Prielinksnis „apie“ administracinėje lietuvių kalboje

RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ Institute of the Lithuanian Language THE PREPOSITION APIE IN ADMINISTRATIVE LITHUANIAN KEYWORDS: preposition apie, word meaning, administrative language, syntax, document titles. In administrative language, general means of expression acquire specific usage features in view of the particular nature of this language’s sphere of use. Although the norms of administrative language differ little from those of standard language, in this sphere of language use, which is very strictly regulated, the choice of linguistic means is determined by the features of the administrative style and certain special requirements. One characteristic feature of administrative style is standardization, which, on the one hand, helps express the same ideas precisely and uniformly, but, on the other hand, means that standard means of expression with broader meanings outcompete other means of expression with more specific and varied shades of meaning. This article examines the functioning of constructions with the preposition apie—one of the frequent means of expression in administrative style—and their relationship to competing variants of expression. The aim of the article is, after discussing the meanings of the preposition apie in dictionaries and other linguistic works, to examine instances of its use in administrative language, the reasons for the prevalence of constructions with the preposition apie, and their competition with other constructions. Data for the article were collected from administrative texts published in various online repositories in order to better reflect current usage: the study relies primarily on the language of documents published in recent years in the Register of Legal Acts (TAR) and in “EUR-Lex,” the database of European Union legal acts and other public documents; for comparison and to identify changes, data were taken from the administrative literature section of the Corpus of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language (DLKT). MEANINGS OF THE PREPOSITION APIE IN STANDARD LANGUAGE The meanings of the preposition apie are described somewhat differently in various linguistic publications. The broadest and most generalized account of the main meanings of the preposition apie is given in DŽ: it states that the preposition apie is used (1) to indicate the subject under discussion; BENDRINĖ KALBA 91 (2018) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351–7204 RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ. Prielinksnis apie administracinėje lietuvių kalboje | 2 2) indicating an approximate time, measure, or quantity; 3) indicating an object or place around which or near which something happens or is done. The DLKG distinguishes more meanings for this preposition. It states that constructions with the preposition apie can indicate 1) a route of movement encircling an object on all sides (drove around the lake); 2) a location on all (or several) sides of an object (people are standing around the bonfire); 3) the location of an action (usually repeated) near an object (the men are milling around the forge); 4) the object of speech or thought (spoke about the fire, thought about the future); 5) an approximate time, quantity, or location (returned around noon, about a hundred people gathered, lives near Šiauliai) (DLKG 2006: 448). Jonas Šukys (1998: 367–373) prielinksnio apie reikšmes dar kitaip sugrupavo. Jis teigia, kad prielinksnio apie konstrukcijos dažniausiai rodo vietą, – tiksliau, tam tikrą objektą, apie kurį aplink judama; apie kurį kas išsidėstę ratu; arti kurio vyksta kartotinis veiksmas; apie kurį kas sukama; prie kurio darbuojamasi; taip pat apytikrę vietą. Dar nurodoma, kad aptariamosios konstrukcijos gali reikšti apytikrį laiką ar kiekį, dažnai reiškia kalbamąjį ar mąstomąjį objektą. Kalbininkas pabrėžia, kad visų reikšmių prielinksnio apie konstrukcijos, priklausančios nuo daiktavardžio, virsta pažymimosiomis ir nusako daikto arba reiškinio požymį. These meanings of the preposition apie are characteristic of Lithuanian generally. USE OF CONSTRUCTIONS WITH THE PREPOSITION APIE IN ADMINISTRATIVE LANGUAGE To determine whether any meanings of the preposition about are most characteristic of administrative language, 500 instances of the preposition about were examined in administrative-language texts published in various online data repositories. Of the 500 sentences in DLKT examined that contain constructions with the preposition about, in 273 cases the constructions with about are used to mark the subject under discussion, in 215 sentences they express a characteristic, 15 mark an approximate quantity, time, or place, and only three indicate a place around which movement occurs. An examination of 509 instances of the preposition about in documents published in TAR in 2018 showed that in 339 sentences the construction with the preposition about is attributive, in 164 it marks the subject under discussion, and in 6 it indicates an approximate quantity or time; no constructions indicating a place around which movement occurs were found. Very similar results were obtained from the 504 sentences containing constructions with the preposition about found in the texts of European Union translated documents published in 2017–2018: 343 attributive constructions, 154 cases in which the subject under discussion is indicated, and 7 sentences in which the preposition about is used to indicate an approximate quantity. Although this study is small, it nevertheless reveals essential usage tendencies. BENDRINĖ KALBA 91 (2018) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ. Prelinkṣnis apie administracinėje lietuvių kalboje | 3 The results of the analysis show that in administrative texts, constructions with the preposition apie are most often used with two meanings: a) to indicate a (spoken, thought-about, or similar) subject and b) to express a feature: a) About the issuance or revocation of a licence the supervisory authority notifies the Register of Legal Entities and the European Securities and Markets Authority and publishes a notice to that effect on the supervisory authority’s website. Law, TAR, 2018 06 14, No. 9854; The content of a legal act can be used to infer a person’s social status and physical condition. Order, TAR, 2018 10 31, No. 17558; Together with the head of cybersecurity, the security officer periodically organizes user training on electronic information security and cybersecurity, and in various ways informs users about electronic information security and cybersecurity. Resolution, TAR, 2018 12 04, No. 19662; Member States issuing Union certificates of qualification pursuant to paragraph 1 shall, as far as possible, preserve previously granted rights; this applies in particular to the special authorisations referred to in Article 6. Directive (EU) 2017/2397, OJ L 345, 2017 12 27; The entity must be notified within the period specified in the contract that the contract will not be renewed. Decision, TAR, 2018 10 25, No. 16582; b) The flag Member State may submit to the Commission detailed data on Union fishing vessels that meet the requirements for conducting fishing operations in the waters of a third country under the relevant agreement. Regulation (EU) 2017/2403, OJ L 347, 2017 12 28; The minutes of a Commission meeting shall include information about a possible conflict of interest. Order, TAR, 2018 12 03, No. 19614; Furthermore, to minimise the risk or prevent incidents involving medical devices, manufacturers should establish a risk management system and a system for reporting incidents and taking local safety corrective action. OJ L 117, 2017 05 05; EU reference laboratories must meet the following criteria: <...> have the necessary knowledge of international standards and best practices. OJ L 117, 2017 05 05; Disseminate ideas about Lithuania’s common strategic objectives, pursued using EU investment TAR, 2018 11 14, No. 18375. It is true that much less often the preposition about can also be used to indicate an approximate time or quantity, e.g.: Average travel duration – about 3 days. Sprendimas, TAR, 2015 12 09, Nr. 19486; <...> total EU investment in infrastructure amounts to about 50 billion EUR. Komisijos ataskaita COM/2018/066 final, 2018 02 14; It is projected that an additional child benefit will be received by about 410 thousand children, and the at-risk-of-poverty rate for children from birth to age 18 will decrease by about 2.7 percentage points (from 25.6 to 22.9 percent). LRV nutarimas, TAR, 2018 03 28, Nr. 4679; Under the COSME programme, it is planned to allocate about 2.3 billion Eur. Sprendimas, TAR, 2015 12 09, Nr. 19486; An additional about 20such questions were submitted. BENDRINĖ KALBA 91 (2018) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ. Prielinksnis apie administracinėje lietuvių kalboje | 4 DLKT. It can also indicate a location around an object: An exception is made for private forests within 100 m of about the forest owners’ homesteads DLKT. Approximate indication is unsuitable because of the precision required of administrative style; this latter meaning is therefore also uncharacteristic of administrative language. Thus, the characteristic meanings of the preposition about in administrative language are two, and they should be examined in greater detail. Constructions with the preposition about used to denote the subject of discussion (content) occur with verbs that express: a) the act of ordinary speaking (and hearing) (to speak, to say, to hear); b) various nuances of conveying information (to report, to inform, to warn, to remind, to announce, to mention); c) thinking and knowing (to think, to know), as well as related acts of expressing volition (to decide); d) specifying information (to indicate, to mark), for example: a) This is particularly important in cases where what is being discussed concerns larger entities, such as corporations or government entities that use a service provider’s services to equip their enterprise with IT infrastructure or services, or with infrastructure and services. Regulation COM/2018/225 final; The same can be said about criminal offences and the sanctions imposed for them. Regulation COM/2018/225 final; <...> at least 75 percent of respondents would indicate that they had heard about the anti-corruption measures implemented by the State Tax Inspectorate. Order, TAR, 2017 05 12, No. 8056; b) Where a personal data breach is likely to pose a risk to the rights and freedoms of data subjects, the personal data breach must be reported to the Supervisory Authority. Order, TAR, 2018 10 26, No. 16705; The lessor has the right to terminate the contract unilaterally before its expiry, notifying the lessee thereof in writing at least one month in advance. Decision, TAR, 2018 10 25, No. 16582; <...> failure to provide the tax administrator with data on the income, profit or assets of a natural or legal person, with the intention of evading taxes or other payments not exceeding one hundred basic penalty units, after that institution has reminded the person in writing of the obligation to provide it, is punishable by a fine <...> Law, TAR, 2017 11 28, No. 18857; <...> no mention is made of the area’s suitability for extreme water sports—kitesurfing and sailing. Decision, TAR, 2015 12 09, No. 19486; The Supervisory Authority applies the following measures: <...> publicly publishes information about a violation of this Law and other legal acts implementing it, and identifies the person who committed it. Law, TAR, 2018 06 14, No. 9854;. c) According to 2017 population survey data, only slightly more than half of those surveyed knew about their opportunities and ways to participate in public governance processes. Government of the Republic of Lithuania Resolution, TAR, 2018 03 28, No. 4679; If a Contracting Party becomes aware of a specific danger to a particular flight BENDRINĖ KALBA 91 (2018) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351–7204 RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ. Prielinksnis apie administracinėje lietuvių kalboje | 5 or series of flights to or from the territory of another Contracting Party, it informs the other Contracting Party thereof. Resolution, TAR, 2018 11 17, No. 20621; <...> from the content of a legal act, it is possible to infer a person’s social status and physical condition. Order, TAR, 2018 10 31, No. 17558; d) Information about each annex attached to the contract shall be specified in the contract itself. Order, TAR, 2018 10 31, No. 17558; If there is no need for an assessment, this shall be noted. Order, TAR, 2018 10 31, No. 17558. Constructions with the preposition about expressing a characteristic are formed with nouns that are usually associated with verbs used with this preposition. Given that the most characteristic meaning of constructions with the preposition about and verbs is to denote the subject being discussed or considered, similar nuances of meaning can also be observed in attributive constructions: the construction with the preposition about describes the content of an information object. This can be denoted by a deverbal noun with the suffix -imas (the verbs from which these nouns are derived usually govern the preposition about), for example: Tourists trust the opinions of other tourists most, as well as reviews about (cf. to review about) specific tourist routes, attractions or services provided. Decision, TAR, 2015 12 09, No. 19486; Joint work, coordination of actions and information about (cf. to inform about) ongoing activities should also help make more effective use of resources and expertise at the national level. OL L 117, 2017 05 05; If a municipally owned company fails to meet, or only partially meets, the targets set out in the letter of expectations, a written explanation about the reasons for failing to achieve the relevant targets and the actions to be taken must be obtained from the municipally owned company. Decision, TAR, 2018 12 07; Change residents’ understanding about (cf. to understand about) lifelong learning. TAR, 2018 11 14, No. 18375. Another characteristic semantic group of nouns that can form constructions with the preposition about in administrative language broadly denotes the subject being discussed or considered. Constructions with the words information and data, are particularly common, for example: If not all the required documents have been submitted, information about the missing documents is entered on the information sheet. Decision, TAR, 2018 10 03, No. 15664; The company calculates the funding required to pay the assistance on the basis of data about interest paid, provided by the credit institution. Order, TAR, 2018 06 29, No. 10916; <...> the client works or has worked professionally in the financial sector for at least one year in a position requiring knowledge about the services to be provided to the client or the transactions to be concluded. Law, TAR, 2018 06 14, No. 9854; the applicant’s complaint relies on abstract assertions about the non-pecuniary damage suffered. Ruling, TAR, 2018 06 04, No. 9154; Disseminate ideas about Lithuania’s common strategic objectives, pursued with the support of EU investment. TAR, 2018 11 14, No. 18375; BENDRINĖ KALBA 91 (2018) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351–7204 RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ. Prielinksnis apie administracinėje lietuvių kalboje | 6 The object of information characteristic of administrative language is various documents (informational documents) or certain named parts of documents or endorsements therein, for example: The supplier’s relevant experience may primarily be demonstrated by clients’ certificates confirming the proper performance of previous contracts. Nutarimas, TAR, 2018 06 01, Nr. 9061; Where a participant who offered the highest amount in a sealed bid wins the tender but did not attend the tender (auction), they must appear to sign the tender (auction) protocol no later than 7 working days after delivery of the commission’s written notice of the results of the tender (auction). Sprendimas, TAR, 2018 10 25, Nr. 16582; Nr. 20073; The procedures for a programme competition or a public consultation begin when the contracting authority publishes, in accordance with the procedure laid down in point 25 of the Description, an announcement of the programme competition or public consultation. Nutarimas, TAR, 2018 06 01, Nr. 9061; The Commission <...> shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council every four years a report on the implementation of this Regulation and future developments. Reglamentas (ES) 2018/643, OL L 112, 2018 05 02; The Ministry of the Environment shall convene a Commission meeting no later than 10 working days after the deadline for submitting the Commission members’ reasoned conclusions on each Project and assessment scores to the Ministry of the Environment. Įsakymas, TAR, 2018 07 27, Nr. 12535; Promote cooperation between business and local government to shape a favourable public opinion of business and entrepreneurship. Sprendimas, TAR, 2018 11 26, Nr. 19001; In the text of a draft regulatory decision, the drafter must include a provision on publication of the decision in the Register of Legal Acts. Įsakymas, TAR, 2018 10 31, Nr. 17558; Endorsements regarding the execution of the document are made by all persons named in the resolution and are visible to all employees. Įsakymas, TAR, 2018 10 31, Nr. 17558, These records provide the rationale for defining the responsibilities of each employee carrying out the assessment and records of the conformity assessment activities carried out by each of them. OL L 117, 2017 05 05. RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE USE OF THE PREPOSITION ABOUT Recommendations on the normativity of constructions with the preposition about are presented in the second volume of Language Advice, the volume on Syntax, entitled Use of Prepositions and Postpositions. Constructions with the preposition about expressing place, object, approximate time, approximate location and approximate quantity with verbs are considered normative. It is emphasized that this preposition may be used with nouns denoting speech and similar meanings to express a characteristic. It is also stated that in administrative language about what is unsuitable in document titles to indicate the general subject matter of their content, for example: About the spelling of surnames (=On the spelling of surnames) (resolution); About the allocation of bonuses (=On the allocation of bonuses) (order), but it is used in document titles to indicate a document type: certificate of salary received, notice of delivery of a parcel (KP S2: 32). Similarly, the preposition BENDRINĖ KALBA 91 (2018) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351–7204 RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ. Prelinknis apie administracinėje lietuvių kalboje | 7 about, but in much greater detail, was described by Jonas Šukys. He indicates that constructions with the preposition about are suitable only for describing the essence of the content of informational documents, and gives examples: information about the course of negotiations, notice about the directions of reform, certificate about family composition (Šukys 1998: 367–373). The publications mentioned describe the proper uses of constructions with the preposition about and cases in which they are inadmissible. KancKP gives a very clear recommendation—the construction with the preposition about is not recommended for use either with the noun report or with the verb to report: a report on compliance with the rules (=a compliance report), a report on work in 1996 (=a 1996 work report)” (KancKP 2002: 38). In the online version of this publication (KancKP 2007), that position has been softened. As can be seen from the cited publications offering recommendations on language norms, in administrative language the use of the preposition about in document titles is fairly clearly restricted; this preposition is considered inappropriate, except in informational documents. This exception is determined by the characteristic feature of constructions with this preposition—marking the content of what is being communicated—and therefore, naturally, the preposition about is most suitable in the titles of informational documents. However, the exception applies only to three words denoting different types of document: information, notice, certificate. It must be acknowledged that these are the most widespread and common types of informational documents, but there is a need to expand this list. First, report about is spreading through translations of European Union documents; this construction may be used to describe the content of a report when other means of expression (a genitive phrase or the construction report on) are unsuitable because of meaning or possible ambiguity, or when the genitive position is already occupied, e.g.: report about employees (for a fuller discussion of the arguments, see Vladarskienė 2009). Another possible case is warning about. An examination of usage in TAR shows that this construction is not common; however, the preposition because of does not always fit, owing to its rather broad meaning. There are no clear arguments against the use of this construction. Its use is primarily hindered by the rather strict requirement to avoid constructions with the preposition about in document titles. However, it should be noted that warning is an abstract noun derived from the verb to warn, which means “to say in advance, to inform (indicating consequences): to warn someone about a danger.” (DŽₑ), and may be used with the preposition about. Therefore, in cases where such an informational document is needed, a construction with the preposition about in its title is justified, e.g.: Warning about the possible suspension of the licence is cancelled if the identified violations are remedied within the time limit specified in the warning. Nutarimas, TAR, 2018 02 23, Nr. 2879; Warning about possible work with a specific ionizing radiation source BENDRINĖ KALBA 91 (2018) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351–7204 RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ. Prielinksnis apie administracinėje lietuvių kalboje | 8 suspension in the cases specified by law is formalized by an order of the chief. Order, TAR, 2017 07 04; For an official who is no more than 5 years away from becoming eligible for a full old-age pension, the notice period concerning possible dismissal from the internal service is doubled. Law, TAR, 2018 07 16, No. 12049. COMPETITION BETWEEN CONSTRUCTIONS WITH THE PREPOSITION ABOUT Constructions with the preposition about can be replaced by other linguistic means of similar meaning. Elena Valiulytė argued that “constructions of the preposition about with the accusative can always be replaced by the accusative alone, losing some information: this case merely indicates the object, without a connection to external circumstances” (Valiulytė 1995: 60). This distinction in meaning is defined more precisely in Language Advice: “To refer to an indirect object, the construction with the preposition about and the accusative is used, whereas the accusative case expresses a direct object” (KP S2: 32). This feature is appropriately used in administrative language to indicate certain shades of meaning, for example: The issuing authority may need to know about these circumstances (cf. know these circumstances), so that it can respond quickly, perhaps collecting electronic evidence from another service provider. Regulation COM/2018/225 final; If a Contracting Party learns about specific dangers (cf. a specific danger) to a particular flight or a series of flights to or from the territory of another Contracting Party, it shall inform the other Contracting Party. Resolution, TAR, 2018 12 17, No. 20621. Another common means of expression in administrative language—the construction with the preposition because of—aggressively pushes constructions with the preposition about out of their characteristic positions, where the content being discussed or considered needs to be specified more precisely. Pranas Kniūkšta, a specialist in administrative Lithuanian (2005: 150), clearly distinguished the meanings of the prepositions because of and about and advised against confusing them. Both prepositions are needed in administrative language to express different shades of meaning, but they should be used where appropriate. The preposition about should be used when referring to more specific matters, while the preposition because of should be used for more general, abstract matters, often denoted by verbal nouns, especially those with the suffix -imas (-ymas). Although the meanings of the prepositions about and because of differ, constructions with because of are more frequent, since they can express a wider range of shades of meaning (Vladarskienė 2014). The preposition because of has a stronger competitive position in administrative language for several reasons: first, because of its broad meaning and greater prevalence; second, the law of analogy is at work: the choice of expression is influenced by constructions with because of that have become standard phrases; third, language also has a certain influence BENDRINĖ KALBA 91 (2018) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ. Prielinksnis apie administracinėje lietuvių kalboje | 9 recommendations, because those concerning the use of the preposition about in administrative language are more strictly worded, thus encouraging the use of the preposition because of (especially in unclear cases). THE POSITION OF THE PREPOSITION ABOUT IN THE SENTENCE When discussing about the appropriate use of the preposition about, attention should also be paid to its position in the sentence (word combination). DLKG (2006: 656) states that prepositional constructions usually follow the noun they modify; this is customary in professional language and especially important in administrative language, where exceptionally clear precision is sought. However, there are cases in which the preposition is placed not after the word it marks and whose construction it describes, for example: information known from experience about the causes of variation in measured indicators (=information about the causes of variation in measured indicators is known from experience; not experience about the causes, but information about the causes). Order, TAR, 2016 07 08, No. 19388; Identify the target tourism segments of Lazdijai District Municipality, their needs, and the most appropriate marketing channels of information dissemination about the region’s tourism potential (=for disseminating information about the region’s tourism potential; not dissemination about tourism potential, but information about tourism potential). Decision, TAR, 2015 12 09, No. 19486; Insufficient information quantity about extreme water activities (=amount of information about recreational activities; not quantity about recreational activities, but information about recreational activities). Decision, TAR, 2015 12 09, No. 19486); persons who submitted requests for certificates or copies of archival documents copies about former wages and (or) length of service (=copies of documents about former wages and (or) length of service; not copies about wages, but copies of documents about wages), personal data. Order, TAR, 2018 10 26, No. 16705; The visual method is directed toward forming representations of objects in the world surrounding the child (=forming representations of objects in the world surrounding the child; not formation about objects in the world, but representations of objects in the world). Decision, TAR, 2017 06 26, No. 10752. Such an inappropriate choice of word order increases the possibility of interpreting the text in two ways and does not meet the administrative style’s requirement for precision. CONCLUSIONS Dictionaries indicate that constructions with the preposition apie are used to denote the object of speech or thought; an approximate time, measure, or quantity; an object or place around which or at which something happens or is done; and, with nouns, a feature of an object or phenomenon. BENDRINĖ KALBA 91 (2018) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ. Prielinksnis apie administracinėje lietuvių kalboje | 10 In administrative language, constructions with the preposition apie and verbs are most often used to denote the object of speech or thought, while those with nouns denote a feature. Other meanings are not very characteristic of administrative language because of the specific domain in which this language is used. Although language recommendation publications set out various restrictions on the use of the preposition apie, this preposition is nevertheless necessary because of its semantics, and other competing means of expression cannot always replace it. The position of the preposition apie in the construction is also important: an unsuitable choice of word order increases the possibility of interpreting the text in two ways and fails to meet the administrative style’s requirement for precision. ŠALTINIAI EUR-lex – Europos Sąjungos teisės aktų ir kitų viešų dokumentų bazė „EUR-lex“. Prieiga internete http://eur-lex.europa.eu/lt/index.htm. T – Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos tekstynas. Prieiga internete http://tekstynas.vdu.lt/tekstynas/. TAR – Teisės aktų registras. Prieiga internete https://www.e-tar.lt/portal/lt/index. LITERATŪRA DLKG 2006 – Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos gramatika, red. V. Ambrazas. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras. DŽₑ – Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas. 2011. Vyr. red. Keinys S. Šeštas (trečias elektroninis) leidimas, Lietuvių kalbos institutas. Prieiga per internetą http://dz.lki.lt. KancKP 2002 – Kanceliarinės kalbos patarimai. Parengė Pranas Kniūkšta. 5-asis patais. leid., Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 2002. KancKPₑ 2007 – Kanceliarinės kalbos patarimai. Sud. Pranas Kniūkšta. Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, internetinis leidimas. Prieiga internete http://lkz.mch.mii.lt/Kanceliarinis. K n i ū k š t a P. 2005: Administracinė kalba ir jos vartosena, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas. KP S2 – Kalbos patarimai. Kn. 2. Sintaksė: 2. Prielinksnių ir polinksnių vartojimas. Sud. Rita Miliūnaitė, teksto aut. Aldonas Pupkis ir Jonas Šukys, vyr. red. Aldonas Pupkis. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 2003. Š u k y s J. 1998: Lietuvių kalbos linksniai ir prielinksniai: vartosena ir normos, Kaunas: Šviesa. V a l i u l y t ė E. 1995: Ar galima atsiminti, užmiršti apie ką? – Kalbos kultūra 67, 56–62. Prieiga internete http://www.bendrinekalba.lt/?67. V l a d a r s k i e n ė R. 2009: Dokumentų pavadinimų darymo polinkiai. – Kalbos kultūra 78, 79–89. Prieiga internete http://www.bendrinekalba.lt/?78. BENDRINĖ KALBA 91 (2018) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ. Prielinksnis apie administracinėje lietuvių kalboje | 11 V l a d a r s k i e n ė R. 2014: Prielinksnio dėl konstrukcijos administracinėje lietuvių kalboje. – Bendrinė kalba 87. Prieiga internete http://www.bendrinekalba.lt/?87. Įteikta 2018 12 10 Priimta 2018 12 30 THE PREPOSITION APIE IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGE S u m m a r y The aim of the article is to discuss cases of the occurrence, frequency and competition of the preposition apie in the administrative language. The discussion is based on the analysis of the preposition apie meanings in both dictionaries and other linguistic works. As outlined in the studied dictionaries, constructions with the preposition apie are used to indicate the following: the object of speech or thought; an approximate time, measure, quantity; the object or place of action; a feature of the object or phenomenon (when the preposition is used with nouns). In the administrative language, constructions with the preposition apie are most often used with verbs to indicate the object of speech or thought, whereas constructions with nouns are used to indicate features. Their frequency is determined by semantic properties, i.e. the possibility to convey the content of a message, which is vitally important in the administrative language. Other meanings are less frequent in the administrative language due to the particularity of this language type usage. Although various limitations for the preposition apie usage are outlined in language usage publications, due to its semantics, this preposition is much needed and may not always be replaced with competing means of expression. KEY WORDS: preposition apie, word meaning, syntax, administrative language, document titles. RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ Lietuvių kalbos institutas Petro Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius [email protected] BENDRINĖ KALBA 91 (2018) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351–7204