Lietuvos moterų nepriesaginės (latviškos darybos) pavardės

KAZIMIERAS GARŠVA Institute of the Lithuanian Language NON-SUFFIXAL SURNAMES OF LITHUANIAN WOMEN (OF LATVIAN FORMATION) KEYWORDS: surnames, formation, dialects, standard language. 1. INTRODUCTION A decade ago, after the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language (VLKK) adopted a resolution on the possible official shortening of women’s surnames in Lithuania, many people knew nothing about it, while those who did know paid it no attention. Discussion began in earnest only six years later, when the unusual endings of women’s surnames began to jar on the eyes and ears, and on March 26, 2009, the Lithuanian linguist Albinas Petrulis submitted to the Institute of the Lithuanian Language’s Department of Onomastics a letter entitled “On the repeal of VLKK Resolution No. N–2 (87) of 2003–06–26, ‘On the Formation of Women’s Surnames,’” in which he wrote: The Lithuanian language, the oldest living Indo-European language, is distinguished by its exceptional beauty, sonority, and richness, and captivates with its unique, most perfect system of surname formation. Only in the language created by our nation do men, girls, and married women have surnames of different formations, pleasingly distinctive in sound, declinable, and compatible with other parts of speech. Girls’ surnames, with diminutive suffixes, organically reflect their age and sound pleasant. Married women’s surnames with the traditional suffixes -ien-, -(i)uvien- are uniquely beautiful and original. They express sacred belonging to a family and symbolize fidelity and close relations between spouses. Only women who lead immoral and dishonorable lives are contemptuously called by nicknames without these suffixes. By Resolution No. N–2 (87) of June 26, 2003, “On the Formation of Women’s Surnames,” the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language allowed women’s surnames to be formed from the masculine surname form ending in -ė. Turning a contemptuous nickname, used by the entire Lithuanian nation since ancient times, into an official surname that sounds unaesthetic is an unprecedented, unforgivable error that must be corrected urgently. It is a deliberate betrayal of one of the most precious treasures of the native language. The motives and reasons for trampling our language’s pearl are absurd as well. If there is such a strong desire to conceal one’s marital status, this can be done in a civilized, traditional way acceptable to the Lithuanian language—by keeping one’s maiden surname. 216 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 85 We would ask the honorable Seimas to consider, as a matter of urgency, the question of repealing VLKK Resolution No. N-2 (87) of June 26, 2003, “On the Formation of Women’s Surnames.” Respectfully, Albinas Petrulis, teacher of Lithuanian language and literature. Soon afterward, that letter, bearing the signatures of a dozen or so other cultural and academic figures who supported the ideas being advanced, was delivered to the Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. At journalists’ invitation, discussions were held at the time on Lithuanian television (the program “The Right to Know”), in Respublikos newspaper, and much information was available on Delfyje and other websites. However, the resolution of the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language was not repealed. In considering the request to repeal the resolution, VLKK violated procedure: not all available arguments for and against artificial surnames were discussed, all the information was not gathered, the issue was not discussed with the Dictionary Department of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language (which is the most competent institution in Lithuania on this matter) or with other organizations, not one of the applicants was invited to the discussion of the issue, and their arguments were not considered. There was also insufficient consultation with linguistics specialists, teachers, and the public. A surname is not merely a personal matter or a brand name. It is also part of a nation’s cultural heritage, which must be safeguarded. Language is a means of communication among people, and it is governed by norms that should be clear and acceptable to people and should not provoke a negative reaction. The purpose of this article is to present arguments explaining why suffixless women’s surnames are unsuitable for standard Lithuanian. 2. TRADITIONAL NAMING OF WOMEN In ancient times, Lithuanians and many other Indo-Europeans had only a given name (no surname). Even the Lithuanian nobility, who were the first to acquire surnames, are mentioned in the 1390 treaty by given names alone. Then, and later, Lithuanian women’s given names differed from men’s names only by the ending –a or –ė, cf. Daugirdas – Daugirda, Daugirdis – Daugirdė, and so on. In Lithuania, surnames took shape over 400 years, from the 15th century to the end of the 18th century (peasants and women acquired surnames last). The situation was similar in neighboring countries: surnames arose in the 13th–19th centuries in Germany and Poland, in the 18th century in Latvia (officially, in 1800), and in the 19th–20th centuries in Russia (cf. Zinkevičius 2008: 29–42). Lithuanian women’s surnames arose from men’s surnames in the 16th–18th centuries. Girls’ surnames had the suffixes –aitė, –ytė, –(i)ūtė, –utė (in dialects: –aičia, –yčia, –(i)ūčia, –ikė, –(i)ukė, –elė, –okė, and so on). The surnames of married women were K. GARŠVA. Lietuvos moterų nepriesaginės (latviškos darybos) pavardės 217 are formed from the man's surname by adding the Lithuanian suffix –ienė (to personal names with a stem ending in u and –(i)uvienė); cf. Stripienė, Grigienė, Kairienė, Ožkinienė, Rimkūnienė, Skardžiuvienė. In documents from Lithuanian archives written in Latin, Polish, and Russian, many surnames and their suffixes have been distorted. The suffix –ienė was also written in various ways by clerks who often did not know Lithuanian and used foreign alphabets: –iene, –ienie, –ienia, –iena, –ene, –enie, –enia, –ena, and so on (cf. Maciejauskienė 1991: 256–300). The various spellings of the same suffix were caused not only by the orthography of foreign languages, but also by Lithuania's different dialects, fifteen subdialects, and about 100 local varieties, in which the same sound may be pronounced differently but regularly corresponds to the same sound in the standard language. For example, in the North Panevėžys dialect, Žėkienė is pronounced Žėkienė / Žikienė, while Báikienė is pronounced Báikene / Báikėne / Báikine (in unstressed syllables, vowels are reduced, and their unrounded variant remains). The suffix –ien- has long been used in the Baltic onomasticon. This suffix is also used in common nouns to refer to the wife of a person designated by the base word: dėdienė, brolienė, uošvienė. In Latvia there is the river Blydiena, and the settlements Saliena, Skrudaliena, and so on (the corresponding Lithuanian suffix would be –yn–). It is uncertain whether one can also associate with this suffix the thirteenth-century place name, recorded in German as Blidenen (now also Blīdiene, Blīdiena; see Žeimelis 2010: 351). In texts written in Polish in Lithuania, the suffix –ienė could not immediately gain public currency. Since the husband's surname was known, there was little need even to ask a woman's surname, so married women were recorded with the Slavic suffix –ova (unmarried women with –ovna). To clerks who had come from far away, Lithuanian word formation seemed very strange and incomprehensible, and they tried to avoid it. In the formation of women's surnames, the suffix –ienė has been used for more than 100 years not only in standard Lithuanian. This suffix has been used for half a millennium throughout all Lithuanian subdialects and local varieties, and even beyond Lithuania's borders. About 130 km north of Zarasai is the parish of Ciskodas, where 100 and 70 years ago a girl who had just married “would immediately be called Moroziene, Korsakiene, Čepuliene, Leideriene, although that is not found in that area of the Latvian language”1. Lithuanian women in the ethnic lands retained surnames with the suffix –ienė in Indrica, Laukesa, Daugavpils, Aknīste, and other places in Latvia, as well as in Belarus, Poland, Canada, the USA, and other countries (as shown by gravestone inscriptions). 1 From a letter dated July 21, 2012, from A. Vasiljeva, a descendant of the Lithuanian community of Ciskodas, to the author of the article. 218 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 85 In defending the work on new surnames, it is often repeated that several women in northern Lithuania were recorded in seventeenth-century registers as Derkinte, Loke, Raude (cf. Salys 1983: 14). But other relevant facts should not be omitted: 1) this was very uncommon; 2) these are not surnames but bynames—words added to a name to specify various nicknames, a father's name, an occupation, origin, or place of residence2; 3) at that time, peasants' surnames were only taking shape, there was no system yet, and various means were used to identify a person more specifically; 4) on the border with Latvia, Latvian also influences such forms; 5) Derkintis is an old given name, and the formation of given names differs somewhat from that of surnames; 6) this may be a one-off, informal usage, as in the same region of northern Lithuania where, in colloquial speech, the younger Kareivas is called Kareiviuku, while Kareivaitė is called Kareiviuke. Children's surnames were formed in this way, too (Žeimelis 2010: 351). It is also often repeated that once, when surnames came up in conversation, Jonas Jablonskis said he could not get used to our calling a first-grader Laukiu (informally, it would be Laukiukas), and a female student graduating from university Laukyte, although by then she was a fully grown Laukė (cf. Zinkevičius 2008: 338). But with these words the patriarch of the Lithuanian language was not stating conclusions from extensive research; rather, he was expressing a passing, amusing impression, perhaps prompted by that same northern Lithuania, which he had often visited, and by his extensive interactions in Mintauja with pupils from that region (his wife, too, came from Žeimelis). 3. NONTRADITIONAL NAMING OF WOMEN The most important sources of Lithuanian linguistics state that the traditional, highly distinctive model for forming Lithuanian women’s surnames is a unique linguistic phenomenon that has developed naturally and should be preserved and encouraged (LKE 2008: 400; Zinkevičius 2008: 42). Yet the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language adopted a resolution that violates the traditional naming of women. The first paragraph of the resolution of 26 June 2003, “On the Formation of Women’s Surnames” (Valstybės žinios, 2003, no. 65–3009), declares that suffixation (the traditional method) is to be regarded as the principal method of forming Lithuanian women’s surnames, 2 An interesting compound name of an ancient Greek (with a fore-name and an additional name indicating the branch of the family) Bukanosis Plikagalvis (son of Plikis) Kranonietis (Zinkevičius 2008: 31, 39). K. GARŠVA. Lietuvos moterų nepriesaginės (latviškos darybos) pavardės 219 indicating a woman’s marital status. The second paragraph of the same resolution also legalizes a novel way of forming women’s surnames with the ending -ė: “Where it is desired to have (or assign) a surname form that does not indicate marital status, a surname may be formed from the masculine surname form with the ending -ė [...]. When a masculine surname has the ending -ė, the feminine surname remains unchanged.” The authors of the hasty resolution realized that in certain cases the fashionable new feminine surname would no longer differ from the masculine surname (when it has the ending -ė: Bložė, Gervė, Kielė, Kregždė, Mitė, Ropė, Skrebė, Vegėlė, Žagrė, etc.), but failed to mention eleven other points to their compatriots, who are less well versed in linguistics. The new surnames are intended to be called not Latvian-formation surnames, but “women’s surnames that do not indicate marital status” (cf. Stundžia 2010: 8–11). But intentions do not always match reality. These surnames conspicuously indicate not only “marital status” but also two further things that their bearers would rather not hear. A surname without a suffix and with the ending -ė indicates that a woman of marriageable age has most likely in fact been married at least once, because her surname has been changed (neither girls nor pensioners use surnames of this kind). In this way, an attempt is made to conceal the marriage, and someone may become curious and investigate the purpose of this concealment. The requirements of one’s own language system are rejected, and the nation’s name heritage is impoverished and harmed by abandoning even the surname-formation tradition of one’s mother, grandmother, and other female ancestors. Having abandoned the suffixes of their parents’ and ancestors’ surnames, women enter the Latvian system of word formation; when written using the Lithuanian alphabet, it is no longer clear whether they are Lithuanian or Latvian, for example: Baluodė, Jansonė, Dauguvietė, Kalnietė. The Lithuanian language does not adequately “understand” another language’s system for forming personal names; it is not adapted to it, and this consequently gives rise to linguistic, ethnic, legal, and semantic problems for society and the bearers of the new surnames. Surnames are also a legal act; passed down from generation to generation, they cannot officially change, since even changing a single letter in a surname legally constitutes the creation of a new surname (LPŽ 1985: 16). By chopping up their surnames, married women distance themselves from their husband’s family, while unmarried women distance themselves from their parents and relatives. Abandoning the surname suffixes -aitė, -ytė, -(i)ūtė, -utė entails the loss of their diminutive-affectionate meaning, while abandoning the suffix -ienė entails the loss of its neutral, 220 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 85 A suffix that carries no negative connotations is acquired, and a coarser form results, one that in fact takes on negative overtones. Without the suffix –ienė, some surnames coincide in meaning with undesirable realities (Bobelė, Čigonė, Dručke, Kiaulė, Vištelė, Žilė, etc.), or realities are attributed to the woman who bears the surname that she does not have or would not wish to have. Creating variants of surnames with nontraditional formation harms the Lithuanian language and disrupts its system of word formation; surnames of non-Lithuanian origin lose their Lithuanian character when Lithuanian suffixes are removed (Ručinskė will be rendered by Poles as Ruczinska, etc.). The surnames Apuokė, Katinė, Sakalė, Strazdė, Vanagė, Žvirblė, Gaidė, Gaigalė, Žąsinė, Ešerė, Karosė, Karpė, Šapalė, Žiobrė, Bitinė, Vorė, Žiogė, Apynė, Dagė, Dobilė, Kopūstė, Miežė, Ridikė, Žirnė, etc., impose on citizens a gender that does not exist in the language, and because of this the VLKK has already been taken to court three times. Surnames are a cultural heritage belonging not only to the woman who bears the surname, but also to the nation, the state, the community, and the family. Experimenting anew with surnames insults radio and TV listeners and visitors to institutions, even though hundreds of members of the public have asked for these matters to be standardized in accordance with the law and the rules of the language (see also Miliūnaitė 2012). The language system itself does not allow women who shorten surnames whose male bearer’s surname has the suffix –aitis to conceal their “marital status,” because Grigaitienė or Grigaitytė, if they drop the suffixes –ienė or –ytė, would become Grigaite—that is, not the wife or daughter of Grigaitis, but daughters of Grigas (see Labutis 2009: 17). Some surnames (Birutė, Giedrė, Milė (Emilija), etc.) now coincide with given names, and it is unclear which is the person’s given name and which the surname. There are examples in which, as a result of the new surname formation, the meaning of a man’s surname no longer matches that of his wife’s surname, for example: Raudonikis – Raudonikė, Šakalys – Šakalė. These problems should be resolved sooner or later. As early as 2009, Academician Zigmas Zinkevičius wrote in Voruta: People often ask me what I think of supposedly modern women’s surnames Žvirblis and Žvirblė instead of Žvirblytė and Žvirblienė. I will say at the outset that, with few exceptions, I view them negatively. And here is why. From ancient times, Lithuanians inherited a clear and very convenient system of naming people. The daughter of a man whose surname was Žvirblis would be called Žvirblytė, with a diminutive suffix, since she was a small person, still a child. In certain cases, instead of the suffix –ytė, they used the suffixes –aitė, –ūtė, –ikė, among others, whose original meaning was also diminutive. K. GARŠVA. Lietuvos moterų nepriesaginės (lietuviškos darybos) pavardės 221 When Žvirblytė (Žvirblė) got married, she acquired her husband’s surname with the suffix –ienė (in some places, –uvienė), so a woman who married Karvelis became Karveliene. She was not called Karvele, since there was no longer any need to indicate that the woman had come of age: she was already married, and thus a wife. Karvelė (with –ė added to her husband’s surname!) was used only mockingly, usually if the woman was of loose morals, as people used to say, a prostitute. This is still said in some places today. [...] Sometimes we hear that women begin using the masculine form of the surname, e.g., Žvirblis instead of Žvirblytė, or Karvelis instead of Karvelienė. This is entirely wrong. The Lithuanian language system, which distinguishes the gender of nouns by their endings, does not allow this; moreover, such usage is illogical. It is also inconvenient, because it is imperfect. [...] Foreign Baltic-language scholars have more than once expressed their admiration to me for the perfect Lithuanian system of identifying people. Yet we, imitating foreigners, are casting it off! 4. CONCLUDING REMARKS The article sets out 12 arguments explaining why the new, artificially created women’s surnames ending in –ė are of no benefit either to women themselves or to the state, language, or nation. Only two arguments are known for why some women need these artificial surnames: supposedly, they are shorter and make communication with foreigners easier. But the same goal can be achieved in a civilized way, with twice the benefit to oneself: under point 11.12 of the Order No. 1R–318 of the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania of 12 October 2009, “On Approval of the Rules for Changing a Person’s Name, Surname and Nationality,” an applicant may “shorten a surname if, in traditional usage, that surname has a shorter, unsuffixed variant.” Thus Vitkauskaitė or Vitkevičiūtė can become Vitkute, while Vitkauskienė or Vitkevičienė can become Vitkiene (men could also shorten their surnames). It is also worth giving up imposed Slavic suffixes for the sake of economy. Under Articles 11.1, 11.7, 11.9 and 12 of the aforementioned Order of the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, an applicant is permitted to change (or change back) a surname if it humiliates the surname holder or is inconvenient to use; if its form does not match the person’s sex; if the person does not wish to conceal their so-called marital status (and connection with their own or their husband’s family and traditional culture); or if the surname is contrary to morality and the public order of the Republic of Lithuania. A Lithuanian living abroad is also, in a sense, an ambassador for their nation and state. Their surname can automatically indicate their nationality as well. The traditional formation of women’s surnames is supported by linguists and professors Vitas Labutis, Jonas Palionis, Aldona Paulauskienė, Zigmas Zinkevičius, and 222 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 85 others. To this day, we do not know well who the clear ideologue of the opposing view is, nor the detailed arguments behind it. In view of the circumstances set out above, the initiative to repeal VLKK Resolution No. N-2 (87) of 26 June 2003, “On the Formation of Women’s Surnames,” remains timely. Women’s unsuffixed surnames undermine the traditional Lithuanian system of word formation, carry a harsher, negative connotation, and, against the wishes of their holders, indicate that a woman is of marriageable age and most likely married or divorced. The aforementioned resolution was adopted without adequately informing the public about the proposal, discussing it, or obtaining the support of a majority of citizens and linguists. Nontraditional women’s surnames have no prestige and harm the Lithuanian language; therefore, artificial surnames should be abandoned. LITERATŪRA Labutis V. 2009: Dar kartą apie moterų pavardes. – Gimtoji kalba 9, 12–19. LKE 2008: Lietuvių kalbos enciklopedija. Antrasis patikslintas ir papildytas leidimas. Sudarė K. Morkūnas, redagavo V. Ambrazas. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. LPŽ 1985: Lietuvių pavardžių žodynas 1. Ats. red. A. Vanagas. Vilnius: Mokslas. Maciejauskienė V. 1991: Lietuvių pavardžių susidarymas XVI–XVIII a., Vilnius: Mokslas. Miliūnaitė R. 2012: Dabartinė Lietuvos moterų pavardžių formų įvairovė ir pasirinkimo galimybės (ištrauka iš rašomos studijos Ką manote apie nepriesagines moterų pavardes). Prieiga per internetą: <www.kalbosnamai.lt> (žiūrėta 2012 11 10). Salys A. 1983: Raštai 2: Tikriniai vardai, Roma: Lietuvių katalikų mokslo akademija. Stundžia B. 2010: Kaip kirčiuoti šeiminės padėties nerodančias moterų pavardes? – Gimtoji kalba 4, 8–11. Zinkevičius Z. 2008: Lietuvių asmenvardžiai, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas. Zinkevičius Z. 2009: Apie moterų pavardes. – Voruta, Nr. 12(678), 1, 16; birželio 20. Žeimelis 2010: Žeimelis. II dalis. Sudarytojas A. Bečius. Vilnius: Versmė. Gauta 2012 11 15 K. GARŠVA. Lietuvos moterų nepriesaginės (latviškos darybos) pavardės 223 LITHUANIAN WOMEN’S SURNAMES (OF LATVIAN WORD-FORMATION) WITHOUT SUFFIXES Summary The article provides 12 arguments why the new artificial surnames of women with the ending -ė are not beneficial for the women themselves or for the state, language and nation. There are only two arguments why these artificial surnames are necessary for some women – they are shorter and easier when communicating with foreigners. The same could be achieved in a more civilized and beneficial way: following the order of the Minister of Justice the applicant can shorten the surname if in traditional usage there is a shorter variant without suffix. Thus Vitkauskaitė or Vitkevičiūtė can become Vikutė and Vitkauskienė or Vitkevičienė – Vitkienė (men should shorten their surnames too). The traditional way of feminine surname formation is supported by professors Vitas Labutis, Jonas Palionis, Aldona Paulauskienė, Zigmas Zinkevičius and others. There is no evident ideologist of the opposing side and comprehensive arguments are still not known. In our opinion the artificial forms of surnames (without a suffix and with the ending -ė) ruin the traditional word-formation system of the Lithuanian language, gives a rougher, negative shade to the surname and against the will of the owner indicates that a woman is of a marrying age and most probably married or divorced. Non-traditional surnames are not prestigious; they harm the Lithuanian language and should be abandoned. KEYWORDS: surnames, word-formation, dialects, standard language. KAZIMIERAS GARŠVA Lietuvių kalbos institutas P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius [email protected] 224 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 85