LINA MURINIENĖ

Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences

THE USE OF THE VERB SKATINTI IN TRANSLATED EUROPEAN UNION DOCUMENTS

KEYWORDS: administrative style, standard language, language standardization, word meaning, translated European Union documents.

INTRODUCTORY NOTES

The translation of European Union legislation and other texts into Lithuanian is governed by several documents: Joint Practical Guide of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission for persons involved in the drafting of European Community legislation (the so-called Joint Practical Guide), the Guide to precedents for acts drawn up in the Council of the European Union (or the Guide to precedents), and the Interinstitutional Style Guide. There are incomparably more tools to assist with language in translation, especially electronic ones. Considerable work is being done particularly in the field of EU terminology.

Interest in the language of translated EU documents has clearly increased: joint conferences of EU and Lithuanian institutions¹, seminars and discussion forums are being organized, and research is being carried out. One such study is the research into the language of European Union documents, supported by the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language (headed by Dr. Rasuolė Vladarskienė), conducted under the 2011–2020 Programme for Research into the Functioning and Change of Standard Lithuanian, Dialects and Other Language Varieties.

In carrying out the aforementioned EU language study, the focus has been primarily on grammatical phenomena, especially the use of syntax (certain translated word combinations). Some of these are closely related to issues of lexical usage. One such case—the use of the verb skatinti—is discussed in this article.

¹ One of the most recent was the second Conference of the Lithuanian Terminology Forum, held on 8 June 2012 at the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania; see <http://ec.europa.eu/translation/lithuanian/ltf/documents/ltf_20120608_minutes_lt.pdf>.

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MEANINGS OF THE WORD TO PROMOTE

Lithuanian dictionaries (DŽ_6e, DŽ₇, LKŽ_e) and KancKP essentially give two meanings of the word skatinti.

DŽ_6e, DŽ₇

LKŽ_e

KancKP

skātin‖ti, ~a, ~o 1. to urge, move: S. someone to work (towards work). ~a to study, unite. ~a sentences (linguistics). 2. figuratively, to sustain (a desire): A good initiative must be ~ed.

skātinti, –ina, –ino transitive. 1. I, M, L, Š, Rtr, DŽ to ask someone to hurry, hasten, do something sooner; to urge, move: I urge him to go J. Urge them to work so that they hurry J. He urges, encourages, hastens them to work Škn. To urge someone to work NdŽ. It is improper to hurry a doctor Vkš. The wedding guests urged the bride to dress and travel to her husband's home S.Dauk. The steward, having lingered, urges them to get to work Žem. A compelling cause NdŽ. The content of aphorisms, proverbs and sayings is exhortative, urging rš. By an imperative sentence, a person expresses their will rš. Urge me, but feed me first VP41. I work without being urged, and eat without being urged Pvn. 2. to awaken or sustain a desire or inclination to do something; to stimulate: After the first little book came others, and they all delighted us, awakened us, and spurred us to work J.Jabl. With those trumpets they urged the soldiers into battle S.Dauk. If a pupil makes an effort, that effort should be expressly encouraged: praise what is good in their work rš. Today life lifts and spurs everyone on: work, create! A.Gric. The custom of carrying wreaths, like fresh flowers, to the deceased is beautiful and should continue to be encouraged rš. Obstacles make a determined person focus and spur their efforts rš. | Rue preparations stimulate the secretion of bile and urine rš.

skātinti—apart from urging or activation, can be used as a general term for recognition and appraisal of merit (the opposite of a penalty); gratitude, praise, an award, and the like are considered forms of encouragement. Employees are encouraged morally and materially. In specific cases, use the appropriate words: They expressed their gratitude for good work (not they encouraged gratitude); they awarded a prize (not they encouraged a prize).

Thus DŽ_6e, DŽ₇ indicate two meanings—literal and figurative. LKŽ_e likewise distinguishes two meanings (only described somewhat more broadly and

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(with more examples). The use of the verb skatinti is briefly reviewed in KancKP, where, with the meaning of acknowledging and evaluating merit, expressed by a general term, treated separately from urging and activating, advice is given to use the appropriate words in specific cases. In summary, it can be said that the use of the verb skatinti in the administrative style is undoubtedly correct in the following cases: first, to express urging and activating and, second (following the wording of KancKP), to express the recognition and evaluation of merit. The following cases of syntactic combinability of the verb skatinti are distinguished (Sližienė 2004: 50–51):

1. Literal meaning

2. Figurative meaning²

Nom a) Hum b) Abstr, – Anim (ret.) Acc Hum į Acc Abstr prie Gen Abstr Inf S

Nom Acc Nom a) Hum b) Abstr, – Anim Acc Abstr

When examining the language of translated EU documents, it was observed that the aforementioned verb is used particularly frequently, and that the combinations are highly varied, e.g.: skatinti imtis veiksmų, skatinti laikytis įstatymų, skatinti plėtrą, skatinti veiklą, skatinti inovacijas, skatinti konkurencingumą, skatinti elektroninį raštingumą, skatinti dialogą, skatinti valdymą, and so on.

It might be thought that the verb skatinti is more often used as an automatic replacement of an international word with a Lithuanian one, for example, instead of stimuluoti, aktyvinti (for Lithuanian equivalents of these words, see KP L1, 18 and 103). Therefore, the study examined not only Lithuanian texts but also English ones.

RESEARCH MATERIAL

The documents published in the EUR-Lex database of European Union legislation were examined. An effort was made to cover texts of as wide a range of genres as possible: Commission implementing decisions, directives of the European Parliament and the Council,

² Pateikta pastaba, kad kartais galima vartosena (su) Instr (Sližienė 2004: 51).

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Opinions of the European Economic and Social Committee, judgments of the Court of Justice, European Commission calls for proposals, minutes of European Parliament meetings, etc.

All three principal forms of the verb skatinti, -ina, -ino occur in 15,685 documents³, for example:

^Tempus the programme promotes institutional cooperation <...>. Cf. The Tempus programme promotes institutional cooperation (European Commission call for proposals).

Member States should encourage the supply of electricity from shore...<...>. Cf. Member States should encourage the use of shore-side electricity <...> (European Parliament and Council Directive).

<...> to show less-developed regions ways to stimulate the economy and prosperity without damaging the environment. Cf. <...> to demonstrate to hitherto less-developed regions how to boost their economies and prosperity without damaging the environment (European Economic and Social Committee opinion).

RESEARCH RESULTS

Combinations containing the verb skatinti can be divided into two groups: 1) combinations with an infinitive; 2) combinations with nouns. No prepositional combinations (skatinti į ką, prie ko) could be found.

Combinations with an infinitive raise no doubts in terms of language norms, for example:

encouragethe Member States to transpose the EU action plan into national law; it is important to encour-age Turkey to pursue its foreign policy; encourage adoption of an appropriate decision; encourage people to exercise their rights as citizens, etc.

Combinations with nouns are a different matter. This group raises some doubts about their conformity to the norm, yet such combinations abound in EU texts. The entire group of combinations with nouns could first be divi-

³ The count was last updated on 3 December 2012. Some margin of error is, of course, possible, since the infinitive form coincides with the passive past participle, but the latter is rarely used and therefore does not significantly affect the counting results.

⁴ The spelling of the examples provided has not been corrected. In this case, the programme name should be set either in quotation marks or in a different typeface. Nor is the suitability or unsuitability of the terms used discussed.

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classified as follows: 1) combinations with nouns denoting the name of an action; 2) combinations with nouns that do not denote the name of an action.

The first group comprises combinations in which the noun (abstract noun) denotes the name of an action:

promote activity, promote development, promote the fight, promote cooperation, promote participation;

and combinations in which the noun (abstract noun) has become more concrete but is clearly related to the action being performed:

promote integration (cf. integrating), promote cooperation (cf. cooperating), promote discussions (cf. discussing), promote competition (cf. competing), promote control (cf. controlling), promote reform (cf. reforming).

The second group would include combinations in which the noun is unrelated to an action, or its meaning is remote from that of an action or process. It often denotes a property:

promote efficiency, promote awareness, promote acceptability, promote equality, promote opportunities.

The first group is the most prevalent in EU document texts. Stylistically, such combinations are rigid and lifeless, but they are difficult to avoid in administrative style and are tolerated. The second group poses more difficulties. An action or a particular process can in one way or another be promoted, whereas promoting a property (at least in the literal sense) is not appropriate. The correction of such combinations would depend primarily on the context.

Combination

Suggested correction

Promote energy efficiency.

Encourage more efficient energy consumption / Encourage energy to be used (as) efficiently as possible.

Promote awareness of the rights of Union citizens.

Encourage Union citizens to be as well informed as possible about their rights / Seek to ensure that Union citizens are as well informed as possible about their rights.

Gender equality should be promoted.

Efforts should be made to uphold the principle of gender equality / Gender equality should be pursued.

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Combination

Suggested correction

Promote equal employment opportunities.

Promote the creation of equal employment opportunities.

Increase public understanding of fusion energy and promote its acceptability to the public.

Increase public understanding of fusion energy so that it becomes more acceptable to the public / Make fusion energy more understandable and acceptable to the public.

Here we could ask whether the examples given can be left uncorrected—that is, considered correct combinations. It is not easy to answer this question. Alongside the combinations mentioned, there are also the following usage examples:

promote the economy, promote prosperity, promote ways, promote a strategy, promote science, etc.

A few examples with broader context are presented below.

Eco-innovation is one of the most important tasks, perhaps even the most important task, in order to remain competitive and achieve sustainability goals, and also to show less-developed regions how to promote the economy and prosperity (=develop⁵ the economy and increase prosperity) without harming the environment. Cf.: Eco-innovation is a key – if not the key – way to remain competitive and achieve sustainability targets, but also to demonstrate to hitherto less-developed regions how to boost their economies and prosperity without damaging the environment (Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee).

In undertaking initiatives organised under the European Year of Citizens programme, account must be taken of the need to identify (=determine) obstacles preventing Union citizens from exercising their rights, and to promote appropriate ways and strategies for removing those obstacles, as well as to promote intercultural understanding of discrimination and the fight against it (= encourage the adoption of appropriate ways and strategies to remove those obstacles, seek greater intercultural understanding of discrimination, and encourage / strengthen the fight against it). Cf.: In the context of initiatives organised in the framework of the European Year of Citizens, consideration shall be given to identifying obstacles to the exercise of the rights by the Union citizens and to promoting appropriate ways and strategies to remove those obstacles, as well as to promoting inter-cultural understanding of discrimination and fighting against it (Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council).

⁵ The word vystyti could be used here; cf. DŽ₆₆, DŽ₇, where the second meaning of the word mentioned above is given: to make more advanced or complex; to develop, elaborate: V. industry, science, truth, with the label “bookish.”

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In order to achieve a higher level of participation in the standardisation system, national standardisation bodies encourage and facilitate SMEs’ access to standards and the standards development process (= encourage SMEs to make use of access to standards and their development and facilitate that access / bodies facilitate SMEs’ access to standards and their development and encourage them to make use of it. Cf.: National standardisation bodies shall encourage and facilitate the access of SMEs to standards and standards development processes in order to reach a higher level of participation in the standardisation system (Decision of the representatives of the governments of the Member States meeting within the Council).

Applicants wishing to receive a grant for carrying out joint projects (=to carry out joint projects) must be State-recognised public or private higher education institutions or associations, organisations or networks of higher education institutions dedicated to promoting (=supporting), improving and reforming higher education. Cf.: Applicants for Joint Projects must be State-recognised, public or private higher education institutions or associations, organisations or networks of higher education institutions dedicated to the promotion, improvement and reform of higher education (European Commission call for proposals).

Most often, the word skatinti is translated from the English to promote, for example:

<...> in order to promote their vocational integration, cf.: in order to promote their vocational integration (Court of Justice judgment, 6 December 2012).

The programme will in particular help promote free interaction with the changes taking place in the European Union’s higher education system, cf.: In particular, the programme will promote voluntary convergence with EU developments in the field of higher education (European Commission Call for Proposals).

It can also help promote multilingualism and the mobility of students, teachers, persons undergoing vocational training and their instructors, cf.: It can also help to promote multilingualism, the mobility of students, teachers, persons undergoing vocational training and their instructors (Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council).

Much less often, the Lithuanian word skatinti is translated from the English to boost, to encourage, to stimulate, to activate, and so on. Thus, the study’s results did not confirm the idea that the verb skatinti may be used more frequently because international words (e.g. stimuliuoti, aktyvinti) are automatically replaced with a Lithuanian word.

The study’s results on syntactic valency clearly show that the agent of the action denoted by the verb skatinti is quite often abstract or refers to an inanimate entity (cf. Sližienė 2004: 50), for example: project encourages action; planned measures encourage the provision of more services, etc.

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INSTEAD OF CONCLUSIONS

The verb skatinti is fairly widespread in translations of European Union documents. It is not easy to distinguish which instances of usage are incorrect and which might be justified. Usage is mixed: standard language, usage hovering at the boundary of the norm, and usage that is no longer standard.

As already stated, the following uses would unquestionably conform to the standard language norm: first, using the verb skatinti to express urging and activation, and, second, to express recognition and appreciation of merit. Usage of the verb with abstract nouns denoting a quality (skatinti informuotumą, skatinti efektyvumą) and similar cases hovers at the boundary of the norm. Taking a more tolerant view, these combinations could be considered standard, with the verb skatinti understood here not as activating or mobilising, but as strengthening a particular quality. Combinations such as skatinti daugiakalbystę, skatinti studentų judumą / mobilumą and the like are also close to the norm. Combinations such as skatinti galimybes, skatinti potencialą, skatinti ekonomiką and others are best avoided. Instead, use: didinti galimybes, stiprinti potencialą, plėtoti / vystyti ekonomiką and the like.

Combinations in which the verb is used in a non-standard sense should be corrected according to the context, for example: skatinti strategijas (= skatinti / raginti kurti strategijas / imtis strategijų), skatinti prieigą (= skatinti naudotis prieiga), skatinti mokslą (= remti / palaikyti mokslą) and the like.

REFERENCES AND SOURCES

Joint Practical Guide. Available online: <eur-lex.europa.eu/lt/techleg/pdf/2007_6655.pdf> (accessed 20 November 2012).

DŽ_6e 2006: Dictionary of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language. Sixth (third electronic) edition. CD-ROM. Editor-in-chief S. Keinys. Vilnius: Institute of the Lithuanian Language.

DŽ₇ 2012: Dictionary of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language. Seventh revised and expanded edition. Editor-in-chief S. Keinys. Vilnius: Institute of the Lithuanian Language.

EUR-Lex – EUR-Lex database of European Union legal acts. Available online: <eur-lex.europa.eu/lt/index.htm> (accessed 20 November 2012).

Style Guide for the Preparation of Publications by the Institutions. Available online: <publications.europa.eu/code/lt/lt-000100.htm> (accessed 20 November 2012).

KancKP 1998: Kanceliarinės kalbos patarimai. Pataisytas ir papildytas leidimas. Parengė P. Kniūkšta. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. Internetinis leidimas, 2007. Sudarė P. Kniūkšta, vyr. red. R. Vladarskienė. Prieiga per internetą: <kanceliariniaipatarimai.lki.lt> (žiūrėta 2012 11 20).

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KP L1 2005: Language Advice. Book 4: Lexicon: 1. Use of Loanwords (Foreign Words, International Words). Compiled and edited by D. Mikulėnienė. Vilnius: Institute of Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing.

LKŽ_e 2008: Lietuvių kalbos žodynas 1–20, 1941–2002. Redaktorių kolegija: G. Naktinienė (vyr. red.), J. Paulauskas, R. Petrokienė, V. Vitkauskas, J. Zabarskaitė. Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas. Prieiga per internetą: <www.lkz.lt> (žiūrėta 2012 11 20).

Precedent Manual. Available online: <ec.europa.eu/translation/lithuanian/guidelines/documents/council_manual_precedents_lt.pdf> (accessed 20 November 2012).

S l i ž i e n ė N. 2004: Lietuvių kalbos veiksmažodžių junglumo žodynas 2(2), Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos instituto leidykla.

Received 6 December 2012

THE USAGE OF THE VERB SKATINTI IN TRANSLATIONS OF EUROPEAN UNION DOCUMENTS

S u m m a r y

The article deals with the usage of verb skatinti (‘to encourage, to promote’) in administrative language as it could be viewed in the results of scientific research “Europos Sąjungos dokumentų kalba” (“The language of European Union documents”) carried out in 2010–2012 and financed by the State commission of the Lithuanian language. During this research documents from the database of European Union legislation EUR-Lex were analysed.

At the beginning it was assumed that the verb skatinti is quite frequent because of automatic substitution of international words, for instance stimuliuoti, aktyvinti with a Lithuanian word. Therefore during the research both Lithuanian and English texts were analysed. The results of this research did not confirm the initial idea.

All word combinations with the verb skatinti can be divided in two groups: 1) combinations with infinitives; 2) combinations with nouns.

Combinations with infinitives, for instance skatinti priimti tinkamą sprendimą (‘to promote an appropriate decision’), naudotis piliečio teisėmis (‘to encourage usage of citizen’s rights’) and the like are correct, but this cannot be said about combinations with nouns. Such combinations are plentiful in EU documents, but there are doubts if they meet the requirements of codified norms. It is not easy to distinguish which case of usage is clearly incorrect and which can be tolerated. The usage frequently balances on the edge of the norm. Word combinations skatinti galimybes (‘to promote opportunities’), skatinti potencialą (‘to promote the

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potential’), ‘to boost the economy’ can be treated as correct, but the priority (at least in administrative style) should be given to combinations ‘to increase opportunities’, ‘to strengthen the potential’, ‘to develop the economy’ and combinations with distorted meaning such as ‘to promote ways’, ‘to promote strategies’, ‘to encourage access’, ‘to promote higher education’ should not be tolerated at all.

KEYWORDS: administrative style, standard language, codification, the verb skatinti, translations of European Union documents.

LINA MURINIENĖ

Department of Lithuanian Linguistics and Communication

T. Ševčenkos g. 31, LT-03111 Vilnius

[email protected]

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