Fizikos terminų kūrėjas I. Končius

Eglė MAKARIŪNIENĖ THE CREATOR OF PHYSICS TERMINOLOGY, I. KONČIUS In 1996, during the widespread commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the birth of the physicist and local historian Professor Ignas Končius, archival materials held in the manuscript collections of Vilnius University, the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, and the National M. Mažvydas Library were examined more thoroughly once again. All the libraries mentioned hold collections of Prof. Ig. Končius. Ig. Končius was born on July 31, 1886, in the remote village of Purvaičiai, in the parish of Kantaučiai, Žarėnai rural district, in Žemaitija (now Plungė District). He studied at Palanga Progymnasium and Liepāja Gymnasium. In 1913 he graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at St. Petersburg University, qualifying as a physicist. Alongside his main specialty, Ig. Končius was an active local historian and public figure, and the founder and chairman of numerous societies. One area of his work closely related to his physics qualification was physics terminology and the preparation of a physics dictionary.1 His father, Antanas Končius, undoubtedly influenced his decision to pursue education, his civic-mindedness, and his interest in matters of importance to Lithuania. An educated and wealthy farmer, he hid and distributed Lithuanian books in the Kantaučiai area during the press ban. He was also the benefactor of the Žlibinai church, whose reconstruction was planned in the late 19th century: he bought materials for its construction and hired craftsmen.2Academy of Sciences manu- 1 Končius I. Terminai fizikos reikalams // Lietuva, 1923, Nr. 108, 109, 125, 141, 149, 209, 218, 233, 234, 275, 277, 278, 285, 286; 1924, Nr. 3, 30; Švietimo darbas, 1924, Nr. 9, 10 ir 11; To paties. Dėlei lietuvių kalbos vidurinėse mokyklose // Lietuvos žinios, 1914 m. birželio 20 d., nr. 134. P. 1. Parašas: Jus; Kaulakienė A. Rankraštinio I. Končiaus fizikos vadovėlio kalba // Lituanistika. 1984. Nr. 3(19). P. 18–27; Tos pačios. Lietuvių fizikos terminografijos pradmenys // Lituanistika. 1993. Nr. 3(13). P. 32–43; Tos pačios. Profesorius Ignas Končius ne tik fizikas, bet ir terminologas // Fizikų žinios. 1996. Nr. 10. P. 16–18. 2 Kviklys B. Mūsų Lietuva: Krašto vietovių istoriniai, geografiniai, etnografiniai bruožai. V.: Mintis, 1992. T. 4. P. 84. 63 The Academy of Sciences Library manuscript collection (MABR) contains three notebooks by A. Končius.3 A. Končius was a literate man. The notebooks were written in Lithuanian in the Samogitian dialect, as well as in Polish and Russian, from 1869 to 1900. A few entries from 1904 and 1905 have survived. They describe meteorological observations, medicinal recipes, methods of painting and gilding (“how to gild yellow”), and notes on the harvest—“atols aug dydelej diel dydun lytun.” Farm income and expenses are listed. The most important family dates are recorded: “On February 23, 1873, marriage to Anastasia in Plungė on Sunday.<....> On January 25, 1875, a daughter was born.<....> On July 29, 1882, at 9 o’clock in the evening, on St. Peter’s Day, a son was born.<....> On November 3, 1884, at 8 o’clock in the morning, a son was born and baptized Stanisław. <....> On July 31, 1886, a son was born and baptized Ignatius in Kantaučiai.”4 The last line of the entry gives the birth date and baptismal place of the future Professor Ignas Končius. Ignas was the youngest child in the family. On one small sheet, Russian words are translated into Lithuanian5 (the Lithuanian words are also written in Cyrillic). The words on the sheet are numbered. There are 20 of them. They are mostly household items and foods. Not all the words are translated accurately. Here is the list of words from the sheet: “1. Things – дайктай. 2. Educational – дель моксла. 3. Board – тоблице. 4. Toy – забава. 5. Ball – пилка. 6. Dishes – Инда. 7. Plate – торелка. 8. Cup – блюделись. 9. Dish – блюдась. 10. Pot – пуделись. 11. Kettle – Катълась. 12. Pitcher – Узбонась. 13. Saucepan – Узбонась. 14. Samovar – Самаворась. 15. Food – валтисъ. 16. Cabbage soup – копуста. 17. Porridge – Каша. 18. Soup – виралась. 19. Roast meat – каршть<имась>. 20. Kulebyaka – кепенис судзюовесь.” One word, as we can see, is connected with learning—for education. 3 MABR F. 12, B. 1683, B. 1684, B. 1685. 4 MABR F. 12, B. 1685, L. 5. 5 Ibid. L. 7. 64 There was also a story about the Končius surname. Ignas’s brother Petras studied at the Peterburg seminary for priests and was being pressed to change the surname Končiaus to Končevskij, to match his clerical estate and Polish faith. Unable to resist such persuasion, he sought the intercession of linguist Kazimieras Jaunius (1849-1908), who at the time (1898-1906) taught Greek, Latin, and Hebrew at the Peterburg Spiritual Academy. He explained to him that the surname Končiaus came from the Samogitian expression “Per končią savo” and therefore need not be changed; it was well suited to his future clerical estate. However, brother Petras never did become a priest.6 These are a few fragments from manuscripts and accounts concerning the Končius family’s connections with word translation and linguists. 1 From an account by Ig. Končius’s son Algirdas. 65