Kruopščios ir sąžiningos kalbininkės jubiliejus

ZIGMAS ZINKEVIČIUS D O I: doi.org/10.35321/all91-14 THE JUBILEE OF A THOROUGH AND CONSCIENTIOUS LINGUIST¹ Jadvyga Kardelytė was born on February 17, 1929, in Linkmenys, Ignalina district. After completing gymnasium in Vilnius, she studied Lithuanian philology at the university. She completed her studies in 1953. Thereafter, in 1953–1956, she furthered her education in the university’s doctoral program (then called aspirantura). In 1956–1962, she taught at the university. Because of her efforts to preserve Lithuanian identity in southeastern Lithuania and in the Lithuanian islands of Belarus undergoing denationalization, the Bolsheviks did not allow the talented linguist to continue working at the university (a well-trained specialist and candidate of philological sciences!). She was able to return to the university only after Lithuania regained independence. From 1962 to 1975, she worked as an editor at Mintis, and from 1975 to 1990 at Mokslo publishing houses. While still studying at Vilnius University, the jubilarian became interested in Lithuanian dialectology. For her diploma thesis, she chose a description of the speech of her native Linkmenys, which she later continued and deepened in her doctoral studies. In her dissertation, she thoroughly investigated and described the phonetics and morphology of her native speech, the Linkmenys dialect. She later published valuable articles on this subject in Questions of the Lithuanian Language, volume 1 (1957; she wrote on the question of the dual forms of the imperative mood), volume 2 (1959, on participles), in volume 2 of Linguistics (1960, on questions of phonetics), and volume 3 (1961, on adjectives and pronouns). Her articles related to these studies appeared in regional ethnographic publications: The Ignalina Region (1966), The Gaidė and Rimšė Environs (1969). Particularly important is her monograph published in 1975, The Gervėčiai Dialect (Phonetics and Morphology), which describes the unique speech of Lithuanians in Belarus, of particular interest to Lithuanian and Baltic scholars worldwide. At that time (in the 1960s and 1970s), we had still very few dialectologists; those studying the dialects of eastern Lithuania could then be counted on the fingers of one hand. Therefore, the jubilarian’s contribution was particularly significant. Her lexicographical work is important. She distinguished herself as a resourceful collector of words for the academic Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language. Together with Jonas Macaitis and Alina Mankevičienė ¹ On February 17, 2019, Jadvyga Kardelytė’s 90th jubilee was celebrated; on August 15, 2024, she died at the age of 95. In the archive of Zigmas Zinkevičius, an unfinished manuscript prepared for publication was found, with the author’s note “to be postponed until the jubilee.” On January 4, 2025, the distinguished linguist reaches his 100th anniversary. His manuscript was submitted to the journal by Professor Z. Zinkevičius’s grandson, Dr. Mindaugas Šinkūnas. Insights / Insights 331 ZIGMAS ZINKEVIČIUS compiled the extensive four-volume Russian–Lithuanian Dictionary, which was awarded the Lithuanian State Prize. While working at publishing houses, editor J. Kardelytė edited many important publications on Lithuanian studies, linguistic scholarship, and language practice. She translated works of fiction into Lithuanian. FIGURE. A manuscript handwritten by Professor Z. Zinkevičius The Jubilee of a Thorough and Conscientious Linguist 332 Acta Linguistica Lithuanica XCI