LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI, XXXIV (1994)

LIETUVIŲ KALBOS TARMĖS IR JŲ TYRINĖJIMAI

Vytautas VITKAUSKAS

OLD an (>ų), en (>ę), in (>į), un VARIANTS IN THE ROOTS AND FORMS OF CERTAIN WORDS

The alternation of the second component of these diphthongs with the vowels i, u and the sonorants l, r is something of a puzzle (cf. LD 137, Zinkevičius, 1957, 78). Clearly, this is not any kind of firm and consistent phonetic law; the phenomenon has been observed in the following cases.

1. The old diphthongs an, en, un are replaced by the diphthongs ai, ei, ui:

brūnšė “a fish, the vimba bream” — Samogitian brū:n'čė Vn, Kv, Pj, Grg (cf. LKŽ I² 1094) → bróišė Prk, Šll, Jdr, brūiš Sdr (cf. LKŽ I² 1079), bruišinis BzF 102, bruišis Cll224, Plng, LKA I 154 (82 Samogitian forms) records bruiša, bruišė, bruižė, brunčė, brunšė, brunšas (see also Urbutis, 1981, 164–167).

drąsčis — Samogitian drancīs Vn, Vdk, Pgr, drūn.čis Krš, drō:nčōs Trš, Rdn, dra’sūs Jrb, and others → draisūs Dkš, Mrj (Labutis 107).

drėžti “to tear, to rip, to tear” — Samogitian dr'e.n'č'ti Bt, Skdv, Grd, dr'e.n'č'ė Rdn, dr'en'.č'ti Klm, Krš, dr'e:s'ti Grz (West Aukštaitian) → drežti “to waste time, dawdle, tear while dragging, loiter” Krš, Ll, Užv, Pvn (cf. LKŽ II² 679), cf. the sentence: dr'e:ižė e sū dr'e:izė rũg'ūs / kā.m tūok'i n'et'e.kus'i kombā.ina pal'e.ida Rdn.

geląsti “to sharpen” — Samogitian g'elū:sc Drsk, Rtn, Vs, Rdm → imperative g'elā:isk “sharpen it” Drsk, Lzd, Rdm, Rtn, Vs, Krkš.

grūžtas — Samogitian gran.čc Nmk, Vdk, grūn.čc Krš, grō:nčc Rdn → grai.stas, graišt'e:lis Mrj, Dkš (Labutis 107–108).

gręsti — Samogitian gr'e:n'č'ti Krš, Krtv, Ll, Vdk, gr'e:ist'ė Akm, Skd, Plng, gr'e:st'ė Pln, Plt, gr'e:st'ė||gr'e:st' West Aukštaitian → gr'e:isli ŽTP 9 (Tovė, Įšė, Nemunynas).

gręžioti “to drill repeatedly” — Samogitian gr'endž'uot' Krš, Krtv, Šauk, gr'endž'uotė Pj, gr'indž'uotė Rdn, Pvn, gr'e:ž'o't West Aukštaitian → sugr'eiz'o't Pšl.

kąsnis — Samogitian kā.n'ch'īs Vdk, Ll, Vn, Pgr, kūn'ch'īs Krš, kū.n'ch'is Rdn, Tl, Pvn → kā.is'h'is Zt, ŽTP 11 (Tovė, Įšė, Nemunynas).

kąsti — Samogitian kā.n'č'ti Vdk Ll, Bt, Vn, kūn'č'ti Krš, kō.n'č'tė Trš, Rdn, Tl, Lkv → kāisti (Vārną pakāisti PrL) Zt, ŽTP 11 (Tovė, Įšė, Nemunynas).

mažtūti “to guess, deliberate” J — Samogitian mōn'č't'ė Janapolė, Užv, mūstyti I (in some manuscripts it is also written žūsi) → sumaistyti Jrb (LKŽ VII 745), maištyti Erž, Skr (ibid.).

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rážytis — regularly ró.n'džit'ėis Trš, ró.n'dži't'i·s Pvn, rá.n'dži·t'i·s Ll, Vdk, rá·ži't'is Škn, Grz → ráižytis K, Lkš, Ig, Plv, KzR, Vrb, Srd (cf. LKŽ XI 96).

rėšė “such a bird” — regularly r'ė.n'č'i Krš, Ll, Ldv, r'ė.n'č'e Rdn, Pj, Kv, Rt (cf. LKŽ XI 480) → rėišė J.Jabl (LKŽ XI 213).

rėžtis — regularly r'ė.n'č't'i·s Krš, Vdk, Gr, r'ė.n'č't'ėis Rdn, Trš, r'ė·št'is Žg, Btg → rėižti K, Žvr, įsirėižti Gs, Jrb, Žvr, KzR, Jrb (cf. LKŽ XI 401–402), įsirėižimas Alk, įsirėižimas K (LKŽ XI 401), also cf. r'ėiž'et'is “to make an incision” Mrj, Dkš, Brt, Lp (LKŽ XI 401).

slástai — regularly slá·stai Jd, Šl → slá·istai, slaistukai ŽTP 11 (the places mentioned).

spǵstai — regularly spá.nctai Vdk, Nmk, spūncta· Krš, spó.nctá· Rdn, Tl, Pj → spáistai Mrj, Dkš (Labutis 107).

spėsti — regularly s'p'ė.n'č't'i Krš, Šauk, Krtv, s'p'ė.n'č't'e Užv, Varn, Trš, Eig → spė.isi ŽTP 9.

spręsti — regularly s'p'r'ė.n'č't'i Krš, Šauk, Ll, Pgr, s'p'r'ė.n'č'e Rdn, Tl, Lkv, s'p'r'ė·s't'i Škn, Šl, Btg → sprė.ist ŽTP 9 (ibid.), s'p'r'ė.ist Dkš, Pjv, Kbr.

žąslai — regularly žūncla Krš, Šauk, žá.nclai Prg, Vdk, Ldv, žó.nclâ· Rdn, Eig, Lkv, Vn, žá·slai Škn → žá.islà Sg, žá.isla(i) Rsn, žá.islai Kbr, Pjv, Plv, Mrj (Labutis 107), cf. žais[flai MŽ II 348, C II 1032, Ns 1826, I,8, and elsewhere.

Derivatives with the prefix sg-:

sąmežinis — regularly sá.n'm'iežin'is Vn, sá·m'ė· žin'is Pjv, Kbr, Jrb → saim'ėžin'i Pgr, Žgč (cf. LKŽ XII 149, LD 1366, sá.l'm'iežin'is Pgr.

sąnaryš — regularly sǫ·nar'is Rdn, Eig, sū·nar'i·s Krš, sá·nar'ė·s Vdk, Gr, Vn → sáinaris Gilija (LKŽ XII 14).

sąspara — regularly sūncpara Krš, sǫ.ncpara Žr, Rt → sáispara Gilija, Vkv, Kbr, Pjv (cf. LKŽ XII 14, LD 137).

Pronominal forms:

báltąji — regularly bá.ltun'ji Krš → bá.ltūni Pgr, Vn “the white one” (masculine accusative), bá.ltąji Krš, Krtv (the sonorant n was lost, without lengthening the preceding vowel), bá.ltaine “the white one” (feminine accusative) Pgr; jeñ.je → jei.ne “her” (accusative) Pgr, Vn; baltam'ė.n'je Pgr, Vn → baltam'ė.n'je Žv → baltam'ė.n'ie “in the white one” (masculine locative) Pgr, Vn, baltam'ė·jie(ei>e') Šv, baltam'i·jie Krš, baltam'ė·jie Trš, Rdn, Pp),

baltǵsias — regularly baltá.n'č'es Vdk, Ll, Šauk, Krš, baltó.n'č'es Tl, Lkv, anás, tás Jrb, Jd → anáis, táis, geráisias, baltáisias, didžúusias and so on, Mrj (Labutis 107), Kbr, Pjv, Alvt, Žvr, Lzd, Trs, graž'ė·is'es, sal'dž'ė·is'es ŽTP 41 (the places mentioned). Could the singular instrumental sų tá·i Krš, Krtv, Šauk, Klm, Tt (cf. also Labutis 107) be unrelated to this phenomenon, in contrast to sų túoje Krš, Krtv, sǫ tūo·je Rdn, and so on? Has there been avoidance of the sequence -an-j-? On the various South Žemaitian remodeled pronominal forms, see PgrT 51–52; Zinkevičius 1957, 30, 78, and elsewhere.

2. The n element of the diphthong is replaced by other sonorants, l, r.

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father “slender” — regular form t'ė.nus Krš, Krtv, t'ė.nus Tl, Eig, Varn, Lkv → t'ė.lus Jn (Kv), Pj.

gėšė — regular form g'ė.n'l'č'ė Rt (cf. g'ė.n'dž'i Krš) → gėršė K, K I 709; RB, MŽ, Kel 1881, 238 (cf. LKŽ III 78).

tįsoti — regular form t'incuoti Krš, t'incuot'ė Rdn, Varn → t'irso·t Ss, Šn (the village of Tursučiai).

vąsas — regular form ų̃.čas Krš, õ̃·nčas Eig, Rdn, Trš, vọ̃·nčas Pvn, Vds, Pj; vā·sas Škn, Žg, Btg → õ·r̃šos Mžk, Plt, Štk, Brž (in 1947, M. Untulis recorded the form vā·išas in Varniai—there, nowadays, almost only ų̃·nčas is said. Could this also be an old replacement of the diphthong -an- by the diphthong -ai-?).

3. The second element n of a mixed diphthong is variously replaced—by i, u, r—in one or another word (this gave rise to numerous synonyms in various parts of Western Lithuania and Samogitia).

ąžuolas — regular form õndžū·ls Rdn, Trš, ú·ndžū·ls Pj, úndžū·ls Krš, á·nžū·ls Vdk, Nmk, Vn → aižuolas PrL (LKŽ I² 48), áržuolas Dks, Mrj, Vlkv, Kbr, Pvj, Nm, Šil (cf. LKŽ I² 324, LKA II 63, Samogitian 44), áužuolas K; RD 62, Cp (cf. LKŽ I² 518). Derived words are pronounced similarly: aržuolýnas LKŽ I² 324 (recorded by J. Šlapelis), aržuolinis Gs, Kbr, Pjv (cf. LKŽ I 324), aržuolravis BsMt II 138, aržuolýnas K, Pvj, Kbr; R 111 (LKŽ I² 519), aužuolinis K, Pjv; R, RD107, aužuolynė K I 333, aužuolinis R.

pasąža “splinter, peg” — regular form pašūndža Krš, pašõ.ndža Lk, Trš, Eig, Pvn, pašá.ndža Pašilė (near Kražiai) → pašá.iža Up, (pašá·ža) Šv, Nmk (LKŽ IX 549—550), pašarža Št, Krkn, Rd (LKŽ IX 559), pašáuža J, Krtv, Pd (LKŽ IX 560, cf. kaũ̃<kañ “what, taũ̃<tañ “that”, kàtrau<katran “which” Pd, Krtv). Another interesting fact: in the area of the Šakyna dialect studied by A. Jonaitytė, both pašá·ža and pašá.iža are pronounced (Žagarė and pašá.iža||pašá·ža).

sąšlavos — regular form šų̃nčlavas Krš, šá·nčlavas Krtv, Pd, Šln, šọ̃·nčlavas Rdn, Trš, sá·slavas Škn, Žg, Jd → sá·ršlavas Trg, Vn (cf. LKŽ XII 167), sá išlavos Rdm, Bd; Bs Mt I 114 (Brt) (LKŽ XII 15), šáišlavos Gilijà (LKŽ XIII 395).

Causes. Pronunciation was difficult, so across a large area of the Lithuanian language these so-called nasal vowels were replaced—the preceding vowel was lengthened. The examples given here may point to an ancient occurrence of this disappearing replacement phenomenon, even before an, en, in, un > a·, e·, i·, u·. The geographical distribution suggests that this occurred in western Lithuania. Thus, the western part of Lithuania—the Duchy of Samogitia and the areas adjacent to it—replaced n+s, š, ž, j, v clusters in certain cases with i, u, l, t, r, s, š, v, ž, j, rather than lengthening the preceding vowel. As the acoustic studies in “The Grammar of the Lithuanian Language” show (LKG I 81, 83, 85, 86), when pronouncing the n+s, š, j, ž, v cluster, the tongue must change position in diametrically opposite directions. Perhaps this is why many Western Aukštaitian (Grinaveckienė, 1957, 168, 179) and Samogitian dialects in general cannot pronounce s, š, z, ž after n, but pronounce c, č, dz, dž, and in this way

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Tongue movement is spared the rather difficult articulation; perhaps this is why the old so-called nasal vowels were preserved even in the Šiaulėnai dialect (cf. Karaliūnas, 1992, 77).

Šį reiškinį A. Salys (1992, 190) yra pastebėjęs gana seniai ir laikęs kombinaciniu fonetikos dėsniu — epenteze, vadinasi, tuo pačiu tarimo sklandumo, patogumo vardu.

This irregular replacement of n by other sonorants and vowels was unstable and varied even within a single dialect (the aforementioned pašąžà and pašáižà in the vicinity of Šakýna and Žagárė). One might even consider the possibility that m'ęncà → m'ė'sà || m'ėisà varied within a single dialect (in Pajūris, Vainutas, Laukuva), rejecting A. Girdenis’s view that the sonorant n in m'ėnsà || m'ęncà → m'ė'ncà is of non-etymological origin—n inserted into a Slavic loanword, as in g'í.ncła, baž'n'i.nč'e, etc. (Girdenis, 1992, 44). Alongside Prussian menso and Latvian miesā ‘body’, the Samogitian m'ęncà of those bordering the Skalvians fits perfectly (or else some further evidence and facts are needed).

This instance of epenthesis (?) is an important phenomenon: it shows how a certain sound law was taking shape but developed differently (as compensatory vowel lengthening), while other “attempts” survived as phonetic relics.

In general, examples such as these seem to indicate that some exchange between diphthongs and mixed diphthongs once occurred, leaving only scant relics (cf. Karulis, 1992, 242):

baigti (beigti vak. dz., Pn) → beṅgti (ž.), Urbutis, 1981, 95—104.

steigti ‘to strive’ Samogitian → stelgti ‘same meaning’ Samogitian, sténgti ‘same meaning’ Samogitian and Aukštaitian.

tálžyti (western Lithuania; Samogitian, western Aukštaitian) → tãžyti Pgr, Bt (cf. LKŽ XV 732)

télžti ‘to wade with difficulty, to slog through mud’ (LKŽ XV 1185) → tėižti ‘same meaning’ Skdv, Grd, Gr (cf. LKŽ XV 1098).

Vėržas ‘surname’ Pgg, Plšk → Vėižas Ktč, Pgg, Šlu, Rsn, Vlkš.

LITERATŪRA

Girdenis A. Simono Stanevičiaus rašyba ir jo tarmės fonologinė sistema // Aitvarai V., 1992, Nr. 3. P. 34—50.

Grinaveckienė E. Mituvos upyno tarmės fonetika // Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai. T. 1. V., 1957. P. 119—180.

Karaliūnas S. Kalbotyros pastabos // Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai. T. 29. V., 1991. P. 65—79.

Karulis J. Latviesu etimoloģijas vārdnīca. T. 1—2. Rīgā, 1992.

Labutis V. Marijampoliškių epentezinis i (j) // Kalbotyra. T. 42(1). 1993. P. 107—108.

Salys A. Raštai. T. 4. Roma, 1992.

Urbutis V. Baltų etimologijos etiudai. V., 1981.

Zinkevičius Z. Lietuvių kalbos įvardžiuotinių būdvardžių istorijos bruožai. V., 1957.

Visi sutrumpinimai kaip LKŽ paskutiniuosiuose tomuose, išskyrus ŽTP = Gerullis J., Stangas Chr. Žvejų tarmė Prūsuose. K., 1933.

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ON THE VARIANTS OF DIPHTONGS an (>ą), en (>ę), in (>į), un IN THE INDIVIDUAL ROOTS AND FORMS

Summary

That diphtongs are substitute of diphtongs ai, al, ar, au, er, it, ir, ui irregular: kásti (< kánsti) → káisti “bite off”, spręsti (< spręnsti) → spręisti “solve”, ąžuolas (< ánžuolas) → aĩžuolas, ážuolas, ážuolas “oak”, gerásias (< geránsias) “best” (pl.: acc.: f.) → geráisias and other. This phonetic phenomenon is archaic and occur in that time, when Lithuanian Western dialects search of the combination n — s, n — š, n — z, n — ž, n — j, n — v. It is the irregular facts, because phonetic law had been unformed.

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