RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ

Institute of the Lithuanian Language

ON THE STRUCTURE OF REPORT TITLES

Apie lietuviškų dokumentų pavadinimus rašyta ne kartą (Kniūkšta 2005: 142–165; Vladarskienė 2005: 79–89), jų darymo ypatumai aptarti ir kalbos rekomendacijas teikiančiuose leidiniuose – Kalbos patarimų knygelėse ir Kanceliarinės kalbos patarimuose. Atrodytų, kad dokumentų pavadinimų sandara nusistovėjusi, reglamentuota ir didesnių problemų kelti neturėtų. Deja, laikmečio sąlygos griauna įprastą tvarką. Narystė Europos Sąjungoje (toliau – ES) paveikė ir lietuvių administracinę kalbą. ES dokumentų vertimas į lietuvių kalbą ir lietuviškų dokumentų derinimas prie europinių reikalavimų daro neabejotiną poveikį ir sintaksinei jų struktūrai, todėl prie kai kurių svarstytinų atvejų tenka vėl grįžti.

One such issue that remains relevant is the use of prepositional constructions in document titles. Lina Murinienė (2008: 173), writing about the types of titles of translated EU documents, noted that “the construction with the preposition apie is more often used with the noun ataskaita,” and raised the question of whether this construction is normative. Indeed, report titles with the preposition apie are abundant in Lithuanian documents, and especially in translated EU documents. The aim of this article is to discuss prepositional variants in report titles in light of current usage trends and to provide recommendations for their use.

ON THE MEANING OF THE WORD ATASKAITA

First, the meaning of the word ataskaita should be discussed. In the Dictionary of Contemporary Lithuanian (hereafter DLKŽ), it is defined as follows: “an official oral or written report about work done, a certain state of affairs, etc.: Give a work report. Statistical report”. The Guidelines for Office Language (hereafter KancKP) give a narrower ataskaita definition—as a report about work done

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and its results. The DLKŽ indicates two possible shades of meaning for this word, associated with the content of a report: accounting for work performed (e.g., activity report) or describing a particular state of affairs (e.g., financial position report). Reports of the second type are particularly characteristic of EU documents; the wording of some report titles explicitly states that the document presents an overview of statistical data, for example: Sixth annual Commission report to the European Parliament. Overview of trade defence measures applicable to third-country trade (statistical data for the period up to 31 December 2008 are presented, while the notes on individual cases and the text were updated in March 2009) (European Commission report, 2009–07–10¹); data analysis is also frequently carried out, or the current situation is examined, including what has been done, what difficulties have been encountered, the effect of applying other documents on the current situation, and prospects for future activity. This distinction in meaning is important when choosing how to express an ataskaita.

THE STRUCTURE OF A REPORT TITLE

Report titles can be short (stating only the subject or author of the report, e.g., audit report, department report) or long (stating the report’s author, addressee, reporting period, and subject, e.g., Commission report to the Council and the European Parliament on the use, in 2005–2008, of provisions on mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to certain levies, duties, taxes and other measures).

The author of a report is always indicated by the genitive (regardless of whether the report is by an official or an institution): President’s / Government’s / department’s / Guarantee Fund’s / Director of Administration’s / head of the Information Centre’s report.

The addressee of a report is marked by the dative; in such cases, the author is usually also indicated: Commission report to the budget management authority. The type may be marked by an adjective with the suffix –inis, –ė: annual / financial / statistical report. The reporting period may be indicated by the genitive or by a construction with the preposition už (in titles

¹ Examples were collected from the legal acts search database of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (address: www.lrs.lt).

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(the genitive is more suitable): 2005–2009 report and report for 2005–2009; last year’s report and report for last year; report for the current financial year and report for this financial year.

The subject of a report is most often expressed by the genitive (which may have dependent words): work /expenditure estimate implementation /price changes /income and expenditure /safety /monitoring /activity report. Report subjects may also be expressed using prepositional constructions:

the construction with the preposition about: report on the results of the project’s activities; report on the measures and actions implemented; report on the implementation of the Road Maintenance and Development Programme; report on the use of state budget funds; report on the production and sale of white sugar and the purchase of sugar beet; report on the state of Lithuania’s national security; report on the state and development of national security; report on changes in the gas and electricity markets; report on global investment; report on property owned by the state;

the construction with the preposition concerning: state performance audit report concerning the activities of the state enterprise Centre of Registers; report concerning the application of the directive; report concerning better lawmaking; report concerning European Communities borrowing and lending in 2007; report concerning the regulation of the promotion of European works in 2005–2006; report concerning the implementation of childcare objectives in the Member States; report concerning banks’ transparency in providing information about activities affected by the recent turmoil in the financial market;

the construction with the preposition for: report for work completed; report for goods sold; report for funds received.

Currently, the following main variants for expressing the subject of a report are used synonymously in document titles: the construction with the preposition apie, the construction with the preposition dėl, and the genitive phrase: Report on progress in implementing the healthy directives in 2000–2005 (European Commission report, 2006-11-13); Commission report to the European Parliament and the Council on Romania’s progress under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (European Commission report, 2009-07-27); Progress report on the development of the internal gas and electricity market (European Commission communication, 2009-03-11). This article will not examine all possible variants of report titles found in European Union documents, as there are many; instead, it will focus solely on the use of prepositional constructions.

The use of the construction report about what in administrative language was checked in the Seimas legal acts search database (www.lrs.lt, accessed 2009-09-04).

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A total of 5,466 instances of this construction were found in Lithuanian legal acts, including 2,019 instances in documents published in Valstybės žinios; a further 2,575 instances were found in translated European Union documents. It can be seen that in documents subject to some degree of editing (published in Valstybės žinios), report with the preposition apie accounts for about one-third of the instances. In translated European Union documents, the singular accusative is used most often: 1,222 instances—almost half of all the instances found. The data presented show that this construction is actively used.

The construction report dėl is much less common in administrative language: 732 instances in Lithuanian documents, of which only 163 were in legal acts published in Valstybės žinios. But as many as 618 instances were found in translations of EU documents—almost as many as in documents drafted in Lithuania, although the latter are vastly more numerous in the search database.

RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE STRUCTURE OF REPORT TITLES

The greatest uncertainty in report titles concerns the indication of the report’s subject and the reporting period. KancKP states that the subject of a report is expressed by the genitive (work report, activity report), while the construction with the preposition už may be used only when the subject or time is being emphasized; however, no examples are given, and it is noted that otherwise the genitive should be used for both meanings (KancKP 2002: 38). Pranas Kniūkšta (2005: 159) stated more precisely in his book Administracinė kalba ir jos vartosena that ataskaita už darbą is also unsuitable as a title, although the expression itself is not an error. This construction is evaluated similarly in Kalbos patarimai—as a marginal variant of the norm that may be used to express a feature associated with a particular period of time: Parašėme būrelio ataskaitą už praėjusius metus (|| praėjusių metų būrelio ataskaitą) (KP S2 112–113).

Of the indicated synonymous ways of expressing the subject of a report, the most problematic is the construction ataskaita apie. Recommendations on the normative use of constructions with the preposition apie are presented in the second booklet of Kalbos patarimai, Sintaksės, entitled Prielinksnių ir polinksnių vartojimas. It states that the preposition apie is used with verbs in various meanings, expressing place, time, quantity, or object. To express a feature, it may be used with nouns denoting speech and similar meanings. It is more often used with

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verbal nouns, especially when the verb governs a construction with apie, for example: pasakojimai apie karą, paskaita apie tarptautinę padėtį, duomenys apie paukščių migraciją. It is also noted that in administrative language apie ką is unsuitable in document headings, for example: Apie pavardžių rašymą (=Dėl pavardžių rašymo) (resolution); Apie premijų skyrimą (=Dėl premijų skyrimo) (order); but it may be used in: pažyma apie gaunamą atlyginimą, pranešimas apie siuntinio įteikimą (KP S2: 32). Similarly, the features of the use of the preposition apie are described, though much more extensively, by Jonas Šukys. He notes that constructions with the preposition apie are suitable only for stating the essential content of informational documents, and gives examples: informacija apie derybų eigą, pranešimas apie reformos kryptis, pažymėjimas apie šeimos sudėtį (Šukys 1998: 367–373). The publications mentioned indicate correct uses and inadmissible cases for constructions with the preposition apie, but do not mention usage variants of the word ataskaita.

KancKP (2002: 38) teikiama labai aiški rekomendacija – peikiama konstrukcija su prielinksniu apie: „nei su ataskaita, nei su veiksmažodžiu atsiskaityti prielinksnis apie netinka: ataskaita apie normų prisilaikymą (=normų laikymosi ataskaita), ataskaita apie 1996 metų darbą (=1996 metų darbo ataskaita)“. Atsižvelgiant į šią rekomendaciją, atrodo, kad konstrukcijų ataskaita apie neturėtų būti, nes administracinėje kalboje dėl jos šabloniškumo yra gana paprasta paskleisti taisyklingus variantus ir išvengti netaisyklingų. Tačiau, kaip jau minėta, realioji vartosena rodo ką kita. Vadinasi, reikia ieškoti priežasčių, kodėl taip yra.

A review of the prescriptive positions suggests that the main argument against using the preposition apie with the word ataskaita is that the verb from which the noun is derived does not govern this preposition. However, this requirement is not absolute: for example, pažymėjo apie būtinumą is inadmissible, whereas pažyma apie may be used. The recommendation that the preposition apie not be used with the verb atsiskaityti is also not always followed in administrative language: Projekto valdymo grupė – projekto vykdytojo institucijos suburtas kolegialus organas, kuriam projekto administracijos personalas (projekto vadovas, finansininkas ir kiti) atsiskaito (cf. praneša) apie (=už) projekto vykdymo eigą (Žin. 2005, 102–3799); Valdžios institucijų bus prašoma Komisijos tarnyboms reguliariai atsiskaityti (cf. pranešti) apie (=už) šias priemones (European Commission proposal, 2007-08-20). The preposition apie with the verb atsiskaityti apparently continues to be used because of analogous constructions: pranešti, informuoti apie.

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Another general prescriptive requirement is that apie is inadmissible in administrative language in document headings when used to indicate the general subject area of their content; this, however, is more relevant to the titles of administrative documents. Conversely, apie may be used in the titles of certain informational documents, e.g.: pažyma apie, pranešimas apie, informacija apie, and so on. A report is also an informational document and is even defined as a kind of notification (DLKŽ, KancKP); it is therefore quite understandable that report titles with the preposition apie are used by analogy. All the more so since some documents even specify that information be submitted in report form: Programos valdymo komitetas turi teisę: [...] gauti iš struktūrinio padalinio, kuriam pagal kompetenciją Programos valdymo komiteto sprendimu buvo pavesta atlikti tam tikrą užduotį, informaciją (ataskaitą) apie užduoties įvykdymą (Žin. 2009, 32-1256). Another word semantically close to ataskaitai, duomenys, is also used with the preposition apie—cf. reikia pateikti pranešimą / informaciją / duomenis / ataskaitą apie paskolų teikimo duomenis.

Thus, the words ataskaita and atsiskaityti contain the semantic component ‘notification’, which is why language users associate them with words such as pranešimas, pranešti; informacija, informuoti. The semantic proximity of these words encourages the use of syntactic constructions with the same structure.

DIFFERENCES IN THE MEANINGS OF THE PREPOSITIONS APIE IR DĖL

KancKP states that the preposition dėl “is widely used in administrative language to describe the content of an object and matters related to it; it may denote the cause, motive, nature, or simply the subject area of the matter being described” (KancKP 2002: 76). Constructions with the preposition dėl are spreading widely in administrative language; they successfully compete with synonymous forms of expression, often displacing conventional constructions from usage. This is particularly true of document titles, of which there are many with this structure: pažyma dėl (pažyma dėl kvalifikacijos įvertinimo / dėl žalos neišieškojimo dėl objektyvių priežasčių / dėl lėšų kompensavimo); paraiška dėl (paraiška dėl garantijos suteikimo / dėl projekto finansavimo Europos Sąjungos fondų lėšomis / dėl ekonominio gyvybingumo nustatymo); prašymas dėl (prašymas dėl registro objekto išregistravimo / dėl sutikimo nutraukti pirkimo procedūras / dėl paskolos grąžinimo termino atidėjimo / dėl bedarbio statuso suteikimo).

With some words, constructions with both the preposition apie and the preposition dėl may be used; their differences in meaning are also indicated in KancKP:

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Expressions with the preposition apie (about) indicate only the object under discussion, whereas expressions with dėl (concerning) also indicate other matters related to that object; compare: Information about the situation in the city (what the situation is like) and Information concerning the situation in the city (what the situation is like and how to improve it, what needs to be done) (KancKP 2002: 76). This description shows that the preposition dėl has a broader meaning and may be used in report titles when the documents contain not only an overview of statistical data but also an analysis of the current situation, its causes, and proposed directions for further action. E.g.: [Information Society Development Committee] Once every 5 years, it prepares a report concerning exceptions to the right to conclude contracts by electronic means, indicating why these exceptions are necessary (Žin. 2006, 65–2380). In cases where a genitive construction is not possible in the report title and the report contains more than statistical data alone, the construction with the preposition dėl is appropriate: Commission report concerning 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; Commission report concerning the activities of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund in 2008; Commission report concerning the implementation of the global satellite navigation system programmes. This construction is particularly suitable when it includes verbal abstracts with broad meanings: report concerning the application of a regulation / implementation of a programme / use of provisions / operation of a directive / preparation for membership.

The construction report about, which is currently widely used, is needed when other means of expression are unsuitable—because of their meaning or for other reasons. Cases in which report about is unavoidable are particularly clear if the subject of the report is a person or institution that, in the genitive position, could be understood as the entity preparing the report: report about controlled and controlling entities and residents (legal act adopted by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania on 2009-02-19)—compare report of controlled and controlling entities and residents; A report about young people in Europe is prepared every three years (European Commission Communication, 2009-04-27)—compare report on young people in Europe. The Eurovoc EU terminology thesaurus entry report about employees (English staff report) should also be mentioned here.

A report about is needed when the construction with the preposition dėl is unsuitable because of the differences in meaning between the prepositions already mentioned—when the report’s subject must be described directly, without other related matters, e.g.: The Directive on experimental animals requires that a report be submitted regularly, at least every three years, about the number and species of animals used in experiments (European Commission report, 2008-07-02)—compare

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a report about the number and species of animals used in experiments (precise data must be provided on the animals used in experiments: which species and how many animals were used) and—a report concerning the number and species of animals used in experiments (not only data on the number and species of animals used in experiments may be provided, but also related issues, for example, the suitability of the species and whether the number should be increased or decreased);

Privatisation Commission report about the progress of privatisation in 2000 (Committee conclusion, 2001-05-03)—compare report concerning the progress of privatisation in 2000; By 30 September 2008, the Commission, on the basis of an assessment of the common organisation of the dried fodder market, should submit to the Council a report about this sector (Regulation, 2008-10-01)—compare report concerning this sector; The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania took note of the 2003 report about property owned by the state (Žin. 2005, 54-1828)—compare report concerning property owned by the state.

A genitive construction is not very suitable for expressing the subject of a report if the genitive names the entity submitting the report, e.g.: Commission report to the European Parliament and the Council about the flax and hemp sector (European Commission report, 2008-05-20).

It should be noted that the construction report about can be accepted only as unavoidable in cases where other means of expression are unsuitable. The following should therefore be corrected: Persons who have established a workplace for themselves for the first time submit a report about their activities to the employment office each quarter (= submit a report on their activities each quarter) (Žin. 2009, 98-413); Stud farms submit to the Service certificates stating the actual number of animals inspected or assessed and a report about the actual use of funds (= a report on the actual use of funds) (Žin. 2008, 64-2427); The report about the elections in April 2009 (= the report on the April 2009 elections) will be submitted next year (European Commission Communication, 2009-04-23).

DOCUMENT TITLE

AND DISTINCTIONS IN DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION

It should also be noted that a distinction may be made between the title of a specific document and a description of a document used in a general sense. The latter is often longer and attempts to describe the document’s content precisely, for example:

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kyti dokumento turinį, pvz.: Ministerijos Vidaus audito skyrius taryboms pateikia ataskaitą apie įstaigos veiklos ir vidaus kontrolės vertinimą, atliktą paskutinių trejų metų laikotarpiu (Žin. 2009, 41–1600); Sąskaitų tvarkytojai sutartyje numatytu būdu ir tvarka privalo pateikti ataskaitą apie finansinių priemonių sąskaitos būklę paskutinės praėjusių metų dienos pabaigoje (Žin. 2007, Nr. 17–627). Skirtingą konstrukcijų vartojimą patvirtina tie atvejai, kada tame pačiame dokumente oficialų ataskaitos pavadinimą sudaro kilmininko konstrukcija, o tekste tos ataskaitos objektas laisvai apibūdinamas prielinksnio apie konstrukcija (nurodoma, kas joje turi būti pateikiama): Kiekvienas antstolis privalo teikti Teisingumo ministerijai A n t s t o l i o g a u t ų p a j a m ų i r p a t i r t ų i š l a i d ų a t l i e k a n t a n t s t o l i o f u n k c i j a s i r t e i k i a n t p a s l a u g a s a t a s k a i t ą ir Nustatau, kad 2009 metų pirmojo pusmečio a t a s k a i t a a p i e a n t s t o l i o g a u t a s p a j a m a s i r p a t i r t a s i š l a i d a s a t l i e k a n t a n t s t o l i o f u n k c i j a s i r t e i k i a n t p a s l a u g a s antstoliai pateikia Teisingumo ministerijai iki 2009 m. rugsėjo 1 d. (Žin. 2009, 79–3312). V a l s t y b ė s p e r d u o t o s s a v i v a l d y b ė m s p r i s k i r t ų a r c h y v i n i ų d o k u m e n t ų t v a r k y m o f u n k c i j o s a t l i k i m o ___ m e t ų a t a s k a i t a ir Savivaldybių administracijos iki kiekvienų metų balandžio 30 d. pateikia kuruojančiai institucijai – Lietuvos archyvų departamentui prie Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės a t a s k a i t ą a p i e p e r d u o t o s f u n k c i j o s a t l i k i m o p r a ė j u s i a i s b i u d ž e t i n i a i s (a t a s k a i t i n i a i s) m e t a i s r e z u l t a t u s (Žin. 2009, Nr. 29–1159).

In these cases, the freely describable subject of the report (not in the document title) could also be indicated by the prepositional construction “report on income received by a bailiff and expenses incurred; report on the results of performing the delegated function.” This usage shows that the distinction between these constructions is significant, and when describing the subject in detail, constructions such as report about may be used more frequently in the body of a document than in document titles if the construction report on cannot be used.

CONCLUSIONS

Publications offering recommendations identify the genitive case as the principal means of expressing the subject of a report, and it should continue to be the primary syntactic option. When drafting documents, authors should first try to formulate the title using a genitive phrase.

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Prepositional-case constructions may be used when the genitive phrase is unsuitable for semantic or other reasons. The construction report on may be used when not only statistical data but also their analysis are presented, and when the reasons determining the situation are indicated, the difficulties encountered are examined, prospects for activities are envisaged, and other matters related to the current situation are addressed. The construction report about may be justified if other means of expression (a genitive phrase or the construction report on) are unsuitable for semantic reasons, because of possible ambiguity, or when the genitive position is already occupied.

LITERATŪRA

DLKŽ: Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas. Vyr. red. S. Keinys. 3-ias elektroninis leid., Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2006.

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.

KancKP: Kanceliarinės kalbos patarimai. Parengė Pranas Kniūkšta. 5-asis patais. leid., Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 2002.

Kanceliarinės kalbos patarimai. Sud. Pranas Kniūkšta. Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, internetinis leidimas, 2007 (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.

M u r i n i e n ė L. 2008: Verstinių Europos Sąjungos teisės aktų ir kitų dokumentų pavadinimų tipai. – Kalbos kultūra 81, 170–184.

Š u k y s J. 1998: Lietuvių kalbos linksniai ir prielinksniai: vartosena ir normos, Kaunas: Šviesa.

V l a d a r s k i e n ė R. 2005: Dokumentų pavadinimų darymo polinkiai. – Kalbos kultūra 78, 79–89.

Žin. – Valstybės žinios (oficialus leidinys).

Gauta 2009 11 10

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ON THE STRUCTURE OF TITLES OF REPORTS

Summary

The paper discusses prepositional phrases used in the titles of reports in the context of present-day tendencies of usage and provides recommendations. Publications offering recommendations give reference to the genitive case as a major means of expressing the object of report. Thus, report titles should first of all include genitival constructions.

Prepositional phrases could be used if the genitival construction is unsuitable for semantic reasons. The phrase ataskaita dėl (‘report on’) can be used when the statistical data is given together with its analysis, reasons for the problematic situation, difficulties, predicted outcomes and other issues related to the existing situation. The phrase ataskaita apie (‘report about/on’) can be used when other means of expression (like the genitival construction or the phrase ataskaita dėl) are unsuitable for semantic reasons, are ambiguous or when the position of the genitive is already taken.

RASUOLĖ VLADARSKIENĖ

Lietuvių kalbos institutas

P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius

[email protected]

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