and clears the ground BrB Sir 40,34...the waters, flowing into their own places, disappear BrB Iz 40,24....when the south wind blows, you say BrB Luk 12,55. Then Joshua spoke with the LORD... and said while Israel was present BrB Joz 10,12. Now there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, and Abner strengthened the house of Saul BrB II Sam 3,6. And when the trees rot, whoever would fall to the south or to the north, to the place where it falls, there it lies9 BrB Pam 11,3....this autumn /that woman/ her child and husband having died /she strangled herself BrP II 51816. When the time came... these signs first appeared BrP II 33619....the ship, with them drifting/ and with death before their eyes/ Christ came BrP I 20120.... just as the lady of God commands, she wishes to behead her only son VP 109. In the writings of J. Bretkuna and the Wolfenbüttel Postil, from which these examples are taken, the dative of nouns with -(i)o- and -(i)io- stems usually has the ending -ui, but -u also often occurs alongside it, e.g.: passimega tewu jūsų BrB Luk 12,32; bilaia darżiniku winiczas Luk 13,7; ikki tam czesu Mich 5,2; 4 Ibid. 5 Isolated instances of the “absolute instrumental” in old Anglo-Saxon texts arose under the influence of the Latin absolute ablative; see Morgan Callaway, The Absolute Participle in Anglo-Saxon, Baltimore, 1889. 6 The mana underlined above. 7 Underlined, in the margin: didziu, storu. 8 In the margin: dausza. 9 The last 6 words are in the margin; underlined in the text: the gules. 48 Nehem 2,16; I Kar 3,2; II Kar 18,4, etc.; to the weakest daiktu I Petr 3,7; to my Lord karaliu of Assyria II Kar 18,23, and so on.¹⁰; glory be to the most gracious—lewų VP 54, to all pratu 46a; drawgu sawam 206a; to the faithful Dewų tewų 2a, etc.¹¹ Singular dative forms ending in -u are also found in many other linguistic monuments; they are widely used in present-day Lithuanian dialects as well.¹² In written texts, and partly also in spoken language, these dative forms coincided with singular instrumentals. Thus, at first sight, the nouns that are combined with converbs in the constructions listed here may be regarded as either datives or instrumentals. For example, A. Bezzenberger, having assigned the construction from BrP II 518₁₆ to the “absolute instrumentals,” mentioned some others¹³ in discussing the dative. The following circumstances show that the noun forms ending in -u used in the examples cited above are datives: a) In absolute constructions whose predicates are inflected participles, these noun forms are combined with participles in the dative, e.g.: Praėjusiom tam metų, ateija jopi antrą metų BrB I Moz 47,18. And you shall remain there, ikėi numirusiom Wirausiu kunigu¹⁴ BrB IV Moz 35,25.... ikėi pereiusiam cziesu BrB Dan 2,9. And it happened¹⁵ Zachariau kaplaniste uszweisdenczam... When the lot fell BrB Luk 1,8. b) In old writings, we find no corresponding constructions in which a singular instrumental of a noun with an -(i)ã-, -(i)ē-, -i-, or -u- stem, or a consonant stem, having an ending different from the dative, is combined with a converb. c) In structure and sentence function, the constructions listed above do not differ in any way from other absolute datives. 2. In the writings of J. Bretkūnas there are several absolute constructions in which feminine-gender nouns, pronouns, and participles with an -(i)ã- stem have the ending -mis: Esch skanios strowos newalgliau... nei tepiauusi, ikki praschokus¹⁶ tomis trimis nedeliomis BrB Dan 10,3. And pereius dienomis anamįs¹⁷ he returns, and the child¹⁸ Jesus remains in Jerusalem BrB Luk 2,43. And passibengus tomis dienomis ir aniėms upon returning home / the child remains BrP I 161₂. And it happened, issipildus dienamis ureda ia²⁰ he goes to his house BrB Luk 1, 23. But encziams iomis| Behold, some guards come into the city BrP I 402₉. ¹⁰ For other examples, see A. Bezzenberger, Beiträge... 127. ¹¹ See W. Gaigalat, Die Wolfenbütteler litauische Postillenhandschrift aus dem Jahre 1573, 125, 243, Tilsit, 1900 (MLLG V). ¹² Cf. F. Specht, Śyrwids Punktay Sakimu, 29–30, Göttingen, 1929; J. Otrębski, Gramatyka języka litewskiego, 3, 14, Warszawa, 1956; Z. Zinkevičius, VVU Istorijos-filologijos fakulteto mokslo darbai, 1, 189–190, Vilnius, 1955. ¹³ That is, Dan 2,9; Sam 3,6; Nehem 2,1; Sir 30,4; Sir 39,34; Acts 7,4; see A. Bezzenberger, Beiträge... 127. ¹⁴ Above, underlined Plebona. ¹⁵ At the top of the line: staghiši est. ¹⁶ Corrected from perschokus. ¹⁷ Above, crossed out: ischbewus dienas tas. ¹⁸ Above, underlined waikelis. ¹⁹ Corrected from issipildusamis. ²⁰ From issipildus to ligi ia underlined; above: iem athluksam Vreda sawa. 4. Kalbotyros klausimai II. 49 The ending -mis is characteristic of the plural instrumental. However, in J. Bretkūnas’s writings it is occasionally also found in the plural dative, e.g.: Ir sluszia Deiwemis iu BrB Ps 106,36; esch iamis… kalbėiau Joz 20,2; Ghis… prisaka neczistomis Dwasiaams Mork 1,27; Bet beda siunkiamus, (nieschczamis) ir szindanczamis Luk 21,23. Noreia ghissai iamis schitu prisakimu… Liekarstwa… pataisiti BrP I 222₂₀ and the like. In many other old texts (Morkūnas’s Postil, the Wolfenbüttel Postil, Knyga nobanystės, etc.), datives ending in -mis are even more frequent²¹. These forms were probably first used with a dative meaning because the dative and instrumental endings partly coincided. Already in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writings, the plural instrumental of nouns, like the dative, sometimes has the ending -ms, cf.: su sawa Szmonims BrB I Mak 12,50, su mums SG 105₁₇, and the like. By analogy with these cases, plural instrumental forms ending in -mis may also have acquired a dative meaning in some contexts²². It is noteworthy that in old writings the ending -mis is found more often than other endings in the datives of nouns and pronouns with -(i)ā-stems²³. It is precisely forms of this stem class that we see in the Bretkūnas constructions cited above. It is therefore quite certain that these are datives, and in these examples we have ordinary cases of the absolute dative with converbs (1–4) or participles (5). Comparing these constructions with corresponding passages in other old writings, we likewise most often find absolute datives in them (cf. Ir passibengus dienoms/ ir aniems sugrįžtant VEE 31₂₄; iki toms trims nedėloms perėjus KvB₁ Dan 10,3, Bet nueinant jom dwiem KvB₁ Mat 28,11). One passage in Morkūnas’s Postil is noteworthy: when the translator borrowed the text of the pericope from B. Vilentas, he recast the absolute dative used there in this way: VEE 146—147: Ateia Iesus (146) durims sant vschrakintoms; MP 173a 27: Atáio Tezus durimis sant užrakintomis. Here one may discern a contamination of the absolute dative with an instrumental of path (by what route did he come?). J. Bretkūnas translated this passage in two different ways: in the pericope he used an absolute dative (BrP II 43₄), while in the “exposition” he paraphrased it somewhat differently: Ateit Ponas IEsus iumpi kaczei durimis uszrakintomis kalba su ieis/ ir sawe… prisikielusi paroda BrP II 26₄. E. Fraenkel, quoting an excerpt from this sentence (see above), incorrectly linked the word combination durimis uszrakintomis to the verb kalba. In fact, it is linked to the verb ateit. Here J. Bretkūnas paraphrases the Latin sentence venit Iesus ianuis clausis Vulg Jon 20,26, inserting the conjunction 21 See W. Gaigalat, cited work, 133 ff.; A. Bezzenberger, Beiträge… 241; P. Arumaa, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der litauischen Personalpronomina, 44 ff., Tartu, 1933; F. Specht, ZfslPh 12, 200 ff. 22 Cf. P. Arumaa, cited work, 48—49; J. Endzelīns, Latviešu valodas gramatika, 404 ff., 418, 423, Rīgā, 1951; E. Fraenkel, Balticoslavica, 2, 36; Sprachliche, besonders syntaktische Untersuchung des kalvinistischen litauischen Katechismus des Malcher Pietkiewicz von 1598, 14, Göttingen, 1947. F. Specht explained the spread of the ending -mis into the dative differently: in his view, it was caused by the coincidence of dative and instrumental endings in the dual; see F. Specht, KZ 53, 152 ff.; 56, 265; ZfslPh 12, 200 ff. 23 For example, of the 69 plural instrumentals ending in -mis found in J. Morkūnas’s Postil (cited by P. Arumaa, cited work, 44—45), 31 are -(i)ā-stem forms. 50 kaczei. Thus durimis uszrakintomis is not an absolute form, but a clear instrumental of path (manner)24. 3. Two constructions used by J. Bretkūnas deserve separate mention: Ir Ianui schitaip apkaltu sanczu /Ponas musu Jesus Kristus/ delei kosanų ir stebuklingu darbu sawa/ buwa didiele Czeṡtije laikams BrP I 29₉.... esch thą nepalai̇mą ne uszleiṡiu iem giwų sancziu, Bet czesu io io sunau̇s usṡziun-siu nepalai̇mą ant io Namų BrB I Kar 21, 29 (bey seinem leben LB; in diebus eius Vulg). F. Specht regarded the words apkaltu sanczu in the first construction as datives25. If we accept this assumption, we should also regard giwų sancziu in the second example as a dative. Formally, this is possible, since adjectives and participles in J. Bretkūnas’s writings sometimes have nominal dative endings; cf. the datives bagatu BrG 12326; nekaltu BrB Sir 31,8; ischronitu BrB Sir 30,21; kalbancziu BrP I 7711; raupsūti̇u BrP I 19410, and the like. However, no datives in -u formed from active participles have been observed. Moreover, in J. Bretkūnas’s writings, the present participle formed from the stem of the verb būti is never the copula in the compound predicate of an absolute dative (in such cases a converb is used; cf.: kurie iem giwam essant, numirre BrB Teis 16,30 and the like). The forms apkaltu and giwu are probably not datives, but instrumentals. The instrumental often functions as the nominal component of the predicate in an absolute dative; cf.: man sant didzu pulku BrB Joz 17,14; kaliui teip didziu esant BrB V Moz 19,6, and the like. Since the converb copula forms a close syntactic-semantic unit with these instrumentals, it could readily have accommodated itself to the latter and taken on their case form. In both sentences mentioned above, the copula sanczu was apparently used instead of sant under the influence of the instrumentals apkaltu and giwu. Thus, these are somewhat distorted examples of the absolute dative. 4. As we have seen, all the examples discussed so far, except for one instrumental of path (manner), are absolute datives. Apart from these, the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century texts examined27 contain only three constructions that could be considered absolute instrumentals. We find them in J. Bretkūnas’s Bible translation: 24 A manner instrumental, or a literal translation of the Latin absolute ablative, is also found in this sentence: Bet amszinoi̇ giwatoie [ischrintu grieku] prieg wissų p schlowintuiu žmoniu bus /kaip ir pirmusa gimditoiusa pirm nupūlima buwa MT 76a 16. 25 See F. Specht, Šyrwids Punktay Sakimu, 33, Göttingen, 1929. 26 See A. Bezzenberger, Beiträge... 241. 27 All the writings of M. Mažvydas, B. Vilentas, M. Daukša, and M. Petkevičius known to date have been examined in their entirety, as well as J. Bretkūnas’s Bible translation and Postilė, J. Morkūnas’s Postilė (1600), S. Vaišnoras’s “Žemčiūga teologiška” (1600), the anonymous Ledesma catechism (1605), L. Zengštokas’s hymnbook (1612), K. Širvydas’s “Punktai sakymų” (1629—1644), S. M. Slavočinskis’s hymnbook (1646), the Knygos nobaṅžnystės hymnbook (1653), Suma evangelijų (1653), Maldos krikščioniškos (1653), the Catechism of S. Minvydas and J. Božimovskis (1653), the 1674 Gospels, the portions of S. B. Chylinskis’s Bible published by E. Volter, H. Reinhold, J. Gerulis, and J. Otręmbski, D. Kleinas’s Maldų knygelės (1685), J. Rikovi̇jus’s hymnbook and prayer books (1685), and other shorter writings of the XVI-XVII centuries. 51 1) And when the witnesses had departed28, he told the other to come to himself, (called him) and said to him Zuz 56 (und da dieser hinweg war/ Hies er den andern LB; Et, amoto eo, iussit venire alium Vulg). 2) And when the year had passed, Benhadad the Syrian prepared and went up to Aphek I Kar 20,26 (Als nu das jar umb war/ ordenet Benhadad die Syrer LB; Igitur postquam annus transierat, recensuit Vulg)29 3) When these things had thus been prepared, the priests would always go into the first tabernacle Hebr 9,6 (Da nu solches also zugericht war/ gingen die Priester LB; His vero ita compositis: in priori quidem tabernaculo semper introibant sacerdotes Vulg). As we can see, the first and third constructions correspond to the Vulgate’s absolute ablative. Since, when translating the Bible, J. Bretkūnas used this text, the Latin absolute ablative may have prompted him to use the instrumental instead of the dative. It should be noted that in only one of the cited examples do the subject and predicate of the absolute construction take the instrumental form. The subject of the first construction is expressed in the dative (scham), while the predicate attestatiu may be considered either dative30 or instrumental. Conversely, in the second example, alongside a gerund derived from the dative of consonant declension is the instrumental metais31. We also observe such mixing of the dative form with the instrumental in some other passages of J. Bretkūnas’s Bible translation, cf.: But I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid Luk 12,4; and the king of Syria was commanding his officers32 with mounted troops II Kron 18,30; you are with me, your servant, Lord I Sam 20,8. The constructions cited above may also be related to other cases of defective agreement, of which we find quite a number in J. Bretkūnas’s Bible translation33. Here it should be recalled that the manuscript of this translation was not finally edited, and that, in preparing it for publication, J. Bretkūnas would probably have corrected many constructions that were incorrect or confused under the influence of the originals (a considerable number have already been corrected in the manuscript). We could suppose that the constructions listed above are based on the use of the “absolute instrumental” only if similar examples were found elsewhere. However, they occur neither in J. Bretkūnas’s own Postilė nor in the writings of other authors. Thus, the evidence from XVI—XVII-century texts does not show that the “absolute instrumental” was ever used in the Lithuanian language. 28 In the manuscript of J. Bretkūnas’s Bible translation, the sound u is sometimes also represented by the letter ů (in general, it is not always possible to tell clearly whether a diacritic above the letter u is a breve or a circle). This word probably also has the ending -u (= attestatiu). 29 In the Greek text we find an absolute genitive here, cf.: καὶ ἐγένετο ἐπιστρέψαντος τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ Sept. 30 In that case, the first example would contain an absolute dative with a passive participle. 31 The instrumental metais may have entered here by analogy with expressions such as praėjusiais metais, šiais metais, and so on. E. Fraenkel also associated this example with the temporal instrumental (see above). 32 From wiriauseis. 33 See V. Falkenhahn, Der Übersetzer der litauischen Bibel Johannes Bretke und seine Helfer, 208—209, Königsberg und Berlin, 1941. 52 ABBREVIATIONS BrB — Biblia, that is, the Entire Holy Scripture, translated into Lithuanian by Jonas Bretkūnas, pastor of Lithuania, in Königsberg (1579–1590. Cited from a VVU photocopy). BrP — Postilla, that is, A Brief and Plain Interpretation of the Gospel... By Jonas Bretkūnas... Königsberg... 1591. KvB1 — Biblia, that is: The Entire Holy Scripture, of the Old and New Testament... newly translated into Lithuanian by a teacher in Lithuania and printed for the second time. Königsberg, 1755. KZ — Journal of Comparative Linguistic Research in the Field of Indo-European Languages, founded by A. Kuhn. LB — Biblia: That is: The Entire Holy Scripture: German. Newly revised. D. Mart. Luth. Wittenberg. Printed by Hans Lufft, 1549. MP = Lithuanian Postilla... published... in Vilnius by Jokūbas Morkūnas... in the year... 1600. MT — Margarita Theologica, collected and written by M. Adam Francisci... And now translated into Lithuanian by Simonas Vaišnoras, pastor of Warnia. Printed in Königsberg, Prussia, by Jurgis Osterbergeras, in the year... 1600. Sept — THE OLD TESTAMENT ACCORDING TO THE SEVENTY. That is, the Old Testament from the Greek version of the Septuagint interpreters... Halle (Parts I and II — 1759, III and IV — 1760, V — 1766). SG — Christian and German hymns... revised by Lazarus Sengstock, pastor of Lithuania in Königsberg. Anno CIƆ IƆC XII. Printed in Königsberg, Prussia. VEE — The Gospels and Epistles / read on Sundays and feast days... fully and faithfully translated into the Lithuanian language by Baltramiejus Vilentas... Printed in Königsberg by Jurgis Osterbergeras, in the year M. D. LXXIX. VP — Interpretation of the Gospel for the whole year, compiled in sections from many postils... (Anonymous postil of 1573. Cited from W. Gaigalat, The Wolfenbüttel Lithuanian Postil Manuscript from the Year 1573, Tilsit, 1900). Vulg — The Holy Bible of the Vulgate edition, revised and published by order of Sixtus V, Supreme Pontiff, Rome, from the Vatican Apostolic Press, 1593. fslPh — Journal of Slavic Philology. Edited by Max Vasmer. ON THE SO-CALLED “INSTRUMENTAL ABSOLUTE” IN 16TH–17TH-CENTURY LITHUANIAN LANGUAGE MONUMENTS В. И. АМБРАЗАС Abstract The question of the existence of the “instrumental absolute” in Old Lithuanian writing was raised by A. Bezzenberger and later touched upon by E. Fraenkel, but it remains unresolved to this day. To address this question, the present article presents all constructions that have been or may be interpreted as “instrumental absolutes.” They were extracted from 16th–17th-century Lithuanian language monuments using the method of complete collection. 53 Examination of this material has shown that almost all “instrumental absolutes” can be explained as dative absolutes with gerunds or inflected participles. In many old monuments, the forms of the dative case in nominal declension partially coincided with the forms of the instrumental case. This coincidence occurred in the singular of stems in -(i)o-, -(i)io- (ending -u) and, comparatively rarely, in the plural of other stems (ending -mis). These are precisely the forms found in most of the constructions under examination. On the other hand, instrumental forms that do not coincide with the dative case are neither subjects nor predicates of absolute constructions. The only exception consists of isolated constructions in the translation of the Bible by J. Bretkūnas. They are associated with agreement errors and fluctuation in the use of dative and instrumental forms, which is also noted elsewhere in the translation manuscript; however, they may also have arisen under the influence of the Latin construction ablativus absolutus found in the corresponding passages of the Vulgate. Consequently, the “instrumental absolute” does not exist in Old Lithuanian writing.