Dėl ataskaitų pavadinimų sandaros

R. VLADARSKIENĖ. Title structure of reports 41 RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ Institute of Lithuanian Language Titles of Lithuanian documents have been discussed on several occasions (Kniūkšta 2005: 142–165; Vladarskienė 2005: 79–89), and the peculiarities of their making have also been discussed in publications providing language recommendations – the Language Advice Booklet and the Office Language Advice. It would seem that the structure of titles of documents is established, regulated and should not cause major problems. Unfortunately, the conditions of the time destroy the usual order. Membership in the European Union (hereinafter – EU) has also affected the Lithuanian administrative language. The translation of EU documents into Lithuanian and the harmonization of Lithuanian documents with European requirements have an undeniable effect on their syntactic structure, so some cases have to be considered again. One of these still relevant issues is the use of prepositional structures in the titles of documents. Lina Murinienė (2008: 173), writing about the types of titles of translated EU documents, indicated that “the construction with the prefix about is more often used together with the noun report”, and raised the question of the normativity of this construction. In fact, in Lithuanian documents, and especially in translated EU documents, there are plenty of report titles with the prefix about. The aim of the article is to discuss the prepositional variants of report titles and to provide recommendations for their use, taking into account the current usage tendencies. First of all, we should discuss the meaning of the word “report.” In the Dictionary of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language (hereinafter – DLKŽ) it is interpreted as follows: “an official verbal or written notification about the work done, a certain situation of things, etc. : Give a work report. Statistical Report". The Kancelářská jazyková rada (hereinafter – KancKP) gives a narrower definition of the report – it is a report on the 42 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 82 work and its results. The MRL indicates that there are two possible nuances of the word in relation to the content of the report: accounting for work done (e.g. activity report) or describing a situation (e.g. financial position report). The second type of reports is particularly typical of EU documents, with some report titles expressly indicating that the document provides an overview of statistical data, e.g. : Sixth annual report from the Commission to the European Parliament. The use of trade defence measures by third countries against the Community (statistics provided up to 31 December 2008, with comments on individual cases and text updated in March 2009) (European Commission report, 101 July 2009); It often includes an analysis of the data or the current situation, what has been done, the difficulties encountered, the impact of the application of other instruments on the current situation, and the prospects for further action. This difference in values is important when choosing the way to express the report. Titles of reports can be short (specifying only the subject or author of the report, e.g. audit report, department report) and long (specifying the author of the report, the addressee, the reporting period, the subject of the report, e.g. : Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the use of the provisions on mutual assistance in the recovery of claims relating to certain duties, charges, taxes and other measures 2005- (2008). The author of the report is always indicated by the title (regardless of whose report it is – official or institution): President’s / Government’s / Department’s / Guarantee Fund’s / Director of Administration’s / Head of the Information Centre’s report. The recipient of the report is indicated by an acronym, in which case the author is also simply indicated: Commission report to the budgetary authority. The species can be indicated by an adjective with the suffix -inis, -ė: annual / financial / statistical report. The settlement lai kotar pis can be indicated by the genitive or the prefix for the construction (for names 1 Examples collected from the database of legislative acts of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (address www.lrs.lt). R. VLADARSKIENĖ. 43 more appropriate origin): 2005-2009 report and report for 2005-2009; the report for the previous year and the report for the previous year; the account for the current financial year and the account for the current financial year. The object of the report is usually described by a pronoun (may have dependent words): work /expenditure estimate execution /price changes /income and expenditure /safety /monitoring /activity report. The objects of the report can also be represented by prepositional constructions: prepositional construction about: report on the results of the project activities; a report on the actions and measures implemented; report on the implementation of the Road Maintenance and Development Programme; a report on the use of state budget funds; a report on the production and sale of white sugar and the buying-in of sugar beet; a report on the state of Lithuanian state security; a report on the state and development of national security; a report on developments in the gas and electricity markets; the World Investment Report; a report on assets owned by the State; prefix for construction: State audit report on the activities of the State enterprise Registry Centre; a report on the application of the Directive; the report on better regulation; the report on borrowing and lending by the European Communities in 2007; Report on the regulation of the promotion of European works 2005in 2006; a report on the implementation of the childcare targets in the Member States; A report on transparency by banks in providing information on activities affected by the recent financial market turmoil; prefix for construction: a report on the work carried out; report on goods sold; report on funds received. Currently, the following main variants of expression of the object of the report are used as synonymous titles of documents: a combination of the preposition about construction, the preposition about construction and the genitive: Report on progress 2000-2005 in implementing the interoperability directives (European Commission report, 2006-11-13); Report of the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Romania under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (Report of the European Commission, 27 July 2009); The European Commission's Communication on the progress made towards the completion of the internal market in gas and electricity (2009-03-11). In this article we will not examine all possible variants of titles of reports in European Union documents, because there are various of them, but we will limit ourselves to the use of prepositional structures. The construction report on what usage in the administrative language was checked in the Seimas legislation search database (www.lrs.lt, accessed 2009-09-04). 44 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 82 Found 5466 cases of use of this construction in Lithuanian legislation, of which 2019 cases in documents published in Valstybės žinios; as well as 2575 cases in translated documents of the European Union. It can be seen that in more or less edited documents (published in Valstybės žinios) the report with the prefix apie accounts for about a third of the cases of use. The singular ending is the most commonly used ending in translated European Union documents: 1222 instances – almost half of all the encountered uses. The data provided indicate that this design is actively used. The construction report on administrative language is much less common: 732 cases in Lithuanian documents, of which only 163 in legal acts published in Valstybės žinios. But as many as 618 cases were found in translations of EU documents – almost as many as in documents prepared in Lithuania, although the latter are incomparably more in the search database. RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE TITLE OF REPORTS The main ambiguity in the titles of reports is the indication of the subject of the report and the reporting period. KancKP writes that the object of the report is described by the adjective (work report, activity report), and the preposition after the construction can be used only in case of object or time emphasis, but no examples are given, noting that otherwise the adjective is used in both meanings (KancKP 2002: 38). Pranas Kniūkšta (2005: 159) stated more precisely in his book Administracinė kalba ir jos vartosena (Administrative language and its use): the title should not be presented as a report for work, although otherwise such a statement is not a mistake. Panašiai ši konstrukcija vertinama ir Kalbos patarimuose – kaip šalutinis normos variantas, kuris gali būti vartojamas požymiui, susijusiam su tam tikru laiko tarpu, reikšti: Parašėme būrelio ataskaitą už praėjusius metus (|| praėjusių metų būrelio ataskaitą) (KP S2 112–113). Of the given synonymous variants of the expression of the object of the report, the most problematic is the construction report about. Recommendations on the standardity of the use of prepositions about constructions are given in the second Syntax booklet of Language Advice Use of Prepositions and Adverbs. It is said that the preposition about with verbs is used in various meanings: to indicate place, time, quantity, object. It can be used with nouns of speech and similar meanings to indicate a sign. More commonly used with R. VLADARSKIENĖ. For the structure of report titles with 45 verb nouns, especially if the verb controls the construction, e.g.: stories about war, lecture on the international situation, data on bird migration. It is also indicated that in the official language about what is not appropriate in the titles of documents, for example: Apie pavardžių rašymą (=On the spelling of surnames) (decision); On awarding of bonuses (=On awarding of bonuses) (order), but may be used: certificate of receipt of remuneration, notification of delivery of parcel (KP S2: 32). Similarly, the prefix about the use of the peculiarities, but much more extensively described by Jon Šukis. He points out that the preposition about construction is suitable to describe only the essence of the content of information documents, and gives examples: information about the progress of negotiations, notification of the direction of reform, certificate of family composition (Šukys 1998: 367–373). The above mentioned publications indicate the possibilities of the correct use of the preposition about constructions and the cases not to be presented, but the variants of the word report are not mentioned. KancKP (2002: 38) gives a very clear recommendation – the deprecated construction with the preposition about: “neither with the report, nor with the verb atsiskaityti the preposition about is suitable: report on compliance with standards (= report on compliance with standards), report on the work of 1996 (= report on the work of 1996)”. In the light of this recommendation, it seems that the report of constructions about should not be, because in administrative language due to its templateness it is quite easy to spread the correct variants and avoid the irregular ones. However, as already mentioned, actual consumption shows something else. Therefore, we need to look for the reasons why this is the case. After reviewing the normative provisions, it can be assumed that the main argument for the report of the prefix on the inappropriateness with the word is that the verb from which the noun is made does not control this prefix. However, this requirement is not absolute, as, for example, the certificate of necessity cannot be used, while the certificate of may be used. Recommendations that the preposition about is not used with the verb settle, in administrative language is also not always followed: Project management group – a collegial body set up by the project implementing authority, to which the project administration staff (project manager, financier and others) reports (see reports) on (=for) the progress of the project (Journal of Laws 2005, 102-3799); Public authorities will be asked to report regularly to the Commission services on these measures (European Commission proposal, 20-08-2007). The prefix o with the verb atsiskaityti, apparently, is still used for analogous constructions: pranešti, informuoti apie. 46 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 82 Another common standardization requirement is that the titles of documents should not be used in the official language to indicate the general scope of their content, but this is more related to the titles of the documents being processed. On the contrary, about can be used in the titles of some information documents, e.g.: certificate about, notification about, information about, etc. The report is also an information document and is even defined as a kind of report (DLKŽ, KancKP), so it is quite understandable that by analogy the names of the reports are used with the prefix about. All the more so that some documents even specify that information should be provided in the form of a report: The Programme Management Committee shall be entitled: [...] to obtain from the structural unit to which a task has been assigned by decision of the Programme Management Committee, in accordance with its competence, a report on the performance of the task (OJ 2009, 32-1256). Another word that is semantically close to the report, duomenys, is also used with the prefix about – e.g. need to provide a notification / information / data / report on loan data. Thus, the words report and settle have a message semantics, which is why language users associate them with such words as report, report; information, inform. The semantic proximity of words encourages the use of syntactic constructions of the same structure. KancKP states that the preposition because “is widely used in the office language to describe the content of an object and things related to it, – can mean the cause, motives, nature or simply the scope of the object to be described” (KancKP 2002: 76). Prefix-related constructions are very common in the office language, they successfully compete with synonymous expressions, often displacing conventional constructions from usage. This applies especially to the titles of documents – there are many titles with this structure: certy f (certificate on the assessment of qualifications / on the failure to recover damages for objective reasons / on the reimbursement of funds); p a r a i š k a dá l (application for granting a guarantee / for project financing from European Union funds / for determination of economic viability); p r a š y m a s d ė l (application for deregistration of the register object / for consent to terminate procurement procedures / for deferment of loan repayment / for granting unemployed status). In addition to the prepositions about and because, the differences in their meanings are also indicated in KancKP: The presently widely used construction report about is needed when other ways of expression are not suitable – for meaning or other reasons. Particularly clear R. VLADARSKIENĖ. Due to the structure of the report titles, 47 statements with the prefix about indicate only the spoken object, while statements with the prefix about indicate other things related to the spoken object, cf. : Information about the situation in the city (what is the situation) and Information about the situation in the city (what is the situation and how to improve it, what needs to be done) (KancKP 2002: 76). This description shows that the prefix 'for' has a broader meaning and can be used in the titles of reports where those documents not only provide an overview of statistical data but also an analysis of the current situation, the reasons for it and the directions for further action. Example: [Committee on the Development of the Information Society] Once every 5 years prepare a draft directive on the conclusion of contracts by electronic means, stating why these exceptions are necessary (OJ 2006, 65-2380). In cases where the title of the report does not allow a compound of adjectives and the report is not merely statistical data, the prefix because is appropriate: Commission s d e c i t i o n on the application of Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States; the Commission's report on the activities of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund in 2008; the Commission's implementation of the global navigation satellite system programmes. This construction is particularly appropriate when it includes verb abstracts with a broad meaning: report on the use of the regulation t a i k y m o / the programme in g y v e n d i n i m o / the provisions / the directive v e i k i m o / p a s i r e n g i m o for membership. cases when reporting is unavoidable, if the subject of the report is a person or institution, which in the position of the originator could be perceived as the entity preparing the report: report on controlled and controlling units and populations (Legislative Act adopted by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania on 2009-02-19) – cf. report on controlled and controlling units and populations; The European Youth Report is published every three years (European Commission communication, 27 April 2009) – see Youth in Europe Report. It is worth adding the staff report provided in the EU terminology dictionary Eurovoc. Report about is required when the construction of the preposition because is not suitable due to the already mentioned differences in the prepositional meanings – if it is necessary to directly describe the object of the report without other related things, e.g. : The Directive on Experimental Animals requires regular reporting, at least every three years, on the number and species of animals used in experiments (European Commission report, 2008-07-02) – cf. 48 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 82 a report on the number and species of animals used in experiments (detailed data on the animals used in experiments must be provided: what species and how many animals were used) and – a report on the number and species of animals used in experiments (in addition to the number and species of animals used in experiments, the report may include any related issues, such as the suitability of the species, the increase or reduction of the number); Report of the Privatisation Commission on the progress of privatisation in 2000 (Conclusion of the Committee, 03/05/2001) – cf. the report on the progress of privatisation in 2000; By 30 September 2008, the Commission should submit to the Council, on the basis of an evaluation of the common organisation of the market in dry fodder, a report on this sector (Regulation of 1 October 2008) – see the report on this sector. The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania has been acquainted with the 2003 report on the state-owned property (Journal of Laws 2005, 54-1828) – see the report on state-owned property. The genitive compound is not very suitable for denoting the object of the report if the subject who provides the report is named with this syllable, e.g. : Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the flax and hemp sectors (European Commission Report, 20/05/2008). It should be noted that the construction report about can be recognized only as inevitable in cases where other ways of expression are not suitable. Therefore, the following should be corrected: Persons who have set up a workplace for themselves for the first time shall submit a report on their activities to the employment office for each quarter (= report on their activities for each quarter) (Journal of Laws 2009, 98-413); Equestrian farms shall provide the Office with certificates on the actual number of animals controlled or assessed and a report on the actual use of funds (= actual use of funds report) (OJ 2008, 64-2427); A report on the April 2009 elections (= April 2009 election report) will be presented next year (Communication of the European Commission, 23 April 2009). TITLE OF THE DOCUMENT It should also be noted that a distinction may be made between the name of a specific document and the description of the document used in a general sense. The latter is often longer and attempts to accurately R. VLADARSKIENĖ. The structure of report titles 49 may change the content of the document, e.g. : The Internal Audit Division of the Ministry shall report to the Councils on the evaluation of the institution’s activities and internal control carried out in the last three years (Journal of Laws 2009, 41-1600); Account managers are obliged to submit a report on the status of the account of financial instruments at the end of the last day of the previous year in the manner and procedure provided for in the contract (Journal of Laws 2007, No. 17-627). The different use of the constructions is confirmed by the cases when in the same document the official title of the report consists of the nobleman’s construction, and the text freely describes the object of that report with the prefix about the construction (indicating what it must contain): Each bailiff must submit to the Ministry of Justice a report on the income received and expenses incurred in performing bailiff functions and providing services and I determine that the report on the income received and expenses incurred by the bailiff in performing bailiff functions and providing services for the first half of 2009 shall be submitted to the Ministry of Justice by 1 September 2009 (Journal of Laws 2009, 79-3312). Report on the performance of the function of handling archival documents assigned to municipalities by the State for the year ___ and the results of the performance of the function given to the municipalities in the previous budgetary (reference) year shall be submitted by the municipalities’ administrations to the supervisory institution – the Lithuanian Archives Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania by 30 April of each year (Journal of Laws 2009, No. 29-1159). In these cases, the freely descriptive object of the report (not in the title of the document) could be marked by the construction of a prefix after: report on the income received and expenses incurred by the bailiff; a report on the performance of the delegated function. Such usage indicates that this difference in constructions is significant, and in detailing an object the construction report on in the text of the document may be used more frequently than in the titles of the documents if the construction report on cannot be used. CONCLUSIONS The main way of expressing the object of the report – the genitive – should continue to be the most important syntactic variant. The authors of the reports should first try to formulate the title of the document as a noun.