Page 1ACTA LINGUISTICA LITHUANICA
XLV (2001), 151–178
The attributive phrase with an agreeing component in Kiprijonas Lukauskas’s Pamoksluose
VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas
A study of word order in noun phrases with agreeing modifiers (adjectives, numerals, pronouns and participles) in Lukauskas’ Sermons shows that the 18th century was a period of continuation and consolidation of the principles of phrase structure established in the 16th–17th centuries. The selection of word order patterns is better motivated than in earlier religious writings, and there is less variation than in the sermons of Bretkūnas and Sirvydas. Postposition of the adjective is frequent in religious terminology, where the word order of the original languages is often retained in view of the canonical character of the texts involved. This word order eventually became the norm in religious writings. Both preposed and postposed agreeing modifiers may assume contrastive stress. The text of the Sermons reflects the process of expansion of adjectives in -iškas, -inis and -ingas which begin to compete with the genitives of nouns. Discontinuous noun phrases, with modifiers separated from their heads, are a characteristic features of this text and of the eastern variety of the written language as a whole.
1. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS1
1.1. The eighteenth century is often overlooked or ignored not only by historians but also by linguists, since this stage in Lithuania’s development is not considered prestigious or interesting to study from either a political or a cultural perspective. In analyzing the grammatical structure of written Lithuanian and its lexical, dialectal, and other features, we rely primarily on the recognized linguistic monuments of the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth centuries (those of Bretkūnas, Daukša, Sirvydas, and others), and then most often jump straight to the nineteenth century, leaving aside a period of a century and a half which should, in essence, have become a stage in the stabilization of the written-language norms codified in the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth centuries. In Lithuanian linguistics, the view persists that eighteenth-century language is macaronic, a corrupted form of the Lithuanian recorded in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writings (Palionis 1995: 112–114; 164; Zinkevičius 1990: 15; 35; Jonikas 1987: 126). This traditional view is based primarily on analyses of the vocabulary of eighteenth-century written language. It is true that more recent studies have begun to revise this view, at least in part: it is increasingly argued that, without examining the grammatical structure—morphology and syntax—of the language of this period, traditional claims about the poor command of language among the authors of Catholic writings,
1 I thank the Lithuanian Foundation, the Bronius Vškelis Scholarship Fund, and Professor William Schmalstieg for the opportunity to work at Pennsylvania State University and strengthen the theoretical foundations of this article and forthcoming book.
Page 2152 |
VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
rašomosios kalbos degradavimą atrodo gana vienpusiški (Karaciejaus 1998: 134–138; 2000: 24–26). Išsamesnė kai kurių XVIII a. rašto paminklų leksikos analizė taip pat verčia šiek tiek keisti tradicinę nuostatą apie polonizmų gausą to laikotarpio rašomojoje kalboje (Girdėnis 1998: 8–12).
The traditional negative view of eighteenth-century writings is not the only factor behind their unpopularity: from the perspective of the formation or development of the written language, this period may be considered relatively uneventful. It is natural that linguists tend to focus on the earliest written monuments and the state of their language recorded in them. Later, in nineteenth-century writings, they begin to seek the origins of our standard language. Thus, eighteenth-century language seems to have been relegated to the sidelines because no more noticeable change in the social status of Lithuanian was observed and no more substantial turn in the development of its structure was recorded.
As early as 1976, Jurgis Lebedys wrote that this period in the development of the written language was treated almost exclusively negatively, as “one continuous black spot, a period of uninterrupted decline and degradation of literary language” (Lebedys 1976: 17). In his view, “such an entirely negative treatment of a long period can hardly be justified methodologically”—the language of written works depends on the contemporary society’s attitudes toward language, its linguistic taste, and the purpose of the writings, and reflects the social and cultural conditions of the time (Lebedys 1976: 17–18).
Juozas Karaciejus emphasizes that it is impossible to form a coherent picture of language development by omitting a period lasting almost a century and a half and failing to relate it to the language of earlier writings (Karaciejus 1998: 135–138). He identifies several inconsistencies in the view of the language of eighteenth-century writings: (a) there is reluctance to discuss the continuity of the earlier tradition of religious writings; (b) an a priori negative assessment of the language of eighteenth-century writings prevails; (c) this language is most often studied without taking account of the social and cultural conditions of the time; (d) the conclusion that the language of writings from the period under discussion was in decline is based on an analysis of vocabulary rather than grammatical structure (morphology and syntax).
This article will discuss only a small fragment of the syntax of eighteenth-century written language—the attributive phrase with an agreeing component in Lukauskas’s Pamoksluose.
1.2. The order of the constituents in various attributive constructions in Old Lithuanian (in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writings) has already been studied extensively (see Vasiliauskienė 1994; 1995; 1997; 1998), and the most characteristic structural patterns of these constructions have been identified. However, the subsequent development of attributive phrase structure has not yet been analyzed at all, nor has research explored the continuity of features recorded in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writings or the emergence of any innovations in the written language of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Although, as already mentioned, the language of eighteenth-century writings is generally viewed negatively, researchers nevertheless tend to acknowledge that relatively well-written texts were also produced during this period. One such work is considered to be Lukauskas’s Pamokslai, which would apparently have had a positive influence on the language of religious writings of the time had it been published. The work contains the beginnings of terminology in various fields (law, medicine) as well as words used in older writings (Lebedys 1976: 40); thus, given all the features mentioned here, Lukauskas’s collection of sermons seems the most suitable for a study of attributive phrase structure.
1.3. Little is known about the author of this work. He is thought to have been born in Samogitia, but to have spent most of his life in eastern Lithuania, in Troškūnai. According to Kara-
Page 3ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 153
...of the preacher, the spelling of these sermons is close to the eastern written-language variety of the first half of the 17th century. Pamokslų The language is not homogeneous: Lukauskas wrote in Aukštaitian, but Žemaitian forms are also found here (Karaciejus 1996: 19–20).
Punctuation in this sermon collection varies greatly. The chosen punctuation principles—or perhaps their not entirely consistent application, understandable only to the author himself—make the boundaries of word groups and clauses in complex sentences unclear and become one of the causes of ambiguity in the text; compare:
Despair about salvation is nothing else, only destructionHope, attainment of eternal goodness, which at some time we desire and with all our strength agrees with you in that and becomes the sin of despair 52.
For it causes grief and sorrow to the soul, accusing itself, and betraying itself by a decree, its own accusation 77.
That same affliction is an inspiration of such wretchedness that a person becomes so despondentthat, without any effort, he does all that it inspires 84.
The relations between modifiers in attributive constructions are also often ambiguous, especially when several cluster in one place, for example:
That is the first bond and obligation of every Christian 25.
Though he could have healed him with a single word or by touching him with his hand, he did not do so, but led him aside, put his fingers into his ears, spat, and touched his tongue 65.
...not one hair of his head will fall from you 69.
From which commandments it is made clear that the Lord our God not only forbids it, but also strictly commands us not to take his name as a witness without any need... 82.
Your word is a lamp to my feet O God 26.
The meaning of the text and the totality of syntactic relations in a sentence can help establish how the elements are interconnected, but because word order varies, some cases remain unclear.
Lukauskas writes the endings of the a-stem genitive singular (1) and nominative plural (2) differently (cf. Karaciejus 1996: 19). Perhaps in this way the author sought to avoid syncretism between the forms of frequently used nouns. The genitive singular usually has the ending -os, while the nominative plural has -as; however, cases of inconsistency or mixing also occur, cf.: (1) no benefit 35; for the Article of Faith 42; that truth 40; that card 67; that rod; but safeguarding health 34; good will 26; (2) those truths 45; those Ceremonies 64; such Wwogas 62; innocent souls 46; but those days 116.
The endings of the nouns mentioned above and of the pronouns or adjectives used with them may differ.
Syncretism between two or more cases is another source of ambiguity in this sermon text. When writing -as a-stem nouns in the nominative plural, one can avoid syncretism with the genitive singular; in this case, however, the nominative plural (1) becomes syncretic with the accusative (2):
(1)...but every Sunday and the annual feast are holy days of God, which are especially regarded
Page 4154 |
V I R G I N I J A V A S I L I A U S K I E N Ė
would be disgraced to his honour 96.
Such an act is improper, since it is a grave insult to God... 109.
(2) Then that honour cannot be greater or more loving toward God than when, through priestly hands we offer Him His only Son 101.
The unmarried women are not forbidden to go out, especially when it is slippery or the crossing is dangerous 108.
...for even the pagans themselves, not knowing about that Resurrection, guided by reason from the very light of nature, worshipped their own false gods on the true days, without sanctifying them through their observance 96.
Except for those places, where they have the power to judge (as he says) over serious matters, over shameful deeds, over which... 113.
1.4. The article’s database consists of 1,541 attributive phrases with an agreeing modifier, selected from ten of Lukauskas’s sermons (KL 23–118). The position of the numeral modifier relative to the noun was discussed on the basis of 75 phrases, that of the pronominal modifier on the basis of 767, the adjectival modifier on the basis of 552, and the participial modifier on the basis of 147 (see Table 1); cases of non-adjacent positions of agreeing modifiers were also analyzed.
TABLE 1. POSITION OF AGREEING MODIFIERS
Modifier Total number BEFORE AFTER number% number% Numeral 75 68 90.7 7 9.3 Pronominal 767 722 94.1 45 5.9 Adjectival 552 316 57.2 236 42.8 Participial 147 81 55.1 66 44.9
2. NUMERALS
2.1. The numeral occurs as an agreeing modifier infrequently—in ten sermons, 75 such instances were found. The vast majority of them are characterized by preposition—90.7%:
I swear upon the first truth, there is nothing evil 83.
If then those things are believed even by the Dissidents themselves, why not by others? For example, that there is the Church, that there are Seven Sacraments, that there are Indulgences... 42.
For six days you shall labor and do all your work,the seventh day is the Sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord your God... 108.
Comparing this text of the Sermons with Sirvydas’s Points of Preaching, printed in the first half of the 17th century in the eastern dialect, no particularly striking differences are apparent (see
Page 5ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 155
Vasiliauskienė 1995: 126). Skaitvardžio prepozicija dominuoja abiejuose pamokslų rinkiniuose. Tačiau retokai pasitaikančios skaitvardžio postpozicijos motyvai Lukausko Pamokslų tekste akivaizdesni negu Punktuose sakymų. Kai skaitvardis pasakomas po daiktavardžio, tai Pamoksluose visada iškeliama, akcentuojama kiekybė, toks postpozicinis skaitvardis dažnai turi ir kontrasto kirtį. Panašų efektą dabartinėje lietuvių kalboje, matyt, būtų galima pasiekti šalia postpozicinio skaitvardžio vartojant įvairias dalelytes, pvz., tik, dar, jau:
As after that confession you have vowed a gift, give a beggar a penny for that first vowone penny. The second time, givetwo pennies87. Nowone third of a dayis found in the furrow on the way, until the sack is full and it is alive... 112. The fourth time, give four, and so always repeating, the person himself to himselfone pennygoes on giving alms for many years, 87. Or can anyone vow something until the end of the year, for one year?one year?94.
The selected passage contains no definite numerals.
2.2. A noteworthy example in which a numeral is used postpositively after a personal name, e.g.:
We have as an example the worthy writer Eneas Silvius, who converted to the faith and was later called Pope Pius the Second106.
Such placement of a numeral is also standard in present-day Lithuanian, e.g., Petras Pirma-sis, Liudvikas Keturioliktasis, and so on; however, we find no discussion of it in any grammar, apparently because we almost always write a number here rather than a word.
2.3. Of all numerals, the one most often occurs after the noun it modifies: one (4 cases):
In the end, or perhaps at the end, whoever promises to observe a fast for some one year, or for half a year... 94.
The uncertainty of its position relative to that of other numerals could be explained by the fact that this lexeme can function in the text not only as a numeral but also as an adjective or pronoun, and the position of the latter, especially adjectives, tends to vary more in relation to the noun.
3. PRONOUN
3.1. Being, like the numeral, an abstract and non-pictorial part of speech, the pronoun has not only a defined number of lexemes but also a fixed position in relation to the noun. Pamoksluose it is most often placed before the noun (PR 94.1%; see Table 1):
For such a deed God punished that woman, about whom Father Segneras writes... 115....it would never be fitting, even if it were possible for someone to convert all the pagans to the Faith with a single throw...the pagans to the Faith, and to bring all heretics and schismatics back to God, all
Page 6156 | VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
to drive the damned and devils out of hell... 27.In the Holy Scriptures and the Gospels there is no word or feeling that would not be pronounced by the Holy Spirit... 70....the lawgiver himself punishes those who make each false statement or oath 87.Other sinswhen we offend God, we offend him either in his creation or in his commandments... 69.
Comparing the frequency of pronoun use in Lukauskas’s Pamoksluose and Punktuose sakymų reveals several differences: Lukauskas uses the pronouns kitas, (ne)koks much more often than Sirvydas; the pronoun toks is also frequent in his text, whereas visas and wisoks are less common here than in Sirvydas’s sermons; šis is very rare, while tutas occurs only once:
Remember, it is that Holy wound that was inflicted... 52. There were in the Old Testament all the African, through whom people are driven out from God... 101–102.
3.2.1. There are few cases of postposed pronouns in Lukauskas’s Pamokslų collection. As in SP or BM, a pronoun in enclitic position serves to foreground or more strongly emphasize the noun preceding it (1), or may be linked to it appositionally (2):
(1) Teypogi metu Missios turia ju Missionorey, jog nuog slubu nekuríu izłuosuoty yr anus atmaynuty gale... 96. Kada garbie ta, kurię Diewuy atadwoty turem, prigule, pirmiaus iki Wieros, diet to, kunorint mums Diewas... paduoda... 38–39. Toligiey iszmanity turia yr ape žayshus wisokius, kiekwienas žaystas ar tay kaulelus, ar kartosy? 111.... nes kada kas unt paspirima sawa tiesos, kalbietu apsisakau, swieczywosi sumenniu mana, wężliwściu mana, zmoniemis tiemis čia essuntiemis; ne prisiektu... 74. Isz to papratima paeyna tay, jog norint uzmiszty norietumem daykta toki, neuzmir- sziem... 84.... teypogi slubas toksay twirtas ne butu 89. Prisakimay paduoty ira tie, kurius mums arba Diewas, arba Baznicia, arba Wiresnibe kokie paduoda unt uzlaykima yr ing jus aprisza 27. (2) ... su wisu graziausias ira patogumos kłausima Misios S. per mustima Tajemnicuu yr atminima Mukos Diewiszkos, nes ta buwa intencyą Izganitoia paties, kada pri paskutinios Wecierios Apasżtatams prisakie... 106. Ape wiena Ministra Luterszka kursay iszszadieis ayszkiey Herezias turieie sapna toki 64. Atsakau taridamas wisotmiey, jog Prisakimay wieny ira prisakuntis, untry uzsakuntis 26. Jei tada koksay Dissidentas patsay pradietu kalbba ape Wiera, drusiausey yr gieriausey teyp jem atsakity 47.
Page 7Atributinė frazė Luka usko Pamoksluose | 157
TABLE 2. POSITION OF ATTRIBUTIVE MODIFIERS
Pronoun
PR
PO
no.
%
no.
%
that
39
100
–
–
(non-)such
43
100
–
–
each
27
100
–
–
other
42
95,5
2
4,5
(non-)what kind of
57
74
20
26
(non-)which
8
88,9
1
11,1
self
44
97,8
1
2,2
this
2
100
–
–
this
1
98,1
–
–
that
253
98,1
5
1,9
the same
14
100
–
–
such
104
90,4
11
9,6
a certain
1
100
–
–
one
24
85,7
4
14,3
(not) one
2
100
–
–
whole
46
100
–
–
all kinds of
14
93,3
1
6,7
second
1
100
–
–
3.2.2. However, Pamokslai stand out among all the sources examined first and foremost because in them, more often than in other religious texts, the postpositive pronoun bears contrastive stress:
...and there is something that we promise, we have to repay it to the one to whom we promise... 88.
Gusli and bagpipes are when someone plays and blows the tune that is innate in a way, and cannot be helped by any tune... 60.
Page 8158 |
VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
Everyone should remember that this day is such, which, being the most victorious in honor and glory, must be sanctified to God 109.
Let us compare the preposed and postposed use of toks in adjacent sentences:
When someone breaks such a fast, he commits only one sin, because the two commandments have one end, that is, the mortification of the body. Conversely, when someone breaks a fast on such a day, and besides, has taken a vow to fast on that very day, he commits two sins... 30.
The genitive of the pronoun tas is also emphasized postpositively when it replaces a noun:
...is bound to the fulfillment of that which he swore to do. 81....is not bound to the fulfillment of that which he vowed to do without reflection. 93.
3.2.3. Table 2 shows that more frequent postposition is characteristic of only two pronouns: koks (26%) and toks (9.6%). The latter pronoun quite often bears contrastive stress in the sermons; only occasionally is its postposition conditioned by an appositional or enclitic function in the text.
The position of the pronoun koks relative to the noun has specific characteristics not only in the work by Lukauskas under discussion, but also in other texts of early Lithuanian writing (see Vasiliauskienė 1995: 131). In Sirvydas’s Punktuose sakymų and Bretkūnas’s Postilėje, the koks postposition predominates (SP 88.9%; BP₁ – the first 120 pages taken – 68%). In its usage it differs very markedly from all the other pronouns found in these sermons. Pamoksluose preserves a similar tradition of using this pronoun. Admittedly, in only a quarter of cases is the pronoun koks placed here after the modified word, but even this proportion contrasts sharply with the frequency of all the other pronouns used in this text (see Table 2). When used postpositively, the pronoun koks emphasizes the noun preceding it in every instance and often helps alternate stressed and unstressed words consistently within the phrase. Its postposition is especially common at the end of a phrase (1) and in a series of coordinate sentence elements, when the author of the Pamokslų wishes briefly to interrupt the series and focus greater attention on one or another component of the enumeration (2):
(1) Slubas wadinas Žadeimu Diewuy padaritu, nes kada žadam daykta koki, apsijimam Diewuy, jog tą daykta kuri žadam, izpildissem 88. Prunciszkau, ar ne praeyie tuo dayktu Žmogus koksay? 78. Paskirk sau meta koki unt nuomonias 93. Prisiega (kaypo jau apsisakie) ira wadinimas Warda Diewa unt swiedectwos daykta kokia 79. (2) Buna tay nekadu, jog pikty žmones pameta, padeda, pakasa mazgus kokius, kautus arba ku toligia czĕrays nuodays uzkriesta… 59. Nesioty pri sawęs diet pataymas, arba nusisaugomą netaymas żinkus kokius, korteles, arba mazgelius, ar dera yr tay… 61.
Page 9ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 159
The second is a foolish person, which is also found among Catholics, and this is especially applicable to some kind of or to a wretched, mournful soul, when people speak out of ignorance... 68.
As already mentioned, in some sentences with this postpositive pronoun, informative, significant sentence components alternate consistently with unemphasized or enclitically used words:
You steal from yourselfsome thing, or having lost it, you make a vow... 95.
3.3. The negative form of the pronoun koks, by contrast, is used only before a noun. At first it seemed that this use of the pronoun might be related to its adjectival meaning: one of the meanings of nekoks is ordinary, small. However, this was the only such instance:
Yet his death came to pass and was revealed through some separation from the Blood...100.
A further review of 11 examples from the texts containing the pronoun nekoks showed that it is used not only in the sense of some, but also replaces the pronouns not one, (not) any, some:
Likewise, the commandments are some lamps according to our deeds, which show us what is proper for us and what is not... 26.
Do not say that God has forgotten you, for He cannot forget any creature... 69.
...it is not right to swear, since herelder is no one to command and order 75.
The numeral second in the text of Pamokslai may have acquired the meaning of the pronoun another:
A mother, alone with her little child, had to get up many times at night when it cried, in order to soothe its crying... One must have another mother, who would teach her daughter these very words 72.
3.4. The pronoun pats stands out from other prepositionally used pronouns through its emphatic function: it makes the noun it modifies much more prominent and salient (Ambrazas 1994: 272). This use brings it close to particles. Its emphatic function is often reinforced by the focus particles ir, tiktai and the specifying particle dar (1). Pats is also quite often used alongside proper nouns (2):
(1) That is a good dream... for it is the devil himself who wishes to show such things, and shows them well 64.
...from the very law of nature we ought to feel drawn toward that duty, because eventhe pagans themselves not knowing the Commandment, by the light of reason alone... observe the true days of the year as holy days 96.
And although we can make a promise... and must give back the thing we promise, to the one to whom we promise, yet we cannot promiseonly to God Himself 88.
Page 10160 |
VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
(2) Thus, we receive God’s gifts, for God himself gives us those gifts from the inexhaustible love of his heart... 38.
What does Christ himself say, when on the Sabbath he appeared with a withered hand of a man... 116.
3.5. Preposed pronouns in Pamoksluose bear contrastive stress more often than in other religious texts examined. Contrastive stress is particularly characteristic of the pronoun other, which in the text of the sermons is contrasted with the pronouns that, such. These pronouns, too, often become a means of creating contrast and help bind the text more closely into a unified whole:
Why did God then appear so stern and fearsome? There was no other reason, only this: to awaken us by that means to the observance of his perfect law... 32.
Toky Wilti to hope for such things... to expect rewards from God... Tokia Wiltis would be... unreasonable... Then another Hopeis the one called living... 48–49.
And that day is called the Lord’s day. The other days are not celebrated... 96.
Then it is fitting that we should sanctify no day other than that day 99.
That is not another sacrifice, but the same one, performed at every Holy Mass... 100.
Another is the solemn vow, which is made publicly. And such vows are made by monks when they make a vow to God at the monastic profession. 91.
...but they say that it is absolutely necessary to obtain such a person who would bring it about 59.
The preposed pronoun such very often serves as the correlative in a complex subordinate sentence and also performs the function of linking clauses (as a connector):
A marked such matter, which compels you to do better 92.
You need to know that such minds, those who grumble, have a twofold fault... 103.
And so it is: by the end of the year one may become so sorrowful, and may acquire such abilities that they suffice for difficult tasks 85.
3.6. Pronouns are used as focusing particles, repeated several times alongside nouns that function as coordinate sentence constituents:
Love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength... 55.
... in no manner or way is it ever fitting to adorn oneself... and to translate that as a single utterance all Pagansin Faith, all Hereticsand the Apostates seeking God, all the condemnedand to bring devils out of hell... 27.
A dead Hope is a vain, useless Hope, it gives no life to the soul, it brings no joy nor does it do good, and it bears no fruit and brings no salvation... 48.
4. ADJECTIVE
4.1. Statistical data show that the position of the adjective relative to the noun in the text of Lukauskas’s Sermons is indeterminate (preposed: 57.2%; see Table 1). The predominance of preposed adjectival modifiers—
Page 11ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 161
is not pronounced or dominant here. Undoubtedly, the statistics have been considerably affected by the relatively frequent postpositive use of the adjective holy (73.9%): it accounts for more than a quarter of all instances of adjective postposition found in this text (65 instances; 28.5%). The adjective holy is placed after the word it modifies more often than other adjectives also in the work of another author writing in the eastern dialect, Sirvydas’s Punktai Sayings (83.3%). The predominance of this adjective’s postposition in religious texts is associated with the influence of Latin and Polish, since, as already mentioned elsewhere (see Vasilauskienė 1995: 133), the word order of sacralized ecclesiastical phrases is generally kept unchanged, e.g.: Dowidas Szwyntas 26; Krikszta Szwynta 27; Misiu Szwynta 31; Raszty Szwyntamy 38, 50; Baznicia Szwynta 39, 47; Tieway Szwyntiey 41, 42; Powitas Szwyntas 43; Augustinas Szwyntas 47; Dwasy Szwynta 52.
TABLE 3. POSITION OF ADJECTIVAL MODIFIERS
Adjective PR PO
number % number %
superlative (comparative) 4 57.1 3 42.9
spiritual 3 27.3 8 72.7
divine – – 11 100
whole 19 82.6 4 17.4
Christian 2 25 6 75
annual 2 20 8 80
small 7 87.5 1 12.5
heavy 7 77.8 2 22.2
worldly 7 63.6 4 36.4
holy 23 26.1 65 73.9
true 14 82.4 3 17.6
eternal 2 22.2 7 77.8
Accordingly, it follows that all the true Mysteries, which Holy Church teaches as matters of faith, are truths without error 39–40.
... that Luther did not introduce new errors, but revived old ones, long since [condemned] by the Church
Page 12162 | V I R G I N I J A V A S I L I A U S K I E N Ė
those drowned in God's [teachings?], against whom the Holy Fathers 41.
... for this reason he calls them the Holy Fathers, the sins against the Holy Spirit 52.
Compared with the statistical average, adjective postposition is more frequent in other attributive phrases denoting various ecclesiastical realities as well (see Table 3), e.g.: eternal life 25; eternal fire 56; eternal salvation 57; to the Eternal Father 101; spiritual statutes 26; spiritual supremacy 27; spiritual sermons 70; pagan haughtiness 36; pagan kings 66; divine words 70; divine days 96; Christian faith 39, 41; Christian Mother 39; annual feasts 116.
4.2. Ernst Fraenkel (1969: 90–92) has noted that old Lithuanian monuments contain relatively few adjectival derivatives, and therefore the genitive of a noun is used attributively here more often than in Polish, e.g.: Lithuanian dievo malonė ‘God’s grace’ – Polish Boża miłość ‘God’s love’, Lithuanian dangaus karalystė ‘kingdom of heaven’ – Polish królestwo niebieskie ‘heavenly kingdom’. In some cases, Lukauskas’s Pamoksluose already has an adjective with the suffix -iškas rather than a genitive, e.g.:
Through beauty and all manner of precious things, the beauty of the Church is enriched by the beauty of the soul of those who are sanctified; then it is called the Church of God and Kingdom of the Pagans, which Scripture portrays to us as adorned with precious stones, like a dwelling, by the right hand of God... 66.
4.2.1. The collection of sermons reflects the lively process of forming adjectives with the suffixes -iškas, -inis, and -ingas. Several decades ago, Lebedys, who studied the Sermons, also noted that the work contains the beginnings of Lithuanian legal and medical terminology (Lebedys 1976: 40).
Adjectives with the suffixes -iškas, -inis, and -ingas make up approximately a quarter of all adjectives used in the text by Lukauskas under study. Most often they have the suffix -iškas (15.6% of all adjectives found in the text), e.g.: apostolic apparitions 41; Christian Mother 39; divine days 96; professional occupations 91; worldly statutes 70; earthly kings 67; Christian nobility 111, and so on. These adjectives have several important features related to the process of forming terminological derivatives with suffixes and to the differentiation of the functions of distinct grammatical forms. First, nearly two thirds of these derivatives follow the noun they modify. We can probably associate their frequent postposition with the mixing of the functions of nominal and adjectival attributes arising under conditions of bilingualism: following the Polish model (recall what Fraenkel wrote), a possessive adjective began to be used also where Lithuanian had traditionally used a noun in the genitive. When the noun was replaced by an adjective, its position relative to the modified word remained the same; thus, for example, the adjective diewiszkas, corresponding to the Polish possessive adjective boży, is used only postpositively in Pamoksluose:
And thus to serve God, that is, Christ’s teaching, the unwritten Gospel, 41. These Ceremonies also urge us to keep, as we are obliged, God’s service. We have to maintain it, 66. Therefore this writing is called S. the word of God70. Contempt for Godis evident from this, 76–77. He earns for himself God’s favor, and awaits his own reward for such a deed
Page 13ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 163
required... 106.
Postpositioning more frequent than the statistical average is also characteristic of the adjective dvasiskas:
There are also other commandments and spiritual laws, which the spiritual seniority sets forth 27. And we must not use any more words than Scripture S.... when you, on the pulpit, have spiritual sermonsexplained... 70.
Another important feature of attributive phrases with adjectives in the suffix -iškas is their potential ambiguity of interpretation:
... but every Sunday and the annual holy days are divine days, which in particular must be devoted to his glory 96.
... one day a week, offering it to God for his glory, and divine services... so that we may confess that God is our Lord... 97.
And thus the kings also swear at their coronation that divine laws shall be upheld in justice and according to the custom of the Church of God, and that they will maintain them 81.
That God and Man suffered for us and died on the Cross, and thus delivered us from eternal damnation... 56–57.
For God does not desire that, on the holy day appointed for worship, human pleasures should be indulged in 116.
These phrases with such adjectives seem ambiguous to us now even in context; however, in the bilingual society of the eighteenth century, they probably did not carry a sense of ambiguity and were understood as they were in the prestigious Polish language.
Third, Lukauskas attempts to differentiate the functions of phrases with adjectives in the suffix -iškas from those of phrases with a genitive noun, since only a few variants of the same lexemes are found in Pamoksluose (see also the previous examples):
The second occurs in dreams and comes from a diabolical prompting 63.
... from this each may recognize at the end what spirit his teaching comes from; then it would be at the end of a dream, and fromthe sending of the devil63.
... they do not want us to listen to them with our ears, pondering in our hearts even the more exalted mysteries that are discussed during Holy Mass, such as the offering of bread and wine, the raising of the Body and Blood of Jesus, and priestly Communion, and... 104.
If anyone were to begin listening to Mass after the offering of bread and wine, or were to go before the priest's Communion, they would not fulfill that commandment... 104.
If you do not become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven... 39.
has a living and useful teaching, which strengthens it in good, encourages perseverance, so that we may serve God without stumbling... 49.
Such is the writing of S. and, in words, God in jests, in matters close at hand, in the spleen, too, there is 71.
4.2.2. Adjectives with the suffix -inis occur postpositively somewhat less often than -iškas adjectives (Po 65.7%). For some derivatives with this suffix, the usage tradition is older, for example: paskutinės Wecierios 106; kasdieniniusy poterusy 70; wirszutinias ceremonias 64; Prisakimay wietiney 27; suda molinia 90; darbu runkiniu 116; apsakamas zodinis 71:
Page 14164 |
VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
When on Tobliciu akmeniniu, by their own hands they gave us the commandments they had set out, for our observance... 32. The Law of the Jews, which God ruled only through the upper ceremonies, was enough; that day was set apart for a feast, on which He rested after the creation of the world... 99. Likewise, he must be knowledgeable about all kinds of dice: each die, whether it be a bone die or one of the types? or round game pieces may be of two kinds 111. Then, having examined the writing of S., we must observe all verbal instructions and traditions belonging to the Christian faith of S. 41.
Of the adjectives with the aforementioned suffix, only the adjective metinis stands out for its more frequent postposition (80%):
Likewise, if someone were to promise that he would faithfully observe convenient practices for acquiring wealth, and annual goods, his pledge would not be firm... 90. Is it fitting to desire annual works?... every Sunday and Holy Day annualis a day of God, which... 96.
In the terminology of contemporary Lithuanian, variants are very common between phrases whose dependent word is a genitive and phrases whose dependent word is an adjective with the suffix -inis. Such terms may have identical meanings or refer to different things. When the meanings of both phrases are identical, preference is given to the genitive, although genitive phrases do carry a shade of ambiguity, e.g., telefono pokalbis (DLKŽ 1993: 839). Variants of the aforementioned phrases were also expected to occur in the text of the studied Pamokslų, but it turned out that such variation is not characteristic of KL—usually only one of the variants is used.
4.2.3. Adjectives with the suffix -ingas more often precede the word they modify, compared with the previously discussed adjectives in -iškas and -inis (71.4%). Many were already used in the earliest monuments of our writing, for example: slubas garbingas 91; dayktas stabuklingas 114; Wiltis nenaudinga 48; peciaus ugninga 50; stabuklingos galibes 61; priszingų spasabu 64; izganingus persergeimus 63:
I present here, for encouragement and enlightenment, some histories from the Books of Sermons, drawn from honourable writers, following in this our Lord Jesus Christ, the Teacher... 23. The second is the sin opposed to Hope, which is called presumptuous hope andpresumptuous confidence 53. Fourthly: in the end, and thereafter, we can know, if a knowledge of God and of the wise among humankind is understood, namely, that what is commanded or forbidden is commanded or forbidden under a grave obligation 28.
One or another attributive phrase in the Pamokslų is borrowed from Polish without being fully adapted: only a Lithuanian ending is added to the Polish adjective suffix form, for example:
Page 15ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 165
Do those sin, then, who read heretical books, or other books prohibited by the Church? 44.
... God was our Lord; what is revealed from those words of God to the people of Israel... 97.
Such deeds were not committed by that woman (whose life is recounted in the life of St. Hedwig, Queen of Galicia, as they read) 115.
The hope we speak of here is a theological cardinal virtue, through which we entrust ourselves to God’s help... 47.
4.3. The studied fragment of the sermons uses 48 underived adjectives. Most of them are not particularly figurative or expressive; most often, these are adjectives that function as habitual syntactic partners of the same noun, e.g.: eternal glory 99; bitter death 68; good deeds 40; living fire 77; ardent love 66; free will 28; little children 42; New Testament 27; wicked people 59; grave sins 53; Holy Church 39, etc.
In most cases, the adjective–noun combinations found in this text of a rhetorical genre are fixed and terminologized, naming various religious and legal realities, for example: Lord Most High 29; spiritual power 29; supreme spiritual authority 46; Christian virtues 47; priestly cruelty 85; the Sovereign Queen 70; the Catholic Church 97; a nimble hand and tongue 45; years of grace 51; annual feasts 116; Sunday sermons 23; New Testament 102; Immaculate Conception 116; Old Testament 26; secular people 46; grave sins 53; secular laws 70; mortal sins 99; Holy Baptism 27; Holy Mass 31; Holy Scripture 50; the Most Holy Sacrament 61; Old Covenant 23; verbal promises 41.
4.4. When analyzing written rather than spoken text, one can attempt to determine whether a word in a phrase carries greater semantic weight only on the basis of indirect clues. An adjective may become more prominent in a text for several reasons: 1) informational content (new, important information); 2) the vividness and expressiveness of the lexeme; 3) contrastive stress. All the factors listed here are closely intertwined. The distinctiveness of an adjective is most often determined by higher-level syntactic structures—the logic of sentence and text construction in a rhetorical work, where the orderly placement within the phrase of stressed, unstressed, and enclitic words, as well as sentence inversion, plays an important role.
Therefore, when examining the text of the Sermons, we keep in view the general contours of the Lithuanian sentence’s intonational pattern, which were tentatively outlined in an analysis of the structure of the noun phrase in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writings: the penultimate position in the phrase is prominent, since it is most often occupied by the topic’s center, while the end of the phrase is uninformative; various enclitic particles are frequent in the second position of the sentence and attach to its first word (Vasiliauskienė 1997: 109–110; 114).
4.4.1. Neither the intonational or structural sentence pattern nor the principles of rhetorical text composition indicate that preposed adjectives receive stronger emphasis:
... not every Confessor at the end, but only one who has clear authority granted to him for this by the Apostolic See 96.
Page 16166 | V I R G I N I J A V A S I L I A U S K I E N Ė
Is it enough to observe the Commandments if one fulfills them with evil intent? 29.
Who else can explain the sins against the sixth Commandment, which are always present when one sins willingly 28.
In the writings of St. Hilary we read that once a real Daughter, possessed by the devil, was brought to him, and the devil cried out: I will not leave... 59.
In that book, instead of secrets, there are lies, deceptions, diabolical desires and inventions that are improper, and many other things from which many souls may be scandalized in the end. 46.
4.4.2. However, adjectives preceding a noun often serve as a means of creating textual contrast. Prepositive adjectives bearing contrastive stress are one of the distinctive features of the use of the attributive phrase in the Pamoksluose:
For example, if now a small stream cannot be crossed at the end, how will it be crossed when the water gathers? For example small stairs cannot be climbed without a handrail; how will they be climbed when the ice breaks and water covers them? For a person who finds it difficult to rise from a fall, when there are such whirlpools formed, how will he rise when his habits have become entangled in them? 86.
Those who imagine that your small transgression will merely get you hanged, 114.
... but secular laws punish blasphemers harshly, tearing their nostrils with burning pincers and cutting out their tongues at the root. 70.
First, an oath must be made to conduct oneself justly, without evasion or hesitation, but according to God and conscience, adding nothing and taking nothing away... 75.
Therefore, those who join a Brotherhood, wishing to accept true statutes and promise to fulfill them... must not sin... 89.
... and if the performance of good works is left to me, it will be of no benefit, for faith without good works is like a tree without fruit, like a bird without wings, like an eye without light. 40.
4.4.3. A prepositive adjective acquires its strongest emphasis and greatest weight when it is separated from its head word by another word that has no direct syntactic relation to it:
Just as the eye, when bloody and clouded, disfigures a person, so too, when it does not have a good end, ugly deeds are ugly in the eyes of God. 29.
On the side of faith, it is not fitting for worldly people, especially the unlearned, to enter into disputation... 47.
Lazy lamentation is when a person relies solely on the Lord God’s mercy and, in that hope, sins, saying to himself... 53.
... for this reason, short sermons about you teach how to become lost. 64.
... for there is, through the word of God, a great cleansing 71.
For example, one who was strong by nature can, over the course of a year, become so hardened and acquire such strength that they can manage difficult tasks 85.
Evil becomes a habit, and one must certainly refrain from it 87.
The frequent use of discontinuous modifiers and other sentence constituents, separating words connected by a direct syntactic relation in order to emphasize them more strongly, is another important
Page 17ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 167
feature of this rhetorical genre. Lukauskas makes effective use of the advantages of free word order—for strict word order is certainly unnecessary where the relation between words can be indicated by their inflectional (relational) morphemes. Thus the author of Pamoksluose continues the tradition of Sirvydas, characteristic of the eastern written-language variety (Vasiliauskienė 1995: 137–140).
4.4.4. The juxtaposition of differing qualities of an object or phenomenon is inherent in the very nature of comparative adjectives. Such adjectives are almost always a means of creating contrast in a text; in this case, therefore, it is the adjective’s morphological form, rather than its position, that determines its prominence:
(1) Would the Judge not say to them: Since you stole out of habit, you deserve a greater punishment, for you could have avoided that evil habit, and for that very habit you must be punished 86–87.
Then the Reader ascended to a higher place, such as the ambo is today, and read the Old and New Testament, the Gospel; then the Priest or Deacon 105.
Except in those places where judicial authority is exercised over severe offenses, for certain heinous deeds, and in cases brought before the Supreme Court, such as the canonization of saints, decrees are issued not for everyone but only for certain better towns of the realm, at the end 113.
(2) In addition, every sinful vow must be directed toward a better thing, for it is not enough to vow some good thing... 90.
And the more the stone is rubbed smooth, the more readily it is sworn upon 83.
4.5. Not all adjectives used postpositively in the text under study are raised in prominence or emphasized, although a considerable number of them serve a contrastive function:
Good dreamswe can distinguish from bad ones 64.
And this is not a new thing, for in the same way, in Rome and elsewhere, in other countries, it is commonly stated in Christian teachings for the great consolation of the soul 24.
... one should not hold court on holy days, but rather at the Lord’s courts and in the town halls, since it can be postponed until the next day; but a holy day ought to receive its due reverence 113.
By this commandment of God, manual and feminine work is also forbidden handwork by women 115.
That one faith is living which is found in the true hearts of the people, who are in the bosom of the Lord God, as were those holy martyrs. 38.
Does he swear falsely who, when swearing, uses a word with a double meaning? A word with a double meaning is ambiguous,when necessity requires it, and no injury to one’s neighbor follows from it, it may be used... 78.
When then does God command us to keep a true holy day, that we may freely devote it to our Creator, so that we may know the Lord Most High and Creator? 96.
... neither reading nor writing... is it a real thing or not? So too must we, if we wish to attain salvation, believe all this... as we have the truth plainly before us. 39.
Thus, through that work, a vision was granted the shop is not idle but working, a repose for the body, for any weary person, because the shop is idle, where the body rests, idleness is not commanded 108.
You see that drunken revelry, even to the point of losing one’s reason, is a hateful and dishonorable thing; everyone disgraces himself by such conduct... 86.
Page 18168 |
VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
If all this were so, and the sinner’s heart, weighed down by fearful sins, now God forgives him his sins and justifies him 50.
4.5.1. The prominence of postposed adjectives, their emphasis in the text, is closely related to their position in the phrase: adjectives in the penultimate phrase position generally carry a greater informational load:
I believe that those who die in the Lord will rise to Heaven, and the wicked will be eternally punished in hell’s eternal fire torment 56.
Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 25.
When He burned those two great cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, with sulfurous fire, He destroyed them 32.
... but their troubles are heavenly glory eclipses, which surpasses all the troubles and sorrows of our life 36.
If I swear falsely, may God grant that on that very night living fire consume me; this shall happen when I return home... 77.
And now make a firm resolution... beware of empty oaths, and do not anger him oroffend him 88.
However, when the adjective is postposed, the head noun stated in the penultimate position may also receive greater emphasis:
Then by this means and manner Hope justifies a sinful person 50.
For the oaths we make are lies to God, as it appears from the learned St. Thomas Doctor Angelic, who says... 92.
Thus, a comparison of the last two cases would suggest that the emphasis of either one of the constituents of the attributive phrase—the adjectival modifier or the modified noun—and their informational capacity are closely connected with the marked penultimate position in the phrase.
4.5.2. This rhetorical work also contains examples in which it is difficult to define more precisely the motives for the adjective’s postposition:
Oaths of strangers or a description? 95.
When all this happens, the hearts of sinful people, full of gratitude turn back; now God forgives them their sins and cleanses them 50.
4.5.3. Only a few cases of discontinuous adjective postposition were found in the text of the examined Sermons:
For just as the head, a sign, is great because it is not healthy when it does not chew, so... no benefit from hearing God’s word is brought by one who neither chews nor weighs in the heart what he hears... 103.
An unmarried woman is against the Fourth Commandment of God, and if it concerns some small thing, it may be the end of a sin—only a small one 28.
Page 19ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 169
The adjective in these sentences bears contrastive stress.
4.6. When word order varies within the same phrase, a prenominal adjective is usually neutral, whereas a postnominal one occurs in an emphatic position or bears contrastive stress, cf.:
Are there any? There are some heavy manual labors on holy days? 115.
Then, on all those holy days, according to the old law of the Catholic Church, all Catholics must hear holy Mass, abstain from manual labor, and observe fasts on the vigils of those days 116.
Why did he give us such powerful aid, we great sinners, whose grave sins he forgave, when he had compassion for you... 53.
As that isa grievous sin, and from this confession we can learn that not only God’s but also worldly laws’ blasphemers are severely punished... he says 70.
Cases of unmotivated variation in adjective position are few in Pamoksluose. Such variation is more characteristic only of terminologized phrases with the suffixes -iškas and -inis, which formed on the basis of corresponding Polish phrases, often borrowing their word order as well:
Reading the Holy Scripture, now entering into disputation with worldly heretics, especially the unlearned, the Church of God exhorts... 46.
Nevertheless, among most worldly people, especially those who have abandoned their native tongue, there is nothing common about it: they make the words of Holy Scripture and the Gospels into objects of ridicule and turn them into their jokes... 70–71.
That God and Man suffered for us and died on the Cross, and thus redeemed us fromthe devil’s snares... 56–57.
For then Christ the Lord did not suffer more grievously for us because ofthe devil’s snares, but took our deliverance upon himself... 98.
But the Jews whom God had appointed onlywith external ceremonies authority, were granted that day for the feast, on which the Lord rests after the creation of the world... 99.
For example: when certain things are pressed into the chest, they are various ceremonies, which... 64.
Then it must have a brief explanation, such as what the annual things are desired for annual thingswe must 52.
Ar dera, dayktu metiniu trokszty, yr anu wiltiesi? 51.
4.7. Lithuanian adjectives, especially underived ones, have traditionally more often been placed before the noun they modify (see Table 3; Vasiliauskienė 1995: 125; 127; 132–137; 140). Cases of unmotivated variation in adjective position could have arisen as a result of transferring a foreign model into Lithuanian. In some cases, adjectives with the suffix -iškas replaced a genitive noun form with an older tradition of usage. This change may also have affected word-order variation in terminologized noun phrases, since the position of the genitive relative to the noun it modifies was not strictly defined in old written sources (Vasiliauskienė 1997: 112; 118–119).
Page 20170 |
VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
In contemporary Lithuanian, adjectives used adverbially occur only after the proper name. Pamoksluose allows either order:
Such books in the Lithuanian language are still circulating and being read, such as Alberta DidžiaThe Deception of Dreams, The Sweet Yoke of Women, The Speech of Maidens, and... 45.
That is not my inference, but Didžia Augustina 85.
Word order in the attributive phrase with an adjective in Pamoksluose is more defined, has a more consistent internal structure, and exhibits clearer internal logic compared with sermon texts from the 16th–17th centuries. This is apparently related to the standardization of the language of ecclesiastical writings. In these Pamoksluose there are comparatively few cases of unclear adjective postposition or positional variation that are entirely unmotivated by the structure of the text itself.
Preposed adjectives are neutral if this part of speech has not acquired contrastive stress or occurred in the penultimate, more strongly stressed position in the sentence. Postposed adjectives are more characteristically emphatic. More often than preposed adjectives, they receive contrastive stress or occur in the penultimate position in the sentence. The noun modified by a postposed adjective may also occur in this more prominent sentence position. Separated from its modified noun, the adjective is invariably linked to it by intonation, indicating that the relation between the constituents of the dependent phrase has been deliberately disrupted. Thus, when placed at a distance, the adjective invariably becomes more prominent, and the informational importance of the feature it expresses is heightened.
Adjective postposition is more frequent in religious terminology, where, owing to the specific nature of canonized texts, the retained original word order had already become a tradition in the language of religious writings. In phrases functioning as religious and legal terms, adjectives in -iškas and -inis are also often placed after the noun they modify. This usage is not accidental: it is related to the structure and word order of the corresponding Polish phrases. In some cases, as a result of this influence, derivatives in -iškas have replaced the noun genitive, which had an older usage tradition in Lithuanian and was more characteristically postposed. The prominence of an adjective in the text often depends not on its position relative to the modified word, but on the principles and means used to compose larger units of the text’s syntactic structure and to intensify expression, such as contrastive stress, an emphatic position in the phrase, and so forth.
5. PARTICIPLE
5.1. In the text of Lukauskas’s sermons, participles occur as agreeing modifiers much less frequently than adjectives (about one quarter as often as adjectives; see Table 1). Their position differs only slightly from that of adjectives (cf. ADJN 56.2%; PARTICN 53.9%). Active participles are found in approximately equal numbers in pre- and postposition (PR 49.1%; PO 50.9%), while the position of passive participles essentially coincides with that of adjectives (PR 56.7%).
5.2. Preposed participles are not as prominent in the text as adjectives: their preposition is usually neutral:
Those burning candles and shining lights in the church and at the processions urge us, so that
Page 21ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 171
so that we might serve God with fervent faith and ardent love 66.
For at that time of harvest, when the farmer has not gathered the Holy [grain] from the field, it is certain that a visible disasterwould be deemed a loss, finally, with the participation of the Senior Church, from the field whence it was gathered. 116.
What are you doing herespinningwith wool? 61.
The customs officers say that according to the valuable goodsor goods from the market, whether foreign or local,an established customs dutymust rightly be taken and given into the treasury, as sworn... 81–82.
Participants occurring in this position are occasionally more strongly emphasized to mark contrast (1). In the penultimate sentence position, either the participle or its head noun may become more prominent (2):
(1) Diet ko mums Diewas dawe sawa Prisakimus, regies buty tabiaus ciekawas, o negi reykiėmas klausimas, nes kursaygi Artojas klausa Karalaus: diet ko man dowanas, mokieimus nuog gahwos mokiety liepi, o turtingiems ne liepi? 31.
And not only Holy Mass, but especially also the sermonfor unlearned peopleis fitting to ask, for how is one to learn if not from somewhere? 102.
There is a question that arises, because it often occurs among people, especially the uneducated 59.
(2) He calls such people empty, because they have no foundation in truth; empty people invent these things for themselves, and there are very many of them, especially among uneducated people 62.
One might say here that Christ is a Jew or a Zababonus and is an unsuitable household memberdare? 65.
5.3. The postpositive use of participles differs very little from that of adjectives. Participles following their head words often receive contrastive stress:
If God’s commandments were impossible to obey, then no one would obey them, because it would be impossible to do, no one would be able to do it... 34.
Through fitting ceremoniesthe supreme deed is learned, which is directed toward the glory of God 64.
Moreover, that vow, once made, must be believed, for when someone promises to do something impossible, he promises nothing at all 89.
It is also necessary to know that there is a great difference between a vow that has been madeand one not yet made, because a vow that has been madeis made to God after the mortal sin has been absolved, in order to promise to carry out the thing vowed 89.
Nevertheless, do not think that this necessary question of the sermon is only for uneducated people; it is necessary for everyone and conducive to salvation 102.
From this we can then recognize which are commands to be obeyed, and which are prohibitions, since the word “not” is always added to prohibitions, whereas it is not added to commands to be obeyed. 26.
In the text under investigation, we also find postpositive participles in the penultimate position of the sentence:
Page 22172 |
VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
... but in the end, it is enough for a woman who is truly guilty to have made no pact with the Devil, nor seen him, nor entered into his service, provided that she be an unsuitable user, to whom the devil attaches himself. 58.... and as the appointed time passes, the soul is left entirely free of every bond. 94.... People in the Old Testament, before the coming of Christ, had an old debt of thanksgiving to God, because on the day of their Sabbath they were forbidden to work on the land. 98. For such work God punished that woman about whom the priest Segneras writes, who, when baking bread in the oven on Sunday, heated it up, stoked it with firewood, and burned her hand in the oven. 115.
However, the modified noun occurs more often in this emphatic position than the postpositive participle itself:
Then it follows that all the truths of the Mysteries which Holy Church presents for belief are unerring truths 39–40.
That Book instead of a secret is itself a deception of the senses, bitterly devilish and decidedly divergent, and so many things from which innocent souls may be scandalized, at the end 46.
I believe and confess this firmly, because you assert that you are uncreated and incapable of deceiving or being deceived; therefore you cannot deceive or disappoint. 57.
Remember, you drunkards, that Sunday is not for drinking, nor for brawling, nor for dancing and inappropriate songs 109.
And if you wish to fulfill it more worthily, keep faithful servant, who would carefully heed your speech... 87.
The modified noun takes not the phrase-final position but the penultimate position also when it functions as the head word of a subordinate clause:
One is an oath that has been madea thing already past, which has already surpassed confirmation... 79.
Faith is nothing else, but God Himself alone, and the very gift of God, and an uncreated light, which illuminates our reason... 38.
The other isextinguished, without the flickering torch of Lust, which is the life of our souls... 38.
5.4. There also occur expressions with a postpositive participle that function as terms in religion or law. They denote a single concept, so neither constituent is more strongly emphasized:
...on the other side, it is bound by natural lawsto serve the same Lord 31.
However, our first concern must be about supernatural goods, as the Lord Jesus commanded in the Gospel 51.
A person angered by a slap, insult, or having learned of some sin... cannot swear in any way 76.
Other vows are called Vota simplicia simple vows, which are made privately, without any ceremonies or rituals 91.
That Sunday, going out into the field, he saw an unusually large hare and immediately ordered the dogs to chase it, and he himself ran after it, riding on horseback... 112.
Page 23ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 173
... for when we ward off the effects of witchcraft, we make the sign of the cross, say prayers... we invoke the holy Word. A blessed oil, blessed water... 60.
5.5. In the same construction, the position of the participle varies rarely, e.g.: unlearned people 23 – people unlearned 62; of holy waters 59 – of waters holy 60, for example:
For when that Ignorant Teacher spoke to unlearned people, who walked in crowds behind him... 23.
There also arise among people cards with images that are not honored by God, which those traveling about scatter carelessly and mistakenly, and unlearned people are deceived and led astray... 61–62.
... whoever should notice such a thing, having examined and tested it, and having thrown away or burned the things that angered him and them, holy waters, may cast them away or burn them, but cannot cleanse them without sin 59.
And likewise, when someone falls ill in the eyes, he makes the sign of the cross, blesses, mutters I know not what words, and holy water sprinkles 60.
6. NONCONTACT USE OF AGREEING MODIFIERS
6.1. In Pamoksluose, 7.2% of agreeing modifiers are separated from the nouns they modify by other sentence words or groups of words. In terms of the frequency of noncontact-position cases, Lukauskas surpasses another author who also wrote in an eastern dialect and was notable for this usage, Sirvydas (cf. SP 5.1%). However, in SP adjectives were used at a distance more often (8.8%), whereas in KL the distant position is more characteristic of numerals (10.8%) and pronouns (8.2%); adjectives (5.6%) and participles (4.1%) are separated from the words they modify somewhat less often.
As in other collections of sermons, distant preposition of agreeing modifiers also predominates in this text; there are few cases of distant postposition, which is more characteristic only of adjectives.
6.2. A numeral may be separated from the word it modifies by a single word—a verb, an adverb tada, or particles tiktay, jau—or by a group of several words:
First placethe natural commandment... 31.
The second is a sin appealing to the will, which... 53.
If anyone breaks such a fast, only one sin is added... 30.
... and sometimes someone for one person does not disclose Articles, wishing to confess all the others, would at the same time be a heretic... 43.
Let him often rage, blaspheme, swear; the second, by nature, acquires it through habit 85.
The first day of the week among the Jews is Sunday, because on it the Lord God began the creation of the world... 98.
Third, in the end, are dreams from the Lord God, from the Holy Guardian Angel... 63.
6.3. The most common means of disrupting the direct syntactic relation between an adjective or participle and the word it modifies is a verb:
Page 24174 | VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
When a person comes to a wise understanding, not knowing about God’s Commandments, whether there are any, or what they are, he sins. 33.
A person lives as a Christian, each wishing to guard himself against sin, observes God’s Commandments as carefully as possible... 49.
It is to be known that there is a great inequality between a promise that is fulfilled and one that is not fulfilled... 89.
God inflicted such a heavy punishment on him through the devil, that it brought him to despair at the very end 107.
... thus, to that vile and habituated way of life, one becomes attached and accustomed, so that one torments oneself, is restless, grows weak and faints, until the sin does not fulfill its custom 85.
Dependent elements of a verbal phrase—nouns with an adverbial meaning and adverbs—are inserted between an adjective and the word it modifies much less frequently:
For this is the law of the Apostles, we have in this clearly shown in the writings of S.98.
From the side of faith, likewise, holy people, especially the unlearned, ought not to enter into disputation... 47.
Prudent then is the conclusion which occurs when a person, relying on the Lord God alone, in true love, sins in hope, saying to himself... 53.
... for this reason, brieflyhere in your churchlearnsI would glide through 64.
When that offering from one priest is and in one only this on the whole Holy done in the Churchwould be, then it would be a favor unparalleled... 100.
Enclitic particles are occasionally used to emphasize an adjective, separating it from the noun it modifies:
... on the contrary: godless, people of evil judgment, mockers of God’s Commandments, covered in every good thing and richly endowed with every kind of annual provision. 36.
In addition, the following days must be observed as holy: those of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, of All Saints, of St. Stephen, the first Martyr, and the one most special Patron 116.
In the Pamoksluose there are also instances in which an agreeing modifier is separated from the noun by a preposed non-agreeing modifier expressed by a prepositional construction. Such a position of the modifier is also characteristic of other texts of early writings (see Vasiliauskienė 1995: 139–140), but from the perspective of present-day language this position already seems very unusual; hence, this use of the modifier tends to be regarded as a cause of distance, although in fact this modifier is directly syntactically connected with the same modified noun as the agreeing modifier:
By keeping only the Christian observance of God's Commandment, that is firstpath of salvationway 62.
Wicked ing sin habit, is even more than one’s own nature... 85.
Some words distinguishing an adjective from a noun appear to be substitutes for the noun’s genitive, arising under the influence of Polish:
Page 25ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 175
... in the same way, in Rome and elsewhere, with great devotion of soul, Christian teachings in sermons are simply explained to people 24.
... for a soft thing or a splinter to swear by and take God as witness would be a great dishonor to His most holy Name 75.
6.4. Pamokslai stands out from other monuments of the old language for the abundance of instances of discontinuous preposition of pronouns. No text of old writings from the 16th–17th centuries exhibits so many examples of this non-contiguous position, or such variety.
6.4.1. A pronoun, like an adjective, can be separated from its modified noun by verbs (such cases are among the most frequent) (1), nouns and pronouns functioning as objects and adverbials (2), adverbs (3), several sentence constituents at once, or even an entire subordinate clause (4):
(1) Among the commandments there must be a sequence one after another 31.
That is a dream good and from the Lord God, who leads into fear of God... 64.
Remember, farmer, that this is the Lord’s day, a holy day, and you must attend Holy Mass and the sermon, and not entangle yourself in any work 109.
(2) There can be nothing better or more thorough in all this matter than an answer to that question, as that... 39.
All your intentions will collapse; you will become a wanderer in cities, in quiet fields... 35.
...that we might recognize him as the Most High Lord and Creator, and that we might render him what is due, as a subject renders customary tribute to its ruler 96.
If you have any doubtdoubt, go rather to the theologians, the priests... 47.
(3) ...and on the Gospel? She will point her fingers at it, at her own oaths, which end in simple words... 74.
In every such oath, so that these three things may be fitting and appropriate, they should be kept in mind 75.
In those difficult times, in need and hardship, such things are sought, so that we might awaken our Acts of Hope 51.
(4) ...that it does not belong at Confession, and tun turia of Nuodu and Czeru nauda the greatest devil... 59.
...I always listen to Holy Mass and niejokieys I do not concern myself with her darbays... 114.
...but wisoki that can hold nupehna provides 30.
In the initial phrase position, the pronouns tas, kiekwienas, kitas, toks, koks are separated from the modified noun by the particles that follow them, tay, tiktay, teypogi, and the adverb tada (see also the preceding examples):
Those then offerings, one of which is greatness, justice and truth... 41.
According to the law received by nature, kiekwienas likewise, a person must conduct himself so that, were he not to live by it, he would act against reason 29.
In other such circumstantial contexts, where it is possible... does not lead us to God by hearing Holy Mass... 108.
...and such is the Faith that God requires of us 40.
Page 26176 |
VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
...for from this everyone can recognize at the end, from what kind of spirit His teaching... 63.
...for that there is only one Faith, and it is only in the Catholic Faiththat one can attain it 57.
In the same way, Nestorius's delusions were condemned... 41.
The comparatively frequent use of enclitics after pronouns occurring in first phrase position should be regarded as one of the more distinctive features of the composition and use of the attributive phrase in the Pamokslai.
6.4.2. Another distinctive feature of the sermon collection under discussion is the use of the enclitic particles tiktay (8 examples) and dar (1 example) after the pronoun pats. In this case, it is not the pronoun pats that is emphasized, but the modified noun: the enclitic merely reinforces the emphatic function of this pronoun. Thus, in its function in the sentence, this pronoun is close to particles:
And this expulsion from the community of Catholic Christians was left to the Popes alone as well as the excommunication 44.
If then the dissenters themselves believe in those gifts, why not others? 42.
Another oath, which we swear only by God we lie and swear, and nothing more, 74.
...and authority is not given to everyone over them, but only to the bishops themselves, or to certain priests 95.
In all other cases, the greater informational weight is carried by the distantly placed pronominal modifier rather than by its modified noun. A pronoun separated from the noun by enclitics, tas, often receives contrastive stress, cf. that one, not another:
...in the same way, there was a sealed card, on which was written only that word... 61.
...for that there is only one Faith, and it is only in the Catholic Faiththat one can attain it 57.
7. CONCLUSIONS
Analysis of the word order of attributive phrases with an agreeing modifier in Lukauskas’s Pamoksluose shows that the eighteenth century should be regarded as a period in which norms that began to take shape in the written language of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries became stabilized. Instances of positional indeterminacy and looseness decline. Word order within the phrase varies less, and positional variants of the same lexemes are less frequent. Despite the advantages of flexible word order, the choice of one positional pattern or another is more motivated and clearer.
1. Pamoksluose is dominated by prenominal numeral modifiers. The relatively rare cases of postposition are more strongly motivated here than in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century sermon texts.
2. A pronoun functioning as an agreeing modifier is also most often used before the noun. A postpositive pronoun occupies an enclitic position and helps give greater prominence or emphasis to the noun it modifies, which precedes it, or is linked to it in an appositional relation. A pronoun following the noun bears contrastive stress more often than in other sermons. Postposition is more frequent only with the pronouns koks and toks. Prenominal pronouns also often receive contrastive stress. Of the other prenominal pronouns, pats stands out for its emphatic function, which brings it closer to particles.
Page 27ATRIBUTINĖ FRAZĖ LUKAUSKO PAMOKSLUOSE | 177
3. In the text under discussion, the position of the adjective relative to the noun is not strictly defined. The statistical data have been significantly affected by the very frequent postposition of the adjective szventas. In some cases, Lukauskas uses adjectives with the suffix -iškas instead of a noun in the genitive. Almost two thirds of the derivatives with this suffix follow the noun. Their frequent postposition can apparently be linked to the mixing of the functions of noun and adjective modifiers under conditions of bilingualism: following the Polish model, the possessive adjective came to be used even where Lithuanian had traditionally used a noun in the genitive. The text examined demonstrates the productivity of adjectives with the suffixes -iškas, -inis, -ingas and their competition with the noun genitive. Prenominal adjectives bearing contrastive stress are one distinctive feature of the use of attributive phrases in this sermon collection. The frequent use of modifiers and other sentence constituents in discontinuous positions, separating words linked by a direct syntactic relation in order to emphasize them, is another important feature of this work in the rhetorical genre. Lukauskas makes effective use of the advantages of flexible word order—after all, strict word order is certainly unnecessary where the relations between words can be indicated by their relational morphemes. Not all postpositive adjectives in the text studied are prominent. The prominence of postpositive adjectives, and their emphasis in the text, is also closely linked to their position in the phrase: adjectives in the penultimate position of a phrase generally carry a greater informational load. Word order in the adjectival attributive phrase in Pamoksluose is more clearly defined, with a more consistent internal structure and clearer internal logic than in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century sermon texts. This is apparently connected with the standardization of the language of ecclesiastical writings. In these sermons, there are relatively few cases of adjective postposition or positional variation that are unclear and wholly unmotivated by the structure of the text itself. Adjective postposition is more frequent in religious terminology, where, because of the specific nature of canonical texts, the word order retained from the original had already become a tradition in the language of religious writings. The prominence of an adjective in the text often depends not on its position relative to the word it modifies, but on the principles governing the composition of larger units in the text’s syntactic structure.
4. The position of active and passive participles relative to the word they modify, and their usage patterns in the text examined, differ little from those of adjectives.
5. In the number of nonadjacent positions of agreeing modifiers, Lukauskas surpasses Sirvydas. As in other sermon collections, discontinuous prenominal placement of agreeing modifiers predominates in this text. Modifiers may be separated from the words they modify by verbs, adverbs, particles, prepositional constructions, groups of several words, and so on. Pamokslams, too, are characterized by the very frequent discontinuous prenominal placement of pronouns. A distinctive feature of this sermon collection is the use of the enclitic particles tiktay and dar after the pronoun pats, when the modified noun is emphasized.
ABBREVIATIONS
ADJN—adjectival modifier; prenominal adjectival modifier.
BM – Litauische Mundarten, gesammelt von A. Baranowski, 1. Texte, hrsg. von F. Specht, Leipzig, 1920.
BP₁–[Jonas Bretkunas] POSTILLA Tatai esti Trumpas ir Praf tas Ifchguldimas Euangel iu / ſakamuiu Bazniczoie Krikſchczionifchkoie / nūg Aduento ik Wæliku. Per Jana Bretkuna Lietuvos Plebona Karaliauczuje Prulūſu. Iſſpaude Karaliauczuje Iurgis Oſterbergeras. Meta Pono 1591.
DLKŽ – Dictionary of Contemporary Lithuanian, Vilnius: Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing House, 1993.
Page 28178 |
VIRGINIJA VASILIAUSKIENĖ
KL–K. Lukauskas, Sermons, edited by J. Karacijus, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla, 1996.
Particn – prepositional participial modifier.
Po – postposition.
Pr – preposition.
SP – [Konstantinas Sirvydas] PVNKTY KAZAN od Adventu až do Poſtu, In the Lithuanian language, with an explanation in Polish PUBLISHED BY THE PRIEST KONSTANTY SZYRWID / Theologian of the Society of Jesus / WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE SUPERIORS. IN VILNIUS, at the printing house of the Academy of the Society of Jesus, in the year 1629. (The photographic edition was used: Franz Specht, Šyrwids Punktay sakimu, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1929.)
LITERATŪRA
Ambrazas, V., red. 1994: Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos gramatika, Vilnius: Mokslas.
Dryer, M. S. 1988: Object-verb order and adjective-noun order: Dispelling a myth. Lingua 74, 77–109.
Frenkelis, E. 1969: Baltų kalbos, Vilnius: Mintis.
Girdenis, A. 1998: 1759 metų „Žiwatas“, Faksimilinis leidinys, parengė Aleksas Girdenis ir Petras Skirmantas, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas.
Jonikas, P. 1972: Lietuvių bendrinės rašomosios kalbos kūrimasis antrojoje XIX a. pusėje, Chicago: Pedagoginis lituanistikos institutas.
Jonikas, P. 1987: Lietuvių kalba ir tauta amžių būvyje, Chicago: Lituanistikos instituto leidykla.
Karacijus, J. 1996: Kelios pastabos dėl K. Lukausko kalbos. Kiprijonas Lukauskas, Pamokslai, parengė J. Karacijus, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla.
Karacijus, J. 1998: Dėl XVIII a. raštų kalbos. Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai 39, 134–138.
Karacijus, J. 2000: XVIII a. raštų kalba ir jos kilmė. Žmogus ir žodis 1, 24–26.
Lebedys, J. 1976: Lietuvių kalba XVII–XVIII a. viešajame gyvenime, Vilnius: Mokslas.
Palionis, J. 1995: Lietuvių rašomosios kalbos istorija, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla.
Ulvy das, K., red. 1971: Lietuvių kalbos gramatika 2. Morfologija, Vilnius: Mokslas.
Vasiliauskienė, V. 1994: On the placement of the genitive attribute in Old Lithuanian. Dept. of General Linguistics, University of Umeå, Report 35, 99–115.
Vasiliauskienė, V. 1995: Derinamojo pažyminio vieta senojoje lietuvių kalboje. Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai 33, 124–142.
Vasiliauskienė, V. 1997: Daiktavardžio ir įvardžio genityvo vieta senojoje lietuvių kalboje. Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai 38, 104–121.
Vasiliauskienė, V. 1997: Senųjų raštų atributinės konstrukcijos. Darbai ir Dienos 4, 99–109.
Vasiliauskienė, V. 1998: Atributinių junginių modeliai Mikalojaus Daukšos Postilėje ir Antano Baranausko tarmių tekstuose. Baltistica 33 (2), 215–232.
Zinkevičius, Z. 1988: Lietuvių kalbos istorija 3. Senųjų raštų kalba, Vilnius: Mokslas.
Zinkevičius, Z. 1990: Lietuvių kalbos istorija 4. Lietuvių kalba XVIII–XIX a., Vilnius: Mokslas.
Virginija Vasiliauskienė Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas Donelaičio g. 52, 3000 Kaunas [email protected]
Gauta 2001 11 02
