LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI XXXVIII (1997)

Algirdas SABALIAUSKAS

PRANAS SKARDŽIUS’S SCHOLARLY WORK IN EXILE

Pranas Skardžius was the most productive linguist of the second decade of independent Lithuania. After the deaths of Kazimieras Būga and Jonas Jablonskis, Pr. Skardžius and Antanas Salys were the most prominent Lithuanian linguists, equally concerned with both the scholarly and practical aspects of the Lithuanian language. Having begun their studies at the University of Lithuania, where they not only attended lectures by K. Būga and J. Jablonskis but also had close contact with these researchers and cultivators of the Lithuanian language, and later received an excellent linguistic education at the University of Leipzig, where their principal teacher was Jurgis Gerulis, these two linguists may be said to represent a distinct period in the development of Lithuanian linguistics. The formation of standard Lithuanian during this period is likewise closely associated with their names.

In 1944, Pr. Skardžius, like a great many other scholars and cultural figures, left Lithuania and began the arduous path of exile. The lot of an exile was especially painful because, as a scholar, Pr. Skardžius was at once torn away from the primary objects of his research—the living Lithuanian language, its dialects, and various written sources—as well as from his pedagogical work. To be sure, he was able to continue this work for several years in Germany, albeit under very difficult conditions. Thanks to the efforts of Raymond Schmittlein (Raimonas Šmitlenas), a sincere friend of the Lithuanians, French linguist, and prominent political and military figure, a department of Baltic languages was established at the University of Tübingen, where Pr. Skardžius and A. Salys taught and took turns directing it from 1946 to 1949. Among others, this also gave Aleksandras Dundulis, Antanas Mažiulis, Domas Velička, and other future well-known Lithuanian cultural workers abroad the opportunity to complete the Lithuanian studies they had begun in Lithuania.

As circumstances allowed, Pr. Skardžius also pursued other scholarly work in Germany. Encouraged by the eminent German Balticists Eduard Hermann and Franz Specht, he translated into German his work „Lietuvių kalbos žodžių daryba“ (V., 1943). Together with Stasys Barzdukas and Jonas Martynas Laurinaitis, he wrote „Lietuvių kalbos vadovą“ (Bielefeld, 1950), a much-needed and important work for Lithuanian émigrés at the time.

This was a substantial book (606 pages), published by the Lithuanian Exile Community in a print run of as many as 5,000 copies. Its introductory section discusses such topics as the Lithuanian language and its antiquity, the nature of contemporary Lithuanian, the development of the written language, the standard language and its usage, standard pronunciation, spelling, and normative forms. The first part of the book is devoted to practical issues of spelling, punctuation, and accentuation. The largest part of the book is a Lithuanian dictionary. It contains not only common

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words, but also geographical names, the surnames of various Lithuanian cultural and scholarly figures, and even popular Latin expressions. Word meanings are sometimes explained in foreign languages as well. J. M. Laurinaitis seems to have prepared the larger part of the dictionary. St. Barzdukas worked mainly on the first part of the book. Pr. Skardžius’s tasks were to supplement the dictionary, write the introduction, and edit the entire work. Understandably, this was difficult work, and the authors’ working conditions were unenviable. In a letter to Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius dated January 6, 1949, Pr. Skardžius wrote: „Lately I have been working 16–18 hours every day, and often could manage to sleep only 3–4 hours. You see, I have resolved to finish the „Liet. kalbos vadovą“. At first there were three of us working on it, but one of my collaborators, Col. J. Laurinaitis, suffered a heart attack and has now been in hospital for four weeks; it seems to me he will no longer be able to help me. But the public is eagerly awaiting this work [...]. Subscriptions are already nearing the six-thousand mark“ (Ostrauskas 1983: 176–177). Here is an excerpt from a letter dated May 14, 1950*: „I usually work at the slaughterhouse for 8 hours, and sometimes even 10 or 11. It takes me a full hour to travel to the plant; I spend just as long getting home. After I get home, until now I have had to correct the rather difficult proofs of the Vadovas; besides, I write one or another short article for the newspapers, put together an essential letter, and that is all. There is only a little under 4–5 hours left for sleep“ (Ostrauskas 1983: 184).

It should be noted that the work also proposed some spelling innovations (bjaurus, pjauti, galbūt), which were adopted in Lithuania much later. However, some linguists viewed the spelling innovations presented here with considerable skepticism. For instance, surveying the history of Lithuanian lexicography, A. Salys observed: „Although it (i.e., „Lietuvių kalbos vadovas“, A. S.) is very useful, by departing from the customary Jablonskis spelling it introduced a certain confusion into the Lithuanian press abroad, which has not been cleared up to this day“ (Salys 1985: 237).

The authors dedicated their work to the memory of the eminent Lithuanian linguists J. Jablonskis and K. Būga.

While living in the United States of America, Pr. Skardžius was able to devote himself to normal scholarly work only after retiring in 1971. At least initially, Pr. Skardžius’s material circumstances were also quite poor. Although he was invited to devote himself to work on the „Lietuvių enciklopedija“ in Boston, the working conditions there apparently did not satisfy him either. Pr. Skardžius’s mood and circumstances at the time are especially evident in a letter dated April 13, 1953, to the encyclopedia’s recruiting editor, the writer Stasys Santvaras:

„Aš jau esu viską iki minimumo apskaičiavęs ir kitaip jau nebeišmanau išgyventi. Aš neturiu nei automobiliaus, nei pramogų lankau, nei svečių priminėju, ir vis dėlto vos vos išsiverčiu su 3000 dol. Pvz.: nusipirkau Preobraženskio etimologinį rusų k. žodyną ir sumokėjau per 16 dol. Dar brangesni esu užsiprenu-

* From 1949, Skardžius lived in the United States of America.

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...had photographed Vasmer’s etymological dictionary. Photographing W. Fenzlau’s dissertation also cost over 16 dollars, etc. Thus, in order to do at least some of my scholarly work and keep up with scholarly progress, I would like, at least initially, to receive no less than 3,500 dollars a year; from this sum I could also pay the state taxes” (Keturakis 1995: 14). Despite the unfavorable conditions for work, Pr. Skardžius worked intensively in the field of Lithuanian linguistics throughout his entire period in exile.

As is well known, while still working in Lithuania he devoted considerable attention to problems of Lithuanian accentuation. He was interested in both the history and the practical aspects of accentuation. Pr. Skardžius’s habilitation thesis at Vytautas Magnus University was “Daukša’s Accentology” (K., 1935). His book “Accentuation in Standard Lithuanian” (K., 1936) was devoted to the practical aspects of accentuation. Drawing primarily on these works, Pr. Skardžius, at the request of the Chicago Pedagogical Institute of Lithuanian Studies, wrote the book “Lithuanian Accentuation” (Chicago, 1968). It systematically sets out the principles of accentuation in the standard language. However, it does not merely state them. The phenomena of stress and pitch accent in Lithuanian are also compared with facts from other languages; variation in stress across Lithuanian dialects is shown, as are the differences between accentuation in the modern language and earlier accentuation (in M. Daukša’s writings). It is true that, as in the earlier book, a short pitch accent is recognized here, although this contradicts Pr. Skardžius’s own description of pitch accent. Contemporary researchers of Lithuanian accentology also disagree with Pr. Skardžius’s traditional description of pitch accent in post-stress syllables. Some of the accentuation patterns proposed in the book, also traditional, are questionable as well, since they are difficult to reconcile with current usage (Laigonaitė 1971: 209–211; Vidžiūnas 1990: 90–102).

Among Pr. Skardžius’s individual articles devoted to problems of Lithuanian accentology, his article “The Antiquity of Lithuanian Accentuation” (Aidai, 1965, 6, p. 260–265) deserves mention. After briefly discussing the history of research on this problem, he in effect reviews the work by the Russian linguist V. Ilič-Svityčius, “Nominal Accentuation in the Baltic and Slavic Languages” (“Imennaja akcentuacija v baltijskom i slavjanskom”. Moskva, 1963). While noting that “all in all, the author’s work makes a good impression,” Pr. Skardžius is nevertheless convinced that V. Ilič-Svityčius has achieved his aim only in part, since many of the supposed common features he identifies between individual Lithuanian accentuation classes and ancient Indo-European accentuation are “questionable and not adequately substantiated by clear authentic data, or have not been interpreted in greater historical depth.”

Pr. Skardžius also examines controversial problems in the historical accentology of Lithuanian in his very detailed review of J. Kazlauskas’s book “Historical Grammar of the Lithuanian Language” (Lituanistikos darbai. III. Brooklyn, 1973. p. 269–280). He disagrees with J. Kazlauskas’s view that the eastern Aukštaitians do not distinguish acute and circumflex pitch accents. He is reluctant to agree with J. Kazlauskas that the mobile stress paradigm of contemporary Lithuanian may have been inherited from ancient Indo-European accentuation.

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One of Pr. Skardžius’s more significant works published in emigration is the study “Earlier and Contemporary Usage in Standard Lithuanian” (Chicago, 1971). The study consists of the following chapters: I. Usage in Standard Lithuanian, Its Criteria and Norms. II. Earlier Work on Standard Lithuanian Culture and Its Assessment in Lithuania. III. Significant Contemporary Tendencies in Lithuania. IV. The Problem of Using Nouns Derived from Verbs with the Suffix -imas. V. Adverbs in -iniai, Their Formation and Usage. VI. The Relationship of the Standard Language to the Vernacular and Linguistic Corrections in Lithuania. VII. The Influence of the Russian Language on Standard Lithuanian and the Further Development of That Language.

This study shows that Pr. Skardžius followed the development of the Lithuanian language in Lithuania very closely. He understood its rather difficult situation and positively assessed Lithuanian linguists’ efforts to combat the influence of Russian.

Living in the United States and aware of many Lithuanians in that country tending to use fewer international words in their speech, Pr. Skardžius wrote the book “Lithuanian Equivalents for International Words” (Chicago, 1973). This is an interesting work that offers a great many genuinely good substitutes for various so-called international words, whether in wider or narrower use. Pr. Skardžius does not categorically oppose the use of these words. “All the words presented here,” he writes in the book’s preface, “should be viewed not as proposals by the author, but as material that readers may use individually as needed and according to their taste” (p. 7). Pr. Skardžius points out that Lithuanian has quite a number of neologisms formed more independently than, for example, those in Latvian, Russian, or German. Here he has in mind words such as matter, diameter, textbook, equilibrium. In Pr. Skardžius’s view, the best and largest source of Lithuanian neologisms at present is M. Niedermann, F. Brender, A. Senn, and A. Salys’s “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Written Language” (Heidelberg, 1926–1968). Here are a few of the equivalents proposed by Pr. Skardžius: abzhats – indentation, adaptation – adjustment, accommodation, anesthesia – insensibility, boxing – fistfight, depot – locomotive shed, excursion – digression, farce – filling, stuffing, fars, prizhme – ridge, term – designation, showcase – shop window. Many of the equivalents are very well chosen or were coined by Pr. Skardžius himself. But would anyone nowadays be inclined to replace boxing with fistfighting or term – designation.

Pr. Skardžius’s study “Lithuanian Hydronyms in -nt: Their Formation, Origin, and Meaning” (Lituanistikos darbai. III. Brooklyn, 1973, p. 7–70) is very important to researchers of Lithuanian hydronyms. The study examines in great detail Lithuanian hydronyms such as Álantas, Gáilintas, Sálantas, Šlavaṅtas, Viekšintas. The author concludes that “Lithuanian hydronyms in nt- are formed in a manner similar to place names, personal names, or common words with the same suffix. Initially, they were mostly common (appellative) words or were formed from common words with the aid of suffixes; some of them derive, or may derive, from proper names” (p. 64). The study speaks very favorably of the then still young Lithuanian linguists Bron iaus Savukyno, Aleksandro Vanago hydroni-

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… investigations. R. Schmittlein’s work in this field is viewed skeptically; it is noted that he “derives quite a few old, genuinely Lithuanian proper names from Germanic languages without any clearer basis, sometimes entirely artificially” (p. 9). In general, one must agree with the study’s reviewer A. Vanagas that “this study should finally lay to rest the hypothesis, defended almost solely by R. Schmittlein, that most Lithuanian hydronyms containing -nt- may be Germanisms” (Vanagas 1976: 103).

A. Vanagas also drew attention to another important feature of this study: “P. Skardžius was one of the few Lithuanian onomastics researchers who understood that the meaning of a hydronym is not what the appellative from which the hydronym originated meant, but what the word meant at the time it became a nomen proprium. It is not the word’s root or stem, but the hydronym as a whole—with its underlying and derived (formational) meaning” (Vanagas 1981: 17).

Minėtinas Pr. Skardžiaus straipsnis „XVI amžiaus lietuvių asmenvardžiai“ (Aidai, 1954, 1, p. 27–33), kuriame nagrinėjami K. Jablonskio „Istorijos archyvo“ pirmajame tome (K., 1934) paskelbtų inventorių asmenų vardai ir pavardės.

Pr. Skardžius discusses the names of Prussian and Samogitian gods in the article “Lithuanian Mythological Names” (Aidai, 1954, p. 218–226). Much of the article is devoted to V. Jaskevičius’s dissertation “A Study in Lithuanian Mythology”.

Labai vertinga yra Pr. Skardžiaus studija „Dievas ir Perkūnas“ (Aidai, 1963, 6, p. 253–257; 7, p. 311–318). Čia aiškinama šių žodžių daryba ir kilmė. Pr. Skardžius nepritaria A. Senno nuomonei, jog suom. taivas ‘dangus’ turėtų būti kilęs iš baltiškos formos *daivas – taivas šaltiniu galėjusi būti ir forma *deivas. Taip pat jis, remdamasis latvių liaudies dainų pavyzdžiais, linkęs manyti, jog lat. dievs yra dar išlaikęs senąją reikšmę ‘dangus’. Pr. Skardžius nepritaria aiškinimui, jog. liet. perkūnas yra sietinas su lot. quercus ‘ąžuolas’ ir kitais šios šaknies žodžiais. Jam atrodo paprasčiau būtų slavų Perun sieti *per- ‘mušti, trenkti’ o liet. Perkūnas su tos pačios reikšmės išplėstine šaknimi *perk-, kuri, nors ir nepaliudyta baltų kalbose, gali būti pateisinama, plg. liet. jaũti: jaũkti ir kt. Semantiškai tokį siejimą patvirtintų liet. dundūlis ‘perkūnas, griaustinis’: dundėti, vok. Donner: skr. tānvati ‘ošia, dunda, griaudžia’, lot. tonāre ‘griausti’ ir kt.

In 1954, Antanas Juška’s “Lietuviškos dainos” was reissued in Lithuania. In this edition, its editor A. Mockus presented alongside the facsimile texts also a kind of literary versions. L. Kuodys published a rather severe critique of these texts (Kuodys 1958: 555–578). This prompted Pr. Skardžius to write an interesting article, “Matters of the Language of Our Folk Songs” (Metmenys, 1962, 5, p. 91–99). The article demonstrates how cautiously song texts should be rendered in literary form and highlights the distinctive character of folk songs. Pr. Skardžius does not agree with L. Kuodys’s comments on every point, either.

The last study by Pr. Skardžius, published after the author’s death, is “Nau

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jojo Testamento vertimo lietuvių kalba“ (Lituanistikos darbai. IV. Chicago, 1979, p. 63–110). Joje analizuojama Č. Kavaliausko iš senosios graikų kalbos versto ir V. Aliulio redaguoto, 1972 m. Lietuvoje išleisto Naujojo testamento kalba. Autorius šį vertimą lygina su ankstesniuoju J. Skvirecko vertimu, kur vertėjas, anot prelato L. Tulabos, „virš visko statė minties tikslumą ir šiam aukojo kalbos elegantiškumą“. Palyginęs abiejų vertimų rašybos, žodynines, linksnių vartosenos, sintaksines ir stilistines, sakinių sandaros skyrybes, jis padaro išvadą, jog „Kavaliausko vertimo kalba yra pasigėrėtinai taisyklinga, sklandi, lengvai suprantama ir tikslinga, nors kartais ir savotiškiau išreiškianti originalinę mintį (p. 109). Pr. Skardžiaus nuomone „Č. Kavaliausko vertimas, V. Aliulio redaguotas, yra pirmas drąsus žygis visoje Šv. Rašto vertimo lietuvių kalbos istorijoje“ (p. 109).

Pr. Skardžius’s so-called occasional articles are very interesting; they discuss various researchers of the Lithuanian language, champions of the language, and cultural figures. They are especially interesting because here Pr. Skardžius not only assesses their contribution to Lithuanian linguistics, but often also interweaves his own recollections. He published most of his articles about A. Baranauskas, J. Jablonskis, J. Balčikonis, J. Gerulis, P. Jonikas, J. M. Laurinaitis, J. Laukaitis, B. Larinas, M. Vasmer, E. Fraenkel, E. Hermann, and others in the journals “Aidai” and “Gimtoji kalba.”

Pr. Skardžius reviewed numerous works on Lithuanian studies or Baltic studies in general, published both in Lithuania and abroad. Particularly noteworthy are his detailed reviews of works such as Z. Zinkevičius’s “Lietuvių dialektologija” (V., 1966), J. Palionis’s “Lietuvių literatūrinė kalba XVI–XVII a.” (V., 1967), J. Kazlauskas’s “Lietuvių kalbos istorinė gramatika” (V., 1968), J. Pikčilingis’s “Lietuvių kalbos stilistika” (V., 1971–1975), the academic “Lietuvių kalbos gramatika” (V., 1965), “Lietuvių kalbos tarmių chrestomatija” (V., 1970), P. Jonikas’s “Lietuvių bendrinės rašomosios kalbos kūrimasis antrojoje XIX a. pusėje” (Čikaga, 1972), J. Otrębskis’s “Gramatyka języka litewskiego” (Warszawa, 1956–1965), the volume honoring Chr. S. Stang, “Donum Balticum” (Stockholm, 1970), W. R. Schmalstieg’s “An Old Prussian Grammar” (University Park and London, 1974), and others.

Pr. Skardžius published numerous articles on Lithuanian linguistics in “Lietuvių enciklopedija” (Bostonas, 1953–1969) and “Encyclopedia Lituanica” (Boston, 1970–1978).

While living in the United States of America, as earlier in Lithuania, Pr. Skardžius wrote extensively on various issues of Lithuanian language culture. Largely through his initiative, the Lithuanian Language Society, which had operated in Lithuania from 1935 to 1941, was revived in the United States of America. Pr. Skardžius was one of the most active contributors to the Society’s journal “Gimtoji kalba.”

The linguist also prepared a substantial “Rašybinis lietuvių kalbos žodynas,” which has not yet been published. A. Dundulis, a former student of Pr. Skardžius, is said to have handed a copy of this work over to the Vilnius University Library.

Pr. Skardžius had only fifteen years in which to work intensively in Lithuania. He spent twice as long in exile. At first, he earned his living through manual labor. Later, he worked

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At the Library of Congress in Washington. In a letter dated January 14, 1973, to the American Balticist W. R. Schmalstieg, Pr. Skardžius wrote: “I lived with scholarly concerns all my life, but in the last quarter of the century I was able to do very little genuine scholarly work: several scholarly works I had conceived and partly begun remained unfinished because of an unexpected catastrophe.” Pr. Skardžius was able to devote himself fully to his cherished linguistic work only after retiring, unfortunately just four years before his death. Nevertheless, despite such unfavorable working conditions, he accomplished a great deal even in exile.

It is gratifying that Lithuania plans to publish the “Selected Writings” of this distinguished linguist as part of a language-development program. They are being prepared by Professor Albertas Rosinas. The first volume of the writings, “Word Formation in the Lithuanian Language,” has already been published. It also contains a comprehensive article by A. Rosinas on Pr. Skardžius’s scholarly work. We will especially look forward to the volumes containing Pranas Skardžius’s works written in exile, which are least familiar to our readers.

LITERATŪRA

K e t u r a k i s R. 1995: Bostono dienoraštis – Nemunas 2, 12–19.

K u o d y s L. 1953: A. Juškos „Lietuviškos dainos“. – Literatūra ir kalba 3, 555–578.

L a i g o n a i t ė A. 1971: Rec.–Baltistica 7(2), 209–211.

O s t r a u s k a s K. 1983: Iš laiškų Vincui Krėvei-Mickevičiui. – Metmenys 46, 164–186.

S a l y s A. 1985: Raštai 3, Roma: Lietuvių Katalikų Mokslo akademija.

V a n a g a s A. 1976: Rec. – Baltistica 12(1), 102–104.

V a n a g a s A. 1981: Lietuvių hidronimų semantika. – Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai 21, 4–153.

V i d ž i ū n a s A. 1990: Pr. Skardžiaus kirčiavimo norminimo pagrindai. – Kalbotyra 41(1), 90–102.

THE SCHOLARLY ACTIVITY OF PRANAS SKARDŽIUS IN EXILE

Summary

Pranas Skardžius (1899–1975) was one of the most prominent Lithuanian linguists of the twentieth century. In 1929 he graduated from the University of Leipzig. In 1929–1939 Pr. Skardžius gave lectures at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, in 1939–1943 – at the University of Vilnius. He worked in various fields of Lithuanian linguistics; he also made an important contribution to the standardization of Lithuanian. Like many workers of culture and science, he left Lithuania in 1944. For some time he taught at the University of Tübingen in Germany. From 1947 up to his death Pr. Skardžius lived in the USA.

In spite of unfavourable conditions for scholarly activity he published many important works in the field of Lithuanian studies. Special mention should be made of „A Reference book of Lithuanian“ („Lietuvių kalbos vadovas“, 1950; co-authors Stasys Barzdukas and Jonas Martynas Laurinaitis), „Accentuation of the Lithuanian Language“ („Lietuvių kalbos kirčiavimas“, 1968), „The Past and Present Usage of Standard Lithuanian“ („Ankstyvesnė ir dabartinė lietuvių bendrinės kalbos vartosena“, 1971), „Lithuanian Hydronyms in -nt-. Their Formation, Origin

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and Meaning“ („Lietuvių vandenvardžiai su -nt-. Jų daryba, kilmė ir reikšmė“, 1973), „Lithuanian Equivalents of International Words“ („Lietuviški tarptautinių žodžių atitikmenys“, 1973), „On the Translations of the New Testament in Lithuanian“ („Dėl Naujojo Testamento vertimų lietuvių kalba“, 1979).

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