LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI, VI

LIETUVOS TSR MOKSLŲ AKADEMIJA

ON REGRESSIVE VOWEL ASSIMILATION IN SOME NORTHEASTERN ŽEMAIČIAI DŪNININKAI DIALECTS

V. VITKAUSKAS

Regressive vowel assimilation, so widespread in the Žemaitian dounininkai dialects, is also found in certain cases in some dūnininkai dialects², particularly in the Kuršėnai dialect described here in greater detail³. Naturally, one cannot speak of consistent regressive assimilation in the dūnininkai dialects described here, since only the vowel e is affected by this assimilation. Before word-final i < i < *in and fronted u < ū < *un, as well as u̇ (sometimes also before ie < ė), e bearing the primary historical stress is in certain cases not lengthened, but is pronounced short. This occurs in every case where the neighboring dounininkai dialects (Raudėnai, Tryškiai, Papilė, Tirkšliai, etc.) have ę and ie, or even ė, in place of e.

Regressive assimilation is observed in the Kuršėnai dialect:

1. When e occurs immediately before a word-final syllable whose vowel is i, fronted u or u̇, or the diphthong ie:

a) in the nominative, dative, accusative, locative, and vocative singular, and the genitive and locative plural of some ja-stem nouns:

Singular

Nom. šėnis ~ šėnis vi'nmėtis ~ vienmėtis Gen. šė'ne vi'nmė'če Dat. šėnu̇ vi'nmėčiu̇

¹ See K. Būga, Selected Writings, vol. 2, Vilnius, 1959, p. 492; V. Grinaveckis, Phonetic Features of the Northwestern Dūnininkai Dialects and Their Development, “VVPI Mokslo darbai,” vol. 11, Vilnius, 1960, p. 90; B. Rokaitė, Some New Aspects of the Phonetics of the Samogitian Dialects, “Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai,” vol. 4, Vilnius, 1961, pp. 149—153; A. Girdenis, Vowel Assimilation Phenomena in the Tirkšliai Dialect, “Kalbotyra,” vol. 4, Vilnius, 1962, pp. 141—150. See the distribution geography and dialectal examples in the same place.

² For regressive vowel assimilation in the vicinity of Pavandenė, see V. Grinaveckis, cited work, same place. Consistent regressive vowel assimilation was also recorded during this year’s dialectological expedition in dūnininkai dialects around Užventis, Vidsodis, and Kolainiai.

³ For the extent of the Kuršėnai dialect area and some of its phonetic features, see V. Vitkauskas, Kuršėnų tarmės kirtis ir priegaidė, „Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai“, vol. 3, Vilnius, 1960, pp. 61—76.

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G. six one-metre [form] In. six one-metre [form] Vt. wood — Š. six|six [form] —

Plural

V. šeñe⁴ vi'nmė·te· K. šeñu vi'nmė·ču N. šeñe·ms vi'nmė·te·ms G. šeñūs vi'nmėčūs In. še'ne's|šeñe's (often) vi'nmė·te·s Vt. mėdžu·si —

The same applies to the words medis ~ medìs, medžiu, medį, medie, medžiu; kelis ~ kėlis (leg)⁵, keliu, keli, kelie, keliu (pū'li un keļu | duomeniok ~ fell to one’s knees: “Dovenok”); lėpšis ~ lėpšis, lėpšu, lėpši, lėpšu (prisirínka pilna krėpša lėpšu ~ a basketful of lėpšių gathered), cf. fem. lė·pši ~ lėpšė, where i < e, sg. acc. lė·pši ~ lėpšę, where i < *en; plėpis ~ plėpis, plėpu, plėpi, plėpu; ru'pėstis ~ rūpėstis (cf. Raudėnai ru'piesnis ~ rūpėsnis); šimtametis ~ šimtametis, šimtamečiu, šimtamečiu, cf. fem. gender sg. nom. šimtame'ti; with the sg. accusatives of the words šėri's ~ šer'js and treč ~ trečias: šėri (pastā·ti šėri | nepsusišnėkėsi ~ put up a šėri, you won’t get away with it), trėti (nepá·reje vaikā· i trėti ski·ru | palika tū·trus mėttus ~ the children did not make it to the third grade “class”; they repeated the year) and so on.

b) In the plural genitive of ē-stem nouns: žėmu (prinėši vaikā· žėmu ~ the children brought in žėmių), mielėnu ~ mėlenių. In this case, assimilation does not occur before ie < ē: visi sutilpsma tuo jū·duo žė·mie ~ we will all fit in that black earth; buvā·u ilksilie mielė·niesi ~ I had been long in the blue ones; nusidirbi· su mielė·niems kā·p velniūka ~ having worked oneself to exhaustion with the blue ones like little devils, etc.

c) In masculine nouns and adjectives with the diminutive suffix -elis: daržėlis, daržėlu, daržėli, daržėlie, daržėlu; šaukìmelis (jėtau | kāž duo šaukìmelis būva ~ oh dear, what kind of little spoon was it); duobėlėlis, duobėlėlu, duobėlėli, duobėlėlu (but sg. gen. duobėlė·le); klumpėlis, klumpėli, klumpėlie, klumpėlu (but klumpė·le); iš gergždėlu ~ from Gergždėliai (name of a village), and so on and so forth. In feminine words, assimilation occurs only before fronted u in the plural genitive: ašarėlu (kī·g bū·s ašarėlu žmonomims mótinums ~ how many little tears will there be for the women, for the mothers, but: ne vī·nā ašarė·li neišri·tėje | tā· būvāu užki·tiejusi ~ not a single little tear rolled out; I had become so hardened); dainėlu, žuolėlu; runkėlu (šešius vaik·kus išnešiojō·u un runkėlu ~ I carried six children on my arms), muotriškėlu ‘little women’, etc.

d) In masculine nouns with the suffix -eklis: bambėklis ~ bambėklis, bambėklu, bambėkli, bambėklu; jaunėklis (a young person), jaunėklu, jaunėkli, jaunėklu (but sg. gen. jaunė·kle); žanėklis (a married man, a future husband), ža-nėklu, žanėkli, žanėklu; mušėklis (an implement for beating threshing), mušėklu, mušėkli, mušėklu, etc. In feminine words, it is not possible to hear assimilation.

⁴ Here, too, analogy with other cases has not had an influence (see below); cf. the paradigm of the word medis.

⁵ But kė·lis, sg. acc. kė·li (išlė·idā·u i kė·li ~ I let out onto the road).

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(whether because of analogy or because of reluctance to confuse them with masculine words): perė˙klu (mūn reik.tų bent dviju˙ perė˙klu | žadu vištu usivei.sti ~ I would need at least two brooding hens, I plan to raise chickens) etc.

e) In the suffix -enis of nouns: šaltėnis “spring,” šaltėni, šaltėnie, šaltėniu (but gen. sg. šaltė˙ne: šaltė˙ne ūndu˙ šalc~the spring’s water is cold); in surnames: dru˙ktenis, dru˙ktenu˙, dru˙kteni; gluo˙denis, gluo˙denu˙, gluo˙deni; mielenis, mielėnu˙, mielėni (but mielė˙ne ~ Mėlėnio), pelėnis, pelėnu˙, pelėni (but pelė˙ne ~ Pelėnio), and in village names: gintėnu: iš gintėnu dunauskikė pare˙jusi ~ Gintėnių Dunauskikė returned from Gintėniai, and so on.

f) In the suffix -esnis of masculine comparative adjectives (only in the nominative and accusative singular): mažėšnis (but mažė˙sni: nuotriška visumė turi mažė˙sni būti ~ a woman’s whole being must be smaller), mažėšni; strugėšnis “shorter,” strugėšni; šaltėšnis, šaltėšni (but gen. sg. šaltė˙sne: nuor šaltė˙sne ūndenc | par˙šil.c a˙sus ~ the water is colder, but the soup is warm); vi˙rešni˙sis ~ vyrešny˙sis (but vi˙rešnioje ~ vyrešniojo), vi˙rešniu˙ju˙ (tūoki pašutima turieje | ka vi˙rešniu˙ju˙ spi˙ri ~ he was so furious that he kicked the older one), etc. There is not a single case in the feminine gender where this assimilation occurs (attributive adjectives in the dialect are usually of accentual paradigm IV).

2. Assimilation sometimes also occurs in cases where e does not directly precede a syllable with a back i<i<*in or a fronted u<ū<*un:

a) when a syllable with the vocalic nucleus e intervenes: sėseri (tikra sėsėri pei.k | uo tū neustūoji ~ you really begrudge your sister, and you don’t stand up for her), šėpeti (kur nukisā˙ tū˙ šėpeti ~ where did you lose that brush)⁶, šėpeti (kur nukisā˙ tū˙ šėpeti ~ where did you lose that brush). This group probably also includes the words kėbelis “a tricky job, trouble,” cf. standard Lithuanian kėbelis⁷ (kėbelis su ti˙k vaikū˙ ~ what a task, with so many children), vėpelis⁸ “a slack-jawed person, simpleton” (kuoks vėpelis čė nepadarī˙s | čė gė˙ra vi˙ra rei˙k ~ what a simpleton wouldn’t do here; here one needs a good man), žėbelis “one who talks nonsense,” etc.

b) When a syllable with the vocalic nucleus i intervenes: nėrini, nėrini˙s ~ nerinys “a knitted item” (pābuobė˙s lā˙ksta i nėrini užmeti ~ they run around behind the old women and threw on a knitted garment, but: tūri nė˙rine dā˙r nemā˙žā | tūoki šeimi˙na apnė˙rti nėju˙kā ~ there is still quite a lot of knitting to do; knitting such a family is no joke), tēšmini (susibra˙ži kārvi tēšmini | nelė˙id ne už pā˙pa pajimti ~ the cow bruised her udder; she wouldn’t even let anyone take her by the teat), etc.

The influence of analogy. The alternation of stressed long and short e within the paradigm of the same word creates (in the speaker’s mind) a kind of confusion. Now that the laws of assimilation no longer have a firm basis in the dialect (the pronunciations i<i<*in and i<ė, i<*en have merged: in all cases, open, lowered i and u are pronounced, as well as intermediate sounds between i and e, and between u and o; the dialect is, I would say, strongly influenced by the standard language and neighboring Aukštaitian dialects), e is often levelled across paradigms: either a short or a long vowel is pronounced in all forms.

a) As already mentioned, assimilation was not heard in feminine nouns with the suffix -eklė: perė˙klu, jaunė˙klu, etc. Long e is also very often pronounced

⁶ At the very boundary with the duonininkai, in the village of Kentraičiai, I heard the sentence: sėseri˙ pavi-dieti grie˙ks ~ to feed your sister is a sin, but this clearly reflects the influence of the duonininkai (Raudėnai seserė).

⁷ Lietuvių kalbos žodynas, t. 5 (ats. redaktorius K. Ulvydas), Vilnius, 1959, p. 470.

⁸ Cf. K. Būga’s vėpelis (see K. Būga, Rinktiniai raštai, vol. 1, Vilnius, 1958, p. 291).

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in the forms žē·mu (in the traditional dialect, žēmu), mielē·nu (trad. mielēnu), buobē·lu, sē·seri (trad. sēseri), as in all the other forms where e bears the primary (historical) stress.

b) With masculine nouns, the situation is quite the opposite: short e is pronounced where there can be no question of regressive assimilation, e.g.:

Singular

N. medìs luopšelis gražesnis G. mė·dže‖mėdže luopš·le‖luopšele gražē·sne‖gražesne D. medžù· luopšelu· gražesnė·m Acc. mèdi luopšeli gražesni Instr. medžù luopšeliù gražesniù Loc. mède luopšele gražesnėmi Voc. sēni‖sėnau vaikē·l

Plural

N. mè·de· (l. r., old)‖mède· (common). luopšele· gèresnì‖gerèsne· G. medžù luopšelu gèresniù D. mè·de·ms luopšele·ms gèresnims‖geresni·ms Acc. medžùs luopšeluš gèresniùs Instr. mè·de·s (l. r.)‖mède·s luopšele·s gèresnė·s Loc. medžù·si luopšelu·si gèresniù·si Voc. sēne· vaikēle·

The paradigm makes it clear that, by analogy, short e is pronounced in the singular genitive and the plural nominative, vocative, dative, and instrumental (assimilation could not have occurred before broad e).

It should also be added that this leveling is particularly pronounced and frequent in the speech of the younger generation.

As in the Kuršėnai dialect, regressive assimilation also operates in the following northeastern dūnininkai subdialects: Kurtuvėnai (jē·m kùr geresnis gā·bals ~ jēma “takes,” where the gābalas is better; tuòli mù·su tievi·nė·li biednù· siratėlu (d.) ~ far away is our dear little homeland of poor orphans), Šaukėnai (atė·je tuóks vaikėlis ~ such a child came; kù· tu čė sēni sėjė ~ what are you sowing here, old man?; šiù·t pašlius pas tū· seni pažu·rieti | ar tikrā· jis miri (p.) ~ messengers were sent to that old man to see whether he had really died). In Vėjaguvė (ši·nā·usma šaltēnù·se ~ in the hay fields; ai·k bā·l­tinti medžù ~ go whiten the trees; sēnis būva su ū·sta·s | su baržā ~ the old man was with moustaches, with a barge; mùms gerā· jīr kulkuozēlie ~ for us, the kolkhoz is good too; stāsi· | a nebēg prakaitėlis ~ Stasys, isn’t the little sweat running?), and elsewhere.⁹

On the question of origin. Taking into account K. Būga’s explanation¹⁰, the correspondence of the dūnininkai short e with dounininkai ę, ę, or ie, and the large area in which this assimilation occurs, it should be assumed that it is a somewhat older feature of the Samogitian dialects. It undoubtedly occurred before u > o and i > e, and most likely before the lengthening of the old stressed a and e. Short e may have survived in the Kuršėnai and other dūnininkai dialects by the following process: because of

⁹ The material was taken from the card file of the Language History and Dialectology Section of the LKLI.

¹⁰ See K. Būga, Rinktiniai raštai, vol. 2, Vilnius, 1959, p. 492.

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Under regressive assimilation, e began to be pronounced tense and narrower (probably in all Samogitian dialects where this assimilation occurs); it no longer merged with broad e and was not lengthened. Later, in some Dūnininkai dialects it developed into ė, in others into ie or ę, while in Dūnininkai it remained short, having lost its tenseness and merged with the broad e unaffected by this assimilation, when the laws of assimilation began to weaken in those dialects. The vowel e in the Tirkšliai dialect also points to the existence of some kind of tense vowel in the past¹¹ (if it is not a recent development).

Vilnius

ON REGRESSIVE VOWEL ASSIMILATION IN SOME NORTHEASTERN DŪNININKAI SAMOGITIAN DIALECTS

В. ВИТКАУСКАС

Abstract

In the northeastern Dūnininkai Samogitian dialects (Kuršėnai, Šaukėnai, Kurtuvėnai), only the vowel e preceding final syllables whose syllabic vowels are i<i<*in and u<u<*un, ū<uo is affected by regressive assimilation, when they follow palatalized consonants (sometimes before ie<ė). In that position, e under the primary—ancient—stress is pronounced short, rather than as the expected long e (as in the standard language): mėdis (standard language mėdis) ‘tree’, gen. pl. mielēnų (nom. sg. mielēni ‘blueberry’), duobilēlis (gen. sg. duobilē-le) ‘little clover’, butbēlis (standard language bambēlis) ‘grumbler’, and so on. Assimilation also sometimes occurs when an intermediate syllable containing the vowels e or i stands between the syllable with e and the final syllable with the vowels i<i<*in, u<u<*un, ū<uo: šēpeti ‘brush’ (gen. sg. šēpeče), nē:rini ‘knitting’ (gen. sg. nē:rine), and so on.

In the author’s opinion, this assimilation began to operate even before stressed vowels a and e were lengthened in Lithuanian.

¹¹ See A. Girdenis, cited article, ibid.

18. Kalbotyros klausimai VI.