Bendrieji žmogaus lytinių organų pavadinimai XIX a. pab. – XX a. pr. lietuvių gydytojų populiarinamuosiuose medicinos raštuose

doi.org/10.35321/term26-12 General names for human genitalia in popularized medical writings by Lithuanian doctors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries PALMIRA ZEMLEVIČIŪTĖ Institute of the Lithuanian Language ABSTRACT The article examines the general names for human genitalia used in popularized medical writings (books, booklets, and articles) by Lithuanian doctors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It identifies the meanings of these names based on their context of use and, where necessary, other sources (the Academic Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language and anatomy literature); determines their sources (colloquial language, written language, and foreign languages); and discusses the relationship between endogenous and exogenous terms, the creation of new terms, problematic meanings of certain terms, terminologization, euphemization, and connotation. KEYWORDS: term, name, taboo, euphemism, medicine, health, genital organ, colloquial language, written language, meaning, origin. ABSTRACT The article analyses common names of human genitals used by Lithuanian medical doctors in the popularized medical writings (books, booklets and articles) of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The meanings of these names are identified based on the context of their use and other sources (the Academic Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, anatomy literature), and the etymological sources are determined (colloquial, written and foreign languages). Questions of the relationship between endogenous and exogenous terms, creation of new terms, problematic meanings of some terms, connotations, terminologization, and euphemization are discussed. KEYWORDS: term, name, taboo, euphemism, medicine, health, genitals, colloquial language, written language, meaning, origin. 244 Palmira Zemlevičiūtė Bendrieji žmogaus lytinių organų pavadinimai XIX a. pab.–XX a. pr. lietuvių gydytojų populiarinamuosiuose medicinos raštuose For many centuries, a deep silence covered everything related to sex Pranašas, PV 1919 7 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS The late 19th and early 20th centuries were a period of rapid growth in popular medical publishing. Prominent Lithuanian public figures and physicians of the time wrote extensively on diseases and their treatment and prevention, hygiene, sanitation, and other topics: Petras Avižonis (1875–1939), Juozas Bagdonas (1866–1950), Jonas Basanavičius (1851–1927), Eliziejus Draugelis (1888–1899), Kazys Grinius (1866–1950), Vincas Kudirka (1858–1859), Stasys Matulaitis (1866–1956), Antanas Vileišis (1856–1919), and others. Medical books of various lengths, both original works and translations, were printed, while the periodical press filled with articles on the many pressing health issues of the day. The range of topics was very broad: writers addressed infectious, surgical and traumatic, digestive, skin, nervous, ear, nose and throat, respiratory, eye, gynaecological and obstetric, mental, cardiovascular, dental and oral, and other human diseases; their causes, symptoms, treatment and prevention; patient care; folk medicine and home remedies; infant rearing and care; obstetrics; gynaecology; anatomy; physiology; homeopathy; and more. Articles on infectious diseases and hygiene and sanitation were especially numerous, since these were among the country’s greatest and most urgent health problems at the time. The harm caused by alcohol and tobacco to human health was also a fairly pressing issue. Other topics were discussed somewhat less frequently. Matters of sexuality were among the relatively rare topics addressed at the time. Pranas Matulaitis (1876–1951), a Lithuanian public figure in the United States, book smuggler, and physician, wrote in his booklet Lytiškos Ligos ir Kaip nuo jų apsisaugoti, published in Boston in 1910: “Sexual matters are not easy to discuss in print. For many years these issues have been kept under a veil of ignorance: parents do not talk about them with their children, teachers with their pupils, and young people learn about them only from filthy sources—from older debauchees and from their own depraved friends. Such an attitude in society toward an important issue is very harmful to the community”1 (LytL 1910: 3). A decade later, in physician Antanas Karalius’s book Lyties mokslas (1921), we read again that “matters of sex were, and still are, a kind of wilderness one is afraid to enter, which most people still fear even from afar 1 The language of the sources quoted in the article is reproduced authentically and without correction. Terminologija | 2019 | 26 245 to approach. Sex has always been veiled in all sorts of ways; even today we must lift that veil with considerable care, because people are still afraid to speak openly about matters of sex” (LM 1921: 1). Thus, sex and related medical and health matters long remained a kind of unwritten taboo2. Genital organs, related physiological processes, and sexually transmitted diseases were often referred to indirectly, using substitute words. For example, the genital organs were called parts of shame; the uterus, the little mother, a lump; menstruation, the red disease, flowers, laundry; syphilis, the bad, evil, nasty, poor disease; and gonorrhoea, an icicle, and so on—in other words, they were euphemized3 (for more on euphemisms for female and male genital organs, see Smetona 2015: 122–131; for euphemisms for sexual ailments and diseases, see Smetona 2015: 131–137), and stigmatized (for more on linguistic stigmas, see Солодилова, Соколова 2017: 75–77). It should be noted that even physicians themselves avoided writing about these matters. A survey of popular medical publications from the period in question revealed that the reproductive system was not discussed at all, although booklets on related topics dealt with all the other human organs and systems. For instance, Stasys Matulaitis’s booklet Kaip sutaisytas žmogaus kūnas (1901) contains the following chapters: Bones, Muscles, Brain and nerves, Sense apparatus or organs, Apparatus for grinding food, About blood and how it flows through the body, About the lungs and breathing, How our body pro- 2 A prohibition or avoidance, arising for moral, religious, or other (non-linguistic) reasons, against calling certain concepts (taboo concepts) by their proper names. These names are usually replaced by other words—euphemisms (KWT 1975: 266–267; LST 1988: 242; KTŽ 1990: 203; cf. also СЛТ 2005: 467; see further KPP 2003: 700–701). 3 A euphemism is an indirect, more neutral or milder word used to name an object or phenomenon while avoiding direct reference to something regarded as unpleasant, ugly, crude, harsh, obscene, and so forth (Pikčilingis 1975: 21; KWT 1975: 79; LST 1988: 68; KTŽ 1990: 61; CODL 1997: 119; LKE 1999: 188; EDEL 1999: 201; СЛТ 2005: 521; ДУ 2007: 530; Jakaitienė 2009: 162; for more on euphemisms, see KPP 2003: 757–758; DE 2003: viii–xi; Jasiūnaitė 2005; Маджаева 2010: 55–61; Никитина 2015: 101–107; Пастухова 2017: 141–144). Direct names for negatively evaluated objects and phenomena are avoided; they become prohibited and are therefore replaced by more acceptable ones under the influence of psychological, social, religious, moral, and other factors. A euphemism—a new name—seems to neutralize the actual name of an object or phenomenon that evokes a negative emotion (Никитина 2015: 102–103). Euphemisms are characterized by semantic vagueness, which softens the negative evaluation of the matter being named (Солодилова, Соколова 2017: 74). Euphemisms perform the function of what is known as a protective mechanism. In one case, this is a psychological protective mechanism that softens a negative reaction (perception) through words with broader semantics. In another, it is an associative protective mechanism that allows attention to be diverted from an undesirable matter. Although not all euphemisms can be considered terms, within the boundaries of a particular terminological system, as part of its periphery, they also have a place in that system. Once incorporated into a terminological system, a euphemism loses its “euphemistic” character and becomes the direct name of an unpleasant object or phenomenon (Маджаева 2010: 57, 60). 246 Palmira Zemlevičiūtė │ Bendrieji žmogaus lytinių organų pavadinimai XIX a. pab.–XX a. pr. lietuvių gydytojų populiarinamuosiuose medicinos raštuose removes what is unnecessary for him, Uoda. Thus, as can be seen from the section headings, almost all the vital human organ systems are discussed—the skeletal, muscular, nervous, digestive, cardiovascular, respiratory, urinary, sensory, and integumentary systems—yet the reproductive system is passed over; it is left unmentioned. True, the names of female reproductive organs occur somewhat more often in these publications. This could not be avoided when writing about women’s physiology, diseases, pregnancy, and childbirth. The physician A. Vileišis was most active in this area; he translated the booklet Advice for Women Who Wish to Be Healthy (1899), which, I believe, was in demand at the time, since a second edition appeared in 1906. One or another name for reproductive organs slips into notices about various other diseases. The subject was touched upon to some extent by physicians who wrote articles or booklets exclusively about sexually transmitted diseases. In writing about them, they naturally could not do without names for reproductive organs; however, it must be said that they were adept at avoiding these names in various ways, that is, hardly mentioning them or at least not specifying them. For example, in his booklet About the Bad Disease or Syphilis (the French disease) (1904), A. Vileišis most often uses the general names parts of shame (most often) and places of shame. In J. Bagdonas’s booklet What One Should Know About Venereal Diseases (1921), only the name sexual parts is mentioned. K. Grinius was the physician who broke this taboo, writing for a popular audience not only about sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea, but also about what he himself called one of the “disgusting habits”—onanism, or masturbation—which apparently was then a fairly common cause for concern among people. His article on inducing artificial sexual arousal or gratification by manually stimulating the genitals uses more names for male and female reproductive organs than the booklets by the physicians mentioned above. Among the questions about various health matters published in the newspaper Sveikata, edited by this physician, there were also quite a few inquiries about sexual matters. Thus, it can be said that the newspaper’s readers also helped dictate the topics, at least to some extent. As already noted, sexual matters in the popular medical press of that era were avoided or left unmentioned in one way or another, and so there are few terms from this field. At least some have been gleaned from booklets or articles about sexually transmitted diseases. Original booklets on these diseases were published by the physicians Antanas Karalius (The Man. What Every Man Should Know About His Sexual Affairs, 1918) and Agnietė Ambraziejūtė-Steponaitienė (Sexual Diseases, 1919). Several booklets were translations. In 1912 Oker-Blom’s What Uncle Doctor Told His Young Relative (A Primer on Sexual Matters) was published (the translator is not indicated— Terminologija | 2019 | 26 247 1 pav. Knygelės Lytiškos ligos ir kaip nuo jų apsisaugoti (1910) viršelis —). In 1919 appeared Pranašas’s4 translation of Advice to Men on Sexual Matters / With Instructions on How to Explain the Manifestations of Sex to Children. In 1901, J. Laukys’s translation of Ida C. Craddock’s True Married Life was published. P. Avižonis criticized this booklet. In 1904 A. Vileišis’s work About the Bad Disease (Syphilis) or the French Disease appeared; in 1915, Pr. Matulaitis’s Sexual Diseases and How to Protect Oneself from Them (see Fig. 1); and in 1920, J. Bagdonas’s What One Should Know About Venereal Diseases (see Fig. 2). In 1910–1911, K. Grinius published the articles “On Onanism,” “Syphilis and ‘606’,” and “Gonorrhea.” Names for female reproductive organs were found in A. Vileišis’s booklet Advice for Women Who Wish to Be Healthy. 4 This pseudonym was used by the Lithuanian physician and popularizer of medical science Antanas Karalius (1890–1932), who left for the United States in 1909. He wrote mostly on medical and hygienic matters, and also wrote and translated medical books (for further details, see LE X: 512). 2 4 8 Palmira Zemlevičiūtė Bendrieji žmogaus lytinių organų pavadinimai XIX a. pab.–XX a. pr. lietuvių gydytojų populiarinamuosiuose medicinos raštuose 2 pav. Knygelės Kas reikia žinoti apie lyties ligas (1921) viršelis A. Karalius’s nearly 400-page book The Science of Sex, published in Chicago in 1921, deserves separate mention. The author himself said of it: “To appear before Lithuanians with such a book, of course, required a great deal of courage” (p. ix). And he anticipated the cost of that courage: “And I know that I will receive no praise: I do not expect any. <...>” (p. ix). “I wrote this book because it is time for Lithuanians, too, to take an interest in sexual matters, which the whole world has been interested in for a long time. I tried to write in such a way that those for whom I intend this book would understand it—ordinary people, who constantly ask me for advice on sexual matters by letter and in person” (p. x). The subject of this article is the general names for male and female reproductive organs used in Lithuanian physicians’ popular medical writings (books, booklets, and articles) from the late 19th to the early 20th century. The article— Terminologija | 2019 | 26 249 —aims to determine the meanings of these names and identify their sources of origin. To achieve this aim, the following tasks are set: based on the contexts in which the names under consideration are used and, where necessary, other sources (the Academic Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language and anatomy literature), to determine which general male and female reproductive organs these names designate; to identify terms derived from colloquial language that have become terminologized, as well as possible newly coined terms; and to consider the relationship between terms of native and foreign origin, the problematic medical meanings of certain terms, euphemization, and connotation. The names for reproductive organs are examined using descriptive-analytical and comparative methods. The names are presented in context—in sentences and comparative tables. The latter clearly show all the names discussed and their chronological development. In addition to names from the period under study, the tables give the Latin and current names for reproductive organs. For illustrative purposes, figures are also provided: covers of some books (or booklets), and pages from those books (or booklets) or articles containing the terms under study. GENERAL NAMES OF THE MALE AND FEMALE GENITAL ORGANS All systems of the human body, essentially those of both men and women, although they have minor or more pronounced sex differences, are alike except for the reproductive system. The reproductive systems of men and women are entirely different (ŽA 2005: 205). It is appropriate to examine these systems—or, more precisely, their names—separately. For now, only the general names for these systems are considered, although, truth be told, there are not many of them. The key issues of interest here are the meanings and origins of these names. Thus, names of purely Lithuanian and non-Lithuanian (foreign) origin are distinguished. The former are further divided according to the kinds of sources—spoken or written—in which those words are attested with the medical meanings used by doctors. Lithuanian-origin names They are of two kinds, depending on the source from which the names originate. Names from spoken and written language are distinguished. A further, provisional group—compound names—is associated with these. The components of these names have different sources: one may be taken from spoken language, the other from written language. 250 Palmira Zemlevičiūtė Bendrieji žmogaus lytinių organų pavadinimai XIX a. pab.–XX a. pr. lietuvių gydytojų populia­r inamuosiuose medicinos raštuose Fig. 3. The term gėdos dalys in A. Vileišis’s booklet Apie blogąją ligą arba sifilį (prancus) (1904) NAMES FROM SPOKEN LANGUAGE Doctors used these most frequently. This was, of course, determined by the intended audience of the publications: ordinary people with no medical education. Doctors sought to present medical knowledge in a popular and clear manner; in other words, they had to use as many words as possible that their readers would know and understand. In their texts, doctors referred to the human genital organs (Latin organa genitalia) in several ways, usually with two-word compound names. Gėdos dalys (see Table 1) is attested in A. Vileišis’s 1904 booklet on syphilis: “If anyone should dare to have intercourse with a woman entirely unknown to him, he must, in every case before intercourse, carefully examine his gėdos dalis to see whether there are any cracks or sores anywhere on it; if there are, it is better not to have intercourse at all. After intercourse, the gėdos dalis must without fail be washed thoroughly” BL 1904 21; “And in this way, when having intercourse with them, pus containing poison from sores, which, when the bad disease occurs, is often found on the gėdos dalys, gets onto the man’s gėdos dalys, and he too becomes infected with the bad disease if there are cracks or sores on these parts of his” BL 1904 9 (see Fig. 3). Incidentally, this name was found only in his work, although St. Matulaitis had also used the simplex gėdos in the sense of ‘female external genital organs’ in 1913, in an article entitled “Lithuanian Terminology of Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, and Chemistry,” published in Medicinoje ir gamtoje. In spoken language (Karklėnai, Salamiestis, Grūžiai), this word is known in the sense of ‘external genital organs’. Doctors terminologized the dialect word in question. The word gėda is an obvious instance of euphemization. This word replaces the actual name of the organs, since people of that period regarded the concept denoted by the latter as vulgar, shameful, indecent, and so on. As Evalda Jakaitienė observes, in many languages the names of certain organs and physiological processes are considered vulgarisms (Jakaitienė 2009: 161). Here too, the substitute for the genital organs is the word gėda5, but, on the other hand, it is milder, “not offensive to a decent ear” (Jakaitienė 2009: 161). 5 Plačiau apie žodžių emocinį reikšmės komponentą žr. Gudavičius 2007: 83–89. Terminologija | 2019 | 26 251 Fig. 4. The term sexual organs in J. Bagdonas’s article “French disease or the evil disease (in Latin – syphilis)” J. Bagdonas and A. Karalius referred to the sexual organs using the term sexual parts (see Table 1), while A. Ambraziejūtė-Steponaitienė used sexual parts (see Table 1): “General strengthening of the muscular system, cold baths, washing the sexual parts with cold, strengthening medicinal washes, and wearing a properly fitted pouch to support the scrotum (suspensory)—that is all that needs to be done” PV 1919 176; “To protect one’s health, the sexual parts must be kept clean” LytLig 1921 4; “Gonorrhea appears a few days after infection and manifests itself in the discharge of pus from men’s urinary tracts and women’s sexual parts, often accompanied by pain, burning, and itching, and sometimes without them” LytLig 1921 3; After infection, the disease begins at the spot where the syphilitic seed penetrated beneath the skin. If this happened on the sexual parts, then it begins with the sexual parts LL 1919 7. The specific modifier sexual was also most often used by other doctors. In the sense of ‘organ’, K. Grinius’s publications record the variant terms įtaisai, intaisai, intaisos, įtaisos, while A. Vileišis uses įtaisai. Doctors specialized the meaning of įtaisas, ‘something that is installed’, adapting it to anatomical usage. These variant generic modifiers most often occur with the specific modifier sex: sexual intaisai, sexual įtaisai (see Fig. 4), sexual intaisos, sexual įtaisos (see Table 1): “Clearly, the joining of a man with a woman is for the purpose of multiplying the human race. That is what sexual intaisai are for” Svk 1910 12 2; “A human being, and some animals too, often try to outwit nature, wanting to make the sexual įtaisai merely a source of pleasure, and are punished for it” Svk 1910 12 2; “They, so to speak, frighten themselves by fumbling with their sexual intaisai with their hands or with various other objects” Svk 1910 12 2; “Do not touch the sexual intaisai unnecessarily; sew up the trouser pockets” Svk 1910 12 5; “Be clean in every way, everywhere. Wash the sexual įtaisai at least with soap and water as often as possible, so that no dirt remains on them” Svk 1911 1 6. 2 5 2 Palmira Zemlevičiūtė Bendrieji žmogaus lytinių organų pavadinimai XIX a. pab.–XX a. pr. lietuvių gydytojų popularinamuosiuose medicinos raštuose Table 1. Equivalents of organa genitalia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and today LATIN TERM LATE 19TH–EARLY 20TH-CENTURY TERMS CURRENT TERMS organa genitalia sexual apparatus6 1892, 1899, 1910, 1911, 1913 sexual organs 1895, 1912, 1919, 1921 parts of shame 1904 genital organs 1908, 1919 sexual apparatuses 1910, 1913 sexual appliances 1910, 1911, 1912, 1921 sexual organs 1915, 1919 sexual parts 1919 parts of sex 1919, 1921 reproductive organs 1919 sexual appliances 1921 sexual organs As the data in Table 1 show, the name for genital organs varied considerably during the period under study—no fewer than eleven variant and synonymous names were used. As many as three names were used to mean “organ”: organ, part and apparatus, with the latter having the variants įtaisas, –a, intaisas, –a. It is noteworthy that physicians more often chose Lithuanian equivalents for organ. Not only the head element but also the modifying element varied. Alongside the element sexual, still in use today, there were also elements such as of sex, sexual, shame, reproductive. Physicians most often used the genitive form of sex, while the euphemism of shame, the adjective –iškas with the suffix meaning “-like,” sexual, was used by only two physicians, and reproductive was found in only one source. A. Vileišis appears to have been the first to use the current name genital organs, as early as 1908. The male and female sexual organs located in the perineal region differ, but the name perineum (Latin perineum) is common to both. Lithuanian names for the perineum occurred more often in announcements on the subject of childbirth. The following names for this body part, known in everyday speech in the senses “fork, crotch, groin,” are worth noting: tarpkojis, tarprietis and the variant terprietis (see Table 2): 6 Terms in the tables are arranged chronologically, that is, from the earliest attested use. Terminologija | 2019 | 26 253 Fig. 5. The term terprietis in A. Vileišis’s booklet Advice for Women Who Wish to Be Healthy “The abscess may break through into the urinary canal, or into the rectum, or into the p e r i n e u m” PV 1919 165; “And the pus in a patient, as I said, first appears on the sore, then when it spreads, it may also appear on the body, in the mouth, in the p e r i n e u m, and in other7 places” U 1892 6–7 235; “At the end of childbirth one must hold the p e r i n e u m firmly, between the front and back openings, since the p e r i n e u m often tears, especially in women giving birth for the first time” PM 1899 21 (see Fig. 5). In the illustrative sentences presented, these terms are used to mean ‘the part of the body at the perineum’. This meaning is not recorded in LKŽe. In the same source, in addition to the aforementioned term tarpkojis, kojų tarpas was also found, although, on the other hand, its status as a term could be questioned: “<...>, a patient troubled by excessively frequent nocturnal emissions may experience headaches, pain in the back of the head, weakness in the neck muscles and back, and discomfort b e t w e e n t h e l e g s beneath the genitals” PV 1919 56. Table 2. Late 19th–early 20th-century and contemporary equivalents of perineum LATIN TERM | LATE 19TH–EARLY 20TH-CENTURY TERMS | CONTEMPORARY TERMS | perineum | tarprietis 1892; terpoksznis 1893; terprietis 1899 | tarpoksnis 1912; tarpkojis 1913, 1919; kojų tarpas⁸ 1919 | tarpvietė From this sentence, it is difficult to tell what is actually meant by kojų tarpu—the space between the legs or the part of the body at that location. Among the names attributed to colloquial language is lyties gėlė, a term used by A. Karalius in the sense of glandula genitalis. Both components of this term 7 Italicized in the original. 8 There are doubts about whether this phrase is terminological. 254 Palmira Zemlevičiūtė | Bendrieji žmogaus lytinių organų pavadinimai XIX a. pab.–XX a. pr. lietuvių gydytojų popul iarinamuosiuose medicinos raštuose Fig. 6. The term lyties gilės in the book Patarimai vyrams apie lyties dalykus are words from colloquial language; however, the medical meaning of the generic component is not recorded in that language, which means that this meaning must have been assigned by the doctor who used the word in question in his text: “The removal of the m a l e g l a n d s (testicles) from a man or a woman is called castration or emasculation” PV 1919 30 (see Table 3, Fig. 6). Table 3. Late 19th–early 20th-century and current equivalents of glandula genitalis LATIN TERM | LATE 19TH–EARLY 20TH-CENTURY TERMS | CURRENT TERMS | glandula genitalis | lytiška gilė 1915; lyties gilė 1919; kiaušinėliai 1919 | lytinė liauka Reading the illustrative sentence raises the question of what is given in parentheses alongside the term lyties gilės. In popularized medical writings, synonyms are usually given in parentheses, and explanations less often. This case of presenting terms could be interpreted in two ways. On the one hand, these terms may be synonymous, since the sentence makes it clear that both women and men have kiaušinėliai, although, according to the data in LKŽe, kiaušinėliu denotes only a female reproductive cell. On the other hand, relying on the aforementioned dictionary, one could discern hyponymic and hyperonymic relations between the terms in question, that is, relations between words denoting generic and specific concepts (KTŽ 1990: 79; Jakaitienė 2009: 113–114): kiaušinėliai (hyponym, a word with a narrower meaning): lyties gilės (hyperonym, a word with a broader meaning). Nevertheless, this hypothesis is ruled out precisely by the broader context of the term kiaušinėliai. Thus, from what has been said, it can be concluded that in this case the terms lyties gilės and kiaušinėliai are contextual synonyms (for a broader discussion of such synonyms, see Mitkevičienė 2015: 51–56). Terminologija | 2019 | 26 255 Fig. 7. The term terpoksznis in the booklet Kaip atsiginti nū Koleros ir kiti Naudingi skaitymai WRITTEN-LANGUAGE DESIGNATIONS9 Words taken from written-language sources and used as terms are almost unknown in the microsystem of general names for sexual organs. The physician A. Sketeris used two variant terms, tarpokšnis and terpokšnis (see Table 2), in the sense of “perineum.” These words are not recorded with a medical meaning in LKŽe, so it is possible that this meaning was assigned to them by the author of the publication himself: “At the end of childbirth, one must strongly s t r a i n t h e p e r i n e u m, between the opening of the birth canal and the opening of the rectum, for otherwise this perineum often tears, especially in first-time mothers” AK 1893 26 (see Fig. 7); “Even the easiest childbirth does not pass without injury to the birth canal, and sometimes the opening is badly injured and the p e r i n e u m between the opening and the end of the rectum is torn” Psnt 1912 6 185. Popularized medical publications of the period under study said little about the perineum (pelvic floor); this body part, associated with the sexual organs, was called by doctors using four terms (excluding variants). In some texts, for example those on childbirth, the meaning “perineum” of the terms terprietis, tarpoksznis, terpoksznis is quite clear, whereas for the other terms mentioned here, the distinction between their meanings “area between the legs” and “body part at the crotch” is rather vague. NAMES FROM SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE10 It is understandable that, when writing on scientific anatomical subjects, doctors might not have found suitable words or meanings for them in spoken language, since such words simply could not have existed there. They therefore had to coin terms 9 In this article, the term is used for names that, according to the data in LKŽe, are not attested in spoken language; their sources of attestation are identified solely as written texts. 10 As already noted, these are compound names in which one element (or its medical meaning) comes from spoken language, while the other element (or its medical meaning) derives from written-language sources. 256 Palmira Zemlevičiūtė | Bendrieji žmogaus lytinių organų pavadinimai XIX a. pab.–XX a. pr. lietuvių gydytojų populiarinamuosiuose medicinos raštuose by combining words from languages of different origins—spoken and written. Among such names is K. Grinius’s breeding cell (see Table 4). K. Grinius used narvelis in the sense of ‘cell’, a meaning not attested in spoken language, whereas the element veislinis is known from spoken language. LKŽe gives this meaning as botanical, not medical; K. Grinius thus re-terminologized it: “Only the b r e e d i n g c e l l s of the one and the other sex, united into one, give rise to an embryo or fetus” Svk 1910 12 1. Table 4. Late 19th- to early 20th-century and current equivalents of gamete LATIN TERM TERMS FROM THE LATE 19TH–EARLY 20TH CENTURIES CURRENT TERMS gamete breeding cell 1910 gamete11 (mature sex cell) The Lithuanian equivalent lytiška gilė of the Latin glandula genitalis belongs to the group of names under investigation; it was used by Pr. Matulaitis. The main element of this term, gilė, is a word from spoken language, although it is not attested there in a medical sense, while the modifying element is a word from written language. Pr. Matulaitis wrote a booklet about venereal diseases, and thus had to devise missing terms as well. The element gilė in the term means ‘gland’ (Latin glandula), while lytiška gilė means ‘a gland of the reproductive system, a sex gland’ (see Table 3): “The secretions of the sexual g l a n d s are of considerable importance in the life of the organism. When they are depleted through excessive use of self-abuse, the other glands also suffer” LytL 1915 17. In summary, it can be said that the compound names for genital organs discussed here, whose elements (or their medical meanings) derive from different sources, occur rarely in the texts examined. Even the term veislinis narvelis discussed above is included among these names only provisionally, since both its elements are known in spoken language, although the medical meaning of narvelis is not attested there. The structure of the term lytiška gilė is somewhat clearer, since its modifying element is unattested in spoken language. Formally speaking, the group of terms discussed is a provisional category. In principle, both terms in question were most likely coined by the doctors themselves (K. Grinius and Pr. Matulaitis). 11 Male gametes are called spermatozoa, while female gametes are called ova (ŽA 2005: 205). Terminologija | 2019 | 26 257 Fig. 8. The term sexual organs in V. Kudirka’s article “Alcohol and Alcoholism” Names of non-Lithuanian origin It seems that nowadays no popular-science publication could do without borrowed terms. Lithuanian doctors of the period under discussion did not avoid them either, though it should be emphasized that loanwords are rare in their publications. Among the general names for sexual organs, two terms of Greek origin should be mentioned: organ, which serves as the head element in compound two-word terms sexual organs (K. Grinius, V. Kudirka) (see Fig. 8), sexual organs (A. Vileišis), sexual organs (Pr. Matulaitis, Pranašas), and reproductive organs (Pranašas) (see Table 1), as well as system, which serves as an element in the compound two-word term reproductive system (Pranašas), and the term of Latin origin apparatus, the head element of the compound term sexual apparatus (A. Karalius): “The sexual organs of alcoholics, both men and women, undergo various changes and become weakened” Vrp 1895 9–10 157; “A child should fear the habit of keeping hands in the pockets as much as fire, so as not to touch the sexual organs” PD 1912 15; “This should be done because the germs of erysipelas can easily be transferred to some small wound on the sexual organs of a woman who has just given birth, or to the still-unhealed navel wound of a newborn infant—and may cause general blood poisoning” NG 1908 25; Soft chancre, like other venereal diseases, usually first appears on the sexual organs LL 1919 21; “Filthy stories corrupt a person’s mind, irritate the sexual organs, and make him a nervous wreck, just like masturbation” LytL 1915 20; “Nothing harms the sexual organs as much as straining them prematurely” PV 1919 68; “Disorders of the reproductive system play an important role in sexual neurasthenia” PV 1919 75; “The male sexual organs, also called reproductive organs12, are divided into external and internal” PV 1919 19; 12 Italicized in the original. 258 Palmira Zemlevičiūtė | Bendrieji žmogaus lytinių organų pavadinimai XIX a. pab.–XX a. pr. lietuvių gydytojų populiarinamuosiuose medicinos raštuose “It seems that nature made an unforgivable mistake by placing such precious organs, which are absolutely necessary for the preservation of the race, in such an unprotected place. They ought to be placed in a well-protected place, just as the woman’s reproductive organs, the ovaries, are placed” PV 1919 20. It is worth drawing attention to the terms lytiška sistema and lyties aparatas, used by the same author (A. Karalius) in different texts from 1919 and 1921, and their relationship. From the illustrative sentence quoted, one may infer that the term lytiška sistema is used in the sense of “the system of reproductive organs.” But what about lyties aparatu? In the 1921 book Lyties mokslas, the terms vyro lyties aparatas, moters lyties aparatas serve as the titles of sections of the book. Can we claim that the author used aparatą as a synonym for sistemos? It seems to me that we can, if we rely on current encyclopedic data; compare aparatas—the totality of the organs serving a particular function in the human body (VLE 2001: 631). Yet, on the other hand, another interpretation also suggests itself: namely, that with the terms vyro lyties aparatas, moters lyties aparatas the author may have referred to the male reproductive organs and the female reproductive organs. From what has been said, it is clear that borrowed terms were not yet characteristic of the micro-system of general names for male and female reproductive organs during the period under study. Doctors tried to make do with the vocabulary of their own language, and they succeeded admirably. CONCLUSIONS 1. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Lithuanian doctors wrote extensively on various diseases and their treatment and prevention, hygiene, sanitation, and other pressing health issues of the time, in books, booklets, and periodicals. The reproductive system and its diseases were among the rare taboo topics that even doctors themselves avoided writing about. Only a few books, booklets, and articles on sexual diseases appeared, using names for the reproductive organs. In the medical press of the time, sex and all related matters were treated as though subject to an unwritten taboo; they were skirted, and reproductive organs, related physiological processes, and sexual diseases were often referred to indirectly (euphemized) and stigmatized. This gave rise to names with emotional and expressive connotations, as well as metaphors. In general, the reproductive system was not discussed in any detail at all, even though booklets addressed all other vital human organs and their systems. Questions of sex were in one way or another left unspoken in the popularized medical press of the time, and consequently there were few terms in this field. Terminologija | 2019 | 26 259 2. In seventeen sources of varying length examined (books, booklets, and articles), approximately two dozen names, mostly compounds (including variants), were found that doctors used for the general male and female reproductive organs. These names designated four anatomical concepts—organa genitalia, perineum, glandula genitalis, gameta. 3. Doctors writing on this subject faced a difficult task—first and foremost, finding and selecting terms. Naturally, they first turned to the living language in search of suitable words to name the concepts they wished to express. The living language was the principal source of Lithuanian general names for male and female reproductive organs. Doctors terminologized some of its words, for example, gėda (the term gėdos dalys, “reproductive organs”), įtaisas (the term lyties įtaisai, “reproductive organs”), įtaisa (the terms vyrų veislinės įtaisos, “male reproductive organs,” and moterų veislinės įtaisos, “female reproductive organs”), narvelis (the term veislinis narvelis, “gamete”). 4. Another important source for the names examined was the written language. Doctors drew a small amount of terminology from written sources, for example, gilė (the term lytiška gilė, “a gland of the reproductive system, a sex gland”). 5. Names of non-Lithuanian origin were almost entirely absent; only three borrowings were found: the Greek-derived sistema (the term lytiška sistema) and organas (the terms lyties organai, lytiniai organai, lytiški organai, veisimosi organai), as well as the Latin-derived aparatas (the term lyties aparatas); these serve as the main components of compound terms. It is worth noting that doctors also found native Lithuanian equivalents for the borrowing organas and used them far more often than that borrowing. This was undoubtedly influenced by the intended readership—readers with little medical knowledge. Thus, to ensure that readers understood the medical texts addressed to them, doctors likely sought to choose words familiar and intelligible to most. 6. When doctors could not find suitable words for naming the reproductive organs in the living or written language, nor in foreign languages, they coined terms themselves. It is difficult to determine the authorship of one or another term mentioned in this article, but among such newly coined terms one might mention, for example, gėdos dalis, used by A. Vileišis; veislinį narvelį, by K. Grinius; and lytišką gilę., by Pr. Matulaitis. 7. In my view, the writings of doctors from the late 19th and early 20th centuries examined here were perhaps the first popularized medical-science sources to lift the veil of secrecy, fear, and impropriety that had shrouded everything related to sex for many centuries. Through these writings, Lithuanian doctors educated ordinary readers about sexual matters. Names for the general male and female reproductive organs appeared in them. Of course, most of those names remained commemorat- 260 Palmira Zemlevičiūtė Bendrieji žmogaus lytinių organų pavadinimai XIX a. pab.–XX a. pr. lietuvių gydytojų populiarinamuosiuose medicinos raštuose in the pages of those writings, and this is part of the historical medical terminology; however, the term sexual organ took firm root and is still used in current anatomical nomenclature. ŠALTINIAI AK – [Vaistininkas (Daktaras)]. Apie kolerą. – Kaip atsiginti nū Koleros ir kiti Naudingi skaitymai, Tilžė, 1893, 14–27. BL – Apie blogią ligą arba syfilį (prancus). Pagal d-ro M. Čėlenovo veikalėlį sutaisė d-ras A. V., Tilžėje, 1904. LytL – [D-ras F. Matulaitis]. Lytiškos Ligos ir Kaip nuo jų apsisaugoti. Parašė D-ras F. Matulaitis. Antra, peržiūrėta ir pagerinta laida, So Boston, Mass, 1910. [D-ras F. Matulaitis]. Lytiškos Ligos ir Kaip nuo jų apsisaugoti. Parašė D-ras F. Matulaitis. Antra, peržiūrėta ir pagerinta laida, So Boston, Mass, 1915. LytLig – Kas reikia žinoti apie lyties ligas. Vertė iš vokiečių kalbos D-ras J. Bagdonas, Kaunas, 1920. LL – D-ras AS-nė. Lyties ligos, Kaunas, 1919. LM – Lyties mokslas. Parašė A. J. Karalius, M. D., Chicago, Ill.: West Side Press, 1921. NG – Naminis gydytojas: Trumpas aprašymas prasčiausių ligų ir prasčiausių vaistų kovoje su jomis. D. 1. Apie žmonių ligas ir jų gydymą. Sutaisė D-ras A. Vileišis, Seinai, 1908. PD – D-ras Oker-Blom. Ką pasakojo dėdė daktaras vaikui-giminaičiui. (Pradinės lyties klausimo srities žinios), Vilnius, 1912. PM – Antanas Vileišis. Patar mes moterims, kurios nori būti sveikos. Pagal Zielčaka parašė Dr. A. V., Tilžėje, 1899. Patar mes moterims, kurios nori būti sveikos. Pagal Zielčaka parašė dr. A. Vileišis. 2-oji laida, Vilnius, 1906. Psnt – [D-ras A. Sketeris]. Švarumas ir sveikata. – Pasiuntinys 6, 1912, 184–186. PV – Wm. J. Robinson, M. D. Patarimai vyrams apie lyties dalykus. Su pamokinimais, kaip aiškinti vaikams lyties apsireiškimus. Autoriui leidus vertė Pranašas, New York, 1919. Svk – [D-ras K. Grinius]. Apie onanizmą. – Sveikata 12, 1910, 1–6. [D-ras K. Grinius]. Sifilis ir „606“. – Sveikata 1, 1911, 1–8. Ū – [J. Slibinas]. Prancuzligė arba piktoji liga (lotynizskai – syphilis). – Ūkinikas 6 ir 7, 1892, 230–237. Vrp – [Hygienos tarnas]. Alkogolis ir alkogolizmas. – Varpas 9 ir 10, 1895, 155–157. LITERATŪRA CODL 1997: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. P. H. Matthews, Oxford, New York. DE 2003: A Dictionary of Euphemisms. How not to say what you mean. R. W. 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Доступ через интернет: https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=32274049. COMMON NAMES OF HUMAN GENITALS IN THE POPULAR MEDICAL WRITINGS BY LITHUANIAN MEDICAL DOCTORS OF THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURIES S u m m a r y The article analyses common names of male and female genitals used by Lithuanian medical doctors in the popular medical writings (books, booklets and articles) of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The meanings of these names are identified based on the context of their use and other sources (the Academic Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, anatomy literature), and the etymological sources are determined. In this period, Lithuanian medical doctors wrote a lot about various diseases, their treatment and prevention, hygiene, sanitation, and other delicate health issues of the time. However, the genital system and its diseases was one of few taboo topics that even doctors avoided writing to write about. Therefore, the terminology of this field is scarce. Only few publications about genital diseases used some names of genitals. Authors often named these organs and related physiological processes or genital diseases indirectly (euphemized them), and stigmatized them. 262 Palmira Zemlevičiūtė Bendrieji žmogaus lytinių organų pavadinimai XIX a. pab.–XX a. pr. lietuvių gydytojų populiarinamuosiuose medicinos raštuose In seventeen sources studied, around twenty mostly composite names (including their variations) were found that doctors used to name general male and female genitals. They named four anatomical concepts – organa genitalia, perineum, glandula genitalis, gameta. Doctors writing about this topic faced a challenge in searching and selecting the terms. The main source of the Lithuanian common names of male and female genitals was colloquial language. Doctors terminologized a part of the words of the colloquial language, e.g., gėda (term gėdos dalys “genitals”), įtaisas (term lyties įtaisai “genitals”), įtaisa (terms vyrų veislinės įtaisos, moterų veislinės įtaisos), narvelis (term veislinis narvelis “gamete (a mature reproductive cell)”). Another important source of those names was written language. Doctors adopted some terminology from written sources, e.g. gilė (term lytiška gilė “reproductive system gland, gonad”). The genital names of non-Lithuanian origin were rather uncommon. Only three loanwords – of Greek origin, sistema (term lytiška sistema) and organas (terms lyties organai, lytiniai organai, lytiški organai, veisimosi organai), and Latin origin, aparatas (term lyties aparatas) – were found that serve as main components of composite terms. It is noteworthy that doctors found Lithuanian substitutes for the loanword organas and used them more often than the latter. This was mainly due to the medical illiteracy of the readers of their texts. Authors, very likely, attempted to select words that the majority of readers would recognize and comprehend. If doctors could not find suitable words to name genitals in colloquial, written or foreign language, they created the terms themselves. Examples of such newly made terms are gėdos dalis “genitals” by Antanas Vileišis, veislinis narvelis “gamete” by Kazys Grinius, and lytiška gilė “gonad” by Pranas Matulaitis. The writings of doctors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were some of the first popular sources of medical science that disrupted secrecy, fear, and indecency accompanying all questions related to sexual health. In these writings, doctors were educating their ordinary readers on sexual health. In these writings, the first common names of male and female genitals appeared. Although most of those terms have not become established and have remained part of historical medical terminology, the term lyties organas is still used in the contemporary anatomical nomenclature. Gauta 2019-09-18 Palmira Zemlevičiūtė Lietuvių kalbos institutas P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius E. paštas [email protected] Terminologija | 2019 | 26 263