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doi.org/10.35321/term31-10
Mythonymic Terms in the First Psychiatry Textbook Published in Interwar Lithuania
Mythonymic Terms in Lithuania’s First Psychiatry Textbook from the Inter-war Era
PALMIRA ZEMLEVIČIŪTĖ
Institute of the Lithuanian Language
ORCID id: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8679-3253
A B S T R A C T
The article examines structurally the psychiatric terms formed from the names of mythical beings in the textbook Introduction to Psychiatry (1935), the first Lithuanian textbook published in interwar Lithuania, written by the renowned Lithuanian psychiatrist Juozas Blažys. Nearly all these terms originate in the classical languages (Greek and Latin), borrowed ready-made from them via intermediary languages and adapted to the Lithuanian language system. In writing the textbook, J. Blažys drew on his colleagues’ published works, and he is said to have taken these terms from those works. Mythonyms of Greek and Latin origin that form part of psychiatric terminology are archaic universals, understood unambiguously in all languages. This means that languages borrow psychiatric terms formed on their basis from one another, and these terms make up an important part of international eponymic psychiatric terminology.
The textbook mainly uses mythonymic terms formed through full (direct, affixal, and compositional) appellativization, and only very rarely through partial appellativization. The most characteristic are compound appellatives (e.g., kleptomanija) with a component based on a postpositive mythonym. Among affixal appellatives, suffixed appellatives with the productive suffix -izmas predominate (e.g., morfinizmas); prefixal appellatives (e.g., amnezija) are uncharacteristic.
The article structurally analyzes the psychiatry terms formed from the names of mythological beings that appear in the 1935 Įvadas į psichiatriją (Introduction to Psychiatry), by Juozas Blažys, the renowned Lithuanian psychiatrist. It was the first psychiatry textbook published in Lithuania during the interwar period.
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world wars. Nearly all terms are derived from the classical (Greek and Latin) languages or are readily borrowed from them through intermediary languages and adapted to the system of the Lithuanian language. While writing the textbook, Blažys relied on printed work by his colleagues and most probably adopted the terms from those sources. Mythonyms of Greek and Latin origin that appear in the structure of psychiatry terms are archaic universalities with unequivocal meaning across all languages; as a result, the psychiatry terms that derive from them travel from one language to the next, constituting an important part of the international eponymic terminology of psychiatry.
Most of the terms featured in the textbook are mythonyms made by way of absolute (direct, affixal, and composite) and, on very few occasions, partial appellativisation. The most common are composite appellatives (such as kleptomanija (kleptomania)) that include a component grounded on a post-positional mythonym. Among affixal appellatives, suffixal appellatives with the productive suffix -izmas (such as morfinizmas (morphinism)) have prevalence, while prefixal appellatives (such as amnezija (amnesia)) are uncommon.
One typological group of eponymous terms1 consists of eponyms formed from the names2 of mythological beings (gods, goddesses, giants, etc.), the so-called mythonyms3.
1 An eponymous term is a term derived from an eponym. Initially, eponyms referred only to proper names. This meaning of eponym persisted until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but later began to fade, and eponym acquired a new meaning. Today, eponyms also include terms—common nouns denoting concrete and abstract concepts—and nomenclatural units, the names of individual concepts (Leičik 2011: 135–138; Rāduly 2016: 362). Thus, the newer meaning of eponym is the one most often used in contemporary empirical terminology studies (Bresch 2002: 155; Lalic-Krstin 2004: 64; Lončar, Ostroški Anić 2013: 37; Ferguson, Thomas 2014: 1; Majewska 2016: 94; Giménez-Roldán 2017: 15; Yermolenko 2018: 10; Guardiola i Pereira, Baños i Diez 2021: 12–13; Zhdan, Dvornyk, Avetikov, Bieliaieva 2021: 24, etc.). An eponym is defined as a single-word term derived from the name of a person (real or fictional) or a place (a toponym), or as a compound term with an onymic component (Dirckx 2001: 15; Cappuzzo 2008: 1–2; Kruchenkova, Agafonova 2020: 99–100; Lysánets, Bieliaieva 2021: 1–2; Slabin 2023: 188). Nevertheless, we believe that the term eponymous term, which signals a direct connection with terminology, is more precise than eponym, which is still understood primarily as a proper name that gives its name to an object, process, etc. Terminological literature exhibits not only varied usage of terms for designating a term derived from an eponym, but also inconsistencies in the understanding of the concept itself (for a fuller discussion, see Gaivenis, Keinys 1990: 59; Lerner, Kaptsan, Witztum 2001: 441; Duque-Parra, Llano-Idárraga, Duque-Parra 2006: 220; Leičik 2011: 138; Tatarinov 2006: 68, 235; Kvašytė 2005: 66; Kitkauskienė 2011: 48; Novinskaja 2013: 34; Gaivenis 2014[1994]: 217; Kakzanova 2017: 335; Mikelionienė 2017: 127–128; Rimkutė-Ganusauskienė 2023: 122; Vasiljeva, Titenko 2023: 17; Vaskelaitė 2023: 95, 101; Brdar, Brdar-Szabó 2024: 75).
2 It is claimed that most names of mythological gods, divine beings, and fantastical creatures entered medical terminology during the Enlightenment—the era of the cult of antiquity (Karenberg 2012: 7).
3 A mythonym (Greek mythos ‘story’ + onyma ‘name’) is the name of a being (a god, a benevolent or malevolent spirit, a titan, a centaur, etc.) that does not exist in reality (Jakaitienė 2009: 269).
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terms—mythonymic terms4. Classical mythology was a rich and important source of modern scientific terminology (Levitt 2014: 65; Xiaoli 2023: 118). Many ancient Greek and Roman myths and legends have permeated fields such as politics, culture, medicine, and others, and the names of their characters have become the basis for terms in numerous scientific and technical fields (Xiaoli 2023: 123). Terms derived from mythonyms are particularly abundant in the terminology of various medical fields (anatomy, psychiatry, ophthalmology, pharmacology, etc.), for example: Achilles tendon (Latin tendo calcaneus – heel tendon AV 2020; the thickest tendon (Achilles tendon) in the body ŽA 2005 155), Ammon’s horn (proper hippocampus, Ammon’s horn, Latin hippocampus proprius, cornu ammonis AV 2020; see also ŽA 2005: 319), atlas ‘the first cervical vertebra. It is ring-shaped and connects to the skull by a special joint that allows the head to bend’ (VLEe), lymph5. As the German medical historian Axel Karenberg, who wrote about the mythological origins of anatomical terms, aptly put it, for centuries Greek and Roman gods lived not only in museums and libraries, but also in the language of anatomy. The author even considers such terms magical (Karenberg 2005: V; Karenberg 2012–2013: 7). Although, according to some researchers, mythonymic terms are supposedly created through the use of imagination and do not reflect the real objects they designate, they are nevertheless recognized for several positive features. These terms are concise (compared with descriptive nomenclatural terms), and thus meet the requirement that terms be short, while also reflecting the principle of linguistic economy. It is precisely this feature that makes them suitable for medical terminology. Being short (one or two words), they are easy to remember. This is another positive trait (Karenberg 2012–2013: 20–22). Mythonymic terms are undoubtedly expressive and vivid, although expressiveness and vividness are not among the most important features of scientific language (Gaivenis 2002: 44). On the other hand, these characteristics of the terms—their fantastical nature—gradually fade over time, and mythonymic terms are now perceived as fairly neutral. For example, contemporary
4 Much has been written about these terms, with the most attention devoted to terminology in various medical fields (Karenberg 2005; Tritenko 2011: 3–21; Karenberg 2012–2013: 7–22; Levitt 2014: 65–80; Kucharz 2017: 29–42; Nažnean 2020: 1–5; Taneva 2022: 205–212; Turan 2023: 15–37; Vasiljeva, Tritenko 2023: 17–28; Xiaoli 2023: 118–123, etc.). Researchers understand and treat these terms in similar ways, although no established term exists for naming them—individual authors use various synonyms, for example: the term mythologism, the term mythonym, mythological term, term with a mythological component, term with mythonym components (see Vasiljeva, Tritenko 2023: 18). This article adopts the term mythonymic term, on the grounds that, as already noted, such a term is derived from a mythonym.
5 The term lymph (the fluid circulating in the human body) is derived from the nymphs (Greek Nymphai), water spirits and daughters of Zeus, the deities of nature and its vital forces in ancient Greek mythology (VLEe; for more, see Karenberg 2012–2013: 10).
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Users of terminology scarcely perceive the mythological context of such terms as anamnesis6, psychosis7, thanatology8, and venereology9. It is acknowledged that mythonymic terms have considerable didactic and intellectual potential: while conveying subject-specific information, they enable excursions into the history of literature and art, make the language of medical science engaging and accessible to medical students, and, moreover, raise the general level of culture (Karenberg 2012–2013: 22; Xiaoli 2023: 122).
The subject of this article is psychiatry terms derived from mythonyms, which were collected manually from the textbook Introduction to Psychiatry, published in Lithuania in 1935 during the interwar period. Its author was the distinguished Lithuanian psychiatrist Juozas Blažys (1890–1939). Contemporaries attest that he was “a distinguished scholar and physician, one of our finest psychiatrists,” “one of the most distinguished authorities in this field in Lithuania,” “an enlightened man, a great humanist,” and “the first psychiatrist in independent Lithuania” (Römeris 1939: 409–410; Bendoravičius 1939: 417). His textbook was judged to be not a compilation but an independent work, written in “precisely formulated and clear sentences, in beautiful Lithuanian,” and distinguished by its scope and content from introductions to psychiatry published in other languages (Bendoravičius 1939: 420, 426). The textbook contains relatively few eponymous psychiatry terms associated with mythology, which is understandable because, as its title indicates, it is only an introduction to the science of psychiatry, whose aim, in the author’s own words, is “to provide general knowledge about psychiatry,” while “the examination of individual mental illnesses is the task of clinical psychiatry <...>” (Blažys 1935: III).
The aim is to examine the textbook’s mythonymic psychiatry terms from a structural perspective and to determine the ways in which the terms were formed by appellativization and the structural features they display; to establish which mythonyms the psychiatry terms derive from and how they are connected with the scientific concepts they designate. The traditional descriptive-analytical method is the most suitable for linguistic analysis of the terms, and is therefore the principal method used. In addition, the method of structural (word-formation) analysis is employed to determine whether a term
6 According to the name of the ancient Greek Titaness Mnemosyne (Greek Mnēmosynē), the personification of memory (VLEe).
7 According to the name of the ancient Greek goddess Psyche (Psyche), the personification of the soul (VLEe).
8 According to the name of the ancient Greek god Thanatos, the personification of death (VLEe).
9 According to the name of the ancient Roman goddess Venus, the personification of physical pleasures. In clinical and everyday medical language, the adjective venereus meant “related to physical love” or “sexual.” During the Renaissance, this adjective was used to describe the sexually transmitted disease syphilis—morbus venereus, lues venerea (VLEe; Karenberg 2012–2013: 12).
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is a derived word and which word-formation process it belongs to. The comparative method is used to show which equivalents of the first psychiatry textbook’s mythonymic terms are found in current psychiatric terminology. Besides mythonymic terms belonging exclusively to psychiatry, such as mania, psychosis, the textbook also contains general medical and clinical medical terms derived from mythonyms, such as Achilles reflex, leukopenia, venereal disease. In compiling the material, consideration was given to whether the terms were included in the latest encyclopedic dictionary of psychiatric terms (see the list of auxiliary sources). If a mythonymic term found in the textbook was recorded in that dictionary (formal matters such as the spelling of terms were not considered here), the term was treated as a psychiatry term and as an object of this study.
WAYS OF COMMONIZATION OF MYTHONYMS THAT FORM PART OF PSYCHIATRIC TERMS
As already mentioned, ancient Greek and Roman mythology has had a tremendous influence not only on European culture, literature, and art, but also on the fields of science and technology. Myths are revisited when new terms are created. Psychiatry is a branch of medical science that contains terms derived from the names of characters in ancient myths. Terms formed through complete commonization. The process whereby a proper name is used to create a new term is called commonization10. As Latvian terminology scholar Valentina Skujiņa notes, in this process a proper noun, with a shift in meaning, becomes a common noun, known as an appellative. On the basis of a broad understanding of commonization, the terminologist distinguishes complete commonization, which may be direct, affixal, or compositional, from partial commonization (see Fig. 1) in the process of term formation (Skujiņa 2002: 99–100, cf. Xiaoli 2023: 118).
Fig. 1. Ways of commonizing mythonyms
10 Dar vartojamas terminas deonimizacija (Superanskaja, Podolskaja, Vasiljeva 2005: 26).
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Terms formed through direct commonization. Direct commonization is understood as the transfer of a proper name into the category of common nouns without special word-formation devices. The meaning of the appellative—that is, the newly emerging term—changes, and it is written with a lowercase initial letter (Skujiņa 2002: 100). In this case, one can speak of semantic derivation. There are very few terms in the textbook under study that can be assigned to this type of commonization—only mania 10611, 135, 175, 210 and psychè 240 (see Fig. 2).
Fig. 2. Ways of complete commonization of mythonyms
In the textbook, the term mania is used to mean “pathologically elevated mood”; however, in the author’s words, “in the time of Pinel12 and Esquirol13, delusion was called mánija14” 175. The TŽŽ published a year later (1936) already records mania in its clinical sense: “a certain mental illness, manifested in a person seeming to be governed by a single thought or idea, desiring only one thing, pursuing only one goal, searching, seeing, fearing, and so on.” TŽŽ 1936 594. In contemporary Lithuanian psychiatry, 15mania is understood as 1) “manic syndrome” and 2) “a pathological impulsive or irresistible urge, a harmful habit, a pathological obsession” EPTŽ 2017 179. As can be seen, the meanings of the term mania as used in the textbook and in contemporary usage differ. In the late 20th century, the term in question was also used in a third sense, “delusions of grandeur” TPTŽ 1996 52.
The term mania derives from the name of Mania (Greek Mania, Maniē, Maniai), the goddess in ancient Greek mythology who personified madness (TGM; TŽŽ 2007: 680).
11 Here and throughout the text, the textbook page number is given alongside terms and/or their explanations.
12 Philippe Pinel (1745–1826) was a French physician and a pioneer of psychiatry (Wiki).
13 Jean-Étienne Dominique Esquirol (1772–1840) was a French psychiatrist and a pupil of Philippe Pinel (Wiki).
14 Italicized by the textbook’s author.
15 The publication representing contemporary Lithuanian psychiatric terminology is considered to be the Encyclopedic Explanatory Dictionary of Psychiatric Terms, published in 2017; the Explanatory Dictionary of Psychological Terms (2019), which also includes psychiatric terms, is likewise counted among publications representing the terminology under discussion.
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Psychē, used in the textbook in the sentence “The physician’s testimony must include at least a brief anamnesis and describe the then-current state of the mind (psychē)” 240, derives from the name of a character in ancient Greek mythology—the goddess of the soul, Psyche (Greek Psykhê16 (see TGM; VLEe for more)).
As Natalija Novinskaja notes, a proper name that becomes a term turns into a common noun and loses its onymic capitalization, acquiring the characteristics of a common noun—it becomes a productive element in the formation of other nouns (Novinskaja 2004: 284–285). This is the case, for example, with the mythonym discussed above: the following terms used in the textbook are formed with the element psych-: bradypychia, psychiatry, psyche, psychoneurosis, psychosis, psychopathy, psychopathology, psychotechnics, etc.
Terms formed by affixal appellativization.
Affixal appellativization is understood as the transformation of a proper name into a common noun by means of word-formation devices. Since all terms assigned to this type of appellativization (see Fig. 2) are international words borrowed from the classical languages—Greek and Latin—through intermediary languages, and in this case were likely adopted by J. Blažys from sources on which he relied to some extent in writing his textbook, then phonetically and morphologically adapted to Lithuanian, their word-formation can be discussed only formally: these terms were formed in the borrowing classical languages and entered other languages in an already established form, and from there entered Lithuanian. According to the classic Lithuanian word-formation theorist Vincas Urbutis, such loanwords, which are formations adopted from other languages and whose principal fields of use are science and technology, occupy a distinct, specific position in synchronic word formation (Urbutis 2009: 292–293).
Whereas direct appellatives are formed through semantic derivation, in the case of affixal appellatives one can speak of morphological derivation. Here, the categorical feature of the lexical unit being named—that is, the term—is expressed by specialized affixal morphemes (Novinskaja 2013: 37). Terms formed in this way differ from direct appellatives in that the mythonym is reduced: only the root morpheme participates in the formation. In such cases, the proper name loses its independence and becomes a term element (Tatarinov 2006: 235). Unlike direct appellatives, affixal appellatives are terms derived with prefixes or suffixes.
Suffix-derived appellatives are much more common in the textbook. Appellatives formed with the propensity-denoting suffix –ism are particularly productive
16 Pirminė šio žodžio reikšmė – „kvėpavimas“ AŽ 1998: 453.
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(see Brunevičiūtė, Gudaitytė, Šarkauskienė 2003: 140). One of them is eroticism 106 (Greek ērōs (genitive ērōtos) — “physical love” OED + Latin -ism). In the textbook, this term is used in discussing various “physiogenic factors as causes of mental illness” 101: “<...> manic patients are characterized by eroticism” 106. Today, as many as four meanings of eroticism are distinguished (APTŽ 2019 80), whereas in the late twentieth century it was “a general term for various sexual urges” TPTŽ 1996 27. The root morpheme of this term is associated with the name of Eros, the god of love in Greek mythology (see VLEe; AŽ 1998 132 for more).
In the textbook, etherism 88, 97 (Greek aithēr — upper air; bright, pure air; sky OED + -ism) is defined as “the use of ether (‘anodyne’),” which “is widespread in the Klaipėda Region and Greater Lithuania, along the border with the Klaipėda Region. Ether induces a state resembling intoxication, with elevated mood and a tendency toward impulsive actions, which the etheromaniac later does not remember” 97. The term’s root morpheme is related to the name of Aether (Greek Aithēr), the primordial god of light in Greek mythology (see TGM; VLEe for more). It is said that in the early eighteenth century the name of Aether was given to the volatile chemical compound known since the fourteenth century because of its lightness and colorlessness (OED).
The term gigantism17 (Greek Gigas, plural nominative Gigantes — earth-born TGM; OED + -ism) is used in the textbook in writing about degeneration and its causes. Gigantism is treated as a physical sign of degeneration—an anomaly of stature 66–68. In current psychiatric terminology, it is “a clinical syndrome characterized by unusually great height <...> or enlargement of certain body parts or internal organs” EPTŽ 2017 101. The term’s root is associated with the giants, characters in Greek mythology (see VLEe; AŽ 1998 159–160 for more).
Hermaphroditism18 (Greek hermaphroditos — a person possessing characteristics of both sexes OED + -ism) is used in the textbook in discussing various physical signs of degeneration. Hermaphroditism is classified among genital anomalies 66–68. The term derives from the name of the ancient Greek mythical character Hermaphroditus (Greek Hermaphroditos), who possessed male and female traits (see VLEe; TGM for more).
In the textbook, the term lunatism 211 (Latin lunaticus — struck by the moon < luna — moon OED + -ism) is used to describe the mental patients’
17 Apie terminą yra rašęs Eugenius Józėfas Kurcharžas 2017: 35.
18 Apie terminą yra rašęs E. J. Kurcharžas 2017: 36.
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the research framework, but the concept denoted by it is not explained in greater detail. In contemporary psychiatry it is defined as “a form of twilight state of consciousness manifested as ambulatory automatism. While asleep, the patient suddenly gets up, walks around the room with eyes open, performs habitual actions, may move objects, leave the apartment, climb onto the roof, and so on.” EPTŽ 2017 195. The term’s root morpheme is associated with the name of Luna (Latin Luna), the Roman goddess of the night (for more, see AŽ 1998 302, 446; VLEe; TGM).
The term morphinism (French morphine or German Morphin19 – the principal alkaloid of opium, used as a narcotic painkiller < Greek morphē OED + –ism) denotes an addiction that, as the textbook states, “usually develops from the use of morphine to relieve pain” 97. The term’s root is associated with the name of Morpheus (Greek Morpheus), the god of sleep and dreams in Greek mythology (for more, see VLEe; TGM).
In the textbook, the term narcissism20 142 (Greek Narkissos OED + –ism) is used when discussing drives and their pathology, but the concept it denotes is not explained in greater detail. Today it is “a sexual perversion manifested by self-love” EPTŽ 2017 196. The term’s root morpheme derives from the name of Narcissus (Greek Narkissos), a figure in ancient Greek mythology who fell in love with his own reflection, which he saw in the water of a spring (for more, see VLEe; cf. TGM).
Besides the derivatives with the suffix -ism mentioned above, several isolated suffixal appellatives formed with the suffixes -ia, -osis, -ics were found.
In the textbook, phobia21 is called “a state of fear arising together with obsessive ideas or drives” 179. The term is derived from the name of Phobos (Greek Phobos), the god of fear and panic in Greek mythology (for more, see TGM; Viki). Structurally, the term can be analyzed as containing the suffix -ia (Greek -ia), meaning “a diseased or abnormal, pathological state” (Morkevičienė 2018: 10, 79).
The term hypnosis, which the textbook explains as “a sleep-like state with a narrowing of the field of consciousness, induced by various means
19 The name was coined by the German pharmacist Friedrich’s Sertürner (1783–1840), associating it with the name of Morpheus, the god of dreams (OED).
20 Kai kuriuose šaltiniuose (pvz.: VLEe, AŽ 1998: 350) teigiama, kad šį terminą pirmą kartą 1910 m. pavartojęs austrų psichologas ir psichoanalitikas Sigmund’as Freud’as. Iš tiesų termino autorystė priklauso vokiečių psichiatrui ir kriminologui Paul’ui Adolfui Näcke’ui (1851–1913), pirmą kartą pavartojusiam narcisizmo terminą 1899 m. (APTŽ 2019 195). Apie terminą yra rašęs E. J. Kurcharžas 2017: 38.
21 Apie terminą yra rašiusi Tatjana Tritenko 2011: 17.
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(fixation of the eyes on a particular object, repeated commanding words, etc.)” 225, the suffix is quite clear—–osis (Greek –osis), meaning “a disorder, disease, diseased or abnormal state” (Morkevičienė 2018: 10, 81, cf. Brunevičiūtė, Gudait, Šarkauskienė 2003: 144). The term’s root morpheme is associated with the name of Hypnos (Greek Hypnos), the god of sleep (for more, see VLee; AŽ 1998 193; TGM).
In the textbook, the term panic22 80 (Greek panikon – related to Pan + –ics) is used to describe various reactions to psychological trauma. One such reaction is panic. In contemporary psychiatry, this term denotes confusion, intense fear, terror EPTŽ 2017 238. The term’s root derives from the mythonym Pan (Greek Pan), the Greek god of forests and fields, whose appearance frightened and terrified people (for more, see OED; VLee; TGM).
Several mythonymic psychiatric terms of more complex structure, derived using two different types of affixes, occurred. One such term is amnesia (a- – a Greek prefix meaning “lack, absence” + –mnesia – memory, see Brunevičiūtė, Gudait, Šarkauskienė 2003: 146, 152, cf. Morkevičienė 2018: 80), which the textbook explains in several ways: “lack or weakness of memory” 153, “[e]xclusion from memory of recollections relating to a certain defined period, <...>. The name amnesia is sometimes also given to that general loss of memory” 154. Thus, amnesia can be classified among prefixal and suffixal appellatives, because, in addition to the prefix a-, the term’s base stem is extended by the suffix –ia (see LKG I 363). The basis of this derived term is the mythonym Mnemosyne (Greek Mnēmosynē), the personification of memory in Greek mythology (TGM; VLee; Viki). The root morphemes of the terms hypermnēsia, hypomnēsia, paramnēsia are based on the same mythonym, but here the prefix position is occupied by so-called international elements23hyper- “above normal,” hypo- “below normal,” para- “impaired,” although some researchers consider them prefixes (see Filipczak-Nowicka, Grech-Żmijewska 2010: 172–173).
The term autoerotism, based on the mythonym Eros, belongs to this small group—it is a derivative formed with the international element auto- and the suffix –ism. Terms formed by compositional appellativization. Compositional appellativization is understood as the use of a proper name for one of the newly
22 Apie terminą yra rašęs E. J. Kurcharžas 2017: 38.
23 For more on the use of international elements in the formation of Lithuanian words and terms, see Keinys 1979: 14–26; Kupčinskaitė 1997: 56–61; Inčiuraitė-Noreikienė 2015: 245–259; Rudaitienė 2001: 94–107; Simonait ytė-Rudaitienė 1998: 180–202; Aleksaitė 2021: 64–78, among others.
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the elements of the term’s compound. Most of the terms formed in this way were found in the textbook (see Fig. 2). They are all borrowings—international terms whose “foreign origin is clearly perceptible” (Urbutis 2009: 293). Although they were not formed in Lithuanian, they can be analyzed into derivational components and constitute a distinct subsystem of word formation (Keinys 2005 [1983]: 131; see also Urbutis 2009: 293).
Both elements of these compounds are of Greek (most often) or Latin origin. Elements from classical languages are “convenient because the meaning of the corresponding groups of such elements is understood by scholars in certain fields who speak many other languages” (Rudaitienė 2001: 97).
The textbook is dominated by compound appellatives whose second element is the mythonym Manija (see p. 4 for further discussion). In the textbook, this mythonym is used to form terms that generally designate various pathological (morbid, obsessive) urges. Some of these terms are now treated as names of mental disorders, e.g.: kleptomanija, piromanija (APTŽ 2019 155, 227).
The term dipsomanija (Gr. dips—thirst + -mania—urge; Brunevičiūtė, Gudaitytė, Šarkauskienė 2003: 151, 152) is defined in the textbook as “a morbid inclination to drink that recurs only periodically” 96.
In the textbook, the term homicidomania (Old French homicide < Latin homicidium – murder < homo – human being OED + -mania) is defined as “obsessive urge to kill” 179.
Kleptomania (Greek kleptes – thief, swindler < kleptein – to steal, act secretly + -mania OED) is called “[p]athological urge to steal” 178.
The concept designated by the term narkomanija 88 (Gr. narko- < narkē—stupor, clouding of consciousness, sleep + -mania OED, EPTŽ 2017 197) is not explained in the textbook. In contemporary psychiatry, this is a general term for disorders characterized by a persistent urge to use narcotic, medicinal, and toxic substances as a result of the ensuing psychological and physical dependence on them (EPTŽ 2017 197).
Another mania—“an obsessive urge to set fires” 179—is designated by the term piromanija (Gr. pyr-—fire + -mania Brunevičiūtė, Gudaitytė, Šarkauskienė 2003: 152–153).
An obsessive urge to commit suicide is called suicidomanija 179 in the textbook (Latin sui—oneself + Latin caedere—to kill + -mania OED; TPTŽ 1996 81).
A pair of compound appellatives in the textbook, both of whose elements are associated with mythonyms, merits separate discussion. One such term is erotomanija (Gr. erōs (gen. erōtos)—sexual love + -mania OED; EPTŽ 2017 88).
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This term denotes psychoses marked by the predominance of sexual complexes. In contemporary psychiatry, the term designates “a pathological intensification of sexual desire, often occurring together with sexual deviations” EPTŽ 2017 88. The first element of the term is associated with the mythonym Eros (see p. 5 for more), and the second with the mythonym Mania (see p. 4 for more).
Another compound appellative based on two mythonyms is eteromanija (Greek aetheromania < aithēr, aitheros – ether + mania – desire, passion EPTŽ 2017 89). In the textbook, this term denotes “the use of ether (‘anodynes’)” 97. The first element of the term in question derives from the mythonym Ether (see p. 5 for more), and the second from the mythonym Mania (see p. 4 for more).
The group of compound appellatives also includes several isolated compounds among mythonymic terms, one of whose elements is associated with mythonyms.
In the textbook, the term agorafobija24 (Greek agora – in ancient Greece, a place where free people assembled, the city's main square + Greek phobos – fear VLEe) is called fear of squares 179. The second element of the term is based on the mythonym Phobos (see p. 6 for more).
In the textbook, the term echolalija (Greek ēkhō – echo + lalia – to speak, talk OED) is explained as a disorder of the conduction of nerve pathways in which, instead of answering a question, the patient repeats all the words of the question or only its last word 188. The first element of the term is associated with the mythonym Echo. In Greek mythology, Echo (Greek Ekhō) was a nymph punished by Hera for incessant chattering and transformed into an echo (TGM). The term echopraksija, “the mechanical repetition of movements made by people nearby” 188, is also associated with the same mythonym (Greek ēkhō – echo + Greek praxis – action OED).
Hebefrenija25 219 is used in the textbook only in the classification of mental illnesses presented by the German psychiatrist Emil’io Wilhelm’o Georg’o Magnus’o Kraepelin’o (1856–1926). The first element of the compound derives from the name of Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth in Greek mythology. It is said that the term was coined in 1871 by the German psychiatrist Ewald’o Escker’io from the Greek hēbē “youth” + phrene “mind,” with the addition of the abstract noun ending –ia (OED; VLEe).
In the textbook, the term hipnolepsija (Greek hypnos – sleep + Greek lepsis – seizure, attack TPTŽ 1996 36) is explained as a special form of sleep
24 Apie terminą yra rašiusi T. Tritenko 2011: 17.
25 Apie terminą yra rašiusi T. Tritenko 2011: 16.
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form: sudden attacks of sleep that sometimes recur several times a day 201. The first element of this term is associated with the mythonym Hypnos (see p. 6 for more).
Among the mythonymic terms discussed, the term letargija 201 (Greek lēthargia < lēthē – forgetfulness + argia – inactivity EPTŽ 2017 163) stands apart. Its first element can be interpreted in two ways: it may be associated both with an anthroponym and with a toponym. In Greek mythology, Lethe was the name of a river that flowed in the underworld kingdom of Hades, as well as the plain through which that river flowed. This name also belonged to the goddess of the river—the personification of forgetfulness (TGM; EB).
Terms formed by partial appellativization. This type of appellativization is characteristic of multiword terms (see Fig. 1). The mythonym usually serves as a secondary (so-called onymic) element of the term, while the common noun is the main (so-called appellative) element. V. Skujiņa calls the proper noun (in our case, the mythonym) a denotative component, since it denotes the essential features of the concept named by the term (Skujiņa 2002: 100). The first element specifies the meaning of the second. Such terms retain onymic motivation, unlike some simplex terms whose onymic origin fades over time (Tatarinov 2006: 235).
The term Edipo kompleksas26, formed in this way, is explained in the textbook as a psychic conflict caused by incestuous desire: “[b]etween a father and his growing daughters, and between a mother and her sons, relationships often develop that are clearly imbued with particularly tender feelings which, although they do not coincide with sexual feelings, nevertheless cannot be strictly separated from them. When a son marries, sharp, though concealed, negative attitudes of the mother toward the daughter-in-law often arise; when a daughter marries, those of the father toward the son-in-law. Such relationships have the character of genuine jealousy” 146. The first element of the term is the name of Oedipus (Greek Oidipus), a figure in ancient Greek myths who killed his father and married his mother (see VLEe; AŽ 1998 361 for more). S. Freud is credited with coining the term27.
26 Apie terminą yra rašęs E. J. Kurcharžas 2017: 35.
27 After his father's death, S. Freud experienced trauma that enabled him to delve into his own psyche. S. Freud experienced not only grief, but also resentment and even hostility toward his father. He sought the roots of his anger in his own psyche, and support for his own insights in literary and mythical texts. S. Freud interpreted the source of his anger through Sophocles’ tragedy Oidipas karalius. In S. Freud’s view, the universality of its plot lies in every male child’s desire to sleep with his mother and remove the obstacle (i.e., the father) preventing that desire from being fulfilled. S. Freud later called this desire the Oedipus complex (EB).
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CONCLUSIONS
The first Lithuanian textbook published in interwar Lithuania by the distinguished Lithuanian psychiatrist J. Blažys, Introduction to Psychiatry, contains few terms derived from mythonyms. All are terms originating in classical languages, borrowed ready-made from Greek and Latin through intermediary languages and adapted phonetically and morphologically to the grammatical system of Lithuanian. In writing his textbook, J. Blažys drew on his colleagues’ published works in psychiatry, from which he was to have adopted these terms. The Greek- and Latin-origin mythonyms discussed here, which form part of psychiatric terminology, should be regarded as archaic universals, understood unambiguously in all languages. This means that psychiatric terms formed from them are borrowed by languages from one another, and these terms constitute an important part of international eponymic psychiatric terminology.
In structural terms, the textbook contains predominantly morphological derivatives, while semantic derivatives are rare. Terms derived from mythonyms by means of complete and partial appellativization can be distinguished.
Three types of complete appellatives predominate—direct, affixal, and compound. The most characteristic psychiatric terms derived from mythonyms are those formed through compounding. Their abundance can be explained by the capacity of compounds to designate more complex concepts more compactly.
One characteristic structural feature of compound appellatives is that both their components are based on mythonyms. Some of these, for example, Mania, have become recurring elements involved in the compounding of more than one psychiatric term. As for the position of a mythonym as a component of a compound, it may be in preposition (the first component) or postposition (the second component). More often, the mythonym is the postpositive component of the compound.
Among affixal appellatives, suffixal appellatives with the productive suffix -izmas predominate; prefixal ones are uncommon. There are also affixal appellatives with a more complex structure—derivatives formed with a prefix and suffix, or with an international element and a suffix.
Most mythonyms are used to form psychiatric terms denoting various mental disorders in humans, with the exception of a few mythonyms that underlie terms referring to external defects.
PRIMARY SOURCE
[Blažys, Juozas]. Introduction to Psychiatry / Docent J. Blažys, Kauna: Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Medicine publication, 1935.
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MYTHONYMIC TERMS IN LITHUANIA’S FIRST PSICHIATRY TEXTBOOK FROM THE INTER-WAR ERA
Summary
The article structurally dissects the psychiatry terms originating from mythonyms (the names of mythological creatures) that appear in the 1935 Įvadas į psichiatriją (Introduction to Psychiatry) by Juozas Blažys, the famous Lithuanian psychiatrist – the first
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psychiatry textbook to be published in Lithuania in the period between the two world wars, looking into the methods of appellativisation that were used to form said terms, as well as scrutinising the characteristics of their structure, the types of the underlying mythonyms and their connection with the scientific term that they were chosen to designate.
The terms in the textbook are words originating from the classical languages or readily borrowed from the Greek and the Latin languages or through intermediary languages, with appropriate morphological adaptations made for the grammar system of the Lithuanian language. The mythonyms of Greek and Latin origin that form part of psychiatry terms and are covered in the article are to be considered archaic universalities with unequivocal meaning across all languages. As a result, the psychiatry terms made with them travel from one language to the next, constituting an important part of the international eponymic terminology of psychiatry.
Structurally, the textbook is dominated by morphological derivatives, while semantic derivatives are scarce. Some mythonymic terms (such as morfinizmas (morphinism)) were found to have been composed through absolute appellativation, while others (such as Edipo kompleksas (Oedipus Complex) – through partial appellativisation.
The three predominant types of absolute appellatives are direct (such as manija (mania)), affixal (such as fobija (phobia), lunatizmas (sleepwalking)), and composite (such as dipsomanija (dipsomania), agorafobija (agoraphobia)) appellatives. The most typical mythonymic psychiatry terms are those made by way of composite appellativisation, and the most probable reason behind their prevalence might be the ability of composites to designate more complex terms more compactly.
One intrinsic quality of composite appellatives is that they have both components grounded on mythonyms. Some of them, such as manija, have become iterative elements in the composite formation of multiple psychiatry terms. As often as not, the mythonym is the post-positional component of the composite.
Among affixal appellatives, suffixal appellatives with the productive suffix -izmas (such as morfinizmas) prevail, while prefixal appellatives are uncommon. Some affixal appellatives have a more complex structure: these are derivatives made with a prefix and a suffix, an international element and a suffix.
Most of the psychiatry terms coined with mythonyms designate various mental disorders in human beings.
Gauta 2024-04-30
Palmira Zemlevičiūtė Lietuvių kalbos institutas P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius E. paštas [email protected]
