RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ

Institute of the Lithuanian Language

CHANGES IN THE SEMANTICS OF INTERNATIONAL WORDS IN ADMINISTRATIVE LANGUAGE

KEYWORDS: international word, semantics, polysemy, administrative language.

Lexicon is a constantly changing level of language: some words emerge, others disappear, and still others acquire new meanings. Many lexical innovations are related to contact between languages, and at present, as a result of globalization, the influence of the lexicon of other languages has intensified in Lithuanian, especially that of English, which is increasingly aspiring to the status of an international language. Words from other languages used in Lithuanian are generally called loanwords¹. When the suitability of a new loanword for the standard language is to be emphasized, the term international word is often used. The Encyclopedia of the Lithuanian Language (2008) describes international words as loanwords accepted in the standard language, whose foreign origin is clearly confirmed by at least some of the most important languages of international communication (or classical languages as well), and which bear no unequivocal traces of borrowing from any neighboring language².

One of the current issues related to the functioning of international words is their polysemy, since languages generally borrow not all the meanings of a polysemous word, but one or several of them. In studying the processes of word borrowing, attention is paid to differences between the semantic fields of polysemous words in different languages (Pažūsis 2014).

The meanings in which international words are used in standard Lithuanian are defined in dictionaries of international words and terminology; loanwords that have become firmly established in standard Lithuanian are also included in general Lithuanian dictionaries. Lithuanian linguists have studied the issue of polysemy in international words mainly from the perspective of normativity (see Vladarskienė 2014 for a fuller discussion); differences in the semantics of international words across languages are also examined by researchers in contrastive semantics and, especially, translation theory (Pažūsis 2014).

One of the domains in which international words are used—administrative language—was selected for this study. In this domain, international words and their new meanings spread from international documents in various languages.

¹ In Lithuanian linguistics, loanwords are generally classified by age as old or new loanwords (Jakaitienė 2010: 233).

² This article does not aim to discuss the specific features or reliability of applying these criteria.

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In Lithuanian administrative language, this process intensified particularly when Lithuania became a member of the European Union, when European and Lithuanian documents had to be harmonized.

The aim of the article is to identify the particular features of changes in the semantics of international words characteristic of administrative language by comparing data from dictionaries of international words published in different years with the actual use of international words in various documents.

Data for the article were collected from dictionaries of international words published in different years (TTŽ 1985, 2001, 2013), as well as from administrative texts published in various online data repositories, in order to better reflect current usage: the analysis relied primarily on the language of documents published in recent years in the Register of Legal Acts (TAR) and in the “EUR-lex” database of European Union legislation and other public documents; data from the Bank of Terms of the Republic of Lithuania (TB) and the European Union terminology database IATE were used for comparison and to identify changes. To determine the overall direction of change, the article presents a statistical comparative analysis of international words used in administrative language and included in the selected dictionaries under study; to identify characteristic features of change, it presents a semantic componential and comparative analysis of international words used in administrative language. The most salient cases of usage were examined.

POLYSEMY OF WORDS

To better understand changes in the semantics of international words, we will first briefly discuss the semantic structure of polysemous words. In the view of Aloyzas Gudavičius (2013), polysemous words denote several denotata linked by various relations; the semantic structure of a word can therefore be conceived as a reflection of the relations that exist among the denotata it denotes.

The meanings of a polysemous word are characterized by a certain hierarchy. Lithuanian linguistics generally distinguishes between primary and secondary meanings: the meaning least dependent on context is the primary one, while secondary meanings are further divided into literal and figurative meanings. Secondary meanings can be understood only when a word is used in a particular context. A secondary meaning that arises from the need to name something newly emerged that resembles in some way something already named by the word is called a literal meaning (Jakaitienė 2010: 88–92). A. Gudavičius (2013: 73) states that “[P]olysemous words reflect a metaphorical strategy of thought. We think of some things in terms of others and, in thinking this way, name the latter after the former. This gives rise to metaphorical expressions in which words are assigned what are known as figurative or metaphorical meanings.”

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When a language adopts an international word, it usually modifies its semantic field. An international word generally first spreads across languages with one meaning; other meanings may be borrowed later. More unusual are cases in which secondary meanings are borrowed but the primary meaning is not, so the establishment of new meanings can sometimes be problematic. Another point is that the same international word may acquire different meanings in different languages. This view is supported by cognitive linguistics, which holds that different peoples (languages) perceive the same things (concepts) differently.

A considerable number of international words derive from the ancient classical Greek, Latin, and Hebrew languages.

Lionginas Pažūsis (2014: 22) apie tarptautiniais laikomų žodžių vertimą iš anglų kalbos į lietuvių kalbą taip rašo: „[K]adangi daugelis tokių (dažniausiai iš klasikinių kalbų) skolintų žodžių anglų kalboje buvo vartojami daug ilgiau ir aktyviau negu lietuvių kalboje, jų semantika anglų kalboje paprastai yra turtingesnė negu lietuvių kalboje“. Tai įrodyta ir tyrimais (plg. Stankevičienė 2002).

Translators are well aware of differences in the semantics of international words across languages; such words are even called “false friends of the translator,” cf. French faux amis du traducteur, German falsche Freunde, Russian ложные друзья переводчика, English deceptive cognates, false friends, false cognates)³.

A borrowed polysemous word that has become established in a language with one meaning creates the possibility for other meanings—those with which it is used in other European languages—to become established as well.

DIFFERENCES IN THE SEMANTICS OF WORDS IN DICTIONARIES OF INTERNATIONAL WORDS

Acknowledging the differences in the semantics of words with the same (international) root that function in different languages, as demonstrated by research, it should be noted that this semantics is not stable, since the meanings of international words are constantly changing. Therefore, the causes and characteristics of these changes need to be investigated.

To clarify changes in the semantics of polysemous international words used in administrative language, descriptions of their meanings in dictionaries of international words published at different times were compared (the intervals between their editions were longer than 10 years).

An examination of the entries for 100 polysemous international words used in administrative language, whose meanings are presented differently in dictionaries of international words (TTŽ 1985, 2001, 2013), yielded the following results: comparing the TTŽ 1985 and 2001 editions, the later TTŽ 2001 edition shows that entries for 57 words give more than one meaning (e.g., subscription, adaptation, cycle, screen, element, identification, candidate,

³Indeed, the concept of false friends of the translator (false equivalents) is broader: they can be lexical or grammatical—phenomena in two languages whose forms are similar but whose meanings differ.

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perspective, period, position, portfolio, programme), 13 words (e.g., disposition, gallery, code, collector, coordination, product) are given more than two meanings each, and 7 (e.g., fixation, channel, class, cluster, commentary) more than three. Comparing TTŽ 2001 and TTŽ 2013, the latter gives more than one meaning for 35 words (e.g., amortization, accumulation, analogy, base, bulletin, centre, fixation, capital, classifier, code, competition, consultation, context), two meanings for 8 (e.g., gallery, hybrid, canon, category, class, committee, set, culture), and three for 5 (domain, function, consolidation, constitution, leader). Seven cases were found in which the later edition gives fewer meanings for words than the earlier editions; of these, only one case (committee) is in the TTŽ 2001 edition, while the others (team, configuration, contingent, position, priority, profile) are in the TTŽ 2013 edition

Palyginus TTŽ 1985, TTŽ 2001 ir TTŽ 2013 leidimuose pateiktas tarptautinių žodžių reikšmių apibrėžtis, matyti aiškus semantikos pokytis – lietuvių kalboje daugiareikšmių tarptautinių žodžių reikšmių daugėja. Pvz.: žodžio barometras TTŽ 1985 leidime pateikta viena reikšmė „prietaisas atmosferos slėgiui matuoti“, o TTŽ 2001 ir TTŽ 2013 nurodytos dar dvi naujos reikšmės „2. ek. apibendrinantis statistinis rodiklis, rodantis bendrą ekonomikos ir ūkinės veiklos būklę“ ir „3. tai, kas greitai ir aiškiai rodo kitimą, svyravimą (pvz., viešosios nuomonės)“; žodžio bankas TTŽ 1985 duotos dvi reikšmės⁴, o TTŽ 2001 ir 2013 leidimuose šio žodžio straipsnis papildomas dar viena specialiąja reikšme „vieno tipo objektų (kompiuterio programų, duomenų, perpiltį skirto kraujo) sankaupa, skirta naudoti ir nuolat papildoma“. Kai kur nurodomos ir perkeltinės reikšmės, pvz.: TTŽ 2001 leidime šalia kitų reikšmių pateikiama žodžio dialogas perkeltinė reikšmė „nekonfliktiškas valstybių, organizacijų, asmenų bendravimas, tarimasis, aiškinimasis, svarstymas“, o TTŽ 2013 apibrėžiama perkeltinė žodžio buferis reikšmė „tai, kas sudaro tarpinę grandį, silpnina prieštaravimą ir pan.“.

In the rare cases when newly published dictionaries give fewer meanings for international words, those meanings denote an expanded referent, for example: TTŽ 2001 lists 4 meanings of the word priority⁵, whereas TTŽ 2013 gives only one meaning, with the nuance “precedence, preference; the most important thing.” Indeed, A. Gudavičius (2013: 72) acknowledges that meaning has no strict boundaries, and therefore the presentation of polysemous words in dictionaries is not consistent. Because of the meaning

⁴barometer 1 special-purpose economic institution that pools temporarily idle funds, extends credit, intermediates monetary settlements, regulates the circulation of money, issues currency and securities, and carries out related transactions; 2 in some games, a sum of money wagered and pooled for play.

⁵priority 1 precedence of something (usually in terms of time; e.g., the priority of a discoverer or inventor); 2 the precedence of a particular act, law, provision, or rule; 3 the order in which operations and processes are carried out and resources allocated; 4 preference; that which is considered most important.

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Frequent cases of indeterminate boundaries arise when explanatory dictionaries treat the same words or words with analogous content differently—an unequal number of meanings is given.

An examination of the new meanings recorded in dictionaries of international words shows that they are either secondary literal meanings, needed to name things known in a specific, narrow field (often terms), or broader figurative meanings.

FEATURES OF SEMANTIC CHANGE IN INTERNATIONAL WORDS IN ADMINISTRATIVE LANGUAGE

The previous section discussed semantic changes in international words used in administrative language and recorded in dictionaries; however, new meanings of international words first become established in usage and only then enter dictionaries. In what follows, we will discuss international words used in administrative language (in both Lithuanian and translated documents) with new meanings not defined in dictionaries.

Pažymėtina, kad administracinėje kalboje tarptautinių žodžių naujų reikšmių randasi, kai reikia pavadinti su reglamentavimo ir administravimo procesais susijusias procedūras ar kitus dalykus. Pavyzdžiui, visuose trijuose tiriamuose žodynuose žodžio iniciatyvanurodomos tos pačios dvi reikšmės⁶, tačiau dokumentuose šiuo žodžiu vadinama ir tam tikra procedūra, tam tikras renginys, taip šalia platesnės, abstraktesnės reikšmės atsiranda su ja susijusi konkretesnė, pvz.: Bendruomeninė organizacija – asociacija, <...> kurios paskirtis – per iniciatyvas įgyvendinti viešuosius interesus, susijusius su gyvenimu kaimynystėje TAR, 2019 09 02, Nr. 13853; Institucija turėtų bendradarbiauti su kitų susijusių Sąjungos iniciatyvų vykdytojais EUR-Lex, OL L 186, 2019 07 11; Gimnazija <...> registravosi Švietimo ir mokslo ministerijos ir Lietuvos mokinių neformaliojo švietimo centro inicijuotoje iniciatyvoje „Atverk duris vasarai“ TAR, 2019 04 16, Nr. 6216.

Another similar example is the word schema, for which the dictionaries examined likewise give two meanings⁷; in administrative language, it acquires an additional meaning: a set of rules or procedures, e.g.: a national cybersecurity certification schema—a comprehensive set of rules, technical requirements, standards and procedures drawn up and adopted by a national public authority EUR-Lex, OL L 151, 2019 06 07; Under this decree, economic operators <...> may participate

⁶initiative 1 determination, desire to act; an idea, the commencement of some activity; ability to undertake something independently 2 a leading role, activity, taking the lead in doing or carrying something out TTŽ 2013.

⁷schema 1 a generalized graphic representation of a structure, installation, device, or its parts, components and their interrelationships, explaining the main idea and operating principles of the structure, installation or device; 2 the most general features of something; an outline TTŽ 2013.

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in voluntary schemes, on which the decision applicable to biofuels is adopted under the second subparagraph of Article 7c(4) of Directive 98/70/EC EUR-Lex, Opinion of the Advocate General, 2018 03 16.

Such secondary meanings of words are clearly related to their primary meanings because they share the same seme and therefore readily become established in usage, since language users have no doubts about what they mean.

The new meaning of the word konsultacijos should be assessed differently. The primary meaning of the word konsultacija is “advice from specialists”; however, the Kanceliarinės kalbos patarimai (hereinafter KancKP) also gives “consultation” as a meaning, while the NATO terminology dictionary defines this word as the exchange of views between the highest institutions of the Alliance and its member states, as well as discussions to coordinate positions and formulate recommendations on matters of common concern (TB).

Thus, in Lithuanian the word konsultacija is seeking to become established with the meaning “a certain part of the legislative process.” Such a consultation involves an exchange of views, discussions, the coordination of positions and the preparation of recommendations, and may be described more aptly as a consultation than as the provision of expert advice; cf. also the example from a legal act: The results of the consultation procedures are made public EUR-Lex, OL L 321, 2018 12 17. Compound terms such as public consultations and consultations with interested parties are used with this word. One legal act provides the following definition of the term public consultation: actions ensuring the transparency of the Commission’s activities, which enable interested parties, within a reasonable time limit set by the Commission and in the manner determined by it, to submit comments, proposals, opinions and/or conclusions on a draft legal act adopted by the Commission TAR, 2019 01 10, No. 337. Cf. also Drafts of these documents were prepared, and public consultations were held in Lithuania’s regions on the implementation of the full-day school concept and education organisation models TAR, 2018 03 28, No. 4679; Preparation for the implementation of national public administration reform is a stage of the national public administration reform during which <...> public consultations are conducted, and the problem areas in the field of state policy and measures to improve them are identified TAR, 2018 01 02, No. 66; During public consultations, the opinions submitted by members of the public concerned mainly the following aspects of the ex post assessment of the impact of legal regulation TAR, 2018 10 04, No. 15798.

Problems arise as to when the term under discussion can also denote publicly released expert advice, for example: Public consultation – information prepared by an employee of the Inspectorate, agreed with the Inspectorate’s Director or an authorised person and published in the official section of the Inspectorate’s website entitled “Public consultations” TAR, 2019 03 08, No. 3884.

Since the legislative procedure is a significant part of the preparation of legal acts, it must be named, and another compound term is also used for this purpose, whose head word is a hybrid formed from the same root with a Lithuanian suffix, konsultavimasis, all the more so because the verb from which this derivative is formed is also actively used, and

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for example: Consultation with the public – actions by entities that put forward legislative initiatives, draft legal acts, adopt legal acts and/or carry out monitoring of legal regulation, encompassing the presentation of legislative initiatives and draft legal acts to the public for familiarisation, information about the monitoring of legal regulation being carried out, and the assessment of proposals received from persons and publication of the results of that assessment TAR, Valstybės žinios, 2012 09 22, No. 110-5564; Pursuant to Article 7 of the Law on the Fundamentals of Legislation, it is envisaged that, during the ex post assessment of the impact of legal regulation, consultations will be held with the public TAR, 2018 10 04, No. 15798.

Administrative language requires words with specific meanings characteristic of this particular field of activity, including words denoting various administrative or regulatory actions. To this end, new meanings of international words that are already commonplace in other languages are borrowed. For example, TTŽ 2013⁸ states that in Lithuanian the word autorizacija is used when referring to copyright or to rights granted to a person in certain computer systems; in legal acts, however, this word denotes a specific determination of the right to place chemical substances on the market and use them, for example: authorisation – the granting of the right to place a biocidal product on the market and the establishment of rules for its use TAR, Valstybės žinios, 2002 08 09, No. 79-3361; Biocidal products with a valid authorisation certificate may be used to disinfect surfaces, equipment, premises and hands TAR, 2019 09 09, No. 14350. Incidentally, IATE gives further compound terms that include this international word used in its new meaning: authorising body, authorisation provision, authorisation procedure, application for authorisation, applicant for authorisation; granting of priority for authorisation. The new meaning of the word autorizacija in administrative language emerged without regard to the tradition of using this international word in Lithuanian, and instead was based on the fact that in English the word authorisation is used to mean the granting of any rights.

Another administrative action is described by the word notifikacija. TTŽ 2013 defines this word as a notification by one state to another of its position on an international matter; in administrative language, the word under discussion is also used in a narrower sense—to describe a strictly prescribed notification (publication) procedure and to name the document by which that notification is formalised, for example: <...> amendments to the SGDTĮ are submitted in July 2018 and were notified to the European Commission, after they had first been coordinated with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition during the preliminary notification coordination process TAR, 2018 10 15,

⁸ TTŽ 2013 lists the following meanings: 1 an author's permission to translate or publish their book; 2 a translation of a book approved by the author; 3 computing: the granting to a person or program of certain rights to perform some actions in a data-processing system.

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No. 16211; If the validity of a notification is restricted, temporarily suspended or withdrawn, or when the notified body ceases its activities, the notifying Member State shall take appropriate measures to ensure that the files of that body are transferred for processing to another notified body EUR-Lex, OL L 170, 2019 06 25;

The flexibility and clarity of the provisions of the Convention are ensured by the reservations, alternatives and notifications submitted by each State and jurisdiction that is a signatory to the Convention—communications about existing provisions of double taxation avoidance agreements that will be modified by this Convention TAR, 2018 01 29, No. 1278; <...> establish that documents for coordinating guarantees for transboundary waste shipments, notification, transport forms and information on waste exports under simplified procedures must be submitted electronically TAR, 2017 05 05, No. 7671.

Notification is also used in a broader sense, referring not to international relations but generally to the act of announcing (notifying) official decisions, e.g.: the announcement of a court decision and its service on a person participating in the proceedings—the notification is an important procedural act on which the lawfulness of the judicial proceedings depends TAR, 2016 12 12, Nr. 28650. It should be noted that the IATE database contains 46 multi-word terms with the English word notification, and in 44 cases either the Lithuanian equivalent notice or a related word is given; there are also two single instances: service and permit.

The word validation is not found in dictionaries of international words, but TB defines it as actions that demonstrate that a procedure, process, device, raw material, method or system is suitable for obtaining the intended results. It is also used in this sense in administrative language, e.g.: Validation—a documented programme that provides a high degree of assurance that a specific process, method or system will consistently produce results meeting predetermined acceptance criteria EUR-Lex, OL C 95, 2015 03 21; In this section, the date on which the client was given notice in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article shall be regarded as the date of validation of the application EUR-Lex, OL C 408, 2017 11 30; The premises and equipment used therein that have a decisive influence on the quality of the products manufactured must be qualified and validated TAR, 2018 03 27, No. 4615.

Verification is a computing term, but a new meaning, “inspection, checking,” is also known in administrative language, e.g.: If data for a nuclear power plant project change, their validation and verification must be assessed and updated if such a change in the data could affect the results of their verification or validation TAR, 2018 03 27, Nr. 4638; Planned periodic inspections must be reported to the National Medicines verification organization at least 10 working days before the scheduled inspection TAR, 2019 03 26, Nr. 4616; Verification of translated questions verification will be carried out using the so-called survey quality

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forecasting instrument TAR, 2019 04 04, No. 5505. IATE lists inspection and (checking) as equivalents of the English word verification.

Alongside new international word meanings that denote matters specific to the sphere of administrative language use, other changes in the semantics of international words can be observed in this language variety. For example, the word starting point was formerly used only as a sports or aviation term, but is now becoming common usage, including in administrative language, cf.:Pedagogues <...> interpret childhood as a successful beginningTAR, 2018 06 28, No. 10747; the starting point for 2018 beginning for the development of renewable energy—the green energy auctions will begin as early as September 2019 TAR, 2019 03 28, No. 4851; The content of education will be evaluated, revised and coordinated, and equal opportunities for education (and learning) will be created for all childrenbeginning opportunitiesTAR, 2019 11 22. The hybrid verb to launch, derived from this international word, is also used, e.g.: From 2020 will launch a new system, under which municipalities where the average wage grows fastest (which do the best job of combating the shadow economy) will receive an additional incentiveTAR, 2018 12 18, No. 20692.

Another example is standard⁹, whose denotata for the meanings listed in TTŽ 2013 refer to things specific to certain fields of use or things that provide typical examples, and may also be certain documents establishing norms; in administrative language, however, this word is also used in the broader sense corresponding to the English word standard, meaning “norm,” where a norm is understood not only as one recorded in documents but also as one generally accepted. Examples of usage show that such a norm can be perceived as a variable measure, since it may be higher or highest, e.g.:In the applicant’s opinion, in this case, the standards of openness of activities cannot be applied at all, because <...>the information collected forms part of an ongoing pre-trial investigation and is not public under the law TAR, 2019 10 25, No. 16937; A member of the board must <...> act in accordance with the highest moral standards and always act in the interests of the Company TAR, 2019 11 15, No. 18354; This interpretation of the provisions of the Alcohol Control Law in judicial practice is based on the need to ensure <...> that an entity selling such a product must comply with higher standards of diligence and care so as not to harm human health or life TAR, 2019 12 05, No. 19562.

⁹standard 1 a standardization document establishing norms, rules and requirements for products, methods, concepts, symbols or other objects; 2 a typical example that meets certain requirements concerning quality, chemical composition, physical properties, dimensions, mass, etc.; 3 gold standard Economics: a monetary system in which money backed by gold can be exchanged for gold; an exchange rate expressed in terms of the quantity of gold TTŽ 2013.

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In TTŽ 2013, the word segment denotes concepts in particular fields of science, and its special meanings are specified¹⁰; however, given its primary meaning in Latin (segmentum—a section), the word has also come into widespread use in administrative language to refer to various parts of a whole, e.g.: Classification of potential customers into segments: private customers (natural persons) and business customers (legal entities) TAR, 2019 07 03, No. 10920; Structural changes in the economy or its segments changes <...> are likely only if those economic sectors or its segments, which, by growing rapidly, can generate ever-greater added value TAR, 2019 07 30, No. 12537; A larger-scale and/or international event is an event covering various themes and targeting various segments TAR, 2019 08 30, No. 13781. The word’s establishment is also evidenced by the spreading of related words segmentation, to segment, segmenting.

Meanings of this kind are also being adopted—meanings entirely unfamiliar (foreign) to Lithuanian. Here, through inaccurate translations, the term excellence center, of dubious value, has spread, for example: <...> To address this challenge, it is important to sustain and promote Lithuania’s membership in international R&D infrastructures, <...> the establishment of high-level international excellence centers (in the General Action Plan, an excellence center is understood as a research center <...> that has a critical mass of scientific potential and conducts high-level research, enabling it to address problems relevant to society and create innovations, <...>) TAR, 2016 05 26, No. 14097; <...> by creating infrastructure for high-level international excellence centers in Lithuanian research and higher education institutions, <...> the aim is to create R&D centers in Lithuania with critical mass and conducting the highest-level R&D activities TAR, 2019 12 05, No. 19591. In Lithuanian, excellence center is a difficult-to-understand word combination, since ekscelencija is defined in TTŽ 2013 as a title used to address high-ranking clergy and state officials, or as a form of address in diplomatic language for heads and members of foreign governments. In English, the denotations of this international word are quite different; compare excellence: 1. mastery; 2. superiority (ALKŽ). Competence center is used as a synonymous equivalent of excellence center (see also IATE).

There are also doubts about new meanings of other words. For example, the word akademikas¹¹ has begun to be used in Lithuanian with an unfamiliar meaning, for example: The Parties shall encourage exchanges of students, researchers and academicsunder existing programmes EUR-Lex, OJ L 337I, 2016 12 13; The Commission also established a group of various stakeholders on matters relating to the implementation of the Regulation, comprising representatives of civil society and business, academics and experts in the field EUR-Lex, Commission Communication

¹⁰segmentas 1 linguistics a stretch of text (speech) between pauses; 2 biology one of many similar parts (articles); 3 technical a recurring part of a device, structure, or building; 4 mathematics a closed interval, an interval that includes its endpoint values TTŽ 2013.

¹¹akademikas 1 a full member of an academy of sciences; 2 an idealist philosopher (a representative of Plato’s Academy) TTŽ 2013.

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COM/2018/043 final, 52018DC0043; <...> maintain contacts on these matters with a broad community of researchers, policymakers and academics in the region and obtain information from them about prospects and insights <...> EUR-Lex, OJ L 149, 2019 06 07. Once again, the discrepancy between the denotations of the same word in Lithuanian and English becomes apparent: in English, academic can denote something academic, scholarly, related to science, thoughtful, or a lecturer (ALKŽ). It is in this last sense that the word akademikas is used; it can be replaced by a lecturer or a member of the academic community.

CONCLUSIONS

Semantic changes in international words are inevitable, but they take place gradually. This can be seen by comparing data from dictionaries of international words whose publication dates are more than 10 years apart: in most cases, one new meaning of a word becomes established.

The following trends in semantic changes to international words are becoming apparent: 1) secondary specialized meanings are adjusted in accordance with the general primary meaning; 2) international words already established with specialized, more specific meanings begin to denote an expanded denotatum and usually acquire a new figurative meaning, e.g., segmentas, startas.

New meanings of international words emerge in administrative language to name matters characteristic of this sphere of language use—administrative and regulatory procedures, actions, and so on (e.g., iniciatyva, schema, autorizacija).

When new secondary literal or figurative meanings of international words are clearly connected to their primary meanings, they readily take hold in usage, since language users have no doubts about their interpretation.

Doubts arise about new meanings of international words whose connection with the word’s primary meaning is difficult to substantiate in Lithuanian (e.g., excellence center). One reason why a new meaning of a polysemous international word is difficult to establish in a language, or is even rejected, is that it denotes a narrow denotatum, while the word’s meaning denoting a broader denotatum has not yet been borrowed.

ŠALTINIAI

ALKŽ – B. Piesarskas. Didysis anglų– lietuvių kalbų žodynas. 2004. Vilnius: Alma littera.

EUR-lex – Europos Sąjungos teisės aktų ir kitų viešų dokumentų bazė „EUR-lex“. Prieiga internete: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/lt/index.htm.

IATE – Daugiakalbė Europos Sąjungos terminų bazė IATE. Prieiga internete http://iate.europa.eu/iatediff/switchLang.do?success=mainPage&lang=lt.

BENDRINĖ KALBA 92 (2019)

www.bendrinekalba.lt

ISSN 2351-7204

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doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2019.92.15

TAR – Teisės aktų registras. Prieiga internete: https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/lt/index.

TB – Lietuvos Respublikos terminų bankas. Prieiga internete: http://terminai.vlkk.lt/.

TTŽ 1985 – Tarptautinių žodžių žodynas. Ats. red. V. Kvietkauskas. Vilnius: Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija.

TTŽ 2001 – Tarptautinių žodžių žodynas. Ats. red. Algimantas Kinderys. Vilnius: Alma littera.

TTŽ 2013 – Tarptautinių žodžių žodynas. Redaktorių taryba: Angelė Kaulakienė ir kt. Vilnius: Alma littera.

LITERATŪRA

Gudavičius A. 2013: Žodžio semantinė struktūra nominacijos požiūriu. – Filologija 18, 70–85.

Jakaitienė E. 2010: Leksikologija, Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla.

KancKP2007 – Kanceliarinės kalbos patarimai, sud. Pranas Kniūkšta. Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, internetinis leidimas. Prieiga internete: http://kanceliariniaipatarimai.lki.lt/.

Lietuvių kalbos enciklopedija 2008, red. V. Ambrazas. 2-asis patikslintas ir papildytas leidimas. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas.

Pažūsis L. 2014: Kalba ir vertimas. Vilnius: Vilniaus universitetas. Prieiga internete: http://www.esparama.lt/es_parama_pletra/failai/ESFproduktai/2014_Monografija_Vertimas_ir_kalba.pdf.

Stankevičienė L. 2002: English-Lithuanian Lexical Pseudo-equivalents. – Kalbotyra 53(3), 127–136.

Vladarskienė R. 2014: Naujos tarptautinių žodžių reikšmės administracinėje lietuvių kalboje. – Taikomoji kalbotyra 3. Prieiga internete: https://taikomojikalbotyra.lt/ojs/index.php/taikomoji-kalbotyra/article/view/30.

Įteikta 2019 12 10

Priimta 2019 12 30

BENDRINĖ KALBA 92 (2019)

www.bendrinekalba.lt

ISSN 2351-7204

RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ. Tarptautinių žodžių semantikos pokyčiai administracinėje kalboje | 13

doi.org/10.35321/bkalba.2019.92.15

CHANGES IN THE SEMANTICS OF INTERNATIONAL WORDS IN ADMINISTRATIVE LANGUAGE

The polysemy of words is one of the relevant problems relating to the functioning of international words, because languages usually borrow one or several meanings of a polysemous word rather than all of them. Administrative language, being one of the fields of usage of international words, was selected for the research.

After comparing the definitions of the meanings of international words used in administrative language that are presented in the dictionaries of international words published in 1985, 2001 and 2013, an obvious tendency can be observed – the number of meanings of polysemous international words in the Lithuanian language is growing. The new meanings of international words are secondary literal meanings, which are often required to name something which exists in a narrow field. It is rather common to provide new meanings to international words in administrative language when it is required to name the procedures (e.g.iniciatyva, konsultacija, schema) or actions (e.g.autorizacija,notifikacija, sertifikacija, verifikacija, validacija) pertaining to regulation and administration processes.Yet another case – the new meanings of international words established in dictionaries are figurative. In rare cases when new dictionaries present fewer meanings of international words, an expanded denotatum is described by them.

The changes in the semantics of international words are unavoidable; when new secondary meanings of words are clearly linked with primary ones, they easily establish themselves in general usage, because language users have no doubt as to how they should be understood. However, such new meanings of international words whose association with the primary meaning in the Lithuanian language is difficult to explain are generally avoided (e.g.ekscelencijos centras).

KEYWORDS: international word, semantics, polysemy of words, administrative language.

RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ

Lietuvių kalbos institutas

Petro Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius

[email protected]

BENDRINĖ KALBA 92 (2019)

www.bendrinekalba.lt

ISSN 2351–7204