Lietuvos valstybė, tauta ir kalba

LITHUANIAN LANGUAGE QUESTIONS, XXXI (1994) ISSUES OF LANGUAGE NORMALIZATION STASYS CHANGE THE STATE, NATION AND LANGUAGE OF LITHUANIA Though he killed and buried When the past finds you, You a century maybe a hundred You keep ringing. A. Jakštas. In Lithuanian language. 1900 The existence of a national state is of great importance for the fate of nations and their languages. Only a nation that is the master of the land of its ancestors and fathers and its wealth, that develops its agriculture, science, culture, preserve and nurture its language, customs, beliefs, maintains relations with other nations and their states independently and on the basis of equal rights, can feel equal with others and a distinct member of the modern world and its creator. After all, every nation is like a wonderful, unique, unique flower in the flower garden of humanity. This flowerbed has been particularly fruitful in these times, when many peoples of the world have created their own national states from the oppression of a large part of humanity and from the oppression of foreigners. The day will come when the nations still enslaved will be freed. The nation-state usually constantly cares for the language of the people: it ir creates normal and favourable conditions for its development, research and teaching, and makes every effort to cultivate the language so that it can easily satisfy all the economic, material and spiritual needs of the society that uses it. “The higher education and spiritual ennobling of the nation can be achieved only in the mother tongue, because it is like a gateway through which all great and fruitful ideas reach the soul of the nation,” —Ludvikas Rėza wrote in the “History of the Lithuanian Bible”. These beautiful and true words, written 175 years ago, are very memorable in our time. All languages are necessary for humanity, all are equal in nature, as are their speakers, and no language is superior to another. ir And it does not matter whether it is used by hundreds of millions or just hundreds of people. When a language begins to be overly glorified, when it is opposed to other languages, as better, more beautiful, more perfect, etc., when it begins to be accompanied by the labels great, powerful, it shows the great ignorance of the people who do so, and sometimes of the ruling strata of such a society at least. 1 Cit. from: Jovaišas A. Louis mental Reza. V.: Vaga, 1969. P. 170. 57 illness. Such attitudes are probably most often, if not always, accompanied ne by the denigration of other languages, and often by the attempt to impose one’s language on others. History shows that this is particularly typical of multi-ethnic states made up of conquerors and conquered. Languages of enslaved peoples generally do not have normal, natural conditions for development and functioning; they are more or less influenced, often even deliberately pressured, by the languages of the dominant slaves. In the modern world there are many languages that have not grown as literary and do not meet all the needs of society. It is commonly assumed that about nine-tenths of the world's languages do not have written forms. And even those about 300 literary languages differ greatly in their extent and functions. Among them are languages that cannot be acquired not only in higher education, but also in secondary and, unfortunately, often in primary education. Most of the more than 100 languages of the USSR remained the same. But the mother tongue is precious to everyone. All nations strive to preserve, develop and fully use their language, and this is the natural right of every nation, of every human being. Lithuanian state language ir One of the legal forms of ensuring the language and, in certain cases, defending its rights is the declaration of the language of the nation as the state language. The state language- —usually the principal language of state life, used in all spheres of that state’s activities. The state language is used to publish laws (their originals may have official translations into other languages, as well as into other languages spoken by the inhabitants of that state, if necessary), it is used in writing, it is the main language of courts, education, etc. the language of the fields. What role has the Lithuanian language played in the history of the Lithuanian state? Undoubtedly, in the old times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL), especially its. During the period of power and real greatness, the spoken Lithuanian language was used in the courts of the grand dukes and many nobles, in the court and in other institutions of the principality. However, there is no evidence that this language was used in writing. Lithuanian writing in general appeared only in the 16th century, when the Lithuanian nobility probably had already been bowed to a considerable extent! or at least overtaken, and whether there was anything written in Lithuanian before, can only be guessed. In his collection of Lithuanian words from the old Lithuanian written language (not Lithuanian), K. Jablonskis relies on texts from the end of the 14th century (the oldest known such writings) essentially until the collapse of the DLK at the end of the 18th century. He says that the DLK’s “documents were written mainly in non-Lithuanian languages [quotation raised. —S. K.] —Russian, later Polish, in addition to Latin and German. In those non-Lithuanian written writings there is a considerable number of Lithuanian Zodziy “2. It is well known that the writings of the DLK were written primarily in the so-called chancellery language of the principality, which was a kind of East Slavic language (some call it Russian, others Old Belarusian, others still otherwise). In this language were also published the famous books2 Jablonskis K. Lietuviški žodžiai senovės Lietuvos raštų kalboje: Tekstai. K., 1941. D. LP. VII. 58 the most important legal documents of the DLK “Lietuvos Statutas” (1529, 1566 and 1588), which were also translated into Latin and Polish (unfortunately, not Lithuanian). During the Republic (Žečpospolita) period, the Polish language became increasingly dominant in state life. Lithuanian was not the language of teaching, science and writing even in the old Vilnius University (1579—1832- ), although, of course, the university has certain merits for the Lithuanian language, but that is another matter. However, this does not suggest that the Lithuanian language was spoken only in village huts and in the fields of manors and churches. Both the abundance of Lithuanian words and phrases in documents written in other languages, as well as the remains of certain documents, show that the Lithuanian language was alive to the full in the life of the DLK state. Po Division of the Republic ir After Lithuania was annexed by the Russian Empire, the conditions for Lithuanian language to express itself in the life of a foreign state apparently disappeared. This was the beginning of an increasingly brutal policy of rusification, including the demand for the rusification of writing (during the period of the press ban, 1864—1904). During the first years of the existence of the independent Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian language undoubtedly held the duties of the state language, but this was not confirmed by law — it was not included neither in the “Basic Laws of the Provisional Constitution of the State of Lithuania” adopted by the State Council on 2 November 1918, nor in the “Basic Laws of the Provisional Constitution of the State of Lithuania” adopted by the Constituent Seimas on 10 June 1920. For the first time in the history of the Lithuanian state, Lithuanian was officially declared the state language of the independent national Lithuanian state — the Republic of Lithuania — in 1922. This was done by the Constituent Seimas in the “Constitution of the State of Lithuania” adopted on August 1, 1922. The use of local languages shall be determined by law", the state status of Lithuanian is also mentioned in subsequent constitutions of the Republic of Lithuania. Article 7 of the “Constitution of the State of Lithuania” proclaimed by the President of the Republic in 1928 is exactly the same as Article 6 of the previous Constitution adopted by the Seimas in 1922*. In 1938, the Fourth Seimas adopted the Constitution of Lithuania, which changed the wording concerning other languages. Here is the whole article 7 of that Constitution: “The state language is Lithuanian, /determined by law, in which regions of Lithuania and in which public institutions, other languages may be used in addition to Lithuanian- ”*. In 1938, the “Lithuanian Constitution” was in force until the occupation and annexation of the Republic of Lithuania by the USSR. In the constitutions of Lithuania during the Soviet period (1940 and 1978) Lithuanian is not considered as the state language — there is no mention of the state language at all. The Lithuanian language is mentioned only in the article of those constitutions on the language of the court proceedings. In addition, more generally (teaching in the mother tongue) is written in the article on the right to education. 3 Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. London: Science, 1989. P. [7]. + Idem. P. [46]. * Ibid. P. [59]. 59 After the rise of a new wave of national liberation, after almost half a century of oppression, on November 18, 1988, the Supreme Council of the Lithuanian SSR restored Lithuanian as the state language. An additional article was then adopted in the constitution of the republic (the basic law), which stated: "The state language of the Lithuanian SSR is Lithuanian. The Lithuanian SSR shall ensure the use of the Lithuanian language in the activities of state and public bodies, in 77* educational, cultural, scientific and other production institutions, enterprises and organizations, and the State shall take care of the comprehensive development of the Lithuanian language through teaching. Conditions are created to develop other ir ir ir Lietuvos TSR spoken languages, learn to use the Russian ir language as "The USSR's inter-ethnic relations". Ši the wording is too compromising, it solves one of the most important issues of language policy on the basis of the bilingualism of the Russian national minorities insisted on in the Soviet Union. Such a ir formulation, although being a small step forward, perhaps could somewhat ease the situation of the Lithuanian language at that time, could not satisfy the society, because even legally were not eliminated the reasons that pushed the Lithuanian language the position of a second language in many spheres of life, ir į o iš In the end of ir February, a draft of the new Po constitution of the 1989 m. Lithuanian SSR was published in the press. And although it remained a project, it is worth remembering because of the solution of the Lithuanian language issue. To the draft 81 article, after declaring that Lithuanian is a state language, does not name the areas of use of that language, and does not mention Russian at all; here only refers to the guarantees given to other languages: “Lithuanian TSR guarantees the necessary conditions ir for the development of other Languages spoken in the Republic". Of course, the question may arise why the basic law of the state speaks of the development of other languages ir to conditions guarantees. In the constitutions of independent Lithuania of 1922, 1928 and 1938, the relationship with other languages seems to be much better formulated, although this formulation could be refined. On March 11, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Republic, having met for its first session, adopted the Act on the Restoration of the Independent State of Lithuania, renewed the operation of the Constitution of Lithuania of May 12, 1938 throughout the territory of the restored Republic of Lithuania, immediately suspended its validity and approved the Provisional Basic Law of the Republic of Lithuania. Article 7 of this law is devoted to language: “The state language of the Republic of Lithuania is Lithuanian. The Republic of Lithuania shall ensure the use of the Lithuanian language in the activities of State and public bodies, educational, cultural, scientific, production and other institutions, enterprises and organizations, and the State shall take care of comprehensive education and teaching of the Lithuanian language. Conditions are created for the use and development of the languages of national communities.” In this wording, as in the wording of 18 November 1988, it is broadly and rather un- * Ibid. P. [197]; The official language of the Lithuanian SSR: The most important documents. 5th ed., 1989. P. 1. * Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. P. [216]. 8 First session of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania (first term) (10-13 March 1990, I-VII meetings) /Stenograms. V., 1990. The Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania and the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania. V., 1991. T. 1. P. 34. 60 the defined concept of the official language, t. y. the areas of use of ir its function. This happened because of the fact that The article of the basic law (constitution) has begun to list the areas of use of the state language, but this has not been done sufficiently be precisely incompletely ir (added “and other institutions, enterprises and organisations”). Such matters are usually laid down in the constitution, in ne other laws of 0 the state (there could be a separate language law, a law on the use of the state language), just as, for example, the ar constitution only says what is the language of the state, what is its flag, but where, when, how they are used, it lays down certain other laws, that, the text of the article uses the term of an indefinite meaning of the ir language of the fauve communities. ir Be This is the legal situation of the question of the Lithuanian state language. The legal formalization of the status of ar any right makes legal the acts of implementation of the status of ar that right carried out within the limits of the statute. This is a very important prerequisite for legitimacy, but it does ji not determine the actual position of the language in social life. The language may perform the duties of the state language, if the ir appropriate conditions are created, without being designated by law. It has already been mentioned that 1918—1922 m. in temporary Lietuvos The question of the state language was not raised in the constitutions of the republics, but in fact Lithuanian was already the state language at that time. ir Russian language actually all the time performne ed only Russian IFRS, but all ir functions of the state language of the USSR, although officially this status * was recognized only 1990 m. in the 24 d. April Act ‘For "The Languages of the World". True, in that law Russian was called the state, official ne o USSR language, but this can be considered a terminological game, because In the USSR legal practice, the terms of the ir official language of the state mean tą itself?. It is quite normal and ir natural that in a nation state the language of that nation is used as the state language. The status of the state language is only a legal recognition of the common national language’s position in the life of the state. Under normal circumstances, people of other nationalities understand that they live in their own national state because they are not demanding that languages be ne equal in terms of rights to the main ir language of to the state, let alone that jų they be recognized as even more important. For example, su Lithuanians, Chinese, Russians, ar living in ar France, Hungary, Germany even ar USA, probably nė į It does not come to my mind to demand that Lithuanian, Chinese, Russian languages be ar given equal rights in those states with French, Hungarian, su German, English languages, ar declared together with them as state su languages and even ar recognized as a means of tų communication between the multi-ethnic inhabitants of the states. However, such problems have constanir tly arisen is raised in such In "sovereign states", such as the Soviet Union republics, Here permanently only temporarily ar (for example, the army, various temporary employees, etc.) ir Russian residents (or persons of other nationalities, who, usually by interrogatiobe jų n, are automatically added to the Russian as Russian-speaking people) can claim their (Russian) language of any republic See ? KOpnugdecknit DHUKKIIONEJHYCeCKHH CJIOBApb. 2nd HONOoJIHeHHO6e HKM3Aaune / T. pen. A. Yes. Cyxapes. M.: CosBerck's knocked me down, 1987. C. 87, 303 (articles 2ocydapemesennsiii 43bIK, ofuyuarsnsiii Azo1x), Lithuanian Soviet Encyclopedia. V., 1984. T. 12. P. 47 (Article ‘official language’). ; 61 state language status, 0 a truly privileged position, i.e., that the real owners of that land speak in their own su jų (alien) language. Be the rights are jų fervently supported by the central (in fact Russian) government, so fervently that usually only the rights of the Russian-speaking people are mentioned, regardless of the injustices being done to all the other peoples of that great super-state. ir ir Fortunately, Armenians, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Tatars, Ukrainians, Germans, Jews and many other nationalities living outside their republics or countries do not make such demands for their languages, at least not yet. By the way, in Lithuania there is also the question of the Polish language in part of the so-called Vilnius region. for the languages of the USSR republics of the state languages (not only all the USSR, but ir tų within the borders of the republics) status was not recognized, based on V. Lenin's views on this issue. Lenin’s statements form the theoretical basis of the language policy of the CCP and the USSR. However, such views have not always been followed. It is now generally ignored that in the early 1920s dozens of languages were declared state languages within the borders of their respective union and autonomous republics. In addition, the scripts of many languages were created (initially not on the basis of the Russian alphabet), and terms were created in various fields. However, it was soon taken up in the struggle with the "bourgeois nationalists" dealing with language issues. There are plenty of white spots in history, which are not explained here, by whose orders the status of the state languages were abolished, the alphabets were reworked on the basis of the Russian alphabet, and the terminology of national minorities was massively rusified. ir — ar ir There should therefore be plenty of secret protocols—- recommendations, instructions, on language matters. It seems that this short period of national rebirth was allowed to reveal the “nationalist” enemies of the chauvinist Bolsheviks, just as at the same time was declared the non-existence of the Soviet Union. (new economic policy) allowed them to identify their “class” enemies. Po to the hellish Human Destruction Machine was launched. The clear objective of language policy, which prohibits the promotion of languages to the status of state language, is į to deprive national minorities — iš (t. y. ne Russian) legal basis to protect their native languages ir to create favourable conditions for another (i.e. Russian) to be introduced more and more widely into all spheres of state and social life. Such a policy scrupulously, insightfully be Soviet It was ir implemented in the Union. Į such conditions of the po destruction of the independent Lithuanian 1940 m. state entered the Lithuanian language. Enslaved peoples, language In the Soviet Union, the use of the Russian language was consistently expanded, encompassing new spheres of ir state social life. At the same time, the national minorities of the respective spheres of use were iš gradually pushed among the jų ir of the so-called union republics. This language policy directly flows iš The fundamental principle of the national policy of the USSR, which is considered the fusion of nations (cnmanne Kannit), in other words, assimilation. The conditions of be that policy are being respected, the resources are not being spared and the su necessary measures are not being taken. For many years The USSR was driven by the open russification of all be non-Russian nations, with the exception ir of the minorities. ‘To this end, economic, political, cultural and demographic means are 62 used in a complex (coordinated) manner, and the to necessary propaganda is carried out. Here is what one of the Communist Party’s national policy iš theorists wrote relatively recently: "The essentially linguistic nationaliir ty of all peoples (mammit nm Hapo/mmocTeii) life is changed by advanced socialism. Each year, the importance of the national languages of non-speaking ir peoples and ethnic groups is increasing. tų This is especially pronounced iš in the Russian language as a means of tų inter-ethnic communication (cpe/icrBa MexHAIHOHAaJIbHOTO obuenns) role. It is clear that at the moment in our country there is actually no single nation (omHomanHoHaMbHEIX). Multi-ethnicity of republics increases every year (MHoTOHAlHOHAJIbHOCTE), strengthening ir economic interdependence (s3ammo3aBHCHMOCTB), territorial and spiritual cultural ir penetration of nations, nationalities į (B3auHMonpoHHKHOBeHHEe). Developed socialism raises the į economy and culture of the republics to a new, ir higher level. Staff exchanges are expanding, large teams of national economy specialists (xoHKTHHTeHTkI) | transferred iš from one republic to į another, each year more and more assimilating each other's cultural achievements (B3aumMooGoraluneHHe JocTHXeHAAMHE KYJIBbTYpBI). The intercommunication of nations and nationalities is increasing many times. These objective, ir historically progressive changes in society cannot fail to have a fundamental influence on the nature of the nation, the means of communication of the nation”? ?, Soviet In the Union, everything is — considered unified unified (i.e. unitary) state, unified (i.e. one) economic complex, unified Soviet culture, literature, unified Soviet science, finally unified Soviet people nation ar (Russian word napod ambiguity! ! facilitates the term of eduHblil cosemcKuii napod understand as you like). In this string of terms t. y. denoting unity, unity, ar indissolubility, indivisibility, there is a lack of a unified Soviet language. — However, ir this term is easily implied in the most commonly ir used, only expressed in other words in the language of intercommu- — nication of nations (53bIK MexHalHOHaJIbHOTO OOIeHKna), o ta language, be doubtless, "unified". Russian language as The status of the USSR as a means of intercommunication of the peoples is generally understood — broadly it was iš transferred to the ir sphere of the interrepublican center of power and republic relations ir į Zmoniy communication in any USSR in place area. This has been the case for many years. Ir need to say that a certain part of society (all judging, considerable) due to the constant linguistic pressure, the introduction of all kinds of Russian-friendly communication etiquette su was used to such a situation even ar su ja reconciled (conversatiosu ns with strangers Zmonémis in public places in — enterprises, institutions, vehicles, ir etc., especially in larger cities, were — often at least started in Russian, in public life of nationally mixed collectives usually Used in Russian ir t. t.). Iš part, apparently, right was one of the Soviet iš bilingualism jumpers J. Desheriev, į the question “communicasu tion with other '0 Xanaszapos K. X. Pemrenne HarfHOHAJIBHO-S35IKOBON npoOjIeMEI B CCCP. It's a 2-02, dream come true. M.: H35-Bo nonjuraueckot jiaT-pbI, 1982. C. 153—154. '* S. Ožegovo The "Russian language dictionary" 4 explains the meaning of — 1. the word xapod state, the inhabitants of the country. 2. nation. 3. the main, working part of the country's population. 4. people. (Oxeros C. M. CnoBaps pycckoro s3sika, M3nanue crepeorarnaoe. 7-06, M.: CoBerckasa SHIMKIONEIHS, 1968. C. 378). 63 the representatives of those in the republic and outside its borders- ”, in the tables from all the union republics (except Russia) giving one answer —Russian- ??. After the Soviet Union occupied and destroyed its national independent state in 1940, the Lithuanian people immediately felt what Soviet national policy and the language policy flowing from it were. Lithuanian ceased to be the state language, and Russian was used alongside it, and from some areas, especially from the army, it was soon completely pushed out. Gradually, it was pushed or even pushed out of many other areas of social life (not used in military institutions and schools, in the schools of the party, the Ministry of Interior, almost pushed out of transport, especially air, sea and railway, many factories and even production areas, as well as office writing). Russian became increasingly dominant in the activities of the Communist Party and government institutions. It became the main public language of life (visual agitation, various publicly displayed documents, as well as meetings, consultations, meetings) of many nationally mixed working collectives. Scientific works, with the exception of Lithuanian philology and Lithuanian history, were published almost exclusively in Russian. Lithuanian was pushed out of culture (dubbing of cinema films was stopped), public information (the majority of Lithuanian television programmes were always in Russian, in addition, USSR television programmes were retransmitted at the same time, newspapers and magazines published in Russian or in two languages increased, and the volume of Lithuanian publications was reduced several times), book publishing (an increasing number of books were published in Russian) and so on. The entire educational system has been turned into an enlightenment servant. First of all, Russian language teaching was introduced in all schools, from elementary to high school. It has been taught in kindergartens for many years. Some specialties were taught only in Russian in schools in Lithuania, some subjects were taught in Russian (everywhere — military training, and in schools preparing specialists there were other subjects as well). Most of the textbooks for secondary school subjects were translated from Russian, and most of the subjects taught in higher schools, technical colleges and even vocational schools had to be studied from Russian textbooks. Even for secondary schools, not all teaching materials were prepared in Lithuanian (history and geography maps, most school atlases). As a rule, all civil public notices were in two languages, and military — usually only in Russian. Bilingualism was introduced more and more extensively, more and more strictly in all spheres of life. It was made the core of the language policy of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union. The main direction of the development of linguistic relations in the USSR was from monolingualism of national minorities (non-Russian peoples) through bilingualism to Russian monolingualism. In fact, the entire Soviet Union had entered the stage of bilingualism of national minorities, and in some places, even in the union republics, it seemed that Russian monolingualism was rapidly approaching. In Lithuania, some large cities and, apparently, the Polish national minority are the most affected by bilingualism. '* ĮlenrepnesB FO. HIM. 3akoHoMepHOCTH pa3BHTHSA JHTEPATYPHBIX S35IKOB HapojjoB CCCP B COBeTCKYyIO BnNnoxy. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. M.: Hague, 1978. C. 86, 106, 133, 161, 184, 206, 229, 253, 274, 299, 326, 352, 369, 387. 64 Support ir expand the use of the Russian language, introduce bilingualism had a lot of various į Communist Party, government other institutionir s, as well as enterprises, construction iš Uneducated officials, otherwise civil servants, ir specialists, even workers who do not speak Lithuanian are sent to the USSR. Be There have ir undoubtedly been those who have risen up on their own initiative in search of a better life. Thus, from the very beginning, the colonization of the region was started, coordinated by Lithuanian repressions of other local su inhabitants, ir transports į Siberia finally ir repatriations, recruitment work in other į republics. The increase of Russian-speaking people (to which we jų must add the army), ir Russian schools were established, other educational and cultural ir institutions, more and more periodicals and books were published in Russian, su tų Russian specialists and officials in various fields. USSR ir The highest authorities and officials of Russia, claiming to defend human rights, are trying to preserve the privileged position of Russian and other Russian-speair king settlers in the lands of national minorities, who have decided to return to their homeland and o are clearly biasedly į referred to as refugees. Constant Russian putting the interests of other Russian-speair king people first į 1985 m. Started In the years of USSR restructuring, the emphasis on this issue ir exposed į the first place of national relations TSKP ir The essence of national policy driven by the USSR government. The USSR had always remained a country of ir national oppression of national minorities, a prison of ir nations iš (so commonly called the tsars Russian The ją tombs were used as public graves. i However, the final solution of the national question in the Soviet Union, the t. y. disappearance of national minorities, the officially called fusion, does not attract one nation. nė Therefore, at the first opportunity, a powerful movement of national rebirth and liberation arose throughout the vast state. Lithuania is the first to take ir the path of restoring an independent nation state. There is no doubt that all the peoples enslaved by the USSR, who still have at least some spiritual strength to do so, will follow this path, because only in a national state can the people’s life be organized according to their will, and the language of the people can flourish without restrictions. 1990 m. June THE LITHUANIAN STATE, NATION AND LANGUAGE Summary The first part of this paper briefly surveys the usage of the Lithuanian language during the existence of the Lithuanian state. In spite of the fact that the governmental institutions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania used Lithuanian, for the writing purposes the so-called office language of the Eastern Slavs, later Polish and Latin were used. At the end of the 18th century, after Lithuania was annexed to Russia, the Lithuanian language was completely replaced by Russian. For some time even the Lithuanian spelling was Russified by force. (Lithuanian press was banned from 1864 to 1904.) The year 1918 saw the restoration of independent Lithuania, and the Lithuanian language started to be used as a state language. In accordance with “The Constitution of the Lithuanian State“ adopted by the Constituent Diet in 1922, Lithuanian was declared the official state language. However in 1940, after the annexation of the independent Lithuanian Republic by the 5. Questions of Lithuanian Linguistics, XXXI 65