LIETUVIŲ KALBOS SANDAROS TYRINĖJIMAI

LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI, XXVI (1987)

ADELĖ VALECKIENĖ

ANAPHORIC USE OF THE PRONOUNS KAS, KURIS, -I

§ 1. Besides their interrogative and relative functions, the pronouns kas, kuris, -i also have an anaphoric function in Lithuanian. When used in noun positions, these pronouns substitute for the true anaphoric demonstrative pronouns used in the same positions.

§ 2. The pronoun kas substitutes for the neuter generalized-reference form tai and its variant tas ‘tai’ when these forms occur at the beginning of a subordinate clause in a complex sentence and their antecedent is the entire utterance, i.e. the main clause. For example:

Our present-day surnames, such as Daukšas, Daujotas, Gediminas, Daugilas, Dargis, Gedvilas, and so on, were still personal names in the sixteenth century, which (tai, tas) is clearly evident from the 1528 list of nobles BūgRR I 203; As I went on telling him the story for so long, the listeners began to snore loudly, and seeing this (ką (tai, tą)), I quietly snuffed out the candle and went to bed ValPJ 117; The Baltic tribes were familiar with artificially made “little gods,” as (ką (tai, tą)) is shown not only by historical sources but also by language BūgRR I 143; The word “pavojus” has an etymological “v” between “a” and “o,” as (ką (tai, tą)) is shown by dialectology, the history of the word, and its origin BūgRR I 107; In the distant past there were deer in Lithuania, as (apie ką (apie tai, apie tą)) the remains mentioned here attest IvanPŽ 263; Even now girls around Biržai and Pabiržė still observe this custom of the laumės, which (ko (to)) has long since disappeared in Samogitia ValPJ 90; In one of those rooms grain was kept, in another clothes hung on poles, from which (nuo ko (nuo to)) it was called a granary DaukR I 433; He repeatedly struck this tree with his forehead, as a result of which (nuo ko (nuo to)) the tree had bent to one side IvanPŽ 293.

Such sentences with anaphoric kas were also used by our renowned linguist J. Jablonskis, who corrected this pronoun in other cases (see below), for example: The hawk snatches birds before people’s eyes, just two or three steps away from them, for which (už tai) it sometimes even lays down its own life RR I 534–535. The pronoun kas with this meaning is particularly useful for introducing parenthetical or appended clauses, for example: If it sometimes happens that everyone has to leave the house—which (kas (o tai)) rarely occurs—then the doors are bolted from the inside, and the last person climbs out through the window SimonAŠL 84. In this sentence, kas is also convenient because the conjunction tai follows, correlated with jeigu. This is a case in which kas is necessary and appropriate, not tai.

On the other hand, the anaphoric use of the pronoun kas is restricted by sentence structure and broader context. It functions as a connective and stands at the beginning of a subordinate clause. This position in the sentence does not always allow it to replace the more freely used demonstrative forms tai, tas ‘tai’. For example: That one should invite an enemy of one’s own

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there had never before been a case in Samogitia of someone calling on their own people to join them against a common enemy! VienPD, K 282. Here, the use of to instead of ko is hindered by the adjacent that, which correlates with kad. There are also other contextual cases in which the transformation what → that, that “that” is impossible¹. Thus, in Lithuanian, the anaphoric use of the pronoun kas is limited: the forms of general reference that, that “that” are possible everywhere, whereas the anaphoric meaning of what occurs only in certain structurally defined cases. In this subsystem, the primary forms are those of general reference, that, that “that”, while the anaphoric meaning of what is secondary. Therefore, kas in this meaning is used only when the forms of general reference that, that “that” are unsuitable (as in the case mentioned above). The use of the pronoun what with an anaphoric meaning should not be artificially expanded in Lithuanian literary language.

§ 3. The pronoun kuris, -i, when used in a subordinate clause of a complex sentence, also has an anaphoric function. Unlike kas, the pronoun kuris, -i with anaphoric meaning substitutes for the masculine and feminine concrete-reference forms of the same pronoun, tas, ta. Its antecedents are nouns expressed in the main clause. For example:

Raising his head, (Vainorius) pointed to the swallows, which (those) were darting high, bathing in the blue depths of the sky KrėvŠP 26; For half an hour (Pliauga) chased a pig around the garden, which (that) had eaten up his entire potato patch, rooting it up… KrėvŠP 183; Then he takes Juozapėlis and Mikė by the shoulders; they (those two) are still standing together, facing one another CvR II 103; The wolf and the fox ran together past the traps, on which (on those) a goose had been hung KatkR 267; Long ago there lived an old man whose (that man’s) wife had died S I 133; There is a small village in the land of Dainava about which (about that) few people have heard KrėvRg 79; cf. examples with tas, ta: Žolys took Kupstis along for a beer. He did not leave even Petro behind. That one, though disgraced, had to obey his uncle ŽemR I 162 → He did not leave even Petro behind, who, though disgraced, had to obey his uncle; We get the news from the basket; it often goes to market Balč AP 202→We get the news from the basket, which often goes to market; Everyone had shoes on, but they wore them only until they left the church ValPJ 30→Everyone had shoes on, which they wore only until leaving the church.

Just as the use of kas instead of tai, tas ‘tai’ is restricted by context and sentence structure, so too is the use of kuris, -i instead of tas, ta. Replacing the forms tas, ta with kuris, -i often requires rearranging sentence constituents and changing the sentence type; in certain contexts such a replacement is altogether impossible, for example, when direct speech and the author’s narration occur together. Cf.:

Splash, splash, she splashed water on the girls, and, soaked through, they giggled, for they rustled about dressed properly as for a holy day ValPJ 83; “Look!” shouted Baltaragis. He turned around and listened ŽemR II 62.

Thus, in this subsystem tas, ta are the primary forms, while kuris, -i are secondary.

§ 4. Like the pronoun kuris, -i, the pronoun kat-ras, -a is also used with the same anaphoric meaning, for example: As they walked along, the two of them found a very fine pine, whose (which, that) middle was hollow BM 97.

¹ For more detail, see Valeckienė A. The Neuter Form tai and Its Relationship to Other Pronoun Forms. — In: Word Forms and Usage (Questions of Lithuanian Linguistics). V., 1974, vol. 15, p. 71.

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The pronouns kuris, -i and katras, -a are free variants, but katras, -a is rarely used in this function; its place is taken by kuris, -i. The latter is the primary form, katras, -a the secondary one.

§ 5. The anaphoric pronouns kas and kuris, -i are distributed according to the principle of complementary distribution. Occurring in the same position—the beginning of the subordinate clause of relative sentences—these pronouns exclude one another: kas is a substitute for the neuter forms of generalized reference tai, tas “that,” whereas kuris, -i (katras, -a) is a substitute for the forms tas, ta of specific reference. According to the feature of generalized/non-generalized (specific) reference, the pronouns kas and kuris, -i form a privative opposition, in which the marked member is kuris, -i (katras, -a), and the unmarked one is kas (the latter pronoun has a broader range of use). The relationship between these pronouns can be represented graphically as follows:

Anaphoric pronouns

The isomorphic relations of these pronouns are as follows: tai, tas “that”: kas = tas, ta: kuris, -i (katras, -a) or tai, tas “that”: tas, -a = kas: kuris, -i (katras, -a).

§ 6. In a certain context, the pronoun kas occurs in a position of neutralization: the distinguishing feature between kas and kuris, -i (katras, -a) is neutralized, and kas replaces its opposite member—kuris, -i (katras, -a). For example: I don’t see a person who (kuris) could bring it late LnkV; My dear lad is gone, who (kuris) talks with me NS 1297; And here a craftsman has turned up, who (kuris) managed to teach their child all sorts of things SlnŠLSA 149; Across the field a dark-haired girl is moving, who (kuri) soothes my heart (song) Všk.; Don’t you remember the Labanoras pipe, which (kurią) he used to handle under his arm? Lb.

The indeclinable-for-number kas is also used instead of the plural kurie, -ios, for example: There were two brothers who (kurie) used to welcome travelers very warmly SlnŠLSA 43; It isn’t as frightening as those who (kurie) have never been there say Myk-PutAŠ 12.

Instances of neutralization confirm that the pronoun kas is the unmarked member of the opposition in question.

§ 7. In the position of neutralization, the accusative form ką of the anaphoric pronoun kas became fossilized, ceased to agree, and developed into a conjunction serving in place of the singular and plural case forms of the pronoun kuris, -i, or the adverb kur. For example: I recognized at once that limping fellow who (kuris) had once come to see me in the forest: Povilas Dovydonis! BaltPV I 119; To me, such a person is no person, who (kuris) sa (= his own)

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forget the language Mrp; Unhappy is the lad who (that) listens to girls Mrk; Blessed is the hand that (which) invented the axe! BaranR I 38; Where are the men who (that) spent the night here? LB 306; And these light clouds, which (that) delight your eyes tonight, will never return, having flown away to distant lands PietRR 45; From the houses that (which) stood at the edge of the village came a fragrant smell PietRR 285; Only people who grew up in the forest know these (trees), doctors and healers who (that) wander through the woods BaranR I 31; You cannot even persuade those who (that) are obliged to work PietRR 256; He ordered those two stones, which (the two of which) lie on the hill, to be rolled down to the smithy BsMt I 70.

The same form ką can also have the meanings of other conjunctions: kad ‘that’, kaip ‘as’, jei ‘if’, užuot ‘instead of’, etc. For example:

That (because) it is wet and low-lying, it (the crop) does not thrive Vlk; Throw your belly to the dogs, since (that) it is so unhealthy Kp; I realized that I was no longer the bridge that (as) I once was KudR I 151; If (= completely) I am to ask for something, it is better to have none at all Skp; It is better that she not buy it, instead of (= every time) reproaching me Skp. Compare also the meaning ‘how much’ of ką: How much does a pound of sugar cost?; How much health those jobs took out of me².

§ 8. The systematic use of the pronouns examined, especially cases of their neutralization, shows that the pronoun kas and its fossilized accusative form ką, used instead of kuris, -i, is probably not a Slavic borrowing, as J. Jablonskis³, more recently A. Piročkinas⁴, and others previously thought, but a common Baltic and Slavic phenomenon, as J. Palionis⁵ pointed out recently. Typological data also support this conclusion.

§ 9. In Latvian, kas with anaphoric meaning is used more frequently than in Lithuanian, and more broadly than the pronoun kurš, -a⁶, which is specifically used in this context, in utterances of the following type: Kā gan viņš neklausīs savu māti, kas par viņu tik daudz rūpējusies “How could he not listen to his mother, who has cared so much for him”; Grāmatas, ko mes labprāt būtu lasījuši, bija paņēmuši citi lasītāji “The books that we would gladly have read had been taken by other readers”; Uzkāpuši kalniņā pie būdas, mēs sākām vākt malku, ar ko uguni kurt “Having climbed the hill by the hut, we set about gathering firewood with which to kindle a fire”⁷.

Kas with anaphoric meaning is also found in Prussian, agreeing or not agreeing in gender with its antecedent noun, for example: edeitte, std ast mais kermens, kas perwans dats wirst 7, 21–22 “Esset, Das ist meyn leyb, der für euch gegeben wirdt” [“Eat, this is my body, which is given for you”]; beggi stāi ast Deiwas schlusiniki, quad i stawidan absergisān turri erdaiḱit 57, 22 “Denn es sind

^² Grinaveckienė E. Kai kurios lietuvių kalbos tarmių ypatybės (iš 1961 metų dialektologinių ekspedicijų). – Kn.: Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai. V., 1962, t. 5, p. 165.

^³ Jablonskis J. Rinktiniai raštai/Sud. J. Palionis. – V., 1957, t. 1, p. 512.

^⁴ Piročkinas A. Jono Jablonskio gramatiniai taisymai. – K., 1976, p. 14.

^⁵ Palionis J. [Rec.:] Piročkinas A. Prie bendrinės kalbos ištakų. – V., 1977, 228 p.; J. Jablonskis – bendrinės kalbos puoselėtojas. – V., 1978. – 279 p. – Baltistica, 1979, t. 15(2), p. 162.

^⁶ Kabelka J. Latvių kalba. – V., 1975, p. 140.

^⁷ Mūsdienu latviešu literārās valodas gramatika/Atb. red. E. Sokols. – Rīgā, 1962, 2, lpp. 671, 670, 673.

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“Gottes Diener, die solchen Schutz sollen handhaben,” Lithuanian “for they are God’s servants, who must maintain such protection”; “kiršča wissans swirins, kas nosemien lise-67, 12 “über alles Thier, das auff Erden kreucht,” Lithuanian “over all the beasts, which (who) crawl on the earth”⁸

The corresponding pronoun qui, quae, quod is used in Latin, for example: argentum, quod habes, condonamus te⁹ “we give you the silver that (which) you have.”

In Russian, the pronoun что is used more narrowly than the specialized pronoun который, -ая in constructions of this type, and tends to become fossilized—the Russian opposition between animate and inanimate кто/что is no longer observed—and что is used to refer both to things and to people, for example: живу от вас через улицу, в этом домике, что против ваших окошек “I live across the street from you, in this little house opposite your windows”; Ребята! Надо сходить назад – взять офицера, что ранен там в канаве¹⁰ “Guys! We need to go back and get the officer who is wounded there in the ditch.”

In Polish, the pronoun form co is used instead of który, for example: Zły to ptak, co własne gniazdo kala¹¹ “A bad bird is one that fouls its own nest.”

In other languages, certain forms of the pronoun kas also tend to become conjunctions, for example, Latvian ka ‘that’, Old Prussian kai ‘that’, Kan. ‘when, whenever’, Latin quod ‘that’¹², etc.

§ 10. Thus, the forms kas, ką used instead of the pronouns kuris, -i (katras, -a) and the adverb kur are probably neither incorrect nor reprehensible when they occur occasionally. In the system of contemporary standard Lithuanian, this is a relic, archaic, peripheral phenomenon, found mostly in folk songs and narrative folklore. A sentence or two containing this pronoun has made its way into literary prose (and from there into grammars), especially in the works of writers whose language is closer to colloquial folk speech (J. Bal tušio, I. Simonai ty tės, and others). In general, the forms kas, ką used instead of kuris, -i have little support in contemporary Lithuanian. The pronouns kuris, -i, katras, -a, or the adverb kur are the dominant and preferable forms for this purpose.

ANAPHORIC USE OF PRONOUNS

KAS (WHO, WHAT), KURIS, -I (WHICH, -A)

Summary

Besides their interrogative and relative functions, the pronouns kas, kuris, -i are also used in Lithuanian in an anaphoric function. In this function, the pronoun kas is replaced by the neuter form of the generalized demonstrative tai (this), whose antecedent is an entire phrase, whereas the pronoun kuris, -i is replaced by the masculine and feminine forms of the specific

⁸ Mažiulis V. Prūsų kalbos paminklai. – V., 1981, t. 2, p. 77, 181, 207.

⁹ Hofmann J. B., Szantyr A. Lateinische Syntax und Stilistik (Leuman-Hofmann-Szan- tyr. Lateinische Grammatik, Bd. 2). – München, 1972, S. 555.

¹⁰ Грамматика русского языка. – М., 1960, т. 2, ч. 2, с. 273.

¹¹ Szober S. Gramatyka języka polskiego. Wyd. 4/Opracował W. Doroszewski. – Warszawa, 1957, s. 371.

¹² Žr. plačiau Valeckienė A. Lietuvių kalbos gramatinė sistema/Giminės kategorija. – V., 1984, p. 71–72.

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указания tas, ta (этот, эта, тот, та) того же местоимения, антецедентами которых служат существительные, напр.: Tolimoje senovėje elnių būta Lietuvoje, apie ką (= apie tai) byloja čia paminėti palaikai Ivan „В глубокой древности олени жили в Литве, о чем (= об этом) говорят здесь упомянутые остатки“. Buvo karta vyras, kuriam (=tam) mirė pati, ir buvo moteris, kuriai (= tai) mirė pats Балц Жил однажды мужик, у которого (=у него) умерла жена, и жила женщина, у которой (=у ней) умер муж“. По широте употребления в анафорической функции tas, ta, tai являются первичными формами, а kas, kuris, -i – вторичными. В анафорическом употреблении местоимение kas противопоставляется местоимению kuris, -i по дифференциальному признаку обобщенного/необобщенного (конкретного) указания так же, как форма tai формам tas, ta. В данной оппозиции местоимение kuris, -i является маркированным членом, а kas – немаркированным. Оппозиция местоимений kas и kuris, -i подвергается нейтрализации, в таких случаях маркированный член kuris, -i заменяется немаркированным kas, напр.: Nemat au žmogaus, kas galėtų vėliavą paimt Lnk „Не вижу человека, кто (который) мог бы взять знамя“. В позиции нейтрализации форма вин. п. ką местоимения kas становится устойчивой и превращается в союз.

The article presents parallels in the use of Lithuanian kas in an anaphoric function and of corresponding pronouns in other related languages—Latvian, Prussian, Slavic languages, Latin, and others. It is concluded that the use of kas, ką instead of kuris, -i in Lithuanian is not a borrowing from Slavic languages but a phenomenon common to Slavic and Baltic languages.

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