ŽYDRŪNĖ ŠALAVIEJŪTĖ

Institute of the Lithuanian Language

ORCID id: orcid.org/0009-0003-4998-9657

RESEARCH AREAS: lexical semantics, ethnolinguistics, cognitive linguistics.

DOI: doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2023.96.08

NAMES FOR THE HEN, ROOSTER, AND CHICK IN LITHUANIAN AND THEIR MOTIVATION

KEYWORDS: motivation, synonym, zoonym, hen, rooster, chick.

ABSTRACT

Considered from a semasiological perspective, Lithuanian names for the hen, rooster, and chick constitute a large subgroup of the thematic group of zoonyms: approximately 200 lexemes without a common hyperonym have been recorded in various explanatory, dialectal, and specialized lexicographic sources. From an onomasiological perspective, motivated names account for 98 percent of the lexemes studied. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of Lithuanian names for the hen, rooster, and chick, treating them as lexical units that can convey the categorization of the bird being named, its relationship to other realities, and the language user’s attitude. A systematic analysis of the lexemes under study brings to light conceptual features from several categories: axiological, cognitive, associative, and ethnocultural.

ABSTRACT

From a semasiological point of view, the Lithuanian names for hen, rooster, chicken form a rich subgroup of the thematic group of zoonyms: about 200 lexemes without a common hyperonym have been identified in various explanatory, dialectal and special lexicographical sources. From an onomasiological point of view, motivated names make up 98 per cent of the lexemes studied. The article comprehensively analyzes the names of hen, rooster and chicken in the Lithuanian language, approaching them as lexical units that can convey the categorisation of the bird being so named, its relationship to other realities from the perspective of the language user. The systematic analysis of the lexemes studied highlights several categories of conceptual features: axiological, cognitive, associative, ethnocultural.

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INTRODUCTION

The hen, rooster, and chick are an integral part of Lithuanian folklore and phraseology (Jasiūnaitė 2010: 322–323). The names of this domestic bird have left their mark on toponyms (Balsys 2020: 21), and on the naming of plants (Gritėnienė 2006), fungi (Lubienė 2015), human physical and mental characteristics (Rosinienė 1990; Eigirdienė 2016), and natural phenomena (Dundulienė, Ščmeliovas 1979: 122; Jasiūnaitė, Konickaja 2003: 47–48). Animal names are more often analyzed as source domains for conceptual metaphors (Būdvytytė-Gudienė et al. 2014), but reverse studies—that is, those that reveal which realia animals are associated with in the naming process—are uncommon (Smetona 2015; Šalaviejūtė 2022).

Little attention is paid to the onomasiological system of zoonyms. Researchers of Lithuanian and other languages’ lexicons very rarely investigate the scope, systematic relations, and motivation of any one thematic group. More attention is devoted to the phraseology of individual zoonyms and to conceptual metaphors (Nilsen 1996; De la Cruz Cabanillas, Martínez 2006; Goatly 2006; Górecka-Smolińska, Kleparski 2011, etc.).

The object of this study is the names for the hen, rooster, and chick in the thematic group of Lithuanian zoonyms. These names are viewed as lexical units that can convey the categorization of the bird being named, its relationship with other realia, and the language user’s attitude.

The aim of the study is to examine the semantic relations among Lithuanian names for the hen, rooster, and chick, and to identify the conceptual features they represent. This aim is pursued through the following objectives: 1) to extract from various Lithuanian dictionaries the zoonyms denoting a hen, rooster, or chick; 2) to determine the scope of the thematic subgroups of names for the hen, rooster, and chick; 3) to group these names into synonym series; 4) to establish synchronically the ratio of motivated to unmotivated lexemes; 5) to determine the semantic relations among the lexemes and the conceptual features they represent.

The analysis applies the methodological practice of complex linguistic research, in which the semantic features of members of one thematic group are identified by examining lexemes at the semasiological and onomasiological levels. The semasiological and onomasiological semantic features of a lexeme are also considered features characteristic of the concept being named. From the perspective of cognitive semantics, meaning is an activated part of a concept; thus, every nomination reflects certain features of the concept (features characteristic of the concept) (Gudavičius 2009: 51).

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The analysis follows a concentric principle, examining the language system from the bottom up. Potential lexemes are collected from various sources. The names are grouped into synonym series¹, thereby identifying the finest-grained categorization of the concept under discussion attested in the lexical system. The semantic relations among the lexemes (hyperonymic–hyponymic, co-hyponymic, derivational, and polysemous) are examined. The analysis of syntagmatic relations serves as a supplementary method.

The study is based on the theoretical assumption that examining paradigmatic relations is a reliable way to identify some features of the concept under investigation (cf. Bartmiński 2010: 119–122; Rutkovska et al. 2017: 31; Bogdzevič 2019: 69).

The main source for the names under investigation is Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language (LKŽ_e). The material was supplemented with data from the Dictionary of Contemporary Lithuanian (DLKŽ_8e), the Dictionary of Standard Lithuanian (BLKŽ), and 13 dialect dictionaries² representing the Samogitian, Southern Aukštaitian, Western Aukštaitian, and Eastern Aukštaitian dialects. The study also draws on electronic publications that systematically present the Lithuanian lexicon: the Systematic Dictionary of Lithuanian (SistŽ_e) and the Dictionary of Synonyms (SŽ_e).

The first task is to establish how many names for a single bird (Latin Gallus gallus domesticus, Lithuanian naminė višta ‘domestic hen’) exist in the Lithuanian language system. On the basis of data from the lexicographic sources examined, it can be stated that the group under investigation comprises approximately 200 lexemes³ (including formal variants⁴).

An examination of systematic relations and semantic connections established that the Lithuanian language system (outside scientific language) has no general hyperonym for the bird in question. The core of the thematic group consists of three co-hyponyms: female (višta ‘hen’), male (gaidys ‘rooster’), and young bird (viščiukas ‘chick’). Their semantic relations, established on the basis of definitions, reveal two conceptual differential features: sex and age.

¹ The article does not address theoretical questions of synonymy. It distinguishes lexical and derivational synonyms. Lexical synonyms are understood as non-cognate synonyms with the same or a similar meaning. Derivational synonyms are cognate synonyms that have different derivational affixes (in this article, diminutives are also treated as such).

² See the list of sources.

³ The article presents only an approximate scope of the thematic subgroups of names for the hen, rooster, and chick. Lexemes with unclear meanings were excluded from the study. Polysemous onomatopoeias listed in dictionaries were divided into monosemous lexemes, e.g.: koplūnas 1 ‘capon’, koplūnas 2 ‘non-laying hen’, viščiukė 1 dim. ‘hen’, viščiukė 2 ‘small or adolescent hen’.

⁴ Formal variation among lexemes was established on the basis of phonetic, accentual, and morphological analysis of their structure.

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It was established that these three equonyms have formal variants, as well as derivational and lexical synonyms. The largest series of derivational and lexical synonyms consists of hen names (50 percent), followed by smaller series of chick (30 percent) and rooster (20 percent) names.

Onomasiological analysis helps to reconstruct the image of the world in language systematically (on a broader, more abstract scale). The semantic features revealed through comprehensive linguistic analysis are gradually grouped into basic cognitive categories. The inventory of basic categories (semantic primitives, semantic molecules) is established on the basis of insights by other scholars (Wierzbicka 2013; Goddard, Wierzbicka 2014; Goddard 2018) and the material under investigation.

The article methodologically opts to discuss the names according to their semantic relations. The onomasiological structure of the names for the bird under discussion is described by dividing them into smaller thematic subgroups for hen, rooster, and chick⁵. The aim is to bring out their principal conceptual differentiating and/or shared features.

1. NAMES FOR THE HEN

1.1. ŠŽ_e gives a synonym series of 3 names: vištà, pūtė, pūlė. SistŽ_e lists a series of 13 synonyms: vištà, vištáitė, viščiõtė, pūtė, pūlė, vištapaláikė, perėkšlė, perėklė, kvàksė, kvàkšė, kvakšlė, kvarkšlė, kverkšlė. According to the data in the lexicographic sources examined, hens are named in a great many ways in the Lithuanian language system. Lexicographic sources record nearly one hundred (95) lexemes for naming a hen.

The lexeme vištà is the dominant term in the thematic group of hen names. In explanatory dictionary definitions, it is defined as ‘a domestic bird kept for eggs and meat (Gallina)’ LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_8e, DnŽ 555, DrskŽ 465, DvŽ II 538, KzRŽ II 514, KpŽ IV 888, LzŽ 290, PPAŽ II 782, ŠVŽŽ II 459, ZnŽ III 692, ZtŽ 779, and ‘a bird of the pheasant family kept for eggs, meat, and feathers (Gallus gallus domesticus)’ VdškŽ 901, e.g.: Vištas laiko, tų kiaušinių – tik valgýk LKŽ_e; Vištų turu dvidešimt, tai kiaušinukų turu LKŽ_e; Va ligonį turiu, tai vištą papjausiu LKŽ_e; Pasipjaudavai vištą, tai kai obuoliukas – taukų pilna LKŽ_e; Žąsies mėsytė ne toki skani kaip vištýtės, vištýtės skanesnė LKŽ_e; Meisos kaip iš vištos LKŽ_e.

⁵ It is difficult to establish that all members of the thematic group belong to a narrower subgroup because boundaries are characteristically diffuse in the lexical-semantic system.

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The lexeme vištà belongs to the type of unmotivated nomination⁶. In terms of its entry into the language system, it is a lexeme formed through internal nomination and belongs to the East Baltic chronological layer. As etymological studies note, the origin of the lexeme is unclear. The classical interpretation identifies its etymological feature of motivation as ‘that which is domestic’. An attempt has been made to connect the name for the female domestic bird, which is characteristic only of Lithuanian and Latvian (cf. Latvian vista), with Old Indian viç- ‘house’ and Indo-European *u̯eik̑-: u̯ik̑- ‘house, settlement’, thereby reconstructing the semantic development: ‘home’ → ‘domestic bird’ → ‘hen’ (Buck 1949: 176; LEW 1266; Sabaliauskas 1990: 153; SEJL 2057).

All other recorded names for the hen belong to the type of motivated nomination. Dialectal vocabulary constitutes the greater part of the motivated names.

1.2. The first group—derivational synonyms (25).

Derivational synonyms for hen are axiologically marked. Positive connotations are reflected in derivatives with diminutive suffixes⁷: viščiukė 1 DvŽ II 538, viščiūtė 1 LKŽ_e, DvŽ II 538, vištaitė 1 PPAŽ II 783, DvŽ II 539, LzŽ 290, vištėlė 1 LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_8e, DvŽ II 539, ŠVŽŽ II 459, VdškŽ 901, vištūkė 2 PPAŽ II 783, vištytė / vištytė 2 DvŽ II 540, VdškŽ 901, vištyka 1 LKŽ_e. For example: What a good little hen! LKŽ_e; A pretty little hen LKŽ_e; That is a pretty little hen: plump, tiny, with a red head LKŽ_e.

Several prefixed derivatives and one compound name a young, grown but not yet fully mature hen and highlight the conceptual feature of the hen’s age: viščiokė LKŽ_e, VdškŽ 900, viščiūtė LKŽ_e, KltŽ 410, KpŽ IV 884, viščiukė 2 LKŽ_e, DvŽ II 538, viščiūtė 2 LKŽ_e, vištaitė 2 LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_e, DrskŽ 465, DvŽ II 539, KzrŽ II 514, ZnŽ III 692, vištikė LKŽ_e, KrtnŽ 489, vištyka 2 ZtŽ 780, pùsvištė LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_e, ŠVŽŽ II 118. For example: A young hen is quite small, but a pullet is already half a hen LKŽ_e; We’ll keep all the pullets; perhaps they’ll be better than the older ones LKŽ_e; I raised twelve pullets and one rooster LKŽ_e; She’ll grow up and become a laying hen LKŽ_e; Mine is already a good half-grown hen; she’ll soon start laying LKŽ_e. Other derivational synonyms of hen have negative connotations (in dictionary definitions this is indicated by the abbreviation pejor.); they name a poor, no-good hen: vištyna LKŽ_e, vištapalaikė LKŽ_e, KpŽ IV 890 / vištapalaikė LKŽ_e, KrtŽ 489. For example: The hens are eating [the beets]—the area isn’t fenced LKŽ_e; These wretched hens have scratched up the whole garden LKŽ_e.

⁶ Dėl terminų nemotyvuotoji ir motyvuotoji nominacija plačiau žr. Lubienė 2015: 24–25.

⁷ The diminutive suffix is an axiological marker at the onomasiological level, indicating that a lexeme has an axiological feature and differs from the dominant term in its synonym set. Because derivatives with diminutive suffixes are productive, the synonym set remains open.

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1.3. The second group—lexical synonyms (65). Most of these have distinctive semantic and conceptual features, which are most clearly manifested at the onomasiological level. All lexical synonyms for hen are motivated words; their onomasiological structure records particular semantic features, so they are grouped in the synonym set according to those features.

A large proportion of lexical synonyms for hen are names whose semantic and onomasiological structure records an acoustic feature characteristic of this bird (25). At the semantic level, the conceptual feature of producing sound is generally characteristic of names for a brooding, egg-laying hen. Their inventory of lexical motivators comprises onomatopoeic verbs carrying the seme ‘voiceless sound’: kàrkti, kiŕkti, kudakuóti, kvachtúoti, kvaǧždėti, kvaksėti, kvaŕkti, kverǩšti. For example: The hen clucks and clucks but lays nothing LKŽₑ; She clucks like a hen that has laid her first egg LKŽₑ; She clucks like a brooding hen LKŽₑ; The hen clucks while brooding LKŽₑ; The hen clucks, so sit her on some goslings LKŽₑ; Like a hen—always pecking and pecking LKŽₑ; Like a brooding hen—clucking and clucking, to no avail LKŽₑ; There are no eggs this year—all of them are cluckers LKŽₑ; The hen is clucking. There she goes clucking away; she wants little ones ZtŽ 336. The onomasiological structure of hen names records the characteristic sounds produced by this ethnozoological species: °karka LKŽₑ8, kudākė LKŽₑ, kudãkšlė, kudakūtė, kvaǧdė, kvàksė LKŽₑ; DLKŽ₈ₑ, kvaksūnas LKŽₑ, DrskŽ 179, kvãksė LKŽₑ, SŽₑ, KpŽ II 547, kvakšlė, kvaktūkė LKŽₑ, ZtŽ 336, DvŽ I 329, kvaktūtė DvŽ I 329, kvaktuchà⁹ ZtŽ 336 / kvaktukà LKŽₑ, DvŽ I 329, kvárkė, kvárkšė, kvarkšlė LKŽₑ, DLKŽ₈ₑ, SŽₑ, KpŽ II 549, kvarkštuólė, kverkšlė LKŽₑ, DvŽ I 330, kverkštùkė, kirklà / kirklà LKŽₑ. For example: I can’t stand this clucking hen: the slightest rustle and she starts clucking DvŽ I 329; The clucking hen clucks, and her chicks are already listening LKŽₑ; The clucker clucks ZtŽ 336.

Other lexical synonyms that have an acoustic feature are motivated by onomatopoeic calls used to summon hens. The inventory of lexical motivators consists of the invocatives¹⁰ pùl, pùle, pùt. These are generally affectionate synonyms with positive or neutral connotations: pùle LKŽₑ, SŽₑ, pùtė LKŽₑ, DLKŽ₈ₑ, SŽₑ, KzRŽ II 143, ZnŽ II 509, KpŽ III 401, VdškŽ 637 / putià LKŽₑ, pùtkė LKŽₑ, putýtė

⁸ The symbol ° marks lexemes that are unstressed in the dictionary.

⁹ This is associated with the dialectal Slavic loanword kvachtúoti, -úoja, -ãvo ‘to cluck’ ZtŽ336. When the lexical motivator of a motive is a loanword, the motiveme is considered motivated (cf. Lubienė 2015: 169).

¹⁰ Invokacija – naminių paukščių ir gyvulių šaukimo ar varymo garsai (Zabarskaitė 2009: 92).

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LKŽ_e, KrtŽ 331, VdškŽ 637. E.g.: Pul, pul, mano piliùte! LKŽ_e; Pùtės, pučiùtės, put, put, put! LKŽ_e.

The appearance of the bird occupies an important place in the semantic and onomasiological structure of hen names. At the center of the semantic and onomasiological structures of such names are the conceptual features of the hen’s body morphology, more specifically, feathering and body structure.

Five lexical synonyms name a hen according to the conceptual feature of having hairy cheeks. The semantics of the lexemes and lexical motivators evoke the image of a hen with cheek feathers: bakuõtė LKŽ_e (< × bãkai ‘cheek feathers’), papučiõkė LKŽ_e / papučõkė LKŽ_e (< papučõkai ‘hen’s cheek feathers’), papùrka ‘hen with cheek feathers’ LKŽ_e, papùžė ‘hen with cheek feathers’ LKŽ_e, apúokas ‘hen with hairy cheeks’ LKŽ_e (< apúokas² ‘lower-body hair, undercoat, tuft’). E.g.: How beautiful those papučiõkės are! LKŽ_e; Papùžės—with beards—lay better than the large-combed ones LKŽ_e.

At the center of the onomasiological structure of five further lexical synonyms is the conceptual feature of a crest: kuõdė LKŽ_e, KzRŽ I 406, kuõdena LKŽ_e, kuõdinas LKŽ_e, kuodùtė LKŽ_e, kuoduõtė / kuoduõčė ŠVŽŽ I 352. E.g.: The kuoduõtės are those with crests ŠVŽŽ I 352; If a hen has a crest, it will be a kuoduõčė ŠVŽŽ I 352; Both kuoduõčės hens have caps ŠVŽŽ I 352.

The onomasiological structure of several lexical synonyms captures the conceptual feature of fluffy, ruffled, overgrown, ragged feathers: drìškė LKŽ_e, spùrė LKŽ_e, šiùrpa LKŽ_e, pùrė LKŽ_e, °rażokė LKŽ_e, tùbòtė LKŽ_e.

A hen with a short, clipped tail has its own names: kirptùkė LKŽ_e, kuksà LKŽ_e, stùmplė LKŽ_e; a hen with short legs: lùtė LKŽ_e, lutìkė LKŽ_e, latùkė LKŽ_e / °letukė LKŽ_e.

There are also instances of metaphorical expression of hen body morphology, e.g.: the lexical synonym for hen čėmpė LKŽ_e is associatively linked to the image of the hen’s overgrown legs and knitted footwear made of yarn; the associative image of a bird’s comb and a bush is captured in the names krūminagalvė ‘hen with a bushy comb’ LKŽ_e, rožėtskiauterė LKŽ_e.

Another small group consists of names whose lexical motivators identify the hen by the color of its feathers: gegužėtė LKŽ_e, geltõnė LKŽ_e, kanãpė LKŽ_e, raibė LKŽ_e, raibùkė LKŽ_e. Mottling is expressed metaphorically in zeziùlė ‘speckled, hemp-colored hen’ LKŽ_e (< zeziùlė, zeziùlka ‘cuckoo’ ZtŽ 790).

Kinetic features are characteristic of the synonyms klùkštė ‘clucking hen’ LKŽ_e, gužùtė ‘hen being chased’ LKŽ_e, pagùžėlė ‘hen that quickly crouches’ LKŽ_e,

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tūpškė ‘a docile hen’ LKŽₑ, psychokinetic trait – pasiūtvištė ‘a hen that is inclined to wander into places’ LKŽₑ, pagėdvištė ‘a useless, destructive hen’ LKŽₑ.

A large proportion of hen names consists of lexemes whose semantic and onomasiological structure captures functions characteristic of this domestic bird. The names make it possible to distinguish three principal functions of the hen: laying eggs, brooding, and protecting and caring for young.

The conceptual feature of laying (or not laying) eggs and brooding is recorded explicitly and implicitly in several lexical synonyms: dedėklė LKŽₑ, DLKŽ₈ₑ, BLKŽ, ŠVŽŽ I 110, ZnŽ I 253, KltŽ 42 / dedėklė LKŽₑ, gaidvištė LKŽₑ, koplūnas 2, nedėklė LKŽₑ, perėklė / perėklė LKŽₑ, DLKŽₑ, SŽₑ, KrtŽ 292, ŠVŽŽ II 49, KzRŽ II 72, ZnŽ II 375, perėkšlė / perėkšlė LKŽₑ, DLKŽ₈ₑ, SŽₑ, KzRŽ II 72, VdškŽ 544, KrtŽ 292, ZnŽ II 375, KpŽ III 146, KltŽ 210, periūkšlė LKŽₑ / periūkšlė LKŽₑ, peruokšlė LKŽₑ. For example: Such a good hen—an egg-layer; it’s a pity to sell her LKŽₑ; She would bring either a couple of dozen eggs or an old, non-laying hen LKŽₑ; Perhaps you have a broody hen; I’d like to hatch some chicks LKŽₑ; The broody hen has settled well over the eggs LKŽₑ; There are no broody hens; they won’t sit LKŽₑ; [The hen] isn’t laying—perhaps she’s a rooster-hen LKŽₑ; Our crested hen is a non-layer—she hasn’t laid a single egg LKŽₑ.

A small group consists of names for a hen that lays soft-shelled or small eggs: lėjikė LKŽₑ, lėjūkė LKŽₑ, minkštpautė LKŽₑ, pliūrė / pliūrė LKŽₑ, ŠVŽŽ II 81; kliurkė LKŽₑ, značkinė LKŽₑ (< značkas ‘a very small hen’s egg, a diminutive egg’). For example: The soft-laying hen laid some miserable eggs LKŽₑ; One hen lays eggs without shells LKŽₑ; What on earth happened there, that the hens are laying soft-shelled eggs LKŽₑ.

The feature of protecting and caring for young is recorded at the onomasiological and syntagmatic levels: čakōlinė ‘a hen that leads around kakolius (chicks)’ LKŽₑ, vištōlinė ‘a hen that leads around chicks’ LKŽₑ (< vištōlis ‘chick’), vaikveda LKŽₑ. For example: Mother is like a hen with chicks—she’d give up anything for her child LKŽₑ; Our hen with chicks has already let the little chicks out to roam LKŽₑ; That hen with chicks both leads the chicks around and lays eggs LKŽₑ; Another hen won’t let even crows near her young LKŽₑ; And a hen defends her own young LKŽₑ.

There are few other names. They foreground the locative conceptual feature of a hen that secretly lays eggs and broods: paslaptinė LKŽₑ, slapė LKŽₑ, slaptūnė LKŽₑ, slapūkė LKŽₑ, KpŽ III 751, slapikė LKŽₑ, DrskŽ 334. For example: That secretive hen is laying somewhere in the bushes LKŽₑ. The temporal conceptual feature of an atypical hatching time is also foregrounded: balandinikė ‘a hen hatched in April’ LKŽₑ.

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1.4. The abundance of lexemes, their semantic and onomasiological structure, and the conceptual features characteristic of the bird being named make it possible to conclude that the hen occupies an important place in Lithuanian ethnozoonymy. The names examined bring out the hen’s principal functions: laying eggs, brooding, and protecting and caring for young. Synonymy and the abundance of axiologically marked names point to a need among users of the Lithuanian language system to name hens with non-prototypical appearance or behavior, or those that perform their functions poorly.

2. NAMES FOR THE ROOSTER

2.1. ŠŽ_e gives a synonym series of four names: gaidỹs ‘male chicken’, kakarikõnas colloq. ‘an epithet for a rooster’, kakarykõrius colloq., sketrõnas colloq. ‘a rooster with its legs spread apart’. SistŠŽ_e lists a series of eight synonyms: gaidỹs, kakarikõnas, kakarykõrius, kakariėkas, sketrõnas, skiauteris, kaplõnas, koplūnas. Thirty invariant lexemes for naming a rooster were extracted from lexicographic sources.

The dominant member of the synonym series is the pan-Lithuanian, standard, axiologically neutral lexeme gaidỹs LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_8e, BLKŽ_e, ŠŽ_e, DnŽ 483, DrskŽ 90, DvŽ I 156, PPAŽ I 258, KzRŽ I 202, KltŽ 66, KpŽ I 576, LzŽ 74, PPAŽ I 258, ŠVŽŽ I 163, ZnŽ I 393, ZtŽ 191, VdškŽ 170. At the center of its onomasiological structure is the acoustic function of the rooster’s crowing, for example: The roosters are beginning to crow; they won’t let me sleep LKŽ_e; If a rooster crows during the day after twelve, the weather will change LKŽ_e; The rooster crows before rain KpŽ I 576.

2.2. The dominant member of the synonym series, gaidỹs, has derivational synonyms (12). These are diminutive derivatives with the suffixes -elis, -(i)ukas, -utis¹¹, positively marked in axiological terms, i.e. ameliorative: gaidẽlis DLKŽ_8e, DvŽ I 156, KltŽ 66, LzŽ 74, PPAŽ I 258, ŠVŽŽ I 163, VdškŽ 170, gaidelùkas ZtŽ 191, gaidùkas 1 DLKŽ_8e, DvŽ I 157, PPAŽ I 258, ŠVŽŽ I 163, ZtŽ 191, gaiduliùkas VdškŽ 171, gaidùtis PPAŽ I 258, gaidžiùkas 1 DLKŽ_8e, DvŽ I 157, KltŽ 66, ZtŽ 191. For example: Oh, little rooster, dear brother, what a lovely voice you have, how happy you are LKŽ_e; Speckled, speckled rooster, he guarded the hens very well—a very good little rooster PPAŽ I 258; Your little rooster is so handsome KltŽ 66. Other derivatives with diminutive suffixes denote a maturing rooster, about half-grown: gaidùkas 2 BLKŽ, gaidžiõkas KltŽ 66, VdškŽ 171, gaidžiùkas 2 BLKŽ, ŠŽ_e, gaidžiùkštys KpŽ I 577, gaidėnas LKŽ_e. Other derivational synonyms for rooster denote

¹¹The article includes those diminutives that are attested in dictionaries.

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an inferior, worthless rooster, and are negatively connoted: gaidpalaikis KrtŽ 97 / gaidžiapalaikis / gaidžiapalaikis LKŽ / gaidžiapalaikys KpŽ I 577. E.g.: Drive that worthless rooster out of the entryway! LKŽₑ.

2.3. With respect to the dominant of the synonym series, the other synonyms are lexical (17). Only three lexical names for a rooster are unmotivated, denoting a castrated rooster and attesting, at the semantic and syntagmatic levels, to the rooster’s reproductive function:^°kaplonas (Polish kapłon) LKŽₑ, koplūnas 1 (Polish kapłun) LKŽₑ, kapaūnas (German Kapaun) LKŽₑ. E.g.: Would you believe it, our rooster is a koplūnas: I set a hen on 20 eggs—only four hatched LKŽₑ.

The onomasiological structure of four rooster names captures the acoustic feature of the rooster’s crowing: kakariėkas LKŽₑ, kakarikōnas LKŽₑ, ŠŽₑ, kakarykōrius LKŽₑ, ŠŽₑ, kudōkas LKŽₑ. E.g.: Our kakariėkas crows beautifully LKŽₑ; The kakarykorius began crowing in the manor yard LKŽₑ.

Besides the examples attested in everyday speech, two invariant names for a wing-flapping, fighting rooster are documented: skėtrōnas / sketrōnas LKŽₑ, skėtriniñkas LKŽₑ. The image of a fighting rooster is supplemented by syntagmatic-level examples: They don’t get along; the little roosters peck at each other KpŽ I 577; They would fight bloodily over girls; a terrible war would break out, like roosters with bloodied combs KpŽ I 577; Why do we need drunks here? They fight like roosters ZnŽ I 393; I had little roosters, and they kept pecking at each other KltŽ 66; The rooster guards his yard ZnŽ I 393.

A chain of six lexical synonyms shows that the marker of gender difference in the system of names for hens and roosters is not only the root (suppletive formation), but also the suffix: pūtinas LKŽₑ, pučiūkas 2 LKŽₑ, putōkas VdškŽ 637, putōnas LKŽₑ, putūkas 2 LKŽₑ, vištinas LKŽₑ. E.g.: The pūtinas is strutting around the yard with the hens LKŽₑ; The pučiūkas went nut-gathering in the woods with the pučiūtė LKŽₑ; All the hens are here, but where is the putōkas? VdškŽ 637; The putūkas struts around the hen, slashing his wing LKŽₑ. Derivational relations (female → male) indicate that, in the system of names for the bird in question, the hen occupies the top of the ethnozoological hierarchy: A marten slaughtered the hens and left only the rooster for a joke KpŽ I 576.

In the Lithuanian language system, a rooster with hen-like features (and a hen with rooster-like features) has distinct invariant names: višgaidis LKŽₑ, DnŽ 444, ŠVŽŽ II 459 / vištgaidis LKŽₑ, DLKŽ₈ₑ, KrtŽ 489, ŠVŽŽ II 459 / vištagaidis LKŽₑ. E.g.: I had kept a rooster, but later it turned out to be a višgaidis LKŽₑ; We’ll have to slaughter that vištagaidis—it crows and crows LKŽₑ; I kept a rooster, but it doesn’t crow, so why should I keep that vištagaidis LKŽₑ; This one, I think, is a višțgaidis; it no longer lays eggs LKŽₑ. The lexeme ātplikis ‘višṭgaidis’ LKŽₑ may

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be associated with the verb atplĭkti ‘to lose one’s feathers’, e.g.: A rooster that has lost its feathers—it doesn’t crow or tend the hens LKŽ_e. Although the lexical motivator explicitly denotes loss of feathers, it is assumed that the example cited is also relevant because of its cultural motivation. The lexical motivator atplĭkti has an implicit meaning: one’s eyes will be exposed ‘one will be ashamed’; to lose one’s teeth ‘to get into trouble, to feel ashamed’. The lexeme atplikis not only conveys conceptual information about the rooster, but also implies information about an ethnocultural and social norm: having features of the opposite sex is viewed negatively; being different is shameful (see Šalaviejūtė 2022: 107).

2.4. The onomasiological analysis of rooster names made it possible to identify a set of the most important conceptual features. The set of semantic features established at the linguistic level makes it possible to reconstruct the rooster’s most important functions, which reflect its acoustic, aesthetic, and reproductive conceptual image.

3. NAMES FOR A CHICK

3.1. SŽ_e gives a row of 9 synonyms: viščìukas ‘a young chicken’, vištùkas, vištẽlis, vištýtis, cipùkas, cipùlis, putùkas, putùlis, tikùlis. SistŽ_e lists a row of 13 synonyms: viščìukas, viščìokas, vištùkas, vištẽlis, vištýtis, cipùkas, cipùlis, cipuliùkas, putùkas, putùlis, tikùlis, gaidžiùkas, gaidùkas. Lexicographic sources yielded 55 invariant lexemes for naming a chick.

The dominant item in the synonym series is the lexeme viščìukas LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_8e, SŽ_e, DnŽ 555, DrskŽ 465, DvŽ II 538, KltŽ 410, KpŽ IV 884, KzRŽ II 513, PPAŽ II 782, ZnŽ III 691, ZtŽ 779, VdškŽ 900. For example: There were twenty chicks and ten hens LKŽ_e; The hen is incubating the chicks LKŽ_e; The chicks are small; they cannot yet peck at grain LKŽ_e; It is no good without chicks, and having chicks is trouble too LKŽ_e; Only seven chicks hatched from two hens LKŽ_e.

3.2. The first group comprises derivational synonyms (21). Lexicographic sources abound in derivational synonyms for viščiùkas ‘chick’, which are axiologically neutral: vištãtitis LKŽ_e, DvŽ II 539, LzŽ 290, vištãlis LKŽ_e, vištẽlis / vištelis / vištẽlis / vištẽlys LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_8e, SŽ_e, DrskŽ 466, DvŽ II 540, KpŽ IV 890, LzŽ 290, PPAŽ II 783, ZnŽ III 693, ZtŽ 779, vištýnas LKŽ_e, DrskŽ 466, vištýtis LKŽ_e, KrtŽ 489, ŠVŽŽ II 459, ZnŽ III 693, vištýtėlis ŠVŽŽ II 460, vištel(i)ùkas DvŽ II 540, ZtŽ 780, vištùkas LKŽ_e, SŽ_e, DrskŽ 466, DvŽ

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II 540, KzRŽ II 515, ZnŽ III 693, ZtŽ 780, PPAŽ II 783, viščūtis LKŽ_e, vištõlis LKŽ_e, vištis LKŽ_e, viščius LKŽ_e. For example: The hens have become rather abundant around here LzŽ 290; Ans busies himself all day: the little chicks peck about and inspect everything LKŽ_e; We raised the chicks without a hen LzŽ 290; The young hens eat more once they have grown LKŽ_e; I hatched the chicks with difficulty for myself; I can barely hobble around myself LKŽ_e; Chirp, chirp, chirp, we call the chicks ZtŽ 780; Soon the young hens will get cheaper, because there are many of them now LKŽ_e; My hen leads her chicks around the garden LKŽ_e. At the center of the derivational synonym group discussed here are reproductive or kinship-related conceptual features associated with the hen (female → offspring).

Other derivational synonyms refer to a grown chick: viščįõkas LKŽ_e, KltŽ 410, KpŽ IV 883, VdškŽ 900, pùsvištis LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_8e, ZnŽ II 507; those for a female chick include: vištáitė 2 / vištaitė LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_8e, DrskŽ 465, DvŽ II 539, KzRŽ II 514, ZnŽ III 692; vištýtė / vištỹtė 1 LKŽ_e, KpŽ IV 891, ZnŽ III 693, vištùkė 1 LKŽ_e. Derivatives with negative connotations denote a poor, stunted chick: viščìukpalaikis LKŽ_e, viščìukelýnas LKŽ_e. For example: Whatever happened to those poor chicks—they are nearly dying LKŽ_e.

3.3. The second group comprises lexical synonyms (33).

All lexical names for a chick are motivated; according to the semantic features recorded in their onomasiological structure, they form two subgroups.

At the center of the first group of lexical synonyms is the acoustic sound feature. Some names are motivated by invocatives expressing a bird-call: capùkas LzŽ 44, capuláitis LzŽ 44, capùlis LKŽ_e, LzŽ 44, cikùlis LKŽ_e, cikùtas LKŽ_e, cikùtis LKŽ_e, cipùkas LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_8e, SŽ_e, KrtŽ 62, LzŽ 46, ZnŽ I 208, cipùlis LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_8e, SŽ_e, LzŽ 46, ZtŽ 112, cipùlis DLKŽ_8e, cipulùkas DrskŽ 50 / cipulùkas DLKŽ_e, DnŽ 59, cyplùkas LKŽ_e, DvŽ I 86, cypùkas LKŽ_e, ZanŽ I 208, ciépukas LKŽ_e, cỹpulkas DrskŽ 50, čipulùkas LKŽ_e, puliùkas / pulùkas LKŽ_e, DrskŽ 287, DvŽ II 140, PPAŽ II 300, VdškŽ 629, pučiùkas 1 LKŽ_e, KpŽ III 350, putùkas 1 LKŽ_e, SŽ_e, DrskŽ 292, putùlis LKŽ_e SŽ_e, putýtis LKŽ_e, tikùlis SŽ_e, tikútis KretŽ 448, tikalis LKŽ_e. For example: The chicks chirp, chirp, chirp LKŽ_e; Here, chicks, chicks, come and eat! LKŽ_e.

The second subgroup consists of names for a chick hatched secretly; their semantic and onomasiological structure records the conceptual location feature: pagubinis LKŽ_e, slapìkas LKŽ_e, DrskŽ 334, slapùkas LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_e, KzRŽ II 246, ZnŽ III 105 / slapùkas LKŽ_e.

3.4. The names examined highlight the chick’s reproductive / kinship ties with the female, as well as the acoustic function of the namer as a poultry keeper (poultry farmer).

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The synonymy and abundance of axiologically marked names indicate the need among users of the Lithuanian language system to name a small, stunted, grown-up, or secretly hatched chick.

CONCLUSIONS

1. Names for the hen, rooster, and chick constitute a large subgroup within the thematic group of Lithuanian zoonymics: approximately 200 lexemes have been recorded in lexicographic sources. The Lithuanian language system has no common hyperonym for the lexemes examined.

2. Motivated lexicon predominates, accounting for about 98 percent. Only three lexemes belong to the unmotivated type of nomination: one native lexeme vištà and three borrowings from Slavic or Germanic languages: koplūnas 1, ^°kaplonas, kapaūnas ‘a castrated rooster’.

3. A systematic feature of the thematic subgroup of names for the hen, rooster, and chick is its extensive synonymic relations. These account for the subgroup’s richness. Synonym series comprise formal variants, derivational synonyms, and lexical synonyms. The latter attest to the ability of those who coined the names to notice various characteristics of the bird being named and to verbalize them using different linguistic means.

5. Analysis of the names for the hen, rooster, and chick has brought to light conceptual features belonging to several categories: axiological (conveying an evaluative attitude toward the bird being named), cognitive (describing the bird being named as an object of knowledge), associative (linking the bird being named with another entity), and ethnocultural (representing concepts from other areas of ethnoculture rather than the bird being named).

6. Semantic analysis of motivational features makes it possible to establish how the fragment of reality named by the terms for hen, rooster, and chick—or, more precisely, its conceptual counterpart—is represented in language. The language system records various differentiating features of the female, male, and young bird, the most important of which are: sex (female / male), age (young / adult bird), function: egg-laying and brooding (hen), reproduction (hen and rooster), appearance (plumage and coloration features occur only in names for the hen), and sound (the acoustic function of the named bird as a domestic animal is recorded). Differences are found between the calls used to summon an adult bird (female only) and a young bird; an opposition is also observed between a crowing bird (male) and a non-crowing bird (female).

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ŠALTINIAI

BLKŽ – Bendrinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas (rengiamas), vyr. red. D. Liutkevičienė, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas. Prieiga internete: https://ekalba.lt/bendrines-lietuviu-kalbos-zodynas.

DnŽ – Šiaurės rytų dūnininkų šnektų žodynas, V. Vitkauskas, Vilnius: Mokslas, 1976.

DrskŽ – Druskininkų tarmės žodynas, G. Naktinienė, A. Paulauskienė, V. Vitkauskas, Vilnius: Mokslas, 1988.

DvŽ – Dieveniškių šnektos žodynas, t. I–II, sud.: L. Grumadienė, D. Mikulėnienė, K. Morkūnas, A. Vidugiris, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2005, 2010.

DLKŽ_8e – Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas, vyr. red. S. Keinys. 8-as patais. ir papild. leidimas (elektroninis), Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2021. Prieiga internete: https://ekalba.lt/dabartines-lietuviu-kalbos-zodynas.

KltŽ – Kaltanėnų šnektos žodynas, A. Vilutytė. Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos instituto leidykla, 2008.

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LEW – Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, E. Fraenkel, 2 Bde., Heidelberg: Winter; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck u. Ruprecht, 1962–1965.

LKŽ_e – Lietuvių kalbos žodynas, t. 1–20, 1941–2002 (elektroninis variantas), vyr. red. G. Naktinienė, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2005 (atnaujinta versija, 2018). Prieiga internete: https://ekalba.lt/lietuviu-kalbos-zodynas.

LzŽ – Lazūnų tarmės žodynas, J. Petrauskas, A. Vidugiris, Vilnius: Mokslas, 1985.

PPAŽ – Pietinių pietų aukštaičių šnektų žodynas, t. I–II, A. Leskauskaitė, V. Ragaišienė, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2016, 2019.

SEJL – Słownik etymologiczny języka litewskiego, W. Smoczyński, Wilno: Uniwersytet Wileński, Wydział Filologiczny, 2007.

SistŽ_e – Sisteminis lietuvių kalbos žodynas, J. Paulauskas, Vilnius: Mokslas (elektroninis variantas), 2015. Prieiga internete: https://ekalba.lt/sisteminis-lietuviu-kalbos-zodynas.

SŽ_e – Sinonimų žodynas, A. Lyberis. 2-asis patais. leidimas (elektroninis), Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2015. Prieiga internete: https://ekalba.lt/sinonimu-zodynas.

ŠVŽŽ – Šiaurės vakarų žemaičių žodynas, t. I–II, B. Vanagienė. Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2014, 2015.

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VdškŽ – Vidiškių šnektos žodynas, Ž. Markevičienė, A. Markevičius, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2014.

ZnŽ – Zanavykų šnektos žodynas, t. I–III, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 2003, 2004, 2006.

ZtŽ – Zietelos šnektos žodynas, A. Vidugiris, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 1998.

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ŽYDRŪNĖ ŠALAVIEJŪTĖ

THE LITHUANIAN NAMES FOR HEN, ROOSTER, CHICKEN, AND THEIR MOTIVATION

Summary

The aim of the study is to investigate the semantic relations of the Lithuanian names for hen, rooster, chicken, to determine the conceptual features they represent.

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The analysis is based on the methodological practice of complex linguistic research, where the semantic features of the members of one thematic group are determined by examining them at the semasiological and the onomasiological levels. It is posited that the semasiological and onomasiological semantic features of a lexeme also reflect the semantic features of the concept being named.

The paper methodically discusses the names based on their semantic relations. The onomasiological structure of bird names is described by dividing them into smaller thematic subgroups of hen, rooster and chicken names. An attempt is made to highlight their main conceptual differences and/or common features.

The empirical material was collected from explanatory (LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_e, BLKŽ_e), dialectal, and specialized (SistŽ_e, SŽ_e) lexicographical sources.

The names for hen, rooster, chicken form a large subgroup of the zoonymic group in the Lithuanian language, with about two hundred lexemes recorded in lexicographic sources. There is no common hyperonym in the Lithuanian language system for the lexemes studied.

Motivated lexis prevails, comprising approximately 98 per cent of the total pool. Only three lexemes belong to the unmotivated type of nomination: one indigenous lexeme vištà ‘hen’ and three loan words from Slavic or Germanic languages: koplūnas 1, °kaplonas, kapaūnas ‘castrated rooster’.

The systematic characteristic of the thematic subgroup of hen, rooster, chicken names has well-developed synonymic relations, which play a crucial role in enriching the thematic subgroup. The strings of synonyms consist of formal variants, derivative, and lexical synonyms. It illustrates the ability of the authors of the names to observe the various features of the bird and to verbalise them with different linguistic instruments.

The analysis of the names for hen, rooster and chicken has revealed several categories of conceptual features: axiological (reflecting an evaluative stance towards the named bird), cognitive (depicting the named bird as a cognitive reality), associative (establishing connections between the named bird and other realities), ethno-cultural (representing concepts beyond the named bird within the realm of ethnoculture).

The semantic analysis of motivational features allows identifying the representation of a fragment of reality, or rather its conceptual equivalent, within the linguistic worldview. The language system captures the various differential features of the female, male and chick, the most important of which are: sex (female/male), age (young/adult), function: egg laying and hatching (hen), reproduction (hen and rooster), appearance (with the existence of feathers and

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coloration patterns exclusive to hen names), and sound (hence the acoustic function of the author of the name as a poultry keeper). There is a difference between the sounds emitted by the adult bird (female only) and the calls of the chick, as well as the contrast between the crowing (male) and non-crowing (female) bird.

KEYWORDS: motivation, synonym, zoonym, hen, rooster, chicken.

ŽYDRŪNĖ ŠALAVIEJŪTĖ

Lietuvių kalbos institutas

Petro Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius

[email protected]

ŽYDRŪNĖ ŠALAVIEJŪTĖ

LIETUVIŲ KALBOS VIŠTOS, GAIDŽIO, VIŠČIUKO PAVADINIMAI IR JŲ MOTYVACIJA

S a n t r a u k a

Tyrimo objektas – lietuvių kalbos zoonimų teminės grupės vištos, gaidžio ir viščiuko pavadinimai. Į pavadinimus žvelgiama kaip į tokius leksikos vienetus, kurie gali perteikti įvardijamojo paukščio kategorizaciją, santykį su kitomis realijomis (realijų konceptais), kalbos vartotojo požiūrį.

Tyrimo tikslas – išnagrinėti lietuvių kalbos vištos, gaidžio, viščiuko pavadinimų semantinius ryšius, nustatyti jais reprezentuojamus konceptualiuosius požymius.

Analizei taikoma kompleksinio lingvistinio tyrimo metodologinė praktika, kai vienos teminės grupės narių semantiniai požymiai nustatomi tiriant juos semasiologiniu ir onomasiologiniu lygmenimis. Leksemos semasiologiniai ir onomasiologiniai semantiniai požymiai laikomi kartu ir įvardijamajam konceptui būdingi požymiais.

Straipsnyje metodiškai pasirinkta pavadinimus aptarti pagal semantinius ryšius. Aptariamojo paukščio pavadinimų onomasiologinė struktūra aprašoma suskirsčius juos į smulkesnius vištos, gaidžio ir viščiuko pavadinimų teminius pogrupius. Stengiamasi išryškinti jų pagrindinius konceptualiuosius diferencialinius ir (arba) bendruosius požymius.

Empirinės medžiaga rinkta iš aiškinamųjų (LKŽ_e, DLKŽ_8e, BLKŽ), tarminių, specialiųjų (SistŽ_e, SŽ_e) leksikografijos šaltinių.

ŽYDRŪNĖ ŠALAVIEJŪTĖ. Lietuvių kalbos vištos, gaidžio, viščiuko pavadinimai ir jų motyvacija

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Vištos, gaidžio, viščiuko pavadinimai sudaro gausų lietuvių kalbos zoonimų teminės grupės pogrupį: leksikografijos šaltiniuose užfiksuota apie 200 leksemų. Lietuvių kalbos sistemoje bendro hiperonimo tirtoms leksemoms pavadinti nėra. Dominuoja motyvuotoji leksika – ji sudaro apie 98 proc. Nemotyvuotajam nominacijos tipui priklauso tik trys leksemos: viena savakilmė leksema vištà ir trys skoliniai iš slavų ar germanų kalbų: koplūnas 1, °kaplonas, kapaūnas ‘kastruotas gaidys’.

Vištos, gaidžio, viščiuko pavadinimų teminių pogrupių sisteminė ypatybė – išplėtoti sinoniminiai santykiai. Jie lemia teminio pogrupio gausumą. Sinonimų eiles sudaro formalieji variantai, dariniai ir leksiniai sinonimai. Pastarieji liudija pavadinimų kūrėjų gebėjimą pastebėti įvairius įvardijamojo paukščio požymius ir verbalizuoti juos skirtingomis lingvistinėmis priemonėmis.

Vištos, gaidžio, viščiuko pavadinimų analizė išryškino kelių kategorijų konceptualiuosius požymius: aksiologinius (perteikiančius vertinamąjį požiūrį į įvardijamąjį paukštį), kognityviuosius (apibūdinančius įvardijamąjį paukštį kaip pažintinę realiją), asociatyviuosius (siejанčius įvardijamąjį paukštį su kita realija), etnokultūrinius (reprezentuojančius ne įvardijamąjį paukštį, o kitus etnokultūros srities konceptus).

Semantinė motyvacijos požymių analizė suteikia galimybių nustatyti vištos, gaidžio, viščiuko pavadinimais įvardijamo tikrovės fragmento, tiksliau – konceptualiojo jo atitikmens – vaizdą kalbos pasaulėvaizdyje. Kalbos sistema fiksuoja įvairius diferenciinius patelės, patino ir jauniklio požymius, iš kurių svarbiausi yra: lytis (patelė / patinas), amžius (jauniklis / suaugęs paukštis), funkcija: kiaušinių dėjimas ir perėjimas (vištos), reprodukcija (vištos ir gaidžio), išvaizda (plunksnuotumo, koloratyvumo požymiai būdingi tik vištos pavadinimams), garsas (fiksuojama akustinė įvardintojo kaip gyvulininko funkcija). Esama skirtumų tarp suaugusio paukščio (tik patelės) ir jauniklio kvietimo garsų, pastebima giedančio (patino) ir negiedančio (patelės) paukščio opozicija.

ESMINIAI ŽODŽIAI: motyvacija, sinonimas, zoonimas, višta, gaidys, viščiukas.

ŽYDRŪNĖ ŠALAVIEJŪTĖ

Lietuvių kalbos institutas

Petro Vile išio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius

[email protected]

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