ACTA LINGUISTICA LITHUANICA

LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI XLII (2000)

Kazimieras ŽUPERKA

Šiauliai University

REFERENCES TO LANGUAGE CONTEMPORANEITY IN NON-LINGUISTIC TEXTS

1. Introductory remarks

The article, drawing on metalinguistic comments (MK) and metalinguistic units (MV)¹, shows which new phenomena in contemporary Lithuanian are noticed by our society and how they are evaluated. In the work of linguists, it is quite commonly held that society does not notice language change. One of the most recent works in Lithuanian sociolinguistics states: “Even without special sociological studies, it is clear that the speech community believes that it speaks today just as it did yesterday, that the present generation speaks exactly as its parents spoke. […] Thus, language users do not feel that their language is changing” (Karaliūnas 1997: 49, 50). Analysis of MK makes it possible to refine this view.

MV were collected from written and spoken-language texts, mostly from journalistic writing (the media), as well as from everyday speech, scholarly works, and literary works². About 4,000 examples were collected; among them, about 400 MV were found that reflect phenomena of language change: references to archaic, somewhat older, contemporary, and different generations’ (older people’s and young people’s) language. MK were collected mainly from language use in recent decades, but earlier sources were also examined, since the aim was to clarify more general features of our society’s linguistic consciousness³, not only which innovations in Lithuanian users notice today. MK referring to the contemporaneity of language, very similar to those of today, are also found in older writings; examples include these two MK from J. Anusavičius’s poetry published in 1900 and a lecture delivered by J. Tumas-Vaižgantas in 1919:

¹A metalinguistic comment is a discussion of the linguistic expression of language or a text: an evaluation, justification of usage, and so on (see Jiřičková 1979: 149; Župerka 1987: 194–195; 1996: 65); an MK together with the part of the text it comments on constitutes a metalinguistic unit (see Barabanščikova 1991: 1).

²Understandably, examples from literary works should be assessed differently from metalinguistic comments in so-called communicative texts, but, given the aims of this article, that difference is not significant here.

³So-called folk linguistics is studied as a phenomenon reflecting linguistic consciousness (see Čmeirková 1992 and the literature cited there). We could view MK in non-linguistic texts as a continuation of folk linguistics in modern times; the term non-professional linguistics might be appropriate here.

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Where the hostess (now one should say: lady) / Household management is not very pleasant Anus 102; Lithuanians are true children of their nature, lovers of their own hearth (now we would say: patriots): wherever they were born, there they remain Vaižg (Prg 1989 9 135).

It is necessary to know at least approximately when an utterance containing MK was used (and sometimes other circumstances as well). Innovations from earlier times are, of course, no longer innovations today; a word seems generally to retain its newness hue for about 10–15 years.

2. The relationship between language characteristic of a historical period and a generation

The collected MV show that there is a relationship between the historical (chronological) opposition in language and the opposition between age groups (generations). A particularly close relationship is evident between the group as they used to say and the group as the old people say MK: we find them accompanying utterances of a similar kind; sometimes MK is formulated in such a way that it is difficult to determine which group—the historical one or the generational one—it belongs to. A somewhat different relationship is evident between the group as people say nowadays and as young people say MK: it is not only the young who speak in a contemporary way, but the young generally do speak in a contemporary way. Their distinctive manner of speaking, often nonstandard from the point of view of the standard language, is perceived as modern. For example:

She went mad and attacked that vapšva, and one of them, a bit more blatnesnė, as young people say nowadays, just whacked Bladžius in the pajalninkas Lkn; Jablonskis the examiner was rather strict and tough, as students would say nowadays—a “hatchet” Prg 1987 3 158; at the intersection I see two boys watching “animated films” (the term for getting high by wrapping one’s face in a towel soaked in chemicals) KT 1988 07 30; If I don’t take the report to the boss tomorrow, it’ll be, as my daughter says nowadays, “the end of the world” nugaroje šnek. 1997.

3. The stylistic aspect of the archaic / contemporary character of language

A historical (chronological) comment on a linguistic unit or means of expression is a social evaluation of language and, at the same time, a certain stylistic characterization.

Among the labels used for stylistic characterization of words in our dictionaries, there is traditionally psn.—“an obsolete word, or one not used or rarely used in standard language, or an obsolete meaning of a word. This label is sometimes also applied to words denoting obsolete concepts or phenomena, or objects that have fallen out of use” (DLKŽ: XIV). LKŽ also has the label neol.—“a neologism, a newly emerged word that has not taken root in literary language” (LKŽ I XIII).

Stilistikoje irgi skiriama dėmesio „archyvinio fondo“ žodžiams (žr. Pikči-lingis 1975: 149–155), o apie terminologinius naujadarus tik užsimenama – jie esą dalykinės kalbos reiškinys (ten pat, 156); daugiausia į kalbos ekspresyvumą orientuotai stilistikai jie nerūpi. Kas kita individualieji, vadinamieji stilistiniai, naujadarai – jie, ekspresyvios kalbos priemonė, išsamiai aptariami (ten pat, 156–169).

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Among the metalinguistic comments (MCs) discussed, those are especially stylistically significant in which the metalinguistic speaker (MS) draws attention not to some new word, but to tendencies in contemporary usage.

4. Comments on the contemporaneity of language and usage

MCs concerning contemporary language and usage are most often parenthetical expressions made up of words from the thematic group of speech verbs (forms of to speak, to say, to talk, to utter, to call; nouns such as language, term, word, and so on) together with adverbs of time or manner (now, nowadays, today; contemporarily, fashionably, in a modern way, newly, in a new way, in today’s style, contemporarily) or word combinations with a similar meaning: words (terms) of the present day (current, fashionable, modern, of our day, of our time, today’s), popular vocabulary, contemporary slang. The most common parenthetical expressions are present-tense adverbial-participle constructions (to put it in a new way, speaking in modern terms, to call it in contemporary terms, to put it in today’s terms) and short sentences of the type as it is now said (called), as is customary (fashionable, popular) to say today. Stereotypical MCs are easier to notice and hear. MCs with a looser structure concerning contemporary usage (e.g.: we did not use this until this year, I have been hearing it for several years now, we avoided it a few years ago) are less conspicuous.

Many stereotypical MCs do not specify whether the contemporary character of usage or style is being discussed, or whether attention is merely being drawn to some new word. In this respect, two small groups of MCs stand out: (a) MCs containing the words new / newly emphasize the novelty of a linguistic unit; (b) MCs containing the words customary, popular; fashionable / fashionably, modern / in a modern way, popular indicate how characteristic or frequent a word or phrase, an expression, is in the period under discussion, e.g.:

(a) we shall turn our attention to […] literary scholarship, or, to put it in a new way, literary studies T 1978 125; Here [in America] even a new Lithuanian “curse” arose: “May relatives from Lithuania come to visit you!” GKr 1989 52; An international computer network, to put it in a new way, the “Internet”—a great boon to civilization MŽ 1997 10 21;

(b) I shall approach the topic, as it is customary to say now, in a discursive manner GKr 1989 37; today a member of parliament receives about three thousand litas on paper / as it is customary to say TV 1998 12 04;

remained in the memory, in the subconscious, as everyone likes to say nowadays LM 1987 01 24; the opinions of Lithuania’s residents, as is now commonly said, are mixed SŽ 1989 64; A. B. obviously comes to the election with more experience, as it has become fashionable to say LR 1993 01 26;

the fact that the poet does not swear excessively or wring his hands, but speaks very calmly and modestly throughout, does not mean that he, to use fashionable terminology, is unaware of the full tragedy of existence LM 1983 15; Well, Mr Chairman, as it is fashionable to say nowadays, we are presenting you with the whole package of problems right away TV 1987 11 13; The climax of the esteemed composer’s outrage at the event was the cry, “Compatriots, come to your senses!” (Indeed, this cry is fashionable now!) KV 1989 14; the battered citizen N.

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is a 22-year-old, likable young man, nowadays fashionably called a businessman LR 1990 207; a private limited company held a festive opening of a shop, more Europeanly and politely called a presentation ŠN 1993 05 20;

demand has already / to put it in our modern words / increased šnek. 1970; a youth celebration, or, to speak in modern terms, a celebration of rappers, took place in the schoolyard MŽ 1997 10 04;

Problem is probably the most popular word today N 1987 1 29; there is an abundance of all sorts of programs, projects, concepts (the most popular word at the moment, in my opinion) GKr 1989 1 15.

More specific and more freely structured MK, of course, describe and comment on the linguistic phenomena in question more precisely:

People remember her as having been an adviser in misfortune and hardship, and a doctor who treated people with medicinal herbs and, as is now said scientifically, with propaganda for a healthy way of life LM 1988 26; The “forcing” of emotions, as we would put it today, drawing on contemporary literary taste, was determined by a weak, nervous communicative code Sauk 143; in today’s jargon, he [Putin] would not be the advertising “man who requires little effort” Mt 1998 2 147.

5. The nature of linguistic phenomena commented on by contemporaneity markers

What linguistic phenomena are accompanied by contemporaneity markers? Mainly: (a) a changed (new) place name, (b) a new word or term that has appeared alongside one used until then, or to name a new phenomenon of life, (c) a new, unusual word form. For example:

The islanders moved to the village of Drūkšiai, now called Drisviatai⁴ KT 1989 4; specialists were trained in Leningrad / nowadays one should say Saint Petersburg Rdj 1998 02 09; The Red Manor lighthouse is now called the Blind Lighthouse SK 1999 45;

(b) kultūros namuose surengęs atsisveikinimo šokius, ak, atsiprašau, – šiais laikais tas reikalas vadinamas diskoteka LM 1987 06 27; mikrorajone, kuris dar tebestatomas, telefonų automatų, dabar vadinamų taksofonais, greičiausiai nebus LR 1992 02 28; pasiėmė pinigus. Tiesa, dabar jie buvo vadinami talonais, vagnorėliais arba tiesiog žvėreliais LM 1993 12 04; tokią muziką iš plokštelės / arba kaip dabar mėgstama vadinti albumo / aš ir parinkau Rdj 1996 12 31; įsiklauso į spaudos / arba kaip dabar įprasta sakyti / žiniasklaidos nuomonę Rdj 1998 03 08; dabar visi šneka ir jau mūsų leksikone yra ligonių kasos Rdj 1998 04 22;

We are used to saying “milkmaid”; now “milker” is no longer a novelty T 1971 30.

⁴Contemporary Belarus; Belarusian Drysviaty.

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Markers of contemporaneity are common alongside words and expressions that emerge, become popular, or come to be used differently as politics, the system, and those in power change. For example, commentaries highlight words and phrases characteristic of the period of the National Revival:

Openness, critical thinking, restructuring, the spirit of the times – fashionable words nowadays KT 1987 06 06; we dared to act without orders from the “strong center” (as we call the union organs today) GKr 1989 7; we will deal, to use today’s popular lexicon, with covering up blank spots KV 1989 14; just a few years ago we avoided this word [strike] like the plague LPr 1989 04 26; Until this year, we did not use the word “resignation” in everyday life, because the action it denoted was also unfamiliar KT 1989 230; Soviet rule in our land was established by Belarusian workers who rushed to help (today I would say: Stalin’s cadres, hardened by repression and put through their paces) TŠ 1989 75.

Particular attention is often drawn to the fact that during the National Revival and the years of restored Independence, the word people and its combinations are being displaced by the returning word nation and its derivatives; occupying an intermediate position is society:

Very easily and quickly all the deputies abandoned the old legacy, named as the people and replaced by society LR 1990 161; goes to meet the people / or, in today’s terms, / the nation TV 1994 01 11; we need to ask society / as people nowadays usually say, / the nation colloq. 1996 03 28; Lithuanian folk art / now more often called national folk art TV 1997 10 24; an exhibition featuring folk artisans / or, as they are called nowadays, folk artists / is on TV 1989 09 10.

That language changes is especially apparent to language users when speaking about the past, whether distant or recent. One often has to use the words of those times, and the markers of contemporaneity provide their current equivalents:

From June 30 to July 11, 1815, public performances took place at the gymnasium […], what we would call public examinations Merk 48; Moreover, he [T. Ivanauskas] was the first to put forward and disseminate ideas about nature conservation, or, in our words, environmental protection Iv 6; And he taught us this subject well, in today’s terms, at an advanced level M 1982 11 10; Now that we’ve become better educated, we call such people socially supported, whereas back then [after the First World War] they simply called them victims Rdj 1998 11 21.

At other times, when speaking about the past, only the names of the period itself are given: In the terminology of our time, he [V. Graičiūnas] was a great enthusiast of the scientific organization of labor (DMO) MG 1988 8 27; He lived, as we would say today, in a departmental fire-station apartment, because his grandfather was a volunteer firefighter ŠN 1989 22.

A bookish quality is noticeable in present-day linguistic communication, along with a tendency toward more complex expression. Markers of contemporaneity in speech are particularly characteristic alongside the patterns of bookish—administrative and journalistic—language: has a basic education / as people now like to say colloq. 1980; You rarely hear such words […] about the long-respected work of the breadwinner

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which today we call agricultural production KB 1988 4 56; deputies had to make what is now commonly called an unpopular decision ŠN 1993 02 20.

A large proportion of all the collected instances of contemporary speech in MK occur alongside international words, so their spread and entrenchment in our time are evident (many such examples have already been given, especially in section 4).

Alongside remarks about the contemporary character of speech, there is sometimes a negative assessment of the cultivation and affectation of language:

And critics will go on to write the biggest articles, in which structures jostle with textures, expressivities with intensities, while beneath this avalanche of international words, the tender shoots of the soul will be even more deeply hidden, unnoticed and unnamed LM 1988 05 14; Žemaičių plentas… Do we notice that, now that a new route has been built and the cumbersome word “motorway” has been put up in so many places, we hear ever less of our old Žemaičių Highway, so evocative historically and ethnographically T 1990 02 18; about that de-KGB-ification (such a dreadful word was coined) in Lithuania, or about investigating who worked for the KGB and who did not LM 1992 01 11; Former housing or apartment management offices have now been fancily rechristened housing maintenance enterprises ŠN 1993 07 17.

More than one language user is struck by the greying of contemporary speech and its loss of imagery:

“What a heap! Why, I could write like that too!” said Žemaitė after reading Bitė’s little story in “Varpas” […]. “That’s no big deal!” a person today will say (perhaps they can no longer say “heap”: the word is too vivid) Prg 1988 2 166; [Leonidas Jacinevičius] wrote this as an inscription when giving away his first book […]: “we’ll shake the world out of those grubby trousers, Sauliau!” He wrote more vividly than we do now, just like Donelaitis… LA 1995 08 16.

On the other hand, new contemporary expressive phrases (metaphors, idioms) are also observed, especially those originating in everyday speech, often slang:

Creative manuscripts, or the creative kitchen, as people nowadays like to say, have not survived (From the Maironis commemoration, 1987); In came this square, as they say nowadays, young man LA 1995 02 11; Having gone out to buy vodka, well, as it is customary to call it nowadays, skull liquor Ak 1996 05 17; a brawl was started by one representative of the oldest profession, to use the new-fangled term, butterfly Klp 1997 11 18; I dislike an extinguished hearth, Dž. Butkutė’s songs, and people with, as they say nowadays, teddy-bear-like appearances Pn 1997 10–11 32; I was so embarrassed that, as people of our age say, – you could just hide under last year’s leaves KG 1998 10 13.

6. Concluding remarks

The relatively small number of collected language-currentness MV does not allow precise general conclusions to be drawn (more examples would be needed, as would dedicated sociolinguistic studies), but even these show which new language phenomena the Lithuanian linguistic community mainly notices. Language users are most struck by external, surface-level innovations, especially vocabulary emerging alongside new phenomena in life.

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Most noticeable are external, surface-level innovations, especially vocabulary emerging alongside new phenomena in life. Clear stylistic trends are also observed, for example the intellectualization of language.

The claim, common in linguistic scholarship, that society does not notice language development is too broad and needs qualification: it depends on which society is meant—contemporary society or an earlier one, Lithuania or some closed linguistic community. On the other hand, it is well known that society notices not so much the development of language (as a system) as changes in speaking (speech) and speech practices.

The study of metalinguistic units, metalinguistic insertions, and other metalinguistic comments used in non-linguistic texts makes it possible to better understand society’s linguistic consciousness and language attitudes, and on that basis to carry out more precisely the work of standardizing the standard language.

Received 1999 03 05

ABBREVIATIONS

Ak – “Akistata”

Anus – Anusavičius J. Viena pavasario diena. V., 1980.

DLKŽ – Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas. V., 1993.

GKr – “Gimtasis kraštas”

Iv – Ivanauskas T. Gamtininko užrašai. V., 1974.

KB – “Kultūros barai”

KG – “Kėdainių garsas”

Klp – “Klaipėda”

KT – “Komjaunimo tiesa”

KV – “Kalba Vilnius”

LA – “Lietuvos aidas”

Lkn – Luknės (Skuodo r.)

LKŽ I – Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language. Vol. 1. V., 1968.

LM – “Literature and Art”

LPr – “Lithuanian Trade Unions”

LR – “Lietuvos rytas”

M – “Schoolboy”

Merk – Merkys V. Simonas Daukantas. V., 1972.

MG – “Science and Life”

Mt – “Years”

MŽ – “Our Word” (Skuodas district)

N – “Nemunas”

Pn – “Miss”

Prg – “Victory”

Rdj – radio

Sauk – Sauka D. Fausto amžiaus epilogas. V., 1998.

SK – “Countrywoman’s Calendar 1999”

SŽ – “Šiaudžio News”

ŠN – “Šiauliai News”

colloq. – colloquial language

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T – “Tiesa” TŠ – “Tėvynės šviesa” TV – television Vaižg – Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas

LITERATŪRA

Barabanščikova O. Ju. 1991: Sredstva realizaciji metalingvističeskoj funkciji v tekste: Avtoref. kand. dis., Kijev.

Čmejrková S. 1992: Jazykové vědomí a jazyková kultura (zamýšlení nad tzv. lidovým jazykoptyem). – Slovo a Slovestnost 1, Praha, 56–64.

Jiříčková J. 1979: Metařečový komentář. – Slovo a Slovestnost 2, Praha, 149–151.

Karaliūnas S. 1997: Kalba ir visuomenė (Psichosociologiniai ir komunikaciniai kalbos vartojimo bruožai), Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas.

Pikčilingis J. 1975: Lietuvių kalbos stilistika 2, Vilnius: Mokslas.

Župerka K. 1987: Stilių normų atspindys metakalbiniuose komentaruose. – Lietuvių kalbos sandaros tyrinėjimai. Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai 26, 194–198.

Župerka K. 1996: Realioji įvardytoji kalbos priemonių konkurencija. – Filologija ir metodika 3, Šiauliai, 65–72.

METALINGUAL INDICES OF MODERNITY IN NON-LINGUISTIC TEXTS

Summary

The metalingual indices of modernity belong to the historical (chronological) opposition ‘it was said in ancient times, formerly, earlier’/ ‘it is said now, in our times, today’. The metacomments of this group in the Lithuanian language are the following: (kaip) dabar sakoma (sako, vadina, įprasta, madinga, mėgstama sakyti), dabartiniais (mūsų dienų, šių dienų, mūsų laikų) žodžiais (terminais) kalbant, nūdieniškai (šiuolaikiškai) tariant, madingai (moderniai, naujoviškai, naujaip) tariant, dabarties žmogus pasakys, mes sakytume and so on. They are widely used in spoken (informal and public) language and publicistic writings; thus, they show that the language users take notice of some phenomena of language evolution. Language users turn their attention to the new words or expressions connected with the new phenomena of public life. The metalingual units reflect a tendency of modern Lithuanian to use intellectual language means (international words, bookish phrases) and the new expressive language means (particularly jargon and slang).

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