Jonas KLIMAVIČIUS

Institute of the Lithuanian Language, Vilnius

FOR CLARITY AND STABILITY IN METAL TERMINOLOGY

The main principles of metal terminology are established and clear. The aim here is to finally reinforce the choice of just a few terms and clarify their meanings, so that terminological clarity and precision prevail everywhere—in dictionaries, encyclopedias, and textbooks, in departments, lecture halls, and classrooms, as well as in manufacturing and trade.

1. cast iron

Every user of the standard language, and anyone with even a little regard for logic, is astonished by the advertised cast-iron stoves of the Kaunas Foundry. Everyone who attended secondary school knows from chemistry, physics, and geography only ketùs (cast iron); that should be enough—life should not undermine the foundations of schooling. Yet some people are still sorely lacking in civilization: both advertising and newspaper cookery columns undermine terminological standards: Fat or oil is heated in a špižinis pot LA 1998 32 22. Most educated people know (or have at least heard) that špižius (variants špižas, špyžė, spižius, spyžius, spižas, spižė, spyžė) is a barbarism, a Polish borrowing (in dialects it also means ‘cast-iron pot’, even ‘cast-iron lid’), itself of German origin [Pol. spiż, East Prussian špis, Middle High German (Glocken)spise]. Does anyone among the “špižininkai,” those who try to justify the use of špižius by appealing to dialect usage, know that the dialects—Eastern Aukštaitian and Samogitian—also have another Polish borrowing, familiar from Russian as well, čigūnas (čiugūnas), which has the same meanings and also means ‘railway’? A barbarism is still a barbarism, not an indigenous word or an inherited one; dialects contain many barbarisms.

The eminent linguist Kazimieras Būga wrote about the word ketùs in his 1929 book “Language and Antiquity”: “Kuršaitis uses the word ketùs for the iron used to make pots (Russian чугун): ketùs das Gusseisen, ketinis puodas K¹ I 573. In Ulmanis and Brasche’s German-Latvian dictionary we read: Eisen: gegossenes čuguns ķets 236, Gusseisen lieta dzelze, čuguns

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(чугун) kets (Bartau, Lithuanian ketùs) 365. Where is the homeland of those two words?” K. Būg RR II 139.

Although Būga’s question remained unanswered precisely for a long time, the Lithuanian character of the word ketus itself was beyond doubt. As early as 1918, Rygiškių Jonas’s “Our Little Dictionary,” published in Voronezh, gave it precedence: ketùs, špižas – чугунъ. In 1919, KarŽ, published in Kaunas (prepared, as far as is known, by Petras Ruseckas), preferred the Lithuanian form: ketus (špižas) – чугунъ, ketinis (špižinis) – чугунный. The 1920 TechŽ₁ did likewise: чугунъ – ketus, špižas (although in the Lithuanian section both are treated equally). In 1939, KP offered ketùs, -aũs, ketinis, -ė in place of the words špižius, špižinis. This was the recommendation of the most authoritative language standardizers. The 1950 LKV in Bielefeld likewise gave: ketus, -aus “a kind of iron” (not: Polish spyžius, Russian чугунаѕ). DŽ₁ clearly points the way: špižius see ketus, while DŽ₂ and DŽ₃ codify it strictly: špižius nonstandard (i.e. not recommended!) = ketus. The 1949 TechŽ₂ still did not endorse it: чугун – ketus (špižius); in 1959, PolŽ took a step backward toward barbarism: чугун – špižius; in 1984, PolŽ moved forward: чугун – ketus. In 1960, ChŽ gave a slight preference to the Lithuanian word: špižius (=ketus), but ketus (=špižius) is treated as the main form, since it is also defined there as “an alloy of Fe and C with admixtures of other elements”; ChŽ₂, 1997: špižius nonstandard (i.e. not recommended) ↗ ketus. The Boston LE has only ketus (VII 106), and MLTE II likewise only ketus. Yet after a long interval, and despite normative lexicography having entirely rejected the barbarism špižius, encyclopedia editors once again make concessions: ketus, špižius LTE V, TLE II.

Latvians, whose standard language generally contains considerably more Slavicisms, have taken a somewhat different turn here, tending to use čuguns more often than ķets. The Latvian language thesaurus MELL compares Latvian ķets with Lithuanian ketùs, and notes its use in the areas around Liepāja, Kuldīga, Aizpute, and Nīgranda. Although M. Brence states that “ķets (from Lithuanian ketus) was once borrowed into the literary language from the southwestern Kurzeme (Curonian) dialects and has since been used as a parallel form to the word čuguns (Russian чугун)” (M. Brence, Lituānismi latviešu literārajā valodā, – LVKJ I 60), the facts confirm neither its borrowing from Lithuanian (dialects!) nor its wider use in the standard language. LaKV X treats čuguns: ķets as the main variant, with sk. (i.e. see) čuguns. Both terms are considered terms, too, but priority is given to the non-indigenous word: ču-

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guns, kęts MTME. The standardizing dictionary is quite strict: cast iron is “an alloy of iron and carbon; kęts” in LVV₁, whereas kets is not listed! LieLaV₁ of 1964 did the opposite—as in Lithuanian: spižius see cast iron, and cast iron – kets, čuguns. However, LaLIE₂ of 1977 has kets see čuguns [and the Lithuanian dictionary, anachronistically, has been slavicized: čuguns – cast iron, spižius: a cast-iron (spižius) foundry; a cast-iron (spižius) cauldron; a piece, ingot of cast iron]. LieLaV₂ of 1995 is inconsistent: cast iron – kets, čuguns, but a cast-iron (=ketaũs!) foundry – a čuguns foundry; there is no good reason to revive spižius for colloquial Lithuanian here: colloq. (i.e. spoken) – čuguns, kets.

Latvian kets is not at all rare in usage: LVBV I 1 čuguns – 65x, kets – 8x; LVBV IV čuguns – 1/1, kets – 1/1; LVBV II 1 čuguns – 6/3; LVIBV čuguns – 73, kets – 8.

The multi-volume LVV₂ treats them as entirely equivalent: čuguns – “a brittle alloy of iron and carbon; kęts” and kets “a brittle alloy of iron and carbon; čuguns”.

The commonality of Lithuanian ketus and Latvian kets is not, for Ernst Fraenkel—any more than it was earlier for Būga—an explanation of their origin: “ist die Herkunft der Wörter unklar” FrnW. Finally, in his LEV I Konstantinas Karulis groups kets ir ketus with Latvian ķetna (with variants) “paw,” Lithuanian ketera, Greek kotýle, kótylos “hollow; vessel,” Latin catīnus “(earthenware) bowl,” diminutive catillus “small bowl, saucer” [loans that came via Gothic katil(u)—Old Church Slavonic kotъlo, Russian комел, Lithuanian katilas, Latvian katls]—from the Indo-European root *ket- “to bend, incline; crooked, bent.” This etymology is not contradicted by, and might perhaps be supplemented and supported by, Kazimieras Gaivenis’s unexpected and simple association: “its cousin could perhaps be considered only the word ketai ‘the woody bark of a rough birch’ TV I 38 (regardless of its limited use: Tar was made by burning birch ketai Skaudvilė. They carried the stripped ketai from the birch trunk to the charcoal-making place Skaudvilė. A kėtinis birch Skaudvilė – LKŽ III).”

Etymology may also strengthen Latvian kets’s position in the standard language. Lithuanian cast iron must remain in the standard language and terminology, first and foremost according to the principle of stability of the norm. Even if someone were someday to prove that cast iron, like spižius, were of non-Lithuanian origin, changing it could no longer even be contemplated—the foundations of schooling and the norms of language must not be torn down by anyone. The Slavic origin of Spižius is quite clear not only from the lan-

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This is clear not only to linguists or people who know Polish, but also to ordinary users of the standard language—to active speakers and leaders—and so it offends national pride and cannot be prestigious. We always choose our own word, especially when a loanword is clearly perceived as foreign. Even when we have to choose between two loanwords, we choose the one that is not recognized by users of the standard language as an obvious foreignism. Thus the standard language has the Germanic loan gatvė, not the Slavicism ūlyčia; the Germanic loan spinta (of Latin origin), not the Slavicism šėpa; the Germanic loan stry kas, not the Slavicism sm čius; the Germanic loan budelis, not the Slavicism kotas (cf. kotavoti); the Turkicism svogūnas, not the Slavicism cibulis, even though precisely these Slavicisms are most widely used in the dialects. Even between two Slavicisms, we choose the one that seems less foreign or not foreign at all: sijonas (of Italian origin), not spadnyčia (nor andarokas); ajeras (of Turkic origin), not totorka; liūtas, not levas; smuikas, not skripka; groti, not grajyti, grajinti; liudyti, not sviečyti. Sometimes we even Lithuanize the form so that it does not look foreign: kišenė (cf. kišti), not kešenius; būgnas, not būbnas; bijūnas, not pivonija. Similarly, between two Germanic loanwords we choose griovys (cf. griauti, griovė), not grabė; rėmas (cf. remti), not romas.

We use and will continue to use ketūs, ketinis—and only these! If the Latvians did not preserve their own ķets, we would be the sole heirs and guardians of the Baltic ketūs.

2. How did tin, rather than álvas become established?

Historians of language can hardly contain their delight in the word álvas, but it did not enter the standard language. No one may be blamed, perhaps, but there seems to be a kind of regret: the Baltic inheritance alvas was lost, while its Slavic relative—a loanword, alavas.—is the one in use.

According to the data in LKŽ I₁, alvas was used in J. Bretkūnas’s Bible and M. Daukša’s catechism; its meaning is given as “lead,” while LKŽ I₂ defines it as “a soft, silver-colored metal” (it would seem to be white tin—“silvery white, soft” LTE I; whereas lead is “bluish gray, soft” LTE XI). In SD₁, otow/Plumbum is lead, as it is also in SD₃, whereas SD₃ Oblewam co otowem/woskiem/etc. Liquido obduco – Apteiu atawu/

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waszku/etc. (almost as in DK 77 – álwų yr waszku teia, only here it is not ala-vas, but alvas!). Yet K. Sirvydas’s dictionary already contains the loanword cina – SD₁ Cyna/ex germ. stannum is cyna, SD₃ Cyná. Stannum – Cina (=Cina), and also SD₃ Kontryfał/cyná przednia/abo Angielska Stānum Anglicanum – Cina iż Anglios tabay giera (SD₁ kontrifalt/plumbum cinereum – untranslated). Lead bullets in Mrk would suggest that this means “lead.” Alavelis Plv, Lš, alavukas Ūd, alupkà Kp, Pn, Mžk, alúpka Grg “little pencil” most likely likewise indicates the underlying meaning “lead” here (cf. German “pencil” – Bleistift: Blei “lead” + Stift “nail; pin; pen”). LKŽ II₁ cinas means “a soft, silver-coloured metal,” while LKŽ II₂ gives 1. “an alloy of tin and lead,” although both German Zinn and Polish cyna, borrowed from German, mean only “tin.” The shift in the meaning of alavas (and alavas) – “lead” → “tin” – apparently depends on metallurgical pragmatics. Although alavas and cinas are different loanwords, their meanings coincided in Lithuanian (Polish ołów means “lead,” while “tin” is cyna!

In 1912 K. Būga linked and explained: Lithuanian álvas = Latvian alvs, álva “Zinn” [i.e. “tin” – J. K.] = Old Prussian alwis K. Būg. RR I 342. Later: Lithuanian álvas “цинк” (Nesselmann Wb. 5); свинец (Bezzenberger Beitr. zur Gesch. 270); “олово” = Latvian alvs “олово,” olvs = Old Prussian alwis “свинец” K. Būg RR II 507 (and Old Prussian “tin” – sc arstis: Lithuanian Samogitian skárdas K. Būg RR II 684). In K. Būga’s “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” álvas – Zinn B, Q, plumbum album, олово [and свинец, Blei, plumbum nigrum – švinas] K. Būg RR III 428. According to LotŽ, plumbum, or plumbum nigrum (Plinius Major), is “lead,” whereas plumbum album (Julius Caesar, Plinius Major), or p. candidum (Plinius Major), is “tin”—probably “white tin”; while SD₁ plumbum cinereum may be “grey tin” (“At a temperature below 13.2 C, white tin turns into grey, or alpha tin, which is brittle and easily turns to powder” LTE I): Latin cinereus means “ash-coloured” (thus corresponding both in colour and consistency). The Latin (and scientific chemical) name for “tin,” stannum, meant “a mixture of lead and silver” in Pliny’s time; only later Latin, again, changed into stagnum, meaning “tin” (Isidorus Hispalensis, ~570 – 636), whereas staniolis means “foil made of tin or its alloys with lead.”

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K. Būga explains the origin of álvo in detail: “If the metal’s name were derived from its colour, it would then be comparable with these words: Old High German [i.e. Old High German – J. K.] elo ‘lohbraun, gelb’ (...): Latin al-bus, Greek ’αλι-φός ‘white’: Irish luaide ‘Blei’ (...)” K. Būg RR III 428. By the way, “Kalboje ir senovėje” also explains the origin of lead through colour motivation: “Sl. svin-bcb (*švein-) // Lithuanian švinas (Latvian svins) must surely have originated from the root kwei- ‘shine: gleam: Sanskrit [i.e. Sanskrit – J. K.] çvetáh, feminine çvenī ‘weiss’ P. Persson Beitr. 745?” K. Būg RR II 259. It should be added that in T. V. Gamkrelidze and Viacheslav Ivanov’s latest version of Indo-European studies, among the representatives of Indo-European “white; bright” is Lithuanian álvas “tin” (not “lead”!), and Old Prussian alwis “lead” IKI II 783.

By the way, it should not be forgotten that K. Būga already fully understood the relativity of the Baltic, or even Indo-European, character of álvo (and, apparently, the names of other metals): “Even if the origin of the name álvo (IE olawo-) were genuine, it would still be impermissible to assert that the name of the metal is not borrowed. The Balts could not have inherited álvo from Proto-Indo-European, because the Stone Age (Neolithic) still prevailed then, and they did not yet know how to forge any metal TŽ I 407” K. Būg RR III 428.

Thus M. Daukša used the inherited word álvas, whereas K. Sirvydas already used the loanwords alavas and cina. J. Bretkūnas’s Bible has both alvas and alavas. Alavas is considered by K. Būga a Belarusian borrowing—from Belarusian [i.e. Ruthenian – J. K.] olovo K. Būg RR III 388. Cina is a Polonism, whereas cinas is a Germanism. Thus, quite early, alongside the alternative alvas or alavas there arose another: alavas or cinas. R 375 and K have cinas (although N still has: Alwas – Zinn), J has cina. In 1919 KarŽ has alavas – олово; in 1920 TechŽ, alavas – олово (and cinas – олово, even олово – cinas, alavas). Its etymologist K. Būga did not propose álvo for the standard language, although he cared about the Lithuanian character of metal names—alongside metalo, he himself used the Lithuanian naugis: Naugiai (metalaï) tuomet dar ne labai pažinta K. Būg RR III 496. Copper is said to be the only naugis known to the Indo-Europeans K. Būg RR III 587; he noted the Lithuanian character of S. Daukantas’s word geišis for “steel” (:жестъ) K. Būg RR II 684 (geišis 2. dialectal “scythe” Grg – LKŽ III). In 1933 LEnc I uses alavą. Only LKŽ I₁ regards alavą as a nonstandard word: x alavas (sl.), but there it means “lead,” not áłvas... As if the gates had opened only to close again.

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alvui, but they did not open. Then again, in 1950, in the LKV published in Bielefeld by the Lithuanian Exiles’ Community in a print run of 5,000 copies, alavas (g.) was replaced by alvas, but again not entirely consistently or chemically: álvas, cinas (plumbum album), although cinas is not listed in its alphabetical section. By the way, already in 1943 LieVoŽ has alavas – Zinn (and cinas – Zinn), but alvinis – zinnern. Yet the sieve had no alvas. Although Boston LE I says alavas is “an old Lithuanian borrowing from Polish ‘olow’. In its place our chemists use a borrowing from German – cinas,” in fact LE IV has cinas, while alvo is absent. In Lithuania, however, TechŽ₂ in 1949 has олово – alavas. In 1960 ChŽ₁, cinas see alavas. In DŽ₁ and DŽ₂, cinas see alavas, while DŽ₃ has cinas nonstandard = alavas. Only KPP₁ and KPP₂ offer an “etymological” concession: cinas – alavas is better. But in terminology there is no such thing as “better.”

Alvas, unlike cast iron, simply had no luck. It is not the only such case: Lithuanian Samogitian uostai (in Lithuania Minor uosnai) also gave way to the Slavic equivalent shared by its cognates—the loanword ūsai.

3. bronze; brass, skaistvaris (švitvaris); misingis; red copper; tombac

As early as 1907, SNŽŽ has bronze—“copper fused with tin” (the 1936 TŽŽ: “a copper-and-tin alloy resembling gold”). In the 1923 STŽŽ, the meaning of bronze is confused: “a mixture [alloy—a metal] of copper, zinc, and aluminum.”

Attempts to replace bronze with a Lithuanian word began long ago. In 1870, K I 262 has Bronze – gelswas wärias. In 1914, Jonas Jablonskis amended a wreath of bronze to a brass crown J. Jabl R IV 131–132. In 1918, in Rygiškių Jonas’s “Mūsų žodynėlyje,” žalvaris, skaistvaris – бронза. In 1919, KarŽ has žalvaris (skaistvaris) – бронза [although skaistvaris is not “bronze” but красная медь (cf. žalvaris), likewise gelsvarinė dėžutė – латунная коробка (incidentally, gelsvaris is not even recorded in LKŽ III); and also misinginis aptrauk al as – медная рубашка]. In 1924, VI has skaistvaris – латунь.

The attempt failed because žalvaris is an entirely different copper alloy, but traces of that attempt remain: although bronze was officially adopted as early as 1949 in TechŽ₂, and in the 1959 PolŽ₁: бронза – bronza, латунь – žalvaris, the 1960 ChŽ₁ still gives skaistvaris as “an alloy of Cu and Zn”—латунь, желтая медь,

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however, for bronze – “an alloy of Cu and Sn” – бронза ChŽ₂, it is further noted: “some call it brass.” This is noted for good reason—it remains relevant even today. In the first issue of the American “Gimtoji kalba” in 1958, P. S. (i.e., Pranas Skardžius), answering the question “Does skaistvaris have the same meaning as brass?” replies: “Generally, these words have not hitherto been strictly distinguished in meaning; for example, in the ‘Lietuvių kalbos vadovas’ [the LKV mentioned in section 2 above—J. K.], the two words are synonymous and are used to translate bronze, ‘an alloy of copper and tin’ GK 1958 1 16. And in the 1968 NdŽ, V brass – 1. Messing, 2. Bronze. Likewise in Lithuania: brass – 1. technical латунь, 2. (bronze) бронза LRKŽ₁ and LRKŽ₂; бронза – bronze, brass RLKŽ₁ I, бронза – 1. bronze (historically also brass) RLKŽ₂ I. P. S. then cites DŽ₁: ‘In the “Dictionary of Contemporary Lithuanian,” bronze is “an alloy of copper with tin and other metals,” while skaistvaris – brass is “an alloy of copper, tin, and zinc, misingis” GK 1958 1 16.’ Here P. S. is twice inaccurate in his quotation—in fact, DŽ₁ reads: skaistvaris see brass, and the definition does not include the synonym misingis—on the contrary: misingis see brass, so misingis is not given as a separate entry. DŽ₁’s error: the definition of brass should not include ‘tin’ (incidentally, LE XXXV repeats it—and even omits ‘zinc’!).

Thus bronza (Italian bronzo < Persian biring “copper”) is an international term—French bronze, English bronze, German Bronze, Czech bronz, Polish brąz, Latvian bronza, Estonian pronks, Russian бронза. The term needs no synonyms. And as early as 1954, Boston’s LE III defines bronza as “a general term for an alloy of copper (Cu) and tin (Sn)”: soft bronze (94% Cu + 6% Sn), machine bronze (90% Cu + 10% Sn), gunmetal (86% Cu + 14% Sn), bell bronze (80% Cu + 20% Sn), and also special types—aluminum bronze (93% Cu + 7% Al), manganese bronze (95% Cu + 5% Mn), as well as phosphor bronze, silicon bronze; especially notable is red bronze, containing zinc (from 2 to 7%). In 1977, LTE II emphasizes that bronza is “an alloy of copper with other chemical elements, excluding alloys with zinc (brass) and nickel,” and that “part of the tin may be replaced by zinc and lead.” The oldest type is tin bronze; other types listed are silicon, aluminum, lead, beryllium, and chromium bronzes. ChŽ₂ defines bronze as 1. “an alloy of Cu (>60%) with Sn and additions of other elements.” Not bronze at all is gold bronze, or mosaic gold ChŽ₂—

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“tin disulfide, SnS₂, gold-colored crystals” LTE I (although 2. “Cu and Sn alloy” ChŽ₂). Žalvaris is “an alloy of copper and zinc” DŽ, “an alloy of Cu and Zn (4–45%), sometimes with additions of other elements”—латунь, желтая медь; brass ChŽ₂—“an alloy of copper whose principal alloying element is zinc” LTE XII. LTE XII distinguishes single-phase brass (containing up to 39% zinc) and two-phase brass—40–45% Zn, “besides zinc, sometimes also containing tin, aluminum, lead, or nickel.” Why LE XXXV defines žalvaris as “an alloy of copper and tin” can only be guessed at (perhaps similar chemical symbols were confused: tin is Sn, zinc Zn).

The question of whether Bronze Age or Brass Age is used is decided pragmatically: initially bronze was used (before that even copper—a short Copper Age is mentioned in some places), but bronze (like copper) was too soft for tools, so brass soon appeared. The usual term was Bronze Age—French âge de bronze, English the Bronze age, German Bronzezeit, Polish epoka (okres) brązu, Latvian bronzas laikmets, Russian бронзовый век. In Lithuania the two-variant name Brass Age, Bronze Age becomes established (“tools began to be made from bronze and brass”) LTE XII.

Žalvaris is a living word—according to the LKŽ card-file data, it is found mostly among Samogitians and in songs: brass gates, doors, a little bridge, a little scythe, even a cradle—and among Aukštaitians (also green copper); žalvarvs is a curse meaning “serpent.” In written works, žalvaris was used by Samogitian authors L. Ivinskis, S. Daukantas, and M. Valančius, and appears in A. Juška’s dictionary.

SinŽ treats these as synonyms: the dominant form is žalvaris, alongside skaistvaris (literary), švitvaris (literary), and misingis (dialectal). Dialect words often become literary words in the standard language if they do not spread in colloquial usage. According to LKŽ XV, Švitvaris is a word from Lithuania Minor—Lex 61, Q 344, C II 44, N; variant švitvaras R, MŽ, N. According to LKŽ XII, Skaistvaris is also known from Lithuania Minor—C II 44, H, R, MŽ, N, and Bt Apr 1, 14, but also DP 581; the distinctly eastern Aukštaitian form skaistavaris is found in SD, 79, 172, SD, 179, 416, Ch 1 Moz 4, 22. The words are also widespread in songs: The little brass one trembled, the little švitvaris rang KlvD 216. Little skaistvaris drums, little copper trumpets—those will escort me, those will cheer me RD 94. The derivation and motivation of Skaistvaris are fairly clear: skaistus means 1. “shining, radiant,” 2. “of a bright color” LKŽ XII.

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Švituvaris is probably etymologically related to švitrus 1. “shining, gleaming, glossy” LKŽ XV.

In F. Kurschat’s dictionary, the pinnacle of the lexicography of Lithuania Minor, we can see the full usage and decline of the words žalvaris, švituvaris, skaistvaris and gelsvas varias. The reason for their decline was the influence of German. Žalvaris is recorded already as a word unknown in living usage: [žálwaris, –io, Subst. masc. = misingė, Messing; and Schl. grünes Erz]. And throughout Kurschat’s dictionary the first form is already misingė: βwitwaris, –io Subst. m. das Messing, in S. L. Flitter [LKŽ XV švituvaris 2. Trg, J, Rp “tinsel, ornament”]; skaistwaris, –io Subst. m. das Messing, eigentlich Glanzkupfer. Jetzt gewöhnlich misingė; Messing, das, misingė. in Schriften auch: βwitwaris. io. skaistwaris. io. Thus, in ordinary usage it is already misingė, while in writing one also finds švituvaris, skaistvaris. Such usage is recorded by Kurschat, although he dislikes loanwords: Bronze, die, gelswas warias (bei Stallup. βpizas), that is, he wants to call bronze by a Lithuanian name.

The Germanism misingis (German Messing), according to the data in LKŽ VIII, is apparently a later-spreading name for “brass” in Lithuania Minor, alongside švituvaris and skaistvaris—R 255, ST 465; variants: misingas N, misingė K, LB 13—one that spread further into Lithuania and more widely. Misingis was even promoted to the status of an international word: the 1936 TŽŽ gives misingis (German) as “an alloy of copper and zinc, brass”; in 1951: “brass (some call it skaistvaris); an alloy of copper with zinc, sometimes <...>”. The timid standardization in DŽ₁—misingis see žalvaris (and likewise DŽ₂)—did not prevent its inclusion again in the 1969 TŽŽ: misingis (German Messing) “brass”; hence DŽ₃ now strictly prescribes: misingis nonstandard = žalvaris. Misingis is not an international word, but only a regional loanword—Lithuanian misingis, Latvian misiņš, Estonian messing (and valge vask), Czech mosaz, Polish mosiądz. In 1943, VoLiež gives Messing – žalvaris, gelton-, skaist-, švituvaris.

Geltonvaris is recorded in LKŽ III from written sources.

Švituvaris is very rarely used in the standard language; it was not even included in DŽ₁, DŽ₂, or DŽ₃, although it is mentioned in ChŽ₂: švituvaris nonstandard ↗ žalvaris.

The fate of Skaistvaris in the standard language has been changeable, and may not yet have been finally settled. While žalvaris was being treated as synonymous with bronze, skaistvaris was proposed as a replacement for misingis: in 1919 LL mosiądz – skaistvaris; yet, as we have seen, not everyone shunned misingis. When chemists distinguished bronze and brass

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apart, skaistvaris remained only a synonym for žalvaris: 1954 DŽ, skaistvaris see žalvaris; 1957 NdŽ III skaistvaris = žalvaris. Although LKV in 1950 gives the opposite: žalvaris = skaistvaris (and švitvaris = skaistvaris), here skaistvaris means “bronze”: skaistvaris, bronze; bronze—“an alloy of copper and tin, skaistvaris.” But in 1958 P. S. proposes: “However, it would be useful henceforth to distinguish as follows: skaistvaris ‘yellowish copper, an alloy of copper and zinc, misingis (English brass)’ and žalvaris ‘red, reddish-brown copper and tin (cino) alloy, bronze.’ Such a distinction is particularly convenient for science: in this way two entirely different metals are given genuinely Lithuanian names and more precisely distinguished—skaistvaris ‘misingis’ (chemical symbol: CuZn) and žalvaris ‘bronze’ (chemical symbol: CuSn)” GK 1958 1 16. Linguistically, this would be possible if done on a clean slate rather than by altering usage. It is not so bad that, after eight years, P. S. in GK contradicts what he and his colleagues had proposed in LKV; the worst thing is that usage is reversed here: žalvaris has authentically always been the term for what is called “misingis” (which is precisely why it could not become “bronze”)—P. S. himself acknowledges that in the authoritative NdŽ (edited by A. Salys), “skaistvaris is treated at the same level as žalvaris” GK 1958 1 16.

The desire not to treat skaistvaris and žalvaris as terms on the same level was pursued in a different way in LE—although the 1962 LE XXVII still gives the customary entry, skaistvaris see žalvaris, by 1966 LE XXXV proposes a rather interesting distinction: red brass—85% Cu + 15% Zn; yellow brass, or skaistvaris—65% Cu + 35% Zn.

A linguist cannot answer the question of whether they should be distinguished in this way. Is it possible? There would be no major obstacles. Although there is rather a lot of redness in this field. The red bronze (with an admixture of zinc) in LE IV has already been mentioned. There is also raudonvaris—“technical (red) copper”—in DŽ₂, DŽ₃, as well as ChŽ₁, ChŽ₂, PolŽ₂, RLKŽ₁, RLKŽ₂, II. Raudonvaris already appeared 100 years ago in M. Miežinis’s dictionary: raudonvaris, v. varis—Latvian kapars, sarkanais varš, Polish miedź czerwona, Russian медь, красная медь; it also has žalvaris—misiņš; mosiądz; желтая медь (and skaistvaris, v. žalvaris) M. LKŽ XII records raudonvaris from Žemaitian sources—Brs, Šts. Why is copper also called raudonvaris if “copper is reddish-brown” LTE XII? Yes, but before that it is black: “the molten <...> copper matte [‘unoxidized sulfide’ ChŽ₁] is separated from the slag and oxi-

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reduced with oxygen—obtained is black copper, containing 97.5–99% copper” LTE XII. Since this is an intermediate product, it is not designated black copper; only black copper is used, “oxidized Cu” ChŽ₂, “CuO” ChŽ₂ (similarly black nickel, “oxidized nickel” ChŽ₂).

So is this not too much—red bronze, red copper and yet another red brass? And what of red brass and yellow brass in other languages, or bright copper? The magic of color has its effect, but scientific classification and naming of concepts should determine things, not the resources of language, which pull in every direction. For instance, even in the 1983 RLKŽ₂ II, although латунь is brass, желтая медь (a synonym for латунь!—J. K.) is already bright copper: alongside красная медь—red copper. Thus bright copper is looking for a place, but cannot find one.

LTE XII mentions a variety of single-phase brass containing 15% zinc and 0.5% aluminum—“of a beautiful color, easily gilded and enameled; jewelry, badges, and coins are made from it”—while brass containing only up to 10% zinc is tompak. LTE XI: tom pakas (French tombac < Malay tambaga—copper)—“brass containing 72–90% copper and up to 10% zinc. Brass containing 10% zinc is called half-tompak. Red (when up to 3% zinc), yellow (when 10% zinc).” Some foreign dictionaries give a long chain of origin: Sanskrit → Malay → Spanish → French → Dutch. Malay forms vary—tombaga. tambaga, tembaga. In European languages, b predominates—French tombac, Italian tombacco, English tombac, tombak, Polish tombak. Russian томпа́к is traced to German Tompak, but the 1985 TŽŽ, replacing the form tompakas used in the 1936, 1951, and 1969 TŽŽ with tombakas, gives precisely German Tombak. The postwar form tombākas is already found in the 1950 LKV, PolŽ₂, ChŽ₂, and DailŽ. LKŽ XVI does not record tombakas (nor tompakas), although LKŽ XV gives támbakas from NdŽ and KŽ, not marked as irritating—M, L, Rtr., see tombakas; however, it is already known from the 1919 LL. NdŽ IV has tòmbakas and tòmbākas, as well as tombakìnis. Tòmbakas “counter” in Plv is undoubtedly of the same origin. Russian томпак means красная латунь, so... red brass (although red brass contains 15% zinc, tombakas only up to 10%, and half-tombakas more than 10%)! And in the 1919 LL, Polish tombak – tombakas, red copper (LKŽ XI does not record red copper 2. “tombakas”). In Polish dictionaries, tombak

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is sometimes called sztuczne złoto. Such, apparently, is also the tambak ring in western Dzūkian songs: For a tambak ringlet she gave a silver ruble DrskD 245, LTR (Lp) (LKŽ XV).

To conclude, it could be added that in ordinary speech copper (and vary s; varas of Lithuania Minor; and its varias, also used by M. Daukša and K. Sirvydas; văriai of M. Valančius and M. Slančiauskas) means both the element and its alloys—“a reddish-yellow metal (Cu); brass, bronze” LKŽ XVIII.

4. Both noble and precious metals, but not the same thing

In chemistry, there are noble metals—gold, platinum, iridium, osmium, silver, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium—“chemically resistant” DŽ₃, more precisely, exceptionally resistant to oxidation and weak acids (some to all acids) (“Gold is a noble, inert metal; it does not deteriorate in air or under the action of acids or alkalis” LE I). These are pure metals. In their pure form, they are used in the chemical industry, electrical engineering, medicine, and photographic and cinematographic technology. Chemically, everything is clear, but linguistically—why “noble”? noble?

DŽ₃ noble 1. “destined, virtuous”: a noble person, 2. “lofty”: noble thoughts. LKŽ XV noble is also illustrated with examples from spoken language: 2. “virtuous, destined, clean”: This son is nobler than the other children Tr. An ignoble, bad-tempered girl Rm. Our dog is terribly ill-tempered (bad-tempered) Vel; 3. “good, suitable, proper, as needed”: I have no decent clothes, I can’t go out, I have to stay home Ukm. There is an abstract noun with the ending taura—3. “benefit, goodness, virtue”: The piglets did not thrive (did not grow fat, did not improve) Rm. ^ There is no virtue beyond the fence (there is none, Vad) SkrT. There is a compound, substantivized form tauróji “goodness, well-being”: There is no well-being in him: he is always ill Er. The verbs tauruoti have broad, varied semantics: 1. “to grow well, thrive, flourish”: The rye is thriving well Prn. This year the livestock are thriving well Dkš [and taurauti: He himself thrives, and everything (livestock, trees, crops) of his thrives J. Jabl]; 2. “to live well, prosper”: No wonder he thrives, when his father got him on his feet Vvr [and taurauti: I may not live, but neither will you prosper Kš]; 3. impersonal “to help; to go well”: There is enough rain now, and the crops are thriving very well Gdl. And things are going well for him there Pkn; 4. “to have a good time”: The young people are having a good time at the wedding Prn [and taurauti 3. “to associate”: Petras with

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Jonuku taurauja Ss]. Inseparable here is also taurintis “to rise (from sleep)” Vlk, and the metatonic táurinti 1. “to carry, put in some place” Ds; 2. // “to get ready, prepare to do something”: Viena višta jau peret taurinas Trgn. Velnias jau taurinas jį praryt (ps.) Mlt; užtaurinti 1. “to lift up, put on top” Trgn, Ds; 2. “to climb onto, mount” Trgn, Ds, etc.; moreover, it has an approximate semantic counterpart related to the synonym taurus of the adjective kilnus, namely kilnyti 1. “to lift” J; 2. refl. “to get ready, intend (to go somewhere, do something)”: Aš jau kilnijuos pradėti tą darbą Skr (LKŽ V). Here belongs, though considerably remote, taūras, “associated with words having an Indo-European root whose original meaning was ‘to swell, grow; strong’. Moreover, similar names occur in Semitic languages” LKK 35.

Thus precious metals in the non-chemical, ordinary motivational sense would mean “good metals.” Perhaps that is why the replacement of inert gases with noble ones did not succeed—their “goodness” is not very obvious.

In jewelry and elsewhere, the term precious metals is often used. Incidentally, not only the fields of use differ, but also the content and scope of the concepts: jewelry items are most often made not from pure precious metals (and not from all of them), “owing to their low strength and resistance to wear” LTE V, but from jewelry alloys—“alloys of precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium) with one another or with their substitutes (most often copper)” LTE V. Incidentally, jewelry alloys is only a specialized term; otherwise they are called precious metals, since metals means “in the broader sense, also alloys made from them” LTE VII. Pure gold is bright yellow, and when alloyed half-and-half with silver it is pale yellow; with 20–40% silver it is greenish yellow; with copper, reddish yellow; with platinum, whitish. Gold of 583 fineness (indicating parts per thousand of gold), containing 235% copper, 122% nickel, and 60% zinc, is called white gold (quite different from the newspaper metaphor white gold meaning “cotton”).

Precious metals is transparently motivated—cf. precious stones (also semiprecious stones, valuables, precious timber “walnut, mahogany, etc.”, valuable-furred animals.

Thus the concepts differ across many languages—noble metals, Russian благородные металлы, English noble (formerly non-reactive) metals, Latvian cēlmetāli is “precious metals”, Russian драгоценные металлы, English pre-

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cious metals, Latvian dārgmetāli. Some languages have generalized the concept under a single term—German Edelmetalle, or edle Metalle (and precious stone – Edelstein, precious timber – Edelholz), Polish metale szlachetne, and French metaux précieux. This is not an easy distinction, and so errors occur in translation. For a long time Lithuanian did not distinguish the terms—ChŽ₂ had only noble metals. PolŽ₂ translated both благородный and драгоценный металл simply as noble metal. DŽ₂ gives both, but the distinction is not made explicit: under metal—noble metals (gold, silver, platinum, etc.); under precious—precious metals (gold, silver); under noble—noble (precious) metals. DŽ₃ makes the distinction somewhat clearer: under noble—noble (chemically resistant) metals. ALChŽ renders both noble metal and precious metal simply as noble (!—J. K.) metal. ChŽ₂, without distinction—noble metals, precious metals—благородные металлы, драгоценные металлы; noble metals, precious metals.

It is interesting to note K. Almin’s 1943 attempt in VoLieŽ, discovered almost by chance (not recorded in LKŽ XII): edel metall – precious (noble) metal. In fact, skaistus 8. “upright, noble” Mž 84, I, P, Vd (variants skaistas Mž 333, skaiščas S. Dauk), as well as skaistinti 3. “to ennoble, refine” Vaižg., nuskaistinti 2. “to make noble, ennoble” J. Balč (LKŽ XII). Incidentally, also švitrus 4. “noble(?)” S. Dauk (LKŽ XV).

Brief normative conclusions

1: In the standard language and terminology, the Baltic inheritance ketùs is used and should be used, rather than the clear Slavic borrowing špìžius, widespread in dialects. Latvian, although it too has preserved ķets, has widely admitted the Slavic borrowing čuguns into its standard language.

2. The Baltic-Slavic common word álvas, known from the oldest written records, did not enter the standard language (there were very belated attempts). It uses álvo’s Slavic cognate, the Slavic borrowing alavas, also known from the oldest written records. Some attempts were made to use the Polish borrowing cina, attested in the oldest records, and the perhaps somewhat more recent German borrowing cinas.

3. The copper-tin alloy is named by the international loanword bronza. The copper-zinc alloy is called in terminology by a living-language word, popular in folk songs—žalvaris—although there have also been attempts to use the waning-

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… the words of Lithuania Minor švitvaris and skaistvaris (Eastern Aukštaitian and Old Lithuanian texts skaistvaris). There they were displaced by Germanic influence misingis (misingė, misingas), which even encroached on the standard language (this is a regional borrowing: Latvian misiņš, Estonian messing (and valgevenask), Czech mosaz, Polish mosiadz). It was proposed that skaistvaris be used to denote yellow brass (65% Cu + 35% Zn). A less common term, raudonvaris, means “technical (red) copper.” Raudonvaris was also proposed as a name for a variety of brass, tombak.

4. In chemistry there are only noble metals; in jewelry, precious metals. The content and scope of the concepts also differ. This distinction is made in many languages, although some have generalized one or the other term (even “precious metals”).

Received 1998-09-07

Abbreviations

ALChŽ – Talačka V. English-Lithuanian Dictionary of Chemistry and Chemical Technology. K., 1994.

K. Būg RR – Būga K. Rinktiniai raštai. V., 1958, T. 1. 1959, T. 2. 1961, T. 3. Straipsnyje vartojami ir K. Būg RR sutrumpinimai.

ChŽ₁ – Daukšas K. Chemijos žodynas. V., 1960.

ChŽ₂ – Chemijos terminų aiškinamasis žodynas / Ats. red. Z. Mačionis. V., 1997.

DailŽ – Dailės žodynas. V., 1998.

DŽ – Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas: DŽ₁ – I leid., V., 1954. DŽ₂ – II leid., V., 1972. DŽ₃ – III leid., V., 1993.

FrnW – Fraenkel E. Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Göttingen, 1955–1965.

GK – “Gimtoji kalba” [The Native Language].

IKI – Gamkrelidze T. V., Ivanov Vyach. Vs. The Indo-European Language and the Indo-Europeans. Tbilisi, 1984, Vol. 2.

J. Jabl R – Jablonskio raštai/ Redagavo J. Balčikonis. K. 1935, T. 4.

KarŽ – Kariškas lietuviškai-rusiškas ir rusiškai-lietuviškas žodynėlis. K., 1919.

KP – Language Adviser / Prepared by L. Dambrauskas, edited by A. Salys and Pr. Skardžius. K., 1939.

KPP – Kalbos praktikos patarimai / Sudarė A. Pupkis: KPP₁ – I leid., V., 1976. KPP₂ – II leid., V., 1985.

LA – “Lietuvos aidas” [Echo of Lithuania].

LaKV – Latviešu konversācijas vārdnīca. Rīga, 1933–1934, 10 sēj.

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LaLieŽ – Balkevičius J., Kabelka J. Latvių–lietuvių kalbų žodynas. V., 1977.

LE – Lithuanian Encyclopedia. Boston, 1953, Vol. 1. 1954, Vol. 3. 1954, Vol. 4. 1956, Vol. 7. 1962, Vol. 27. 1966, Vol. 35.

LEnc – Lietuviškoji enciklopedija. K., 1933, T. 1.

LEV – Karulis K. Latviešu etimoloģijas vārdnīca. Rīga, 1992, 1. sēj.

LieLaV₁ – Bojāte A., Subatnieks V. Lithuanian–Latvian Dictionary. Riga, 1964.

LieLaV₂ – Balkevičs J., Balode L., Bojāte A., Subatnieks V. Lithuanian–Latvian Dictionary. Riga, 1995.

LieVoŽ – Paškevičius J. Lietuviškai vokiškas žodynas. K., 1943.

LKL – Sabaliauskas A. Lietuvių kalbos leksika. V., 1990.

LKV – Lithuanian Language Handbook / Edited by Pr. Skardžius, St. Barzdukas, J. M. Laurinaitis. Bielefeld, 1950.

LKŽ – Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language. V., 1941, Vol. 1, 1st ed., 1968, 2nd ed. 1947, Vol. 2, 1st ed., 1969, 2nd ed. 1956, Vol. 3. 1959, Vol. 5. 1970, Vol. 8. 1978, Vol. 11. 1981, Vol. 12. 1991, Vol. 15. 1995, Vol. 16. 1997, Vol. 18. Abbreviations from this dictionary are also used in the article.

LotŽ – Дворецкий И. Х. Латинско-русский словарь. Москва, 1986.

LRKŽ – Lyberis A. Lithuanian–Russian Dictionary: LRKŽ₁ – 1st ed., V., 1971. LRKŽ₂ – 2nd ed., V., 1988.

LTE – Soviet Lithuanian Encyclopedia. V., 1976, Vol. 1. 1977, Vol. 2. 1979, Vol. 5.

LVBV – Latviešu valodas biežumu vārdnīca. Rīga, 1966, 1. sēj. Tehnika un rūpniecība, 1. d. 1969, 2. sēj. Laikraksti un žurnāli, 1. d. 1971, 4. sēj. Zinātne.

LVIBV – Latviešu valodas inversā biežumu vārdnīca. Rīga, 1976.

LVKJ – Latviešu valodas kultūras jautājumi. Rīgā, 1965, 1.

LVV₁ – Dictionary of the Latvian Language. Riga, 1987.

LVV₂ – Dictionary of the Latvian Language. Riga, 1973, vol. 2. 1980, vol. 4.

ME – K. Mülenbach’s Dictionary of the Latvian Language / Edited, supplemented, and continued by J. Endzelīns. Riga, 1925–1927, vol. 2.

MLTE – Mažoji lietuviškoji tarybinė enciklopedija. V., 1968, T. 2.

MTME – Metalų technologija un mašīnu elementi. Rīgā, 1958.

NdŽ – Dictionary of the Lithuanian Written Language / Compiled by M. Niedermann’as, A. Senn’as, F. Brender’is and A. Salys. Heidelberg, 1957, Vol. 3. 1963, Vol. 4. 1968, Vol. 5.

PolŽ₁ – Russian–Lithuanian Polytechnical Dictionary / Managing editor A. Novodvorskis. V., 1959.

PolŽ₂ – Russian–Lithuanian Dictionary of Polytechnics / Compiled by G. Daugėla. V., 1984.

RLKŽ₁ – Russian–Lithuanian Dictionary / Prepared by V. Baronas, V. Galinis. V., 1967, Vol. 1.

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RLKŽ₂ – Russian–Lithuanian Dictionary / Compiled by Ch. Lemchenas. V., 1983, Vol. 2.

SinŽ – Lyberis A. Sinonimų žodynas. V., 1980.

SNŽŽ – Svetimų ir nesuprantamų žodžių žodynėlis / Sudarė J. Šlapelis. Tilžė, 1907.

STŽŽ – M. ir S. Svetimų ir tarptautinių žodžių žodynėlis. Šiauliai, 1923.

TechŽ₁ – J. Maciejauskas. Technical Glossary. K., 1920.

TechŽ₂ – A. Novodvorskis. Technical Dictionary. K., 1949.

TLE – Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija. V., 1986, T. 2.

TV – Terminology Channels. V., 1994, 1.

TŽŽ – Tarptautinių žodžių žodynas: K., 1936. V., 1951. V., 1969. V., 1985.

VoLieŽ – Vokiškai lietuviškas žodynas / Nauja paruošė K. Alminas. K., 1943.

Throughout, the numerals indicate years, issues (Roman numerals indicate volumes), and pages.

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