Angelė KAULAKIENĖ

Institute of the Lithuanian Language

TERMS OF ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM IN LITHUANIAN PHYSICS TEXTBOOKS

1. Introductory remarks

The appearance of Lithuanian physics textbooks for secondary schools coincided with the first attempts to systematize the terminology of certain fields of science. In the second decade of the 20th century, this was encouraged by a considerable intensification of public education. Shaken by the 1905–1907 revolution, tsarism was forced to make concessions in various areas of public life. After the ban on Lithuanian-language publications in Latin characters was lifted, Lithuanian was permitted as an optional separate subject in Lithuanian schools as early as 1906. The number of schools teaching Lithuanian continued to grow (Šenavičienė 1982: 86–87). When the First World War broke out and the front approached Vilnius in 1915, many Lithuanian intellectuals withdrew to Russia. Physics and mathematics teachers at the Lithuanian gymnasiums in Voronezh became concerned with preparing Lithuanian textbooks and resolved to systematize terminology as far as possible. The linguist Jonas Jablonskis, who taught Lithuanian and Latin at the Lithuanian gymnasiums in Voronezh, readily agreed to help the mathematicians, setting aside regular time to discuss terminology. J. Jablonskis first needed a clear description of the essence and principal characteristics of the concept to be designated by the term, an explanation of how it was used in other languages, and its origin (Rumšas 1979: 53). According to Z. Žemaitis, Konstantinas Šakenis, who was writing a physics textbook for secondary schools, also came to consult on questions of physics terminology from time to time (Žemaitis 1966: 195). He wrote the first part of the textbook *Physics* in Voronezh, consulting and conferring with J. Jablonskis and the mathematicians Z. Žemaitis, Pranas Mašiotas, and Marcelinas Šikšnys (Kaulakienė 2002: 66–77).

At the time, Ignas Končius was also writing a physics textbook. As indicated by Antanas Žvironas’s note accompanying I. Končius’s article Fizikos terminai, “At the end of 1915, while working as a physics teacher

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at the gymnasium in Palanga, which had then been evacuated to Võru (in Estonia), the article’s author [I. Končius] conceived the idea of writing a Lithuanian physics textbook based on the programme of a Russian gymnasium of the classical type. The need for such a textbook was already becoming apparent; among other things, a Lithuanian gymnasium was being established in Voronezh. Ig. Končius submitted his proposal (1915. XII. 28) to the Central Committee of the Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Victims in St Petersburg. The reply received from there (1916. I. 11) was: he was encouraged to write the textbook; a “Language Commission” had been formed in Voronezh to establish physics terminology, chaired by K. Būga” (Končius 1938: 260). I. Končius’s physics textbook for gymnasiums was never published. Its 312-page manuscript is held in the Manuscript Department of Vilnius University (Kaulakienė 1994: 18–27). One-volume physics textbooks by other authors, intended mainly for primary schools, were also prepared and published (Fizikos istorija 1988: 169–175). The development of Lithuanian physics textbooks for primary and secondary schools is discussed in particularly thorough detail in Jonas Algirdas Martišius’s article A Hundred-Year Journey of Lithuanian Physics Textbooks, written for the centenary of Petro Vileišis’s textbook Populariszkas rankvedis Fyzikos (Martišius 2000: 135–174).

The most popular was K. Šakenis’s three-part physics textbook for gymnasiums, whose first edition appeared in 1920; between 1920 and 1940, as many as 5 editions were published (Kaulakienė 2002: 66). In the third decade of the 20th century, the first large physics textbook for higher education, comprising seven chapters, each published as a separate book, appeared: Vincas Čepinskis’s Lectures on Physics (1923–1926), from which more than one generation of students learned. Several decades later, another four-part physics textbook, also for higher education, was published: Povilas Brazdžiūnas’s General Physics (1960–1965).

This article discusses the terminology of magnetism and electricity in the textbooks of the three authors mentioned above, focusing solely on usage. The following parts or chapters of the textbooks were selected for analysis: K. Šakenis. Fizika. Part II. Magnetas. Elektra, 1920, 77 p. (hereafter F); V. Čepinskis. Fizikos paskaitos. VII skyrius. Magnetizmas ir elektra, 1926, 466 p. (hereafter—

¹Here and elsewhere, the definitions of concepts quoted from and analyzed in the textbooks are reproduced in their original form. Spelling and punctuation have not been corrected.

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FP); P. Brazdžiūnas. Bendroji fizika. II dalis. Elektra ir elektromagne-tizmas, 1961, 405 p. (toliau – BF).

2. Analysis of the use of electricity and magnetism terminology in physics textbooks

The electricity and magnetism terms presented in the textbooks under discussion can be divided into several groups. The largest group consists of identical terms used by all three authors to designate the same concept. These include both international terms and native Lithuanian words drawn from dialects or older sources. They are still used in physics terminology today, e.g.: ammeter F 40, FP 247, BF 175; anode F 32, FP 204, BF 268; battery F 40, FP 133, battery BF 138; particles F 18, FP 398, BF 87; laws F 33, FP 250, BF 183; dynamo machine FP 322, BF 181, dynamo machine F 74, FP 313; gases F 51, FP 215, BF 91; equivalent F 45, FP 202, BF 121; electricity F 12, FP 34, BF 5; electrode F 51, FP 230, BF 113; electrolyte F 44, FP 204, BF 113; electromagnet F 56, FP 257, BF 207; electroscope F 15, FP 34, BF 8; element F 68, FP 220, BF 130; force F 57, FP 34, BF 158; cathode F 31, FP 387, BF 250; spark F 76, FP 114, BF 145; quantity F 45, FP 34, BF 6; body F 11, FP 3, BF 87; arc F 51, FP 143, BF 149; field F 56, FP 147, BF 6; magnet F 3, FP 3, BF 157; machine F 29, FP 71, BF 318; microphone F 70, FP 298, BF 341; motor F 75, FP 313, BF 306; surface F 17, FP 71, BF 10; plate F 31, FP 82, BF 25; plane F 6, FP 19, BF 162; polarization F 47, FP 342, BF 190; ratio F 49, FP 342, BF 153; number F 57, FP 201, BF 185; solenoid F 63, FP 249, BF 167; spectrum F 6, FP 3, BF 90; rays F 53, FP 385, BF 106; current F 56, FP 356, BF 305; strength F 34, FP 48, BF 70; capacity F 25, FP 243, BF 131; gap F 52, FP 387, BF 150; resistance F 39, FP 259, BF 293; unit F 39, FP 34, BF 12; voltmeter F 40, FP 201, voltmeter FP 254, BF 122; volt F 37, FP 71, BF 20; ring F 71, FP 283, BF 99, and so on. Many of these serve as the main components of specific terms, which are also used identically by all three authors, e.g.: quantity: electric quantity F 21, FP 34, BF 6; magnet: artificial magnet F 3, FP 3, BF 157; rays: X-rays F 53, Röntgen rays FP 390, X-rays BF 106; current: electric current F 28, FP 377, BF 6; strength

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: electric-current strength F 37, FP 377, BF 70; unit: resistance unit F 39, FP 169, BF 74, and so forth.

Another fairly large group consists of synonymous terms used by the authors mentioned above to designate the same concept:

turn (These turns will form the middle, or first, coil of the Ruhmkorff induction coil) F 66; turn (winding) (Then each turn (winding) of the wire will correspond to a whole coil) F 73; winding (For each winding of the second coil can be regarded as an independent element <…>) F 68; turn (Thus this primary coil must be made up of a small number of turns n₁ of thicker, insulated copper wire) FP 299; winding (Figure 262 shows a solenoid with a large number of turns, connected to a sensitive astatic galvanometer) FP 284; turn (When electric current flows through the coil, it tends to turn so that the greatest possible number of lines of force pass through the plane of its turns) BF 175;

resisting force (The forces of attraction and resistance) FP 34; repulsive force (We regard the repulsive force acting between like magnetic poles as positive <…>) BF 158;

dielectric polarization of the medium, electric displacement (shift) (<…> electrostatic induction depends on the medium and constitutes a particular strain in that medium, which Faraday called dielectric polarization of the medium and which Maxwell calls electric displacement (shift) FP 343; electric displacement (Such alternating current produces very rapid variations of electric displacement in the dielectric at any point <…>) FP 344; electric displacement, or electric strain, or dielectric polarization (Current in a dielectric as a variation of electric displacement, or electric strain, or dielectric polarization) FP 342; electric displacement (<…> such electric displacement in a dielectric is associated with resistance to electric elastic forces <…>) FP 343; dielectric polarization of a material (When a nonpolar material is placed in an electric field, the material’s elementary electric charges are displaced from their equilibrium positions under the influence of the field: positive charges in the direction of the electric field, and negative charges in the opposite direction. We call this phenomenon the dielectric polarization of the material) BF 42–43;

electric power (potential) (The quantity of electricity, electric power (potential), and the electrical capacity of a conductor) F 21; electric power, or

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potential (Also; when speaking of electricity, one must distinguish a conductor’s capacity for electricity from electrical power, or potential) F 22; electric potential (All this <...> can also be applied to the electric field, whose properties with respect to quantity we can express with the aid of electric potential) FP 67; electrical potential (We then call the voltage of the electric field its electrical potential) BF 21;

electric charge [archaic term] (Electricity will pass from the rod to the sphere, and the more times we touch it with the charged rod, the greater the electric charge in the sphere will be) F 13; electric charge (We call the amount of electricity possessed by a body its electric charge) BF 9;

ion velocity (Transport numbers and absolute velocity of ions) FP 201; ion mobility (The mobility of positive ions often differs from that of negative ions) BF 118;

Leyden jar battery (He [Galvani] held that a muscle is a kind of Leyden jar battery, which is continually stimulated by the brain) BF 7; Leyden bottle battery (Such a combination is called a Leyden bottle battery <...>) FP 90;

insulator (We say that glass and rubber do not allow electricity to pass further, that they are nonconducting, and we call such objects or bodies insulators) F 12; separator, or insulator (Nonconductors that we use to separate electrified bodies from the earth are called separators, or insulators, and the separation itself is called insulation) F 13; insulator or electrical nonconductor (<...> while other bodies, such as glass, rubber, sulfur, varnish, hard resin, etc., Gray called insulators or electrical nonconductors <...>) FP 35; insulator (Thus it is clear that insulators form very great obstacles to the movement of electricity) FP 44; dielectric, or insulator (We call the former bodies electrical conductors and the latter dielectrics, or insulators) BF 24; insulator (The best insulators are amber, quartz, mica, ebonite, and all gases in their normal state) BF 24;

osmotic pressure (And when the osmotic pressure of the ions is greater than the dissolution pressure of the metal, the metal ions in the solution are deposited on the metal surface <...>) BF 124; osmotic pressure (Thus the osmotic pressure of the cations of such metals in the electrolyte is greater than their ionization tension <...>) FP 224;

Voltaic arc (The vapors shine with such a white light that the eyes ordinarily

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cannot look at it. Such light is called a Voltaic arc) F 51; Voltaic arc (electric arc) FP 187; electric arc or Voltaic arc (Therefore this phenomenon was named the electric arc or, after Davy, who wished to honor Volta, the Voltaic arc) FP 189; Voltaic arc (In other words, as the Voltaic arc operates, the gap between the ends of the carbons widens, the Voltaic arc grows, and finally, when the gap has widened sufficiently, the Voltaic arc is extinguished) FP 190; electric (Voltaic) arc (Depending on external conditions, we can obtain several forms of spontaneous electrical discharge in gases: spark, silent, and glow discharges, and the electric (Voltaic) arc) BF 143; electric, or Voltaic, arc (This discharge was first observed by Petrov and later by Davy; this discharge is usually called the electric, or Voltaic, arc) BF 147; electric arc (The electric arc emits very intense light, and is therefore a good source of light) BF 148.

There are also more examples in the textbooks mentioned of compound terms used inconsistently, whose specifying elements are the genitive of the noun electricity or an adjective derived from it with the suffix -inis, -ė, i.e. electric, -al, for example: electric voltage BF 119 and voltage of electricity F 24; electric spark BF 145 and spark of electricity F 26; electric furnace BF 87 and furnace of electricity FP 187; electric arc BF 149 and arc of electricity FP 187; electric field strength BF 13 and strength of the electric field FP 82; electric potential BF 21 and potential of electricity FP 59; electrical capacitance BF 29 and capacitance of electricity FP 59.

The specifying elements of such compound terms should apparently be regarded as variants. There are various examples of them in the physics textbooks mentioned. In addition to the specifying elements of compound terms already discussed, which consist of a noun in the genitive or an adjective derived from it with the suffix -inis, -ė, compare also: Joule heat BF 87 and heat of Joule BF 202; galvanic cell F 30, FP 133, BF 123 and Galvani’s cell FP 133; cathode rays BF 153 and rays of the cathode F 52; concentration cell BF 123 and cell of concentration FP 223; magnetic storm BF 164 and storm of the magnet F 11; magnetic force FP 3 and force of the magnet F 3; magnetic field FP 313, BF 6 and field of the magnet F 56; magnetic meridian FP 19 and meridian of the magnet F 10; natural magnet F 3 and magnet of nature FP 3; spherical lightning BF 6 and lightning of a sphere FP 127; the textbooks also contain compound terms whose specifying elements

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variants are adjectives with the suffixes -iškas, -a and -inis, -ė, e.g.: chemiškas ekvivalentas FP 202 and cheminis ekvivalentas BF 121; an adjective with the suffix -iškas, -a and a noun in the genitive case, e.g.: elektriška perstuma FP 342 and elektros perstuma FP 202; a noun in the genitive case and a pronominal participle, e.g.: elektros jėga BF 90 and elektrovaromoji jėga FP 230; traukos jėga FP 82 and traukiamoji jėga F 8–9; simple and pronominal adjectives, e.g.: Faraday’aus tamsus tarpas FP 387 and Faradėjaus tamsusis tarpas BF 150; minkšta geležis F 9, BF 313 and minkštoji geležis F 9, neigiama elektra FP 385 and neigiamoji elektra F 20; normalus elementas FP 232 and normalusis elementas BF 128; sausas elementas FP 146 and sausasis elementas F 32, and so on.

In the textbooks by the aforementioned authors one can also find related variant terms that differ in their prefix, e.g.: demagnetinimas FP 263 and išmagnetinimas F 7; taikymai BF 86 and pritaikymai FP 361; a suffix, e.g.: elektromagnetizmas FP 247, BF 7 and elektromagnetija F 56; grandinė F 36, BF 113 and grandinėlis F 25, grandinys F 36; griaustinis BF 143 and griausmas F 76, FP 128; vamzdis: Crookso tube FP 385, Geislerio tube FP 385, rentgeno tube BF 87 and vamzdelis: Krukso tube F 52, Geislerio tube F 52, Rentgeno tube F 53; an ending (especially numerous in international terms), e.g.: abscisa FP 324 and abscisė BF 108; akumuliatoris F 48, akumuliatorius FP 238 and akumuliatorius BF 130; amplitūda FP 362 and amplitudė BF 107; elektrolizas F 43 and elektrolizė FP 201, BF 120; formula F 40, FP 419 and formulė BF 110; grammolekula FP 418 and grammolekulė BF 119; koordinata FP 437 and koordinatė BF 302; linė F 4 and linija FP 59, BF 58; molekula FP 206 and molekulė F 9, BF 116; ordinata 324 and ordinatė BF 78, and so on.

A substantial group in these authors’ textbooks consists of eponymous variant terms that differ in the spelling of scientists’ surnames, e.g.: Biot-Svarto dėsnis FP 147, Bio-Savoro dėsnis BF 168; Danieliaus elementas F 31, Danielio elementas FP 145, BF 123; Džioulio dėsnis F 49, Joulio dėsnis FP 187, Džaulio dėsnis BF 86; Clark’o elementas FP 232, Klarko elementas BF 128; Crookso tamsus tarpas FP 387, Krukso tamsus tarpas BF 150; Leklanšė’s elementas F 31, Leclanché elementas FP 146; Lenzo dėsnis FP 283, Lenco dėsnis BF 226; Maxwell’io elektromagnetinė teorija FP 1, Maksvelo elektromagnetinio lauko teorija BF 325; Omo dėsnis F 39, BF 72, Ohmo dėsnis FP 167; Peltier’o

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effect FP 187, Peltjė effect BF 258; Rentgeno spinduliai F 53, rentgeno spinduliai BF 258, Röntgeno spinduliai FP 385; Tesla transformatorius FP 308, Teslos transformatorius BF 317; Thomsono efektas FP 187, Tomsono efektas BF 218; Wheatstone’o tiltas FP 167, Vistono tiltelis BF 83; Zeemano efektas FP 361, Zemano efektas BF 159, and so forth.

The analysis shows that synonymous terms for naming the same concept are used not only across the textbooks of all three authors; compare also fenomenas FP 24 and reiškinys F 76, BF 5; komponenta FP 9 and dedamoji BF 162; laidininkas, arba konduktorius FP 35 and laidininkas F 13, BF 89; materija FP 385 and medžiaga BF 153; stipinas FP 65, radis (stipinas) FP 68 and radiusas BF 136, but also within each of their respective textbooks. There are many such synonymous terms in each author’s textbook, where either both synonyms are Lithuanian, one is Lithuanian and the other a loanword or international term, or both are international synonyms, e.g.: elektriniai svyravimai, arba virpesiai BF 307 and elektriniai virpesiai BF 309; galvanometrai (srovių matuotojai) F 34, galvanometras, arba srovės matuotojas F 34 and galvanometras F 34, galvanometras arba instrumentas srovėms matuoti FP 157 and galvanometras FP 157; įtakos arba antrinė srovė F 65 and įtakos srovė F 65; įvairiavardžiai poliai F 64 and nevienodi (įvairiavardžiai) poliai F 5; kibirkštinis, arba pramušamasis, potencialas BF 144 and kibirkštinis potencialas BF 144; kondensatoriai, arba tirštintojai F 24, but plokštusis tirštintojas F 24, plokštinis tirštintojas F 24, plokščias tirštintojas F 26; liekamasis magnetizmas, arba remanensija BF 200 and liekamasis magnetizmas BF 200; lauko (išorės) varža F 37 and išorės varža F 37; mediumas (tarpinė medžiaga) FP 342 and mediumas FP 343; meridianas (dienovidinis) F 10 and meridianas F 34; nuolatinė (spontaninė) poliarizacija BF 57 and nuolatinė poliarizacija BF 57; pasvirimo (linkties) kampas F 10 and pasvirimo, arba linkties kampas F 10, pasvirimo kampas F 10; plautelis, arba audionas FP 383, plautelis-audionas FP 385 and plautelis FP 384; praskiestos dujos FP 385 and dujos praskiestame padėjime FP 386; rekombinacija, arba molizacija BF 116 and rekombinacija BF 139; spinas arba sukinys BF 204 and spinas BF 204; šiluminis (betvarkis) judėjimas BF 94 and šiluminis judėjimas BF 107; trumpas sujungimas, arba „kurčšlusas“ FP 241 and trumpas sujungimas FP 241; versmė (šaltinis) F 49 and versmė F 50; vienarūšė arba teigiamoji elektra F 25 and vienarūšė

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electricity F 19; like-named (identically named) poles F 5 and like-named poles F 6, etc. It can be seen that, when authors of textbooks wish to describe a concept discussed for the first time in greater detail, they most often use synonymous terms, whereas on subsequent pages usually only one term is chosen, e.g.: electrical oscillations BF 309, 311, 312, etc.; galvanometer F 34, 37, 39, etc.; medium FP 343, 344, 348, etc.; permanent polarization BF 57, 58, etc. This indicates the authors' attempts to systematize terminology.

A somewhat smaller group consists of terms used distinctively by individual authors, e.g.: covering: electrometer covering BF 36; surrounding, -ing: second surrounding theorem FP 342, first surrounding theorem FP 342; remoteness: transmission of electrical energy to a distance FP 313; running: electrical running or sliding F 29; rail: electric current rail F 29; invention: Volta's invention F 29, demagnetization curve FP 257; magnetization curve FP 257; magazine: resistance magazine FP 167; removal: medal removal (copy) F 46; observation: Galvani's observation FP 133, Oersted's observation FP 147; displacement: displacement current FP 344; little tube “valve”: three-electrode tube FP 383, thermionic tube FP 361; additional, -al: additional resistance FP 293, external additional resistance FP 293, thunder reins F 77, thunder conductor FP 122 “lightning conductor”; couple: astatically balanced magnetic couple FP 151, restoring couple of forces FP 16, elastic torsional couple FP 253; movement: electromagnetic movement FP 342, electrical movement FP 24; rays: light rays FP 114; flow: energy flow BF 330; glass: Leyden glass F 25; straight-line, -al: straight-line conductor FP 155; little grid FP 379 “grid.”

3. Conclusions

1. The largest group of electrical and magnetism terms in the physics textbooks by K. Šakenis, V. Čepinskis, and P. Brazdžiūnas comprises terms used by all three authors for the same concept, which have persisted to this day.

2. Often, after naming a concept for the first time using synonymous or variant terms, textbook authors go on to use only one of them.

3. The terms used distinctively by the authors of physics textbooks (especially K. Šakenis and V. Čepinskis) should—

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apparently be analyzed separately in terms of their meanings and structure.

LITERATŪRA

Fizikos istorija 1988: Fizikos istorija Lietuvoje. I (1579–1940). Autorių kolektyvas: P. Brazdžiūnas, H. Horodničius, H. Jonaitis, A. Puodžiukynas, I. Šenavičienė; Vilnius.

Kaulakienė A. 1994: Rankraštinio Igno Končiaus fizikos vadovėlio kalba. – Lituanistica 3 (19), 18–27.

Kaulakienė A. 2002: Konstantino Šakenio Fizikos vadovėlio terminija. – Terminologija 9, 66–77.

Končius I. 1938: Fizikos terminai.– Gamta 3, 258–260.

Martisius J. A. 2000: Lietuviškų fizikos vadovėlių šimto metų kelias. Populiariškas rankvedis Fizykos, Vilnius, 135–174.

Rumšas P. 1979: Prie matematikos terminijos ištakų. – Zignas Žemaitis, Vilnius, 52–58.

Šenavičienė I. 1982: Fizikos raida Lietuvoje (1920–1940), Vilnius.

Žemaitis Z. 1966: Lietuviškosios matematinės terminologijos istorija. – Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai 8, 195–201.

TERMS OF ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM IN LITHUANIAN TEXTBOOKS OF PHYSICS

Summary

This article deals with terminology of electricity and magnetism in textbooks of physics of K. Šakenis, V. Čepinskis and P. Brazdžiūnas. Terms of electricity and magnetism in these textbooks could be divided into a number of groups. The largest group comprises similar terms, used by all three authors to name the same concept and which are in use today. The usage of synonymic terms and variants of terms of electricity and magnetism showed that frequently the authors of these textbooks named the new concept in synonymic terms or variants for the first time and subsequently chose and used only one of them. Terms distinctively used by the authors of these textbooks (by K. Šakenis and V. Čepinskis in particular), which named newly appearing concepts of electricity and magnetism at that time, need a separate analysis of meaning and structure.

Angelė KAULAKIENĖ

Gauta 2003-11-06

Lietuvių kalbos institutas

P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-2055 Vilnius

E. paštas [email protected]

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