KALBŲ KONTAKTAI LIETUVOS TSR

LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI XXIII(1983)

ELENA GRINAVECKIENĖ

SOME GRAMMATICAL FEATURES OF THE DAUGAVPILS LITHUANIAN DIALECT

I. Introduction

This article continues an earlier study devoted to the phonetics of the Lithuanian dialect of the Daugavpils area in the Latvian SSR, little known to linguistics until now (Grinaveckienė E., 1980, 223–239). It discusses characteristic grammatical features of this dialect, which, like its phonetics, link it to the grammatical system of Eastern Lithuanian dialects, especially those of the eastern Dzūkai, and the dialect itself is a natural continuation in Latvia of the Lithuanian dialects mentioned above. Since the dialect is surrounded by other languages and dialects—Latvian, Belarusian, Russian, and Polish—the article also points out the influence on it of these linguistic systems, which function in the area.

In 1911, K. Būga, who studied the Lithuanian dialect of Ciskoda (Latvian Tiskādi, Rēzekne District), used only one or two features of the phonetics of the dialect studied here for comparison with its data (Grinaveckienė E., 1980, 223–226). Thus, the grammatical features of this dialect are examined more extensively in the article for almost the first time. Although the linguistic data collected are incomplete or fragmentary, owing to the relatively brief study of its system (two weeks of fieldwork), they are nevertheless sufficient to form at least an approximate picture of the grammar of this dialect and to determine its place among other Lithuanian dialects and the grammatical systems functioning in this area.

Given that the grammatical features of the dialect discussed here are new and have until now been almost unknown to scholarship, they are important for Lithuanian dialectology, and the article itself is undoubtedly timely.

II. Notable Features of Word Formation

1. The connecting vowel in compound words

Compound words in the dialect are usually formed with a connecting vowel, most often a, e.g.: baltagūdė.¹ || baldgūdė. (dial.) ‘Belarusian woman’, béržalape.s ‘russulas’, duona-kepe. ‘bread trough’, kiškiabude.s ‘chanterelles, a kind of mushroom’, kryžiakaulis ‘sternum’, maldàkni.ge.s, mūsiamire., nugarākaulis, pirmāde.la. ‘first-calf heifer’, pinktāde.nis (dial.), rauda.nagalvis ‘red-capped mushroom, a kind of mushroom’, rūdame.se., stālatiese., šūnava.te.s, trečiāde.nis (dial.), varnalėša.s, viešiakelis. Less common are compound words with the connecting vowel i or y, e.g.: akīvaras, darbȳlaikis, dviratis (dial.), dvišakas. Significantly fewer compound—

¹ Tarmės pavyzdžiai pateikiami taip, kaip nurodyta Grinaveckienė E., 1980, 224–225.

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compounds without a linking vowel, e.g.: pūsdvi.likis ‘twelfth’, rankdarbiai, rankštuostis, sėnmergė., sėnpane., sūbatvakarìs (hybrid).

Most examples show that, in the dialect’s compound words, the linking vowel has recently most often become independent of, or unrelated to, the stem-final element of the first component.

2. More characteristic diminutive and endearing formations

Among the suffixes used to form diminutive and endearing nouns, the most widely used in the dialect are -elis, -ė, -ytė, -(i)ukas, and -(i)utis. They are all highly productive, and new words can be formed with them from both primary and derived stems. Some of these formations have not a diminutive or endearing meaning but a special meaning (usually made clear in the explanation of the word’s meaning).

Among formations with the suffix -elis, -ė, the following are noteworthy: avėla. ‘sheep’, bačkėla. (hybrid) ‘small barrel’, beržėlis, durmėliai (hybrid) ‘not very wise’, galvėla.s ‘flax seeds’, kabėlis ‘small hook’, ka.jėla.s, kakėla.s ‘nipples’, kaulāliai, kipėla. ‘small milking pail’, kni.gėla., kriukėlis (hybrid) ‘small hook’, ku.rėlis, lintėla.s, maišėlis, naktėla., namėlis ‘implement’, pu.slāla.s, skiedėla.s ‘small wood chips’, stru.gėlis (hybrid) ‘a kind of wood-carving tool’, še.nėlis, šma.tėlis (hybrid) ‘small piece’, te.vėlis, vadėla.s ‘reins’, vinėla., virvėla., žirklāla.s, žiupsnėlis.

The suffix -elis, -ė is added to derived stems only in words used in the dialect in earlier times (or could the old *-ē have been preserved here? Cf. ėda, sėja, etc.); such formations are less common, e.g.: kaspinėlis, la.pinėlis, ramunėliai ‘daisies’. Much more common alongside these are newer formations with the suffix -ėlis, -ė, probably arising under the influence of standard Lithuanian, e.g.: gi.vė.lėlis, katinėlis, vabuolėliai ‘little beetles’, vežimėlis, vakarėlis ‘open-air dance’. The adverb dabartėlia.s ‘now’ probably has a diminutive suffix of the same origin.

Noteworthy are formations with the masculine suffix -(i)ukas, popular in the dialect, e.g.: beržē.niūkai, bumbulūkai ‘little buds’, de.dūkas ‘grandfather’, du.melūkai, gra.vīlkas, kalnelīukas, kapliūkas ‘small hoe’, kazle.niūkas (hybrid) ‘little kid, a kind of mushroom’, kiaulīukai ‘little piglets’, kirme.līukai ‘hazel, birch, and alder catkins; bee brood’, kurziūkas ‘smoked sausage’, ku.snelīukas, me.lī.niūkas ‘blue-framed beehive’, namelīukas ‘small implement’, na.siūkas ‘piglet’s snout’, paršiūkas, paukščiūkas, puodūkas, trupūčiuku., viščiūkas.

There are many formations with the feminine suffix -ytė, which in the dialect consistently bears stress on the suffix, e.g.: bitūtė., bumbūtė., dienūtė., dulkūtė., duonūtė., gramatūtė. (<la. gramata ‘book’) ‘little book’, ja.nienūtė. ‘Mrs. Jonas, Jonas’s wife’, kakūtė.s ‘little nipples’, kanapūtė.s ‘a kind of field herbs’, marijūtė.s ‘a kind of medicinal herbs’, mergūtė., ra.žūtė., saulūtė., senūtė. ‘little old woman’, senelūtė., ža.lūtė., žuvūtė. ‖ The frequency and popularity of this suffix in the dialect is undoubtedly also encouraged by formations with the corresponding Latvian suffix -īte (cf. Endzelīns J., 1951, 386—387; Rūķe-Draviņa V., 1959, 232—236).

Formations with the suffix -(i)utis, -ė are less numerous. Nouns and adjectives occur, e.g.: de.dūtis ‘grandfather; burdock’, ma.čiūtė., pla.kštūtė. ‘small plate’; baltūtė., jaunūtis, mažūtis, trumpūtis.

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3. Other noun suffixes

In general, many other noun suffixes are similar to those in the neighboring Eastern Dzūkian dialects. Naturally, among them one or another derivational element specific to this dialect also occurs, as does a different meaning of a derivative, and so on.

The rare suffix -aina denotes a place where something is worked or carried out, e.g.: skliūtaina ‘a place in the forest (sometimes with a shelter) where railway sleepers are hewn’, cf. шклот in the Belarusian dialect of Skrudaliena, ‘a hewing axe’ < Lithuanian skliūtas ‘the same’; for the suffix, cf. the Lithuanian suffix -ainė (ratainė ‘wheelhouse’, svetainė ‘guest room’).

Most likely under the influence of standard Lithuanian, alongside derivatives with the suffix -ėja (e.g., audėja, verpėja), the dialect also uses its new derivative with fixed stress, melžėja (cf. their láidī.te alongside the entirely new miž.te).

Among derivatives with the suffix -ėlė, kirme.lė may be mentioned; with the suffix -ėnas — bróla.nas ‘cousin’; with the suffix -ybė (its derivatives in the dialect have fixed stress only) — galýbė, kaltýbė ‘guilt’, kuntrýbė, teisýbė ‘right, law’, cf. mės netūrim teisýbę.s sakýte. cf. Latvian tiesība ‘the same’. The suffix -idė is most often represented by arklidė.; -iena — un-tienė, viščiėnė, žu.siėna; rugiėna, kve.riėna; -ienė — su.nienė. ‘son’s wife’ (most likely a calque from Polish synowa ‘daughter-in-law’), as well as women’s surnames based on men’s names — ja.niene. ‘Jonas’s wife’, igna.tiene. ‘Ignotas’s wife’, and based on surnames — iliš-kienė. ‘Iliškienė’, gra.velienė. ‘Grovelienė’ (although, under the influence of other languages, one already hears janina and ja.nėnas ‘Jonėnienė’ (Grinaveckienė E., 1980, 224). The suffix -ija may also be added to derived stems — liga.nija ‘hospital’, while alongside abstract nouns with the suffixes -imas, -ymas, derivatives with concrete meanings are increasingly common, e.g.: ażdegimas ‘inflammation and burn’ (: ażdegimas šaula.s), ażmigimas ‘sleeping medicine’ (: va.ke.čy̆s dávė. ažmigimu.), i.pi.nimas ‘a braid’, išmági.mas ‘pressing’ (: sūlu. išmági.ma. mašina ‘juice press’), jaunimai ‘young people’ (: jaunimai šitie labai dýkus), mezgimas (: mezgima. knýga), nušaukimas ‘name, designation’ (cf. Latvian nosaukums ‘the same’); padėjimas ‘storeroom’ (: mán’ kita. pade.jima. nėra, tik tas), per-gi.venimai, plepėjimas ‘puffing’ (: puoda. plepėjimas), prisáki.mas ‘order’, priklausí.mas ‘obligation’ (: iš bažnyčių. duōti ne prisáki.mai, a priklausí.mai), raši.mas ‘writing, document’ (: tas raši.mas būva. nele.tūviškas), ravėjimai ‘weeds’ (: ravėjimu. neragėt’, tik žōla.s), rūkijimas ‘smoking’, sa.dinimai ‘seedlings’ (cf. Latvian stādijums ‘what has been planted’), se.jimai ‘crops’ (: aplink kalākia. se.jimai), susitikimas, suve-jimas ‘gathering’ (: visi nuėja. suve.jiman), suverpimas ‘fee for spinning’ (: suverpimu. jima vi.lna.m), šlapinimas ‘urine’. Among derivatives with the suffix -ymas, the following may be mentioned: atródi.mas ‘appearance’ (: kóks čia māna. atródi.mas!), válgimas ‘meal’; -ýna — lentýna (young), mergýna ‘daughter; girl’ (: par jōs mergýnu. kárpa), šeimýna ‘both one’s own family and hired workers’ (cf. also vaikýnas ‘son, child, boy’: su vaikýnais gulėjau liga.nija. j’ ‘while giving birth to sons, I lay in hospital’); -ýnas — api-šýnas, beržýnas || biržýnas (young, dialectal), u.žuolýnas, ža.lynai ‘flowers’; -inė, -inis — barn, cemetery ‘cemetery’, egg, basket ‘a large basket woven from splints’, spring, hundred-

² Tokios nuomonės prieita remiantis šio žodžio paplitimu Lietuvoje. LKA, I, 1977, 198 duomenys rodo, kad žodis sū.nene ‘marti’ tevartojamas tik šnektose, kontaktuojančiose su lenkų šnektomis.

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-ne.s ‘ares’ (a calque from Russian сотки ‘the same’); -inykas, -ė — daininykai (young, dialectal), singers — dainininkai and giedotojai, le.tūvini.kas ‘Lithuanian’, bū.rtini.ke.; -iokas — azeriokas, berniokas, teliokas, vaikiokas ‘small child’ (: kiaūla.s vaikiokai), viščiokas ‘chick’; -ystė — jaunystė ‘youth’ (: visā jaunystė. suveidava.), sany stė. ‘old age’; -iškas — mėsiškas ‘meat dish’, vyriškas ‘man’; -iuominė — kariuominė.; -ójai (added to derived stems) — bulbienójai ‘potato vines’, bruknienójai; -ovės — daržove.s; -sena — gimdýsena ‘giving birth; farrowing’ (cf. Latvian dzemdēšana ‘childbirth’); -ulýs — ka.sulýs, re.buliai ‘fat, lard’; -umas — baltūmas, didumas ‘majority’, didūmas, gardūmas, ilgūmas ‘length’, karštumi ‘in the heat’, neti.rūmai ‘manure’ (: iš žarnų išmaiša. visūs neti.rūmus), ramūmas ‘calm’ (pre. ažera. ramūmas), rauda.nūmas ‘redness’ (: mergyna.s rauda.nūmas — graži), sunkūmas ‘trouble’ (: prispaūde. sunkūmas), tūnkūmas, tvirtūmas ‘thickness’ (: kaip spiçķā tvirtūma.), vertingūmas ‘value’ (: kiaūli. svilini, kólai aptaisai lig vertingūma. ‘you singe the pig until the skin is valuable’), -uolas, -ė — lakštinguóla. ‘nightingale’, vābuolas ‘beetle’; -uōnis — skunduōnis ‘drowned person’.

4. More characteristic adjective and numeral suffixes

Among the adjective (including participial) and numeral derivatives with suffixes recorded by us, the following may be mentioned: -ėtas, -a — ringėta žarna ‘large intestine’; -ėnis, -ė — bulbieniai bly(n)ai, rugieniai šiaudai; -inga — paršinga ‘pregnant’, sąjinga ža.lė ‘bitter, tasteless grass’ (cf. Latvian sājš ‘bitter, tasteless’, sājums ‘bitterness’), telinga (also the adverbs teisingai and vargingai); -inis, -ė — aušriniai vartai ‘the Gates of Dawn’, bū.lbinė. dešra ‘vedarai’, bū.rninė. armonška ‘mouth organ’, būrokínis alus, dešrinė.s žarna.s ‘large intestines used for stuffing vedarai’, galinė.s vãga.s, gimtinis kraštas ‘homeland’, gimtinis miēstas ‘native town’, kiaūliniai re.buliai ‘pork fat’, kruōpínis kurziūkas ‘blood sausage’, kukarinė. (< kukavinė) pýpkė. ‘brown coconut pipe’, laūkiniai a.buoliai, laūkiniai kiaūliai ‘wild boars’, mėšinis kurziūkas ‘skilandis’, miēžinis alus, mi.ltninis blynas, pirmutini. kartū., prigimtinė. ‘native language’, vidutiniai ‘internal, abdominal’ fat; -ōnas, -ā: geltōnā, raudōnā; -ōtas, -a: kapōta.s dešra.s; -uotas, -a: kālnuota.s viēta.s, kālnuota žēme. ‖

5. More characteristic verb suffixes and prefixes

a) The system of verb formation in the dialect differs somewhat more from standard Lithuanian in the following derived forms with suffixes: -alioti — braukaliōti ‘to drive back and forth’ (cf. Latvian braûkāt ‘to drive here and there’), -aliuoti — sergaliūoja ‘keeps falling ill’; -ėnti — džia.vēna ‘dries’, ru.gēna ‘ferments’; -ovėti — papja.vietė. (hay.); -inėti — pasibe.ginēja (pig.); -inti — pūtina (wind) (cf. Latvian putināt ‘to raise dust, to storm’); -ūti (Slavic) — brakūja ‘despises’, būdū.ite. (Slavic) ‘to build’, naktū.ite. (hybrid) ‘to spend the night’, apipe.lū.ite. (Slavic) ‘to mow around’, targū.ite. (Slavic) ‘to trade’; -uoti — atskirūote. ‘to separate (piglets from the sow)’, palaidūote. ‘to bury’, klibūote. ‘to limp’, ailūote. ‘to arrange things in rows’, iškalūote. (alongside skalāuna) ‘to rinse out’.

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b) Among the more characteristic prefixes of the dialect, the ways they combine with the root, and their meanings, the following are noteworthy:

api-: apįjare. ³ ‘ploughed around’, apidį.rpte. ‘worked around’, apijaka. ‘went blind’, apije.me. ‘took hold’, apineša ‘carries around’, apinešta tvōrā ‘a fence enclosed all around’, apisergā ‘falls ill’, apisvilina ‘scorches lightly’, apišućina ‘burns lightly’, apivérda ‘turns green all over’, apivirina ‘turns green all over’; at-: atganiau (many years ago), neatvaikysi (dog) ‘you will not drive away (the dog)’; ata-: atakīrps ‘will cut off’, atakīrs ‘having cut off’, atāmenu ‘I remember’, atapjāutė. ‘to cut off’, ataskriste. ‘to fall off’, atastōvi (sāndelė.lio.s) ‘stands for a long time, remains standing (in warehouses)’, atatraùks ‘will lure back’, atāveda ‘brings back’, atāverte. ‘turned back’, atāvežiau ‘I brought back’; až-: ažāugi.s ‘grown up’, āždeda ‘puts on’, aždėkte. ‘to light; to get sunburned’, ažėina ‘goes out’, ažgérte. ‘to drink up’, ažjū.nkte. ‘to harness (an ox)’, ažma.kėte. ‘to pay’; cf. also ašturėtas ‘held back, restrained’, aštvėrtas ‘fenced in’; ažu-: ažūdi.rpte. (pension) ‘to earn (a pension) through service’, ažūgine. ‘forbade’, ažulaikė.t ‘you held back, delayed’, ažūmušė. ‘killed’, ažupīrka. ‘bought in advance’, ažuspi.rta ‘propped up’, ažūšala ‘froze’, ažūteršė. ‘polluted’, ažūvalgį.te. ‘to eat up’, ažūverke. ‘burst into tears’; da-⁴: nedaeina galvōn ‘does not understand’, dasiklause. ‘found out by asking around’; nu-: nudrebėna. ka.jēla.m ‘came to an end’, nugaīša.m (half a day) ‘we wasted (half a day)’, nuspaudė. (heart) ‘squeezed (the heart)’, nuspėja. (the mushroom is ripe and smoke rises) ‘ripened’ (the mushroom is ripe and smoke rises), nuveja. (into the army) ‘went off (to join the army)’; nuo-: nūomire. ‘died’, cf. 1a. nomira ‘the same’; pa-: padègina. (fingers) ‘burned (the fingers)’, nepājaučia (that it is hard) ‘does not feel (that it is hard)’, palikai (a widow) ‘I was left (a widow)’, pāmėčiau (smoking) ‘I quit (smoking)’, pašėukte. ‘to name, give a name’, patėka. (discipline) ‘there was enough (discipline)’ (cf. 1a. pietika drosmes ‘the same’), pāte piau; pad- (Slavic; cf. Belarusian пату́кваць ‘to turn’) ‘pa-’: pākiši ‘put in’, pādeina (and like Lithuanians) ‘similar (to Lithuanian women)’; pēr-⁵ ‘over-/through-’: pēre.ja. (thirty-eight roubles) ‘exceeded, cost more than (thirty-eight roubles)’, pērkalbi ‘translates orally from one language into another’, pērtrauke. (studies) ‘discontinued (studies)’, pērvardina. ‘renamed, gave another name’, pērvede.m ‘we translated’, pērverste. ‘to translate’;

³ The prefixes api-, ata-, ažu-, as the examples show, have—unlike those of many other East Aukštaitian dialects in Lithuania—remained intact here quite unusually in forms of all tenses (: apivirinte., ažūdi.rba, atapjōve. and others). Such a pattern of derivation, in which these prefixes are added intact by generalization to every verb form, is not found anywhere else in dialects spoken in Lithuania. However, the dialect under investigation is not unique in this respect. Quite a few instances of this derivation occur in 17th-century written sources from eastern Lithuania—in the writings of K. Sirvydas, e.g., apiimti, apimūšti, atanešti, ažumigdyti, ažuplyti and others (for more examples see Morkūnas K., 1980, 113, 117, 122—125). Thus, this fact points to the great archaism of the dialect under investigation. The analogy of the stressed position of the verb prefix could undoubtedly have contributed to this generalization. Accordingly, by analogy with atakerpa (this position is also characteristic of other East Aukštaitian dialects) and atakirpa., atakirpte., and following the latter, also ažūdi.rpte., ažūdi.rba, ažūdi.rba.

⁴ Dėl da- kilmės plg. Mažiulis V., 1958, 127—133; LKG, 1971, II, 294.

⁵ Dėl priešdėlio per- tarimo šnektoje pēr- plg. Grinaveckienė E., 1980, 235.

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pra- (Slavic? Cf. Belarusian прамыць ‘to rinse through’) per-: pranakvosi ‘you will spend the night’, praplóve. (water washed me) ‘washed me through with water, rinsed out my stomach’, praskaiṭyk (cf. Belarusian прачытай) ‘read through’, prašaĭdi.ta ‘having caught a cold’, prāšauke. ‘renamed, gave another name’, pravirta. (Lithuanians turned into Belarusians) ‘turned into (Lithuanians into Belarusians)’; pri-: priragėjau ‘I have seen, experienced, witnessed a lot’; raz- (Slavic, cf. Belarusian разрэзаць) ‘apart-/out-’: raškerde.m ‘we cut out’, rašțveria ‘scatters, catches and gathers up’, razvažiava. ‘drove around’; sa-⁶ (Latvian; cf. Latvian saplaustīt ‘to cut up’) ‘apart-/to pieces’: salaūže. (leg) ‘broke off, broke, fractured (a leg)’, sapja.vēsi (hay) ‘you will cut up (some hay)’; su-: sulāidziau (eyes) ‘I closed my eyes, began to sleep’, sustāja (sour cream) ‘the sour cream settles’, suttraukia (others here) ‘persuades others to come and settle here’; uś- ‘up-’: užaugi.s⁷ ‘grown up’, užāukla.t ‘to raise, fatten’, užeina ‘comes in’, užīma ‘takes up’, ušlipe.m ‘we climbed up’.

The prefixes až-, in-, iš-, nu-, pri-, su- with the reflexive particle -si-: ažsi-: asigeri ‘drink up’, asije.miau ‘I occupied myself’, asikrešte. ‘to get infected’, asipláude. (children went off to cities) ‘(the children) dispersed, scattered (to the cities)’, asižvagēja. (ears from hymns) ‘(the ears) rang (from the hymns)’; insi-: insidaužiau ‘I got into a fight’; išsi-: nejišeiši (without a surgeon) ‘you will not recover without a surgeon’, išivede. (English pigs) ‘the English pigs disappeared’; nusi-: nusikaria ‘it became quiet’, nusiklausyte. (radio) ‘to listen to the radio’; prisi-: prisituriu ‘I hold back, restrain myself’; sus(i)-: susmaišai ‘you get confused’, susitinki ‘you meet’, susigeria ir susilupa ‘they drink themselves full and get into a fight’.

III. More characteristic features of word inflection and usage

1. Noun

a) Gender

In some individual, comparatively rare cases, the grammatical gender of certain dialect words differs from that of the corresponding words in standard Lithuanian.

Some nouns of common gender occasionally have only one shared masculine form, e.g.: the husband hands it to his wife – she is a Pole; the father is Lithuanian and the mother is Lithuanian; the housekeeper’s are lazy. It has been observed that the feminine is expressed by masculine forms only by people who have largely forgotten the dialect.

The gender of some everyday loanwords and international words in the dialect is the same as that of the corresponding nouns in neighboring Lithuanian dialects, or is the same as in the language from which the word entered this dialect, e.g., kamāša.s ‘slip-on shoes’, cf. Latvian kamašas (< Polish kamasz) ‘the same’, kilametra ‘kilometer’ (cf.

⁶ Although the prefix sa-, generally speaking, is not foreign to the Lithuanian language (it occurs here and there in its southern dialects; see Zinkevičius Z., 1966, 426; LKŽ, XII, 1981, 1), it has so far not been observed in northern Lithuania and therefore, in the dialect under study, alongside lie, su-, it most likely appeared under the influence of Latvian dialects or their standard language.

⁷ ažāugi.s and užšūgi.s, ažēina and užēina and many other examples of these two prefixes show that the distinction between the meanings of až- and už-, found in the eastern Aukštaitian dialects of Lithuania as reported by Z. Zinkevičius (Zinkevičius Z., 1966, 428), has not been observed here.

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Lith. Imbradas dialect kilometrà ‘kilometer’, klàsai ‘classes’ (cf. Bel., Rus. класс), metrą ‘meter’ (cf. Lith. metrą — Imbradas, Ignalina), litrą ‘liter’ (cf. Lith. litrą — Imbradas, Ignalina, Kupiškis, Anykščiai), smetònas ‘sour cream’ (cf. Imbradas, Kupiškis smetònas), spičkà ‘match’ (cf. Bel. спичка, Rus. спичка), trèpe.s ‘stairs’ (cf. Latv. trepes ‘same’ < German Treppe), tūpele.s ‘slippers with wooden soles’ (cf. Latv. tupeles ‘same’).

Sometimes the gender of certain newer dialect words also differs from that in Lithuanian, e.g., apskritys ‘district’ (cf. Latv. apriņķis ‘same’), kàrpa ‘carp’ (cf. Latv. karpa ‘same’), paminklà ‘monument’, ru.šys ‘kind, sort’ (cf. Bel. рату́нак, copt, Rus. сорт).

Some old Lithuanian dialect nouns also often do not differ in gender from the corresponding nouns in neighboring Lithuanian dialects, e.g., kirmė.liūkai ‘little worms’, lėpšai (|| lėpše.s) ‘lėpšės’ (cf. East Aukštaitian lėpšis ‘lėpšė’), na.siūkas ‘little nose; pig’s snout’, pe.nyš ‘dandelion’ (cf. East Aukštaitian pienys ‘same’), ramunėliai ‘chamomiles’, tūūkstuncia.s ‘thousands’ (cf. eastern Lithuanian tūūkstantė).

b) Number

Some dialect nouns sometimes differ from Standard Lithuanian in their number category. For example, kinds are usually denoted here by a singular form (probably following the example of neighboring Slavic dialects, and sometimes Latvian as well), e.g.: Here clover is sown (cf. Standard Lithuanian dobilai, Latvian sarkanais āboliņš ‘red clover’, Bel. канюшына, Rus. клевер); Here are shrubs: both birch, and ordinary alder, and black alder (cf. Standard Lithuanian …and birches, and ordinary alders, and black alders, Bel. … і бяроза, і мёпа вольха, і чо́рна, Rus. … и береза, и серая ольха, и черная); They build houses from wood and stone (cf. Standard Lithuanian from trees and stones they build, Bel. з дрэва і каменя будуюць, Rus. из дерева и камня строят); Sausage is made from meat (cf. Standard Lithuanian dešrās darīt, Bel. рабіць каўбасу, Rus. делать колбасу), sheep also eat this grass (cf. Standard Lithuanian āvys irgi ēda šitą žolę); the magpie builds its nest from sand (cf. Standard Lithuanian krēgždes lizdas lipdo).

Here, a plural form is commonly used for an occasional Lithuanian noun that is singular-only or has forms in both numbers, as well as for a borrowed plural noun, as is similarly the case in neighboring eastern and Aukštaitian dialects in Lithuania, the Slavic dialects of this area, or Latvian, e.g., Here, sand has been poured (cf. Lithuanian smėlis and Imbradas, Dusetos, Obeliai, Švenčionys smėliai, Latvian smiltis); birch sap (cf. Lithuanian bėržo sulà, Latvian berza sulas), goats for firewood-cutting (Slavic) málka.m pe.lū.ite. (cf. Lithuanian a billy goat for cutting firewood and East Aukštaitian Lithuanian ožiai / kazlai malkom); one day (Slavic) sūtka.s of driving, cf. Lithuanian one day (in some places also sūtka), Bel. адны суткі, Rus. одни сутки.

Dual nominative–accusative forms of nouns are actively used in the dialect, e.g., dvi šeimyna ‘two families (nominative/accusative)’, du kartù ‘two times (nominative/accusative)’, du nameliūkù ‘two beehives (nominative/accusative)’, du puodukù ‘two cups (nominative/accusative)’, du kilogramu ‘two kilograms (nominative/accusative)’.

c) Case

The dialect’s singular locative has the following features as well: 1. Probably under the influence of Latvian, the locative is always used here in place of the illative too, e.g., išvažiuoja. Va.ke.tija.j ‘leaves for Germany’; pirtį mūnėse. ‘in the bathhouse’; išvežė. Ri.gōj ‘took [it] to Riga’; mōki.kla.j aina (cf.

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la. braukt jūrā, mežā, kosmosā). And the illative forms here, as in the pronominal declension of words in the dialects of the eastern Lithuanian highlanders, are used instead of the locative, e.g., kažnañ (sl.) sciūri ‘in every corner’, tañ kraštī ‘in that region’, ta.kiàñ ōri ‘in such weather’, katarāñ namī ‘in which house’, ta.kiàñ karštumī ‘in such heat’, že.dnañ (sl.) miškī ‘in every forest’, āžeras, kurīñ lāista.s kārpa ‘a lake in which carp have been released’.

2. It sometimes happens that, instead of Lithuanian illative and locative forms, purely Latvian locative forms are also frequently used in the dialect, e.g., nūmire. vākara ‘died in the evening’ (cf. Latvian nomira vakarā), ġērte. triskārt diēnā ‘to drink three times a day’ (cf. Latvian dzert trīsreiz dienā), gi:vėna Grīvā ‘lives in Gryva’ (cf. Latvian dzīvot Grīvā), važiūoju Mēdumā ‘I am going to Medumi’ (cf. Latvian braukt Medumā), laikīte. sausā veidā ‘to keep dry’ (cf. Latvian glabāt sausā veidā), and so on.

3. Some a-stem nouns in the dialect can sometimes also have parallel ia-stem forms in the singular nominative, e.g.: āžeras ir azerýs, whereas separate cases of the rare foreign word in that stem class, pōzas ‘groove’, sometimes occur with u-stem endings, e.g.: su pa.zuñi ‘with the groove’ and be pōza ‘without the groove’. Individual feminine consonant-stem nouns have generally shifted to the i-stem, while masculine consonant-stem and i-stem nouns have shifted to the ia-stem, e.g.: saserēs ‘of the sister’, dukterēs ‘of the daughter’, ākmenia ‘of stone’, duñčia ‘of a tooth’, duñčiās ‘with teeth’. Some cases of (i)u-stem nouns have mostly shifted to the (i)a-stem, e.g.: su.nāi ‘sons’, pe.tai ‘lunch’, pe.tais ‘at lunch’, cukra ‘of sugar’, but āmžiaus ‘of age’. The words musià ‘fly’ and kuchnià (sl.) ‘kitchen’ (cf. Belarusian and Russian ку́хня ‘ditto’) are io-stem in the dialect; the accusative singular of the words kraujas ‘blood’ and vėjas ‘wind’ has the ending į, e.g.: kraujī ‘blood’, vējī ‘wind’.

2. Adjective

Like in neighboring dialects of the eastern Lithuanian highlanders in Lithuania, a-stem adjectives in the plural nominative usually regularly have the u-stem adjective ending -ūs, e.g.: gērus ‘good’, kietus ‘hard’, māžus ‘small’, mēlinus ‘blue’, nebagōtus (sl.) ‘poor’ (cf. Belarusian багаты ‘rich’), netīrus (Latv.) ‘dirty’ (cf. Latvian netīri ‘ditto’), piktus ‘angry’, aštrūs ‘sharp’, raudōnus ‘red’, sānus ‘old’, teisingus ‘right’. It has also been noted that some a-stem adjectives sometimes retain their stem ending here, e.g.: saīsi mažōliai; kaip sveiki, tai ir gerai; cf. also dideli šēriai. In rare cases (probably due to mixing of u- and a-stems), the u-stem adjective ending occurs in the singular genitive of an a-stem adjective, e.g.: sānaus ‘old’ āmžiaus (perhaps by analogy with the noun ending?), while individual u-stem adjectives can have parallel (i)a-stem endings in singular forms, e.g., bēržalape. nestiprās grýbas; Jōnas stipra. tēva, although šiāudas nestiprūs is also said.

⁸ According to the data mapped in LKA, II, 1982, 129, masculine plural nominative adjective forms with the ending -ūs (geltōnus, raudōnus) are characteristic of the area of the eastern Lithuanian highlander dialects lying approximately between Zarasai–Žeimelis–Širvintos, and are used in the speech of older people alongside forms with the ending -i (geltōni, raudōni).

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Pronominal adjectives (and numerals) in the dialect, as in neighboring highlander dialects in Lithuania, have an unstressed ending formant -asai || -asiai (a- and u-stems), -ysai (ia-stem and comparative degree of adjectives), -oja (o- and io-stems), -ėja (ė-stem), e.g.: gyvasiai, pi.rmasiai, sótasai ‘the satiated one’, didi.sai, vi.rėsni.sai, jaunėsni.sai, žalioja, gelta.noja, baltója, pirmója, mažója, unksti.vója, didėja. Pronominal endings are generally retained throughout the paradigm, e.g., unt pirmęsia.s bál’ka.s; pikta.sia.s nótre.s; ja.diejį duftęs; di.lgia.se.s úsne.s; bálta.sia.s žúse.s; baltųju. žu.-sių mažai par kú yra, pilkųju. daugiaus; unksti.vósias bū.lbes pasa.dina.m ||

It sometimes happens that some case forms of pronominal forms retain their full double endings, e.g., jaunómsia.m iš mi.rtu. pina vainiku. The meaning of pronominal adjective forms can sometimes also be expressed by non-pronominal forms, cf. mažója ilgè. and didelis ilgýs ‘the lakes in the Smėlynė area’, untras karas ‘the Second World War’; pirmója ža.lė and untrá.

Adjectives (simple and pronominal) can be graded, e.g., púrtni ‘fluffy’, unksti.vėsne., šve.sėsnis, šve.sėsni.sai, geriáusias ‘best’, saniáusias ‘oldest’, gardžiáusiasiai ‘most delicious’. The comparative degree of adjectives sometimes also has a superlative meaning, e.g., ánas vi.rėsnis (= eldest) inžbniėrus. Three types of superlative adjective are current here. The first is formed from the pronoun páts, pati and the positive-degree form of the pronominal adjective, e.g., pátes pirmieji grybai ‘the very first mushrooms’; the second from the pronoun páts, pati and the comparative-degree form of the pronominal adjective, e.g., páts jaunėsni.sai; páts vi.rėsni.sai; the third is compound, formed from the plural genitive of the positive-degree simple adjective and its superlative form, e.g.: sanų saniáusias ‘the oldest of the old’. Adverbs formed from the superlative and compound absolute-superlative degrees of simple adjectives are especially common in the dialect, e.g.: iš sanų saniáusiai teip šaukia (= call); ánas sanų saniáusiai žina.; būtiniáusiai reikia apinių; tėvui saniáusiai reikia sustatytė. duftis. In rare cases, the dialect’s comparative adjective degree is of non-Lithuanian formation, formed analytically as in neighboring Slavic languages, e.g., labiaus cienį (= more valuable) kėliai kaip šiaudai. The dialect also uses a comparative adjective construction of the type kų ‘what’ sanėsnis, tų ‘that’ gerėnis.

3. Numerals

The cardinal numerals dūjei, dūjai are usual in the dialect, but alongside them, forms without the postpositional formant are also used in parallel: du brólai, dvi kėrves. Their genitive form is always dviė: námus un dviė galų, while the locative is dviejūos, dviejós: áni.s gi.vėna dviejūos. Masculine numerals 4—9 always have the ending -ius in the accusative (: keturius, piñkius, šešius, septynius, aštuonius, devynius). The numeral dešimt always has a stressed final syllable (: turu dešimt rúblicu.), while the numerals 30—90 always have two independent stresses, one in each constituent of the compound (: trisdešimt, keturiasdešimt, piñkiasdešimt, šešiasdešimt, septyniasdešimt, aštuoniasdešimt, devyniasdešimt). In the dialect, šimtas is stressed according to the second accentuation pattern (: šimtais métu. gi.vėna), while tūkstantis is feminine (: paróde. kėturias níkstuntis rúblicu.).

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In ordinal numerals 11–19, the second component is usually -likis (: pinikia-likiai, šešta.likiai, dvi.likis ‘twelfth’), but nowadays speakers also use forms with -liktas, -a, as in Standard Lithuanian: septynioliktas mėtais; keturioliktas mėtais.

Collective numerals 1, 5–9 have the suffix -eli, -elios (: be vienelių metų. jam septyniasdešimc; devyneli vartai), while dveji, treji are as in Standard Lithuanian. The numeral ketverel. has a contaminated form. When speaking about years, cardinal numerals can sometimes be used alongside collective numerals in their place, e.g.: šešėlis metus tarnavo.; pinkeli metai kaip vyras mirė., bet dvidešimc pūklius metus turėja.; pūklius metus atganiau.; aštuonius metus karvės laidžiau; man’ septyniasdešimc pūkl.

Fractional numerals are also used in the dialect: pūsa., pusuntra., pusuntros, pusdvi.likis ‘half past eleven’.

Sometimes the pronoun vienas ‘one’ is used instead of the numeral, as in kitas; kitas brolis numirė., a kitas gi.vėna. (‘the other brother died, and the other one lives’).

In dates, numerals, as in Latvian and Slavic languages, precede the month, e.g., pink-ta. dekābrius ‘on the fifth day of December’.

4. Pronouns

Alongside the older and more frequent personal pronoun forms dšėi, tūjei, ānas ‘he’, ana ‘she’, ānes ‘they’ (āni.s also occurs; cf. also in the Dzūkian dialect pātes ‘themselves’ alongside pāti.s), ana.s ‘her’, the Standard Lithuanian forms aš, tu, jis, ji, jie, jos ‘I, you, he, she, they, they (feminine)’ are also in active use. In the paradigm, however, the forms of the pronouns jis, ji usually consistently replace the pronouns ānas, ana, e.g., jų šaukia; jį apskuta; jiem neduoda; jom perka; jais mazgōja, and so on.

The pronominal form jinai is probably more recent and is used by younger speakers of the dialect. The genitive forms manįs, tavįs, savįs are stressed on the ending, although tāvi.s and savį were also heard (: del’ savį neapsimoka ‘it is not worth it for oneself’). The forms mān’ (dative) and man’ (accusative) differ in intonation. The accusative forms māni, tāvi. were also heard. Only the form mēs ‘we’ is known (perhaps under the influence of Latvian?). The form jūs is used more when speaking with a stranger (: jūs ta.kių valgį.mu. nevalg.si), while the usual pronoun otherwise is tamsta.

Alongside the pronouns māna., tāva., sāva., the forms mānas, tāvas, sāvas are also used in parallel, though perhaps less frequently, e.g.: sāva. kaltybi. suprāta.; ašpirka. sāva. sānui žēmi.; māna. vīras mire.; kur tāva. vadėla.s; par mum sāva. apiniai ir: sāva. kiaulienu. vērdā; gerių savās žōlās; savų vaikų neturėja.m; vī.lnu. savų negausi atgal.

The demonstrative pronoun ta was also heard in the pronominal form tōj, e.g.: tōj šaurē (= nesvarumai) rākia nuskūste.

In the pronouns katarā ‘which’, kitā, kokiā, šis, ši, šitas, -ā, tā, visā, viskās, the old long a in the stressed singular genitive and plural nominative endings has largely been preserved intact (Grinaveckienė E., 1980, 232), e.g., iš katarās vieta.s; na. kitās kiaūla.s; ka.kias anā vaišla.s; un šiā svieta.; na. šiās vieta.s; un šitās pūsas; nerekomendūjas šitā do-ryte.; palig (= dėl) šitā aš negaliu aite.; un tās rūnka.s; un tās kiaūla.s; iš visās ki-pēla.s (= milžuvės); na. viskā sužiūravus (= pražiūrus); mōteres, katarās jaunēsne.s; nėmne.s (= tokie grybai) — šitās ve.li.vēsne.s.

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The pronouns kataràs, -à, kókis, -ia, šìtas, -à, šitókis, -ia, tókís, -ia, visakàs ‘everything’, and visókis, -ìà are stressed according to the fourth accent paradigm in the dialect, e.g.: kataròj bažnyčià. į anas būvà.; kókis didelis grýbas; na. kàkių ligų gerià; ka.kió laikà. prisìturėdava; ka.kìų pinkių metų.; sirgà. kókìus šešìus metus; šìtų mergìčių. gaìlù; na. šìtų jìma mèdù.; šìtì kòjai ukólis dàve.; šìta.kìų ža.lìų ir par mùn frà; tókìs gražùs žièdas; pavasaris tókìs šàltas; ta.kìè miškai didelì; ta.kìàs avèlas brùngìa.s; ta.kìų blynu. kepìat; visakàs būvà. ti.nai; visa.kìų da.bìlų yrà; ge.dòdava. visa.kìų ge.smìų. The dialect does not have the pronoun jòkis, -jà, which is replaced by the indefinite pronoun nė kókis, -ià, e.g.: ne. ka.kió mèšla. nedėja.; ne. ka.kìas ròže.s (= red disease) kiaùliai nežinoja.; ne. ka.kìas ròže.s (= red disease) samìaus nebūva.; klìskiabù.de.s kìrme.la.s ne. ka.kìos neėda ||

All the masculine pronouns with stem stress discussed here retain the acute accent on the ending -iom in the singular instrumental, e.g., nuėja. šìtuom keliù; su visìom nagù nuplėšė.; kùom gi jì išpenėsi; ròbrai (sl. = ribs) su visìom nugarakauliu; žinai, kùom išgydìte., reikia pasakýte., kùom didìma. ir kùom aukštùma.; bumbýti. tuom ilgumù nupjòvė. The accent and, possibly, the influence of corresponding pronoun forms in Latvian constructions may have helped this ending remain intact (cf. Latvian nopļauj tom garumu).

It has been observed that the singular instrumental ending of the pronouns jì, ta is -ì, and the plural accusative ending is -ìos, e.g.: pa.jù (= hen) pãdeda kiaušìniu.; su tì dukterì; mòmà (= queen bee) tuos bitis kamàn-dava.ja; lèpše.s gárdzia.s — jùos ar vàlga.; nèmnè.s — jùos negalìma rãute., jùos reìkia iškèpte. ir vàlgìte.; jùos (= medicinal herbs) mòteres rènìka; avèla.s jùos (= grasses) vàlga.; jei paìmsi jùos (= fish) už galvòs; jùos (= grasses) gèria, kaip apìserga⁹.

The plural accusative form of disyllabic feminine pronouns is attested in three variants: with the ending -ius, with -ìuos, and with -às, e.g.: vištà pėri kókìus tris savaitès; šìtuos žòlàs mòteres rènìka; būvà, perkùnja šìtas dienàs; reìkia gèrte, šìtas saknytès; visàs bū.l’bas išplės šìtas aklėčia.s. The forms kókìus and šìtuos (as well as jùos ‘them [fem.]’, tùos ‘those [fem.]’) are undoubtedly of the same origin; kókìus, however, is possibly a later form, perhaps derived from kókìos. The forms šìtas and visàs, likewise having developed from forms with the ending *-ān, are most likely also the result of contact with neighboring Lithuanian dialects.

In relative attributive clauses, the adverb kur ‘where’ is generally used in place of a pronoun, e.g.: vapsvà, kur žamès lãida; žiedai, kur šviečia (= throws) plaukuõs; žòla.s, kur šùpan (sl. = into the soup) lìekì ‘you put’.

The singular genitive of the pronoun nièkas is sometimes adverbialized in the dialect, e.g., pakél’t’ panèšt’ jam nièka. būvà.; lèpše.s — nièka. grýbai.

The dialect has quite a few syntactic constructions with pronouns that are not entirely usual in Lithuanian and resemble corresponding Latvian constructions, e.g.: aš šìtām (= this) išìtyrus (cf. Latvian es šitam iepētījies); tam atgal’ (= previously, cf. Latvian tam atpakaļ); pat pirmà (= first of all) nupjãuna galvù. (cf. Latvian paš pirmu nopļauj galvu); par visài (= completely) nièka. nežìna. (cf. Latvian pa visam nieka nezina); màn’ nebūva. vaikų; màn’ būva. daùk apìračių. (cf. Latvian man nebija bērnu; man bija daudz operāciju), and so on. These are most likely calques of analogous Latvian constructions.

⁹ Dėl galimos tų formų kilmės žr. Grinaveckienė E., 1980, 235.

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5. Verb

Three infinitive forms have been recorded in the dialect. The most usual has the suffix -t’ (: aĩt’, nėšt’, dėot’). Among older speakers, the fuller form with the suffix -te. is more widespread (: aĩte., nėšte., dėote.). A somewhat less common form has the suffix -tei (: kalbėtei, važiuotei), also used more often by older speakers (cf. further Grinaveckienė E., 1980, 233 and footnote 24).

Reflexive verbs here sometimes occur with two reflexive particles, e.g., nesiregis ‘is not visible’, ma.kinasis ‘is learning’, kalbasis ‘is talking’. This would indicate that the first particle, immediately following the stem-final element, is beginning to be perceived not as an independent element but merely as a semantically empty appendage of that form; compare, for example, the expression išpūsk žarnu., ir anū rūgis ‘transparent’.

The verb kalbėti ‘to speak’ is used in the dialect with both an i-stem and an a-stem (: kalbi pãterus, pėrkalbi ‘mentions’ and kalba ‘speaks’), mylėti ‘to love’ with both an i-stem and an ia-stem (: myli ‘likes’, nẽmi.lia ‘does not love’), dėngti ‘to cover’ has an a-stem (: dėnga stõgu.), pilti ‘to pour’ an ia-stem (: šùpilia pienu.), klūpėti ‘to kneel’ an i-stem (: ãnas klũpi), and gnybti ‘to pinch’ and malti ‘to grind’ an a-stem (with o in the past frequentative tense) (: mugnybau vienu. agurku.; sumaldau maišu. mi.ltu.). The verb pláusti is used instead of pláuti (: nupláudzia, išpláudzia). In the present tense, the verbs pūti ‘to rot’ and tilti ‘to fall silent’ take an -st- stem (: pūsta, tilsta); the forms ãsti ‘to be’, esti ‘is’, and liėksta ‘remains’ retain traces of a vowel stem (: ãsti grỹbu., lai ãst ‘let it be’; liėksta, paliėksta, also paliėksi (= will leave) pùšgirtis). Verbs of the type pjauti ‘to cut’, krauti ‘to load’, etc., have an na-stem in the present tense (: pjáuna, kráuna, gáuna). Verbs with the suffix -(i)auti take the suffix -(i)áuna in the present tense (: keliáuna, pùliáuna ‘festers’, reikaláuna, uogáuna); those with the suffix -yti take the suffix -ija, e.g., grãžija (sl.) ‘plays the accordion’, kirmija. The verbs lėisti ‘to let’, lipti ‘to climb’, lùpti ‘to peel’, and sùkti ‘to turn’ have an ė-stem in the past simple tense (: išláidziau, paláide. pilvu., nùlipe.m, užlipe.m, išlupe., sùke. galvu.).

In the singular first person of the past-tense verbs with suffix (or root) -ė(j), the -ė- is usually lost phonetically (: nedėjau ‘I did not put’, negaláu ‘I could not’, neragėjau ‘I did not see’, pradėjau ‘I began’; cf. further Grinaveckienė E., 1980, 230).

Disyllabic verbs always have a stressed ending in the singular first and second persons of the future tense (: aĩsiu, nunešiu, neraši, kur de.sies, kasiù, neiseisi ‘you will not manage’ be chirūrga.).

In the third person of the future tense, verbs with long root or suffix vowels ė, y, o, ū always have a short vowel in the ending (: pridiks, nusbãs ‘will become tiresome’, pavedzias ‘will lead around’, pasisės ‘will sow for oneself’, susanės ‘will age’, ištaisīs, nesta.vės ‘will not stand’, atvaris ‘will bring’, pridaris ‘will make’, šės ‘will sow’, sulīs). The past frequentative forms coincide with standard Lithuanian forms (: aidava., dėdava., ge.dódava.), but the third-person form of the verb būti ‘to be’ is known only in a phonetically shortened form, e.g., būda ‘used to be’.

The first-person singular ending of the conditional mood is -cia (: ãcia, nevažiuocia, negalėcia, matycia, negailė.cia, mirčia), the second-person ending is -tūm (it is also stressed in disyllabic infinitives: apsivestūm (= you would marry), dari.tūm); the second-person plural ending is -tūt (it is stressed in disyllabic infinitives: aitūt, neraudōtu.t), and the third-person ending is -tū (it is stressed in disyllabic infinitives:

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burnt by the sun, spun, sent, trampled, not blown away, bought).

The imperative forms in the dialect are of two kinds: with the formant k and without it. As far as has been observed, both are used interchangeably without a difference in meaning; only, more forms without the formant k were recorded by us (perhaps because they are somewhat more usual). The formant k is usually pronounced (the consonant l preceding it is generally palatalized), e.g., stop, spear, be quiet, God protect ‘God save’, grind, help, lower the price ‘make cheaper, lower the price, ask for less’ cucumbers, stab, cf. Latvian raki ‘the same’ However, examples of this formation with the formant k dropped also occur, e.g.: bake some bread, it is tasty; cook, take¹⁰.

In the singular second-person imperative forms without the formant k, the ending is generally retained intact here (: cut up, eat, say goodbye to me, ask, God save, cook, look for, carry), but sometimes the vowel (and occasionally the diphthong) of the ending is dropped (: go, show). The plural second-person forms are made from the singular ones by adding the ending formant -t (: watch over, go; forms from disyllabic (i)a-stem infinitives are stressed on the ending: go, let go). Sometimes the ending formant t is added to a longer (older) form with the diphthong of the ending intact (: drive).

The optative mood in the dialect has four forms: it is made from the third-person form of the present or future tense with the permissive particles lai and tegul, e.g., let it be (cf. Latvian lai ir), let there be one more—no problem; let there be yours too. (curse), let him eat, let him say.

Some compound tenses of verbs are also used in the dialect, though from the point of view of Lithuanian, their forms are sometimes somewhat irregular or even non-Lithuanian, e.g.: I have cried; we have been in Vilnius; I have been circumcised, I have not done that, people have died in great numbers, that she had died, they would give news; born of a mother; another brother has died.

Participles are relatively uncommon in the dialect; the formation of some of them is also somewhat irregular, e.g.: says, I am tasty; I will pick, I am much more; the ducks love running in the water; having grown old, having become adults, unable to cure the illness; the green grass of the previous year

Present-tense converbs are used in the dialect, e.g.: while watching, from what he makes a pin (German) ‘a peg’; while living, things happen like this.

It has been observed that, when expressing the predicate, the neuter gender is generally used instead of participle forms agreeing with a noun, e.g., the turnip has been dug up; the bone is broken; sown for home use; the yard has been surrounded by a fence.

The verb reikia ‘it is necessary’, when used with an infinitive, as in other Eastern Aukštaitian dialects in Lithuania, always requires the nominative, e.g.: the pit must be dug and the stones laid.

Instead of a construction of the type there is nothing to say, as in other Eastern Aukštaitian dialects, a construction of the type there is nothing to say, there is nothing to eat, there is nothing to do is used.

That the dialect is rather impoverished and disappearing is best shown by the use of verbs. Individual verbs, their prefixes, and verb forms are sometimes used

¹⁰ That these forms have evolved from forms with the formant k is perhaps best shown by their stress placement and intonation.

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jamos ne savo reikšme, ne visada lietuviškos, lietuvių kalbai gana neįprastos ar ir svetimos, pvz.: višta negali kiaušinius užsėste. (= aptūpti); rūtų ‘raugintų’ pieną patrinte. (= patepti); inkstai prašaldį.tą ‘peršaldyti’ būva.; padėginai (= nudeg ei) pirštus; aš prašišalai (= nušalau); ąngs pras išalb.s (= peršalęs), skragždė. ligzdu. (la., = lizdą) padūra. (= lipdo) iš smėlia.; dūmai pasirką. (= pradėjo rūkti) iš grybų.; karštu ū.ndeniu grybius apipili (= nuplikini); smetōnas sustoja (= nusistoja); praskaitīk (= perskaityk) tų knygų.; paršeliūs acirčioji (= atskiri) na. kiaūl.a.s; bumbyti. paršiūkam nupjaūnstai (= nupjauni), prižina. (= pripažino) ai rūžb.; prašauke. (= pavadino) tų vietų. kiteiņ; sažilāvus (= pražilusi) — liņk dievē; nepažaučia (= neatjaučia), kad man vūrgas; makįkla.n nevaikščia.ia (= neina) ąnes; šūns netvaikysi (= nenuvysi) na. savis; tu žōbk. sviečia (= sviedžia) plaukuōs; žinai, tik nusūaukte. (= pavadinti) negaliu; vākār kap mūsiāus (= daugiau, piliau) mēdin; aš lēkū (= dedu, kraunu, plg. la. likt ‘t. p.’) sīenu, unt klēva. (sl., = tvarto); nīekas nepažįsta (= nesupranta, nežino), kas jai ūrą; diēnu. susigeria (= pasigeria) ir susilūpa; ar sugērt’ (= išgerti) jū.m duoda; ateis namō sugēris (= pasigėręs, girtas); padauža.m (= sudaužome, sugrūdame) grāpstus (= grums-tus) unt laūka.; aš nūsklausau (= paklausau) rādija.; paliepėi ‘tokiam grybui’ skūru. (sl., = oda) nūjima (= nulupa); nūveik, pranakvōsi (= pernakvosi); ar māž-gų i.dējai (= užmezgei); pātes pāgeriam (= išgeriam) masiēnkas (sl., = pasukas); pāmečiau (= nustojau) rūkytė.; girdžiu (= jaučiu), kat mān’ likā. sveikiais; pie-nu. sušī.lda. (= sukaitina), šūpilja bi.ntan (= marlėn) — ir tvarōgas (sl., = varškė); krēkenus dēda (= pila) bliū.delin ir kēpa; išvede. (= išnyko) ānglu. kiaūtlai; nūspau-de. (= suspaudė) mān’ šī.rdi.; rauda.mūmas pasidāra. (= paraudonuoja), kaip gi-liai i.kū.nda.; insidaužiau (= susimušiau), kaip kritai; āna.s padeina (= panašios) un lietuvēm; māžu. paršiūku. pādkšti (= pakiši) pas kitų. kiaūlb.; bijau padūte. (= prieiti); batōnis rástveria (= išgraibsto) grāitai; razēinam (= išsiskirstome) namō; vaikai razvažāva. (= išvažinėjo) pa. svietu. ir kt.

IV. More characteristic uses of invariable words

1. Adverb

The dialect has a relatively large number of archaic adverbs of place, time, manner, etc. Various newer formatives occur on the endings of some of them, e.g.: around, back, toward the east, nowadays, now, much, gradually, slowly, when, every day, how (also used instead of when: when you come, you will find), another time, not so; in no way, not all; last year, completely ‘entirely’ (: completely nothing is visible), this year, today, then, thus, directly, there, yesterday, always, always, anyhow ‘altogether’.

The neuter gender of adjectives, which has also acquired adverbial function, is widely used, e.g.: it is a pity, interesting, pleasant, little, calm, dry, dark. There are also quite a few adverbs with the endings -(i)ai, -i, e.g.: smoothly, intricately ‘in an elaborate way’ (: sings intricately), plainly ‘simply’, correctly, in Lithuanian, in Polish, grammatically (Slavic) ‘literately’; nearby (Grinaveckienė E., 1980, 233), not far, quietly. Adverbs with the suffix -yn were heard occasionally, e.g., upward,

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downward. There are a few adverbs borrowed from Latvian and Slavic, e.g.: daudz (cf. Latvian daudz) ‘much’, pročna (Slavic) ‘convenient’, čysta (Slavic) ‘clean’.

The comparative degree of gradable adverbs was more often heard with the suffix -iau, but the parallel suffix -iaũ is also used (especially when a question is repeated), e.g.: more, thinner, softer, later, worse, older, further, later. Their superlative is formed with the suffix -iausiai, e.g.: most necessarily, most, but instances were also heard in which it has the circumflex suffix -iaũ-, e.g.: the cows and the person sleep deeply; birch-leaved ones grow more where the forest is birch.

2. Preposition

Among the more characteristic prepositions used in the dialect, the following may be noted: aplink ‘about’ (: the story about those schools); až (ažu) ‘behind’ (: behind the window; behind the barn; behind the forest), ‘because of’ (: because of that, dried up, that it grows); blàkus ‘beside’ (cf. Latvian blakus ‘same’: he stands beside me); deł’ (: sugar for oneself, hay for winter; I will not buy them because of them; a barrel for water); lig ‘until’ (: he worked until old age ‘worked until he grew old’); link ‘toward’ (: goes toward the station); na. ‘from’ (: brought it from the priest; does not remember from memory; gave it from himself), pa. ‘under, after’ (: stands in the wind; gave according to the norm; the weeds (Slavic) ‘gall’ hang under the broom in the barn, in the corner); palig ‘according to, because of’ (: I could not drive because of this); par ‘at, from, near’ (: you ask at the aunt’s; sits by the car; live by the graves); pre. ‘at, by’ (: the liver is by the stomach; gets sick near the children); su ‘with’ (: lifts with a stick; with all one’s nails); šalin ‘beside’ (: we live beside Vilnius); unt (un, um) ‘about’ (about two poods of sugar; gave half a meter; ‘to’ (: go to school; Lithuanian—there is already itching; they resemble Lithuanian women).

It has been observed that the prepositions lig, link, pa. ‘under, after’, pre. ‘at, by’ (sometimes also su) usually govern the dative when referring to the singular in the dialect; in such prepositional constructions, nouns with ta-, i-, and consonant stems retain the old i-stem and consonant-stem ending -i, e.g.: goes toward the station, travels toward the railway, stands in the wind, after a month there will be berries, tucked it under the armpit, lifts with a stick. The singular dative endings of nouns and pronouns with ia-, o-, iu-stems are in this case the same as in standard Lithuanian, e.g.: gave one under each broom, washes the pig thoroughly, gave one according to the norm, just after the war, worked until old age, the liver is by the stomach, by every house (cf. by every house), etc. In the plural, all prepositions usually govern the instrumental, e.g.: works until noon; under the very gates; by the puddles; by the houses; do not eat colostrum near the Russians; гриекас ‘Old Believers do not eat colostrum: it is a sin’; stands by the outer gates; elsewhere they call it skilandis; we will go to weed and pull beets; drive to Zarasai, etc. This or similar use of prepositions is also known elsewhere in the northern eastern Aukštaitian dialects in Lithuania (especially in the Biržai, Pasvalys, Pakruojis and neighboring districts). It is also characteristic of Latvian, cf. gaidīt pie loga; stāvēt pie vārtiem.

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3. Conjunction

Among the more characteristic conjunctions of the dialect, the following are worth mentioning: argi (‘also’: aš argi na.rėjau važiuot’), kaut ‘since’ (cf. Latvian kaut: kaut nerekamendējas, tai nēgeriu); tikai ‘only’ (cf. Latvian tikai: na.rėjau āte., tikai nežināu kur).

V. Conclusions

1. The dialect’s grammatical system is a continuation in Latvia of the grammatical system of the Eastern Dzūkian dialect. Isolated from the Lithuanian dialects, it has preserved some archaic elements that the Lithuanian dialects no longer have today and that have been recorded in old writings from eastern Lithuania (e.g., K. Sirvydas’s “Punktai sakymų” and others).

2. It has developed a considerable number of innovative elements resulting from the influence of languages and dialects in close contact with it. The article substantiates with concrete examples that the dialect acquired certain innovative elements of syntax and word formation (e.g., the use of certain cases, prepositions and conjunctions, and suffixal word formation, among others) through contact with Latvian, while some suffixal-derivation borrowings took root in it through contact with Slavic dialects—Belarusian, Polish, and Russian.

3. Overall, the dialect’s grammatical system is Lithuanian, autonomous and coherent, but it has already become somewhat stagnant, and its development has weakened. Elements of the languages in contact with it are becoming increasingly established.

LITERATŪRA

Endzelins J. Latviešu valodas gramatika. — Rīgā, 1951.

Grinaveckienė E. Daugpilio apylinkių lietuvių šnektos fonetika. — Kn.: Iš lietuvių kalbotyros istorijos (Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai, t. XX). V., 1980, p. 223—239.

Мажюлис В. Происхождение приставки да- в балтийских языках. — Вопросы славянского языкознания. М., 1958, вып. 3. с. 127—133.

LKA. — Lietuvių kalbos atlasas. — V., 1977, t. 1; V., 1982, t. 2.

LKG. — Lietuvių kalbos gramatika. — V., 1971, t. 2.

Morkūnas K. Konstantino Širvydo „Punktų sakymų“ veiksmažodis (indeksas). — Kn.: Iš lietuvių kalbotyros istorijos (Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai, t. XX). V., 1980.

Rūķe-Draviņa V. Diminutive in Lettischen. — Lund, 1959.

Zinkevičius Z. Lietuvių dialektologija. — V., 1965.

Э. ГРИНАВЕЛЬКЕНЕ

НЕКОТОРЫЕ ГРАММАТИЧЕСКИЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ ЛИТОВСКОГО ГОВОРА ОКРЕСТНОСТЕЙ ДАУГАВПИЛИСА (ЛатвССР)

Резюме

Настоящая статья является продолжением исследования диалектной системы на территории Латвии (Даугавпилсский р-н) литовского говора (статья, посвященная фонетической системе исследуемого говора, опубликована нами в книге „Iš lietuvių kalbotyros istorijos“

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в 1980 г., с. 223—239). Так как грамматические данные говора, собранные нами в диалектологической экспедиции 1977 г. из уст старожилов, в статье приводятся впервые, они весьма актуальны, важны и ценны для литовской и латышской диалектологии. Они дают, на наш взгляд, полное представление о грамматической системе нового литовского говора и позволяют установить его точное место среди других литовских говоров Литвы.

В статье устанавливается, что грамматическая система исследуемого литовского говора является стройной, самостоятельной, литовской, она представляет собой грамматическую систему литовского говора восточных дзуков и является его натуральным продолжением на территории Латвии. Будучи изолированным от литовской языковой среды, этот говор сохранил некоторые архаичные элементы литовской грамматики (в частности, словообразования), которые отсутствуют в других современных литовских говорах, но зафиксированы в литовских письменных памятниках XVII в., написанных на восточноаукштайтском диалекте (в частности, в сочинениях К. Ширвидаса).

Кроме того, в данном говоре имеется и целый ряд очевидных речевых инноваций, вызванных влиянием тесно контактирующих языков и диалектов, употребляемых жителями этого языкового ареала. В статье на конкретных примерах показано, какие инновации появились в говоре из-за контактирования с латышским языком и какие возникли как результат непосредственных контактов с соседними славянскими — белорусским, русским, польским — говорами.

Вследствие тесных языковых контактов с иноязычными системами некоторые звенья грамматической системы исследуемого говора постепенно застывают, их развитие замедляется и наряду с тем в употребление входят элементы, заимствованные из контактирующих языковых систем.

E. GRINAVECKIENE

SOME GRAMMAR PECULIARITIES OF DAUGPILIS LITHUANIANS' DIALECT

Summary

The grammar peculiarities of the isolated Lithuanian dialect, functioning in the Latvian SSR in the environs of Daugpilis, are analysed in the article. It continues the previous one, dealing with the phonetic system of the dialect (see: Iš lietuvių kalbotyros istorijos. — Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai. V., 1980, t. XX, p. 223—239). The grammar system of the dialect is the continuation of the grammar system of the Dzūkai dialect, functioning in East Lithuania. Being isolated from the dialects of Lithuania and surrounded by other languages — Lettish, Byelorussian, Russian, Polish — the dialect has retained some archaic elements that are no longer existing in the Lithuanian dialects and that are mentioned in some old written works of East Lithuania (e. g. in K. Sirvydas’ „Punktai sakymų“ etc.).

The dialect possesses a number of innovations that appeared under the influence of other languages and dialects that are in close contact with the discussed dialect. Its grammar system is Lithuanian, independent and harmonious, but at the same time increases the number of elements borrowed from the languages in contact.