AURELIJA GRITĖNIENĖ

Institute of the Lithuanian Language

Research areas: lexicology, dialectology.

PLANT-DERIVED PERSONAL NAMES IN CONTEMPORARY LITHUANIAN CHILDREN’S PROSE

Anthroponyms of Plant Origin in Contemporary Lithuanian Prose for Children

ABSTRACT

The subject of the article is 82 plant-derived names of various characters (36 people, 26 mythical and various invented creatures, and 20 animals) found in 41 works by 27 contemporary Lithuanian children’s prose authors. The article discusses the process of onymization—the conversion of common words into proper names—and also seeks to examine the methods and formants used to form character names, identify the most frequent lexemes serving as base words, and discuss the function of such names in literary texts.

ANNOTATION

The object of the research article is the names of 82 characters featuring plant origin (36 names of persons, 26 names of mythological and fictitious creatures and 20 names of animals) which were found in 41 piece of literature by 27 contemporary children prose literature authors. The process of onymisation i.e. the conversion of common words into proper names is discussed; also, the ways of derivation and formants of characters’ names are analysed, as well as the lexemes serving as the most common underlying words are identified and the function of such names in fiction texts is discussed.

KEYWORDS: character name, plant name, onymization, word formation, contemporary Lithuanian children’s prose.

KEYWORDS: character’s name, the name of a plant, onymisation, word derivation, contemporary Lithuanian prose for children.

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INTRODUCTION

In the Lithuanian name inventory, we have many personal names associated with plant names. In his monograph Lithuanian Personal Names (2008), Zigmas Zinkevičius notes that more than 600 such personal names can be counted. The plants that gave rise to these personal names are very diverse. They include trees, shrubs, cereals, vegetables, flowers, berries, grasses, and so on. Not only plant names themselves serve as personal names, but also derivatives of those names, for example, Rugys and Rugaitis, Ruginis, Rugėvičius (Zinkevičius 2008: 516)¹. Thus, it is no surprise that contemporary Lithuanian children’s prose writers also use many character names associated with plant names in their books. For this study, proper names of characters were collected from prose works for children by 21st-century Lithuanian authors: after reading almost 200 books for children and adolescents, 82 character names associated with plant names were found in 41 prose works by 27 authors. Personal names make up the largest share of these names (36 names)². Twenty-six names designate various mythical beings (witches, goblins, mermaids) and creatures invented by the authors themselves (gugeliukai, liūtažiurkės, nuotykiuotojai, etc.); 20 names designate various animals (domestic animals, birds, wild forest animals, fish, reptiles, insects, etc.). The aim is to examine the word-formation methods and formants of such character names, identify the most common lexemes used as base words, and discuss the process of onymization³—the conversion of common words into proper names⁴.

¹ The author of the monograph calls such personal names plant-derived (he also includes surnames derived from mushroom names, such as Baravykas, Voveruška, and others). This article reviews only character names derived from plant names.

² Only a few examples were found in which a plant name becomes a person’s surname in children’s prose, for example, the teacher Adomas Burokas (K. Saj. 2013), Mr. Žanas Pjeras de Chrizantemas and his wife Gertrūda Chrizantem, the biology teacher Miglė Guobienė (N. Kluk.), and the farmer Pilypas Kanapis (K. Gud.). Several instances were also recorded in which plant names become nicknames for characters in a work: a curious boy is nicknamed Detective Morka (N. Kep. 2013); the teacher Adomas Burokas gets the nickname Runkelis because of his surname (K. Saj. 2013); the children dub their stepfather, who has closely cropped hair, Kaktusas (K. Saj. 2009); the adviser to the princess with the waxen face is nicknamed Bulvės Daigas (K. Saj. 2006); everyone calls the school cleaner Bulbelė because “if she talked about herself, it was only about ‘little potatoes’” (K. Saj. 2006: 196).

³ Direct onymization cases are excluded from the object of study, where the main lexical meaning of a common word becomes part of the lexical meaning of a new proper word (cf. Bušs 2006: 18), that is, examples in which a plant is personified and its name thereby also becomes a proper word. Personification, as one of the tropes, is so powerful that through it even inanimate objects can be made to speak (Koženiauskienė 2001: 205). For example, in Ona Jautakė’s collection of tales Ponia Pelargonija (2010), many plants argue, grieve, and celebrate: the coquettish Rose, Mrs Pelargonija, the proud Pelynas and Jazminas, the modest Kmynas, the kind-hearted Maumedis, little Takažolė, and other personified plants; in Kazys Saja’s collection of tales Vėjo pamušalas (2010), the plants motiejukas, kietis, žemuogė, aguona, and others are personified. The animation of inanimate objects is especially characteristic of nonsense literature.

⁴ For the opposite process—the transformation of personal names into common words—see Gaivenis 1974: 215–216.

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Proper names are used extensively in the literary texts of Lithuanian authors, and this field has therefore also been studied. For example, Skirmantas Valentas wrote about anthroponyms, theonyms, and place names in the poetry of Vladas Braziūnas and Sigitas Geda (Valentas 2007: 124–133); Kazimieras Župerka discussed metalinguistic commentary on personal names in non-linguistic texts (the media, literary works, non-linguistic scholarly texts, and elsewhere) (Župerka 2006: 62–73); Jolanta Vaskelienė analyzed the contexts signaled by proper words in Jurga Ivanauskaitė’s poetry collection Ode džiaugsmui (Vaskelienė 2009: 300–310); Laimutė Adomavičienė discussed character names and their role in shaping textual strategy in Algirdas Landsbergis’s short fiction (Adomavičienė 2009: 105–111); and Irena Baliulė studied the significance of names in Juozas Aputis’s lyrical short stories (Baliulė 2009: 112–117). Vitalija Maciejauskienė discussed character surnames in the writings of Petras Cvirka (Maciejauskienė 1973: 49–53). Marytė Razmukaitė analyzed the origins of character names in five novels by Jonas Avyžius, Alfonsas Bieliauskas, and Mykolas Sluckis (Razmukaitė 1973: 53–56). Unfortunately, character names in children’s prose have scarcely been studied. The only works worth mentioning are a short article by Agnė Tučkienė on the motivation of character names in Lithuanian folk tales (Tučkienė 2013: 3–7) and Leonardo Sauka’s study of changes in character and place names in the tale “Eglė žalčių karalienė” (Sauka 2008: 184–193). Thus, this study of character names may be of interest not only to literary scholars but also to linguists—it could mark the beginning of further, broader research. From an ethnolinguistic perspective, identifying the motivational features of proper names⁵ is particularly interesting, since ethnolinguists regard the name inventory as an important sphere of metaphorization and one of the components of a linguistic worldview (Gudavičius 2000: 78; 105). For this reason, this article also sets aside character names that are unmotivated or whose motivation is unclear. The character names analyzed here have motivational features that are evident and readily understood by speakers.

Character names are analyzed synchronically in this article. In examining proper names from a practical structural perspective, the principles of word-formation analysis for common words are applied (cf. Butkus 1995: 31–34; Jakaitienė 2010: 276; on applying derivational and structural analysis models to the study of onyms, see Maciejauskienė 2001: 185). Character names are therefore divided into primary (simple) and secondary (derived) forms; the latter are further subdivided into suffixal and inflectional derivatives and compound names.

To understand the meaning of a proper word, it is necessary to establish what exactly is named by it: a person, an animal, a mythical being, or the like (Jakaitienė 2010: 264; Mickienė, Balčiūnaitė-Lužinienė 2013: 10). Accordingly, in this article, understanding the specific meaning of a proper name is aided by the common noun given alongside it, which indirectly links the name to a concept.

⁵ When a writer “creates” a proper noun, they in fact follow the same rules of motivation as the creator of common nouns. They cannot “copy the thing,” and so they copy at least the way in which language itself has created certain nouns (Bartas 1991: 213).

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1. PRIMARY CHARACTER NAMES

Primary character names are considered to be those that acquire no additional derivational formants in the onymization process—they formally coincide with certain plant names, that is, they do not differ at all from the underlying motivating word⁶. This is so-called indirect onymization, in which the principal lexical meaning of a common noun does not enter into the lexical meaning of a proper noun, but is transformed (Bušs 2006: 18). In addition to a change in meaning, common nouns also acquire new properties during the process of onymization: they cease to denote concepts, lose their rich semantic content, and acquire a nominative function (Vanagas 1970: 19).

Nearly 70 such primary plant-derived character names were found in Lithuanian children's prose. In the selected children's prose books, 13 plant names used in the common language have become the names of girls and women: one of the twin sisters Ieva (K. Gud.)⁷, a girl Liepa (K. Saj. 2008), the girls Lelija and Tulpė, an old woman Mirta (V. Ažūš. 2009), a teenager Mėta (R. Gram.), Mrs. Mėta (N. Kep. 2008), a girl Pelargonija (N. Marč.), the bailiff's wife Petunija (V. Ažūš. 2009), the mysterious girl Puriena (N. Kep. 2013), a mother Ramunė (N. Kliuk.), a neighbor Ropė (V. Ažūš. 2008), a princess Rožė (J. Kel.), a teenager Rožė (A. Zur.), the lady of the manor Rožė (V. Ažūš. 2008), the housekeeper, Miss Rozalija, known to everyone as Rožė (K. Gud.), the deputy principal of a school Rūta (V. Rač. 2008), a housewife Rūta (V. Ažūš. 2008), and Liudvikas Gėlė's wife Rūta (K. Gud.)⁸. Such names are popular not only in children's literature—the top twenty most popular names in recent years show that the popularity of Christian names in girls' names is gradually declining. The number of girls' names of Baltic origin derived from words with natural-world semantics is growing, and girls are increasingly given the names Rugilė, Miglė, and Liepa (Sinkevičiūtė 2011: 6; 2012: 4; see also Maciejauskienė 1992: 17; 1998: 36;

⁶In terms of origin, these are so-called appellatives—common words that have become names (Kuzavinis, Savukynas 1994: 25). The common vocabulary of one's native language should be one of the most important sources when a new name needs to be “created” (Maciejauskienė 1998: 36).

⁷The titles of prose works in which plant-derived character names were found are listed at the end of the article, in the list of sources. In the article text, authors' surnames are given in abbreviated form. If several works by the same author are cited, the numerals next to the surname abbreviation indicate the year the book was published. When individual sentences or longer passages are quoted, the book page numbers are also given.

⁸Most of these names have long been established in our stock of names and are recorded in Kazys Kuzavinis and Bronys Savukynas's Lietuvių vardų kilmės žodyne (1994), in the Lithuanian name dictionary Rinkis vardą lietuvišką (2014), compiled by Dalia Pakalniškienė, Ramunė Dabrytė, and Rūta Sakalauskaitė, and in other compilations of names. The popular names Ieva, Rožė, Valerijonas are considered personal names of foreign origin (derived from Hebrew and Latin), but formally their expression coincides with the corresponding plant names; therefore, this article discusses them alongside other plant-based character names, on the premise that most of the character names discussed here derive from Lithuanian plant vocabulary, which includes not only native words (ąžuolas, pupa, samana, etc.) but also words of borrowed origin (lelija, mirta, petunija, pelargonija, etc.).

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Zinkevičius 2008: 521). Pastarųjų metų berniukų vardynas pagal kilmę gerokai skiriasi nuo mergaičių– berniukų vardyne daugėja krikščioniškų vardų (Sinkevičiūtė 2011: 9). Įdomu tai, kad panaši tendencija pastebėta ir vaikų literatūroje – čia apeliatyvinių berniukų ir vyrų vardų rasta dvigubai mažiau nei mergaičių (tik 6): berniukas Ąžuolas (K. Saj. 2008), plačiapetis vyras Ąžuolas (J. Pet.), berniukas Beržas (J. Žil.), vienas garsiausių plėšikų pasaulyje Bijūnas (P. Juod.), šaunus vaikinas, narsus karys Bijūnas (V. Ažuš. 2008), tijūnas Dagys (V. Ažuš. 2009), fokusininkas Narcizas (N. Kep. 2008), garsiausias poetas visame pasaulyje ir visatoje Valerijonas (R. Šer. 2008).

The following animal names (of domestic animals, rodents, arachnids, birds, etc.) were created using plant names used in the common language: a rat Dagišius (U. Ul. 2010), an arachnid Kerpė (N. Vait. 2014), a mouse Liepa (V. Kav.), a cat Morka (A. Cic.), a hen Petunija (L. Žut.), a female dog Pupa (N. Kep. 2013), a female stork Pupa (V. Kav.), a goat Rožė (O. Jaut. 2004), an arachnid Samana (N. Vait. 2014), a ram Valerijonas (N. Kep. 2008), and a mare Vyšnia (N. Kep. 2013).

Plant names used in the common language become names for various mythical and creator-invented beings: a little witch Arnika (D. Vait. 2004), a mysterious little creature Debesylas (R. Šer. 2008), the captain of adventurers Debesylas (N. Vait. 2013), a forest-dwelling gugelė Eglė (V. Alek.), the adventurers' chronicler Kiminas (N. Vait. 2014), a gugelė working at a swamp tavern Spanguolė (V. Alek.), a mermaid Lelija (U. Andr.), an adventurer Mirta (N. Vait. 2013), an evil little creature Pelargonija and a group of her children—Jon žolė, Kalija, Saulėgrąža and Šaltalankis (R. Šer. 2008)—and an adventurer Rododendras (N. Vait. 2013)⁹. As the examples show, some mythical and invented beings and some animals are given traditional human names (Lelija, Rožė, Valerijonas). This is an old tradition in children's literature worldwide. Giving fairy-tale characters such names is most often intended to create a comic effect (Urba 2013: 48). In recent years, this tendency has become increasingly common in Lithuanian children's prose; there are many works in which various characters (usually in nonsense tales) are given real human names (Urba 2004: 58).

The following personal names were formed using folk plant names: a tailor Ašoklis (K. Saj. 2010) (in the Samogitian dialect, ašokliais is the name for red currants (Ribes rubrum))¹⁰, a girl living in medieval Kernavė Luknė (M. Vitk.) (in dialects, luknė is the name for the yellow water-lily (Nuphar)), a grandmother Radasta (V. Ažuš. 2009) (in dialects, radastomis is the name for rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa)), a nobleman Ūžalas (D. Vait. 2004) (a dialectal form of oak (Quercus)—in eastern Aukštaitian, ą is changed in stressed syllables

Many of the character names mentioned in this section, for example, Arnika, Kalija, Lelija, Mirta, Pelargonija, Petunija, Rododendras, and others, could be regarded as Lithuanianized forms of the Latin names Arnica, Calla, Lilium, Myrtus, Pelargonium, Petunia, Rhododendron.

Lithuanian and Latin names of plant genera and species are given on the basis of Ramunėlė Jankevičienė's Botanikos vardų žodynas (1998) and the Terminų bankas of the Republic of Lithuania (http://terminai.vlkk.lt).

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ilguoju u), literatūros mokytoja Žibutė (V. Rač. 2001) (žibutėmis gyvojoje kalboje vadinamos žibuoklės (Hepatica)).

Our prose writers also give various animals folk plant names: the hedgehog Alijošius (V. Land.) (the loanword alijošius is called alavijas in living speech (Aloe); cf. Polish elijasz, Belarusian альяс), the bumblebee Dilgė (U. Ul. 2007) (in Aukštaitija, nettles are called dilgelės (dilgėmis) (Urtica)), and the mosquito Pasternokas (S. Siud.) (this is a morphonemic dialect form; in living speech, parsnip is called pastarnokas (Pastinaca)).

Several names of imaginary and mythical beings were found, also based on folk plant names: the little being Pelargonija’s child Alijošius (R. Šer. 2008), the adventuress Druskažolė (N. Vait. 2013, 2014) (in Jozef Fiedorowicz’s manuscript (1851) and Antanas Lalis’s dictionary (1915), druskažolė is called ‘narytžolė’ (Triglochin)), the sorcerer Lobesylas (a distorted form of the name debesylas (Inula)) (D. Vait. 2006), the garden deity Puplaiškis (D. Vait. 2006) (a morphonemic dialect form; the standard-language form is pupalaiškis (Menyanthes)), the lion-rat Raskila (N. Vait. 2013) (a morphonemic dialect form; cf. standard-language rasakila (Alchemilla)).

It has been observed that authors of contemporary children’s prose often name characters with Latin plant names (in texts, Latin names are usually adapted: they take Lithuanian endings, and sometimes the name stem is modified slightly). For example, in Daiva Vaitkevičiūtė’s novel Marius Pietaris ir juodasis bokštas (2008), the mischievous little witch Grimona (Latin Agrimonia, ‘agrimony’), the tiny little witch Betula (Latin Betula, ‘birch’), and the lively little wizard with bright eyes Juniperas (Latin Juniperus, ‘juniper’) are at play. In Urtė Uliūnė’s storybooks Miegančios boružės (2007), the dragonfly Cikorijus chews on a short blade of grass (this character’s name may derive from the Latin name for chicory, Cichorium, or from its dialectal adaptation, cikorija)¹¹. Kazio Saja’s novel Kurio nieks nemylėjo (2008) depicts a girl named Tilė (cf. the Latin name for linden, Tilia) (K. Saj. 2008).

It is also necessary to mention that many multipart character names were found in children’s literature. They all occur in Renata Šerelytė’s tales. A haughty old woman in the tale “Krakatukų pievelė” (2007) has a three-part name. She takes pride in her elaborate name and addresses those around her haughtily, conscious of her own worth and that of her name: Do you know that my name is Mariana Silvana Amarilija (R. Šer. 2007: 32) (cf. the name of the indoor bulbous flower amarilė and its Latin name Amaryllis). Another character in R. Šerelytė’s tales is also full of pride, a worm: And I am Sachrazada Silvana Rabar Barbare!.. – said the Worm proudly (R. Šer. 2008: 125) (this character’s nickname is associated with the name rabarbaro (Rheum); semantically, it can also be linked to one of the meanings of barbaro, ‘a dark, cruel person, a destroyer of cultural values’—like barbarians, worms devour everything).

¹¹ This phytonym most likely entered the dialects through neighboring Slavic languages: cf. Russian укорий, Belarusian цыкорья, Polish cykoria, and also Latvian dialect forms cikorins, cīkorinš, and German Zichorie.

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2. SECONDARY CHARACTER NAMES

This group comprises character names that, during onymization, acquired some derivational formant—a suffix, prefix, or ending—or were formed by compounding.

Derived Forms

This is a relatively small group of names, comprising 14 character names. Authors most often form derivatives using the endings -a, -ė, -is, -ius or the suffixes -elė, -ytė, -utė.

Derivatives with endings. The greatest number of character names formed in this way (7) are recorded in prose texts. Most of them are animal names: the frog Ajeris (: ajeras (Acorus)) (A. Žied.), the brontosaur girl Baobaba (: baobabas (Adansonia)) (V. Land.), the pike Švendrė (: cattail (Typha))¹² (U. Andr.), and the butterfly Tulpius (: tulpė (Tulipa)) (U. Ul. 2010). Two personal names formed this way were found: the pagan warrior Švendrius (J. Žil.) (: cattail (Typha)) and the grandmother’s friend Usnė¹³ (: thistle (Cirsium)) (V. Ažuš. 2009). One name of a mythical being was recorded—the sprite Smilgius (: bentgrass (Agrostis) (J. Žil.).

Derivatives with suffixes. Five character names formed with suffixes were found in prose texts. Two are personal names: the girl Ievutė (: bird cherry (Padus) (R. Čer., R. Šer. 2009)) and the shepherd boy Žirniukas (: pea (Pisum) (V. Ažuš. 2008)). One name each was found for an animal, a mythical being, and an imaginary being: the little witch Dilgytė (: dilgė ‘nettle’ (Urtica)) (D. Vait. 2006), the tiny being Dilgellytė (: dilgelė (Urtica)) (R. Šer. 2008), and the female beaver Rūtelė (: rūta (Ruta)) (J. Lin.). These are name forms with diminutive-affectionate meaning.

Two compound character names were found. One is a personal name: the doctor Liepžiedis (: linden (Tilia) and blossom) (N. Vait. 2013), and the other is a name for a mythical being—the witch Viks vakampė (: sedge (Carex) and corner) (D. Vait. 2004).

3. FUNCTIONS OF CHARACTER NAMES

Both in life and in literature, the primary function of names is distinguishing: separating people from one another and identifying them. A character’s name is the quintessence of their personality, confirming their identity and guarding it like an amulet (Rudait y tė 2000: 29). Names have the power to express essence because they point to just one referent (Bartas 1991: 208).

In fiction, as in life, characters’ names often serve not only a distinguishing function but also a function of fate. By tracing the inner form of names, it is often possible to find a reason why the characters were given those names.

¹² In colloquial speech and dialects, reeds are called “švendrės” (Phragmites), so the pike’s name, Švendrė, may also be considered an original name.

¹³ Another interpretation of Usnė is also possible. It could be an onymized dialectal form of usnis.

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In children’s prose, we find examples in which a character’s name is directly related to its place of residence. For instance, inhabitants of water and wetland areas (frogs, fish, etc.) are given names of aquatic and riverside plants. The habitat motivates the creation of the froglet’s name Ajeris (A. Žied.) and the pike’s name Švendrė (U. Andr.): sweet flags (Acorus), bulrushes (Typha), and reeds (called “švedrės” in living speech (Phragmytes)) grow along the edges of still or slow-flowing waters and on muddy banks (Vilkonis 2001: 370, 382).

Sometimes a plant name helps describe a character’s appearance; for example, a tall, thin sprite is called Smilgius (J. Žil.) (the stems of grasses are thin and slender; cf. the comparisons given in The Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language: He’s so big, tall, and thin like a blade of grass LKKXIII125(Grv). Tall as a spoon, long as a blade of grass LTR(Aln)).

Even more names were found that are associated with a character’s activity or profession. For instance, in children’s prose, doctors and pharmacists are often named after medicinal plants: a doctor is called Liepžiedis (N. Vait. 2013), because linden flowers are an excellent remedy for numerous respiratory, cardiovascular, skin, joint, nervous-system, and other ailments (Ragažinskienė, Rimkienė, Sasnauskas 2005: 202). The pharmacist’s name, Alijošius (V. Land.), was formed on the same principle (various ailments of the skin, digestive system, respiratory tract, and others are treated with preparations of aloe, colloquially called by the loanword alijošius (Ragažinskienė, Rimkienė, Sasnauskas 2005: 31)). Interestingly, in the same paragraph, the author of The Stories of Rudnosiukas (2010), Vytautas V. Landsbergis, writes this name sometimes with a capital letter and sometimes with a lowercase one. In this way, the author demonstrates sensitivity to language and creates linguistic nonsense, an obvious impossibility, one manifestation of which is paradoxical characters (Urba 2013: 47). In creating incredible stories, the author plays not only with the multiple meanings of words but also with the reader: the reader must be especially attentive, stay alert, and work out when the text is talking about the pharmacist Alijošius and when about the remedy alijošius. Having received such a telegram, the hedgehog rushed straight to the pharmacist Alijošius to buy some pills for his friend’s stomach, but since Alijošius did not have any, the hedgehog crushed up alijošius with honey and took it to Rudnosiukas. Rudnosiukas ate the alijošius with honey, recovered at once, and licked his lips V. Land.: 61. In such cases, one can speak of the identification of the denotatum with the proper name, which, according to Yuri Lotman, is particularly characteristic of mythological representations (Lotman 2004: 235).

Such character names merely confirm the fact that in ancient times Lithuanians firmly believed in the magical power of certain plants, which could bestow good qualities on a person and also protect them from evil, and so on (Zinkevičius 2008: 516). For instance, if a character needs some kind of treatment or protection, they are often given the name of a medicinal plant: a ram is called Valerijonas because his head shook in such a funny way—perhaps from fear? (N. Kep. 2008: 41) (valerian is used not only to reduce fear but also for various neuroses, insomnia, hysteria, and stress (Ragažinskienė, Rimkienė, Sasnauskas 2005: 397)).

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Thus, it is clear that in literary texts, characters’ names are increasingly becoming one of the main means of creating vivid, unexpected portraits of characters (Ep-makova 2009). They become “reflections” of certain ideas held by the authors (Bартas 1991: 215). Often, ingeniously and skillfully created character names are used only in a particular work by that author (for example, Druskažolė, Smilgius, Tulpius, Viks vakampė, and so on). If a familiar plant name is transferred to designate a character, there is a considerable likelihood that it will be found in the works of several authors. For example, Alijošius appears in V. V. Landsbergis’s Rudnosiuko istorijose (2010) and R. Šerelytė’s Krakatu-kų brūzgynėliuose (2008); this name is also found in adult fiction (for example, in Andrius Tapinas’s novel Vilko valanda (2013), the caretaker of a Vilnius Legion machine is named Alijošius¹⁴.

As the material discussed shows, some characters’ names are very clear and transparent, and their motivation is readily apparent even to a child (for example, Dilgė, Raskila, Ūžalas, etc.). Some names may sound like riddles to young readers (for example, Betula, Grimona, Juniperas, and so on)—some are solved, while others remain a mystery; yet a literary work is much more concerned with raising questions, posing riddles, and intriguing the reader than with providing easily guessed answers. This is why proper names in literary texts arouse numerous associative meanings and connotations in readers (Кухаренко 1988, 106, cit. iš Николина 2003, 196).

SUMMARY

A review of about 200 works of contemporary Lithuanian children’s prose found more than 80 semantically motivated plant-based character names in 41 books by 27 authors: 36 personal names, 26 names of various mythical beings and creatures invented by the authors themselves, and 20 animal names. In terms of word formation, primary names are used more often (nearly 70); only 14 derivatives were recorded. When naming characters, the authors of the selected texts most often choose the names of flowering, attractive plants (for example, bijūnas, lelija, narcizas, petunija, ramunė, rododendras, rūta, tulpė, žibutė, and so on). The names of various medicinal herbs (ajeras, alijošius, arnika, debesylas, dilgėlė, jonažolė, mėta, rasakila, valerijonas, and so on), trees (ąžuolas, baobabas, eglė, liepa, vyšnia, etc.), shrubs (vašoklis, radasta, šaltalankis, etc.), and houseplants are also popular in the process of onymization

¹⁴ The name Rožė is even more popular in literature: in works for children it is given not only to girls but also to princesses, goats, and other living creatures; the name is also widespread in adult literature (in Rimantas Šavelis’s short story “Pasimatymas,” the canteen manager Rožytė appears; in Henrikas Čigriejus’s novella “Vaidinimas,” a woman named Rožė appears; in A. Tapinas’s novel Vilko valanda (2013), the deranged Vilnius beggar Bėdų Rožė wanders about, etc.).

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the names of houseplants (kalija, mirta, pelargonija, etc.), vegetables (morka, pupa, rabarbaras, etc.), and weeds (dagys, dagišius, usnis, viksva, etc.) are also used. The most popular plant names from which Lithuanian authors create character names are alijošius, ąžuolas, bijūnas, dilgėlė, lelija, liepa, mėta, morka, petunija, rožė, rūta, pelargonija, valerijonas (these plant names have become character names in the works of more than one author). The inner form of the character names discussed in the article is entirely clear, and their semantic motivation is evident. In literary texts, character names become one of the main means of creating vivid, unexpected portraits of characters: for example, some names are directly related to the characters’ place of residence, others to their activities or occupation, while still others help describe a character’s appearance, and so on.

We could provisionally state that plant-based character names occur in one in every five children’s books; thus, even a fragmentary study of this layer of language allows us to recognize the ancient nature-oriented Lithuanian worldview that still lies latent in the language. The variety of such character names in children’s prose texts reveals not only the creative power and inexhaustible diversity of authors, but also those of language, and demonstrates the imagination and playfulness of our prose writers.

ABBREVIATIONS OF SOURCES

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A. Cic. – Cicėnaitė Akvilina. Kengūrų slėnio paslaptis. Vilnius: Alma litera, 2014.

R. Gram. – Grambaitė Rasa. Mėtų arbata. Vilnius: Sirokas, 2005.

K. Gud. – Gudonytė Kristina. Gėlių duoras. Vilnius: Laisvos valandos, 2011.

O. Jaut. 2004 – Jautakienė Ona. Katino Felicijono pasakos. Vilnius: Gairės, 2004.

O. Jaut. 2009 – Jautakė Ona. Ponia Pelargonija. Vilnius: Kronta, 2009.

P. Juod. – Juodišius Paulius. Lipotapas ir kruopų vagys. Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2004.

V. Kav. – Vaida Kavaliauskaitė. Stories of Love, Miracles, and Longing. Vilnius: Naisių vasara, 2013.

J. Kel. – Julius Keleras. Princess Murzė. Vilnius: Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishing House, 2011.

N. Kep. 2008 – Kepėnienė Nijolė. Vasarnamis saulės zuikučiams. Klaipėda: Druka, 2008.

N. Kep. 2013 – Kepėnienė Nijolė. Kažkas ne taip. Kaišiadorys: Printeja, 2013.

N. Kliuk. – Kliukaitė Nijolė. Mirties vandenynas. Klaipėda: Libra Memelensis, 2011.

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AURELIJA GRITĖNIENĖ

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U. Ul. 2007 – Uliūnė Urtė. Sleeping Ladybugs. Vilnius: Nieko rimto, 2007.

U. Ul. 2010 – Uliūnė Urtė. A Different Day for a Shirdle. Vilnius: Nieko rimto, 2010.

D. Vait. 2004 – Vaitkevičiūtė Daiva. Marius Pietaris and the Book of Spells. Vilnius: Rosma, 2004.

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N. Vait. 2013 – Vaitkutė Neringa. Rainbow Arches. Vilnius: Nieko rimto, 2013.

N. Vait. 2014 – Vaitkutė Neringa. Flint Feather. Vilnius: Nieko rimto, 2014.

M. Vitk. – Vitkūnas Manvydas. Viduramžių Kernavė. Vilnius: Aukso žuvys, 2014.

A. Zur. – Zurba Algimantas. Melnragės akmenys. Vilnius: Gimtasis žodis, 2005.

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J. Žil. – Žilinskas Justinas. Gugis – King of the Forests and Friend of the People. Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2006.

L. Žut. – Žutautė Lina. Ferdinand and Pooh. An Adventure in Australia. Vilnius: Alma littera, 2013.

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Anthroponyms of Plant Origin in Contemporary Lithuanian Prose for Children

S U M M A R Y

The article analyses 82 recorded names of characters which are related to plant origin from 41 pieces of children prose literature by 27 Lithuanian authors of the 21^st century. The major part of such names is constituted by anthroponyms (36 names), 26 names are used to name various mythological creatures and fictitious creatures originated by authors themselves; 20 names are given to different animals. The article aims at to examine the ways of derivation and formants of such words, to identify most common lexemes serving as underlying words and discuss the process of onymisation.

The names of characters can be divided into primary and secondary from the point of view of word derivation; the latter ones can be divided into suffix derivatives and flexional derivatives as well as compound names.

The analysed material shows that in prose texts the primary names are mainly used (there were 70 of them found). The flexional derivatives can be distinguished among secondary names (7 found).

The authors basically use the titles of blooming and presentable plants in naming the characters. A number of names were derived from herbs, trees, bushes, house flowers, weeds and other names of plants. The most popular plants are the following: aloe vera, oak tree, nettle, lily, mint, carrot, pelargonium, petunia, rose, rue, valerian.

The names of characters originated from plants usually describe them: emphasise their habitat, profession, occupation and etc. All names described in the article are comprehensible, transparent and their motivation is easy traceable even for children. Thus, even a fragmental research of this linguistic layer allows recognising the naturalistic world-view of Lithuanians. The variety of character names based on plant origin in prose texts for children shows not only the creative power of authors but also the inexhaustible variety of language moreover they reveal the phantasy of prose writers as well as their playfulness.

Įteikta 2014 m. liepos 11 d.

A U R E L I J A G R I T Ė N I E N Ė

Lietuvių kalbos institutas

Petro Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius, Lietuva

[email protected]

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