LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI, II LIETUVOS TSR MOKSLŲ AKADEMIJA

THE PRONOUN IN THE BIRŽAI DIALECT

I. JAŠINSKAITĖ

The Biržai dialect belongs to the Eastern Highlanders, the puntininkai subdialect group. In the dialect, stress is retracted in an unusually restricted way—from every short ending, but not from a long ending. Word endings are greatly shortened: short vowels are lost or elided, while long vowels and diphthongs are shortened. The dialect is influenced to some extent by Latvian. The area of the Biržai dialect covers the surroundings of the town of Biržai within a radius of about 10 km. The pronoun of this dialect is described here.

Pronouns in the Biržai dialect, like those in the literary language, are divided into personal, reflexive, possessive, demonstrative, determinative, interrogative, relative, and indefinite pronouns. Their use differs in some respects from the use of pronouns in the literary language; for example, the possessive pronouns manas, tavas, savas, maniškis, taviškis, saviškis, mūsiškis, jūsiškis are not known in the Biržai dialect, and the genitives mano, tavo, savo are used instead; where the literary-language pronoun kuris is used, the dialect uses katras; the pronoun kiekvienas is replaced in the dialect by the Belarusian kožnas.

The dialect differs somewhat more from the literary language in the declension of pronouns. As in the literary language, some pronouns are declined only for case and number—these are the so-called non-gendered pronouns—while others are declined for case, number, and gender—these are gendered pronouns. The non-gendered pronouns include the personal pronouns of the first and second persons, the possessive pronoun, and the pronouns kas, niekas, viskas. They usually function as substitutes for nouns in a sentence. All the remaining pronouns are gendered. In a sentence, they replace adjectives.

1. Non-gendered pronouns

Singular

N. àš, ã·šę~ãšei, tù, tū·ję~tūjei G. manęs~manies, manį~manę, mãn~manè, tavęs~tavies, tavį~tavę, tãv~tavè, savęs~savies, savį~savę, sãu~savè D. màn, tàu, sàu A. manį~manę, mãn~manè, tavį~tavę, tū̃~tavè, savį~savę, sãu~savè I. màn, tàu, sàu L. manį~manyjè, tavį~tavyjè, savį~savyjè

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Plural

Nom. mẽ's, jū's

Gen. mū̃su ~ mūsų, jū̃su ~ jūsų

Dat. mū̃m, jū̃m

Acc. mū̃m, jū̃m

Ins. mū̃m, jū̃m

Loc. mumìs~mumysė, jumìs~jumysė

Vn. vard. ilgesnės formos turi pridėtą emfatinę dalelę. Kadangi II asmeny, pridėjus dalelę -ai, susidarė hiatas, tai įsiterpė j, o po j -ai > -ei. Pagal analogiją ir I asmeny pridėta -ei vietoj laukiamo -ai.

Gen. sg. Three types of forms are used. The first forms have the genitive singular ending of i-stem nouns, which was probably newly introduced on the model of the locative singular and plural, which have i-stem endings. The forms manę, tavę, savę arose from the old genitive forms with the addition of the accusative marker -n. In the dialect they are also used with an accusative meaning. The short forms are the old genitive–accusative forms. In the dialect they are still used with both genitive and accusative meanings, whereas in standard Lithuanian they are used only with an accusative meaning.

Dat. sg. In the form mán, the softness of final n shows that -i < -ie was lost here later than in standard Lithuanian; therefore, n had not yet had time to harden.

For the sg. acc., see sg. gen.

The sg. ins. is phonetically identical to the short forms of the sg. gen.–acc., but there seems to be no basis for regarding them as forms of the same origin. Similar sg. ins. forms occur in some other dialects, as well as in part of the Latvian dialect area.

The pl. dat. has a form without -s that is widespread in dialects, formed on the model of other plural datives, which in these dialects have dual forms or endings.

The pl. acc. and ins. are identical. The instrumental form corresponds to the standard Lithuanian form mumís, except that in the dialect -s has been dropped by analogy with other dialectal plural instrumental forms, and i has been lost in accordance with the dialect’s phonetic laws. The dialect’s plural accusative differs entirely from the corresponding standard Lithuanian form. The same forms are also found in some other Lithuanian and Latvian dialects. Endzelīns regards such accusative forms as datives or instrumentals used with an accusative meaning². It is difficult to say how things actually stand.

Singular

N. kàs, niẽks, viskàs

G. ką̃~kõ, niẽką~nieko, viskà̃~viskõ

D. kám, niẽkam, viskám

A. kũ~ką, niẽkų~nieką, viskų̃~viską

I. kũ̃~kuõ, niẽk~niekų, niẽkõ~niekuo, viskõ~viskuõ

¹ See D r. F r. K u r c h a t, Grammatik der litauischen Sprache, §§ 854, 855, 859, Halle, 1876. J. Endzelīns, Latviešu valodas gramatika, 347 §, Rīgā, 1951.

² See J. Endzelīns, Latviešu valodas gramatika, 352 §, Rīgā, 1951.

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The declension of these pronouns differs little from 1k. The pronoun viškas in the dialect is consistently end-stressed, whereas in 1k. it is root-stressed. These pronouns have only a singular.

2. Pronouns by gender

Gendered pronouns are most conveniently surveyed according to their stems.

a stem

Vienaskaita.

Nom. tàs, tas̃~tasai, ši.tas~šitas, ki.tas~kitas; Gen. tǫ~tǫ, ši.ta~šito, ki.ta~kito; Dat. tãm, ši.tam, kitam; Acc. tų~tą, ši.tų~šitą, ki.tų~kitą; Instr. tǫ~tuo, ši.to~šituo, kit~kitu; Loc. tãm~tame, ši.tam~šitame, kitãm~kitame

Daugiskaita

Nom. tẽ~tie, ši.te~šitie, kit~kiti; Gen. tų, ši.tų, kitų; Dat. tiẽm, ši.tem, kitiem; Acc. tǫs~tuos, ši.tǫs~šituos, kitǫs~kitus; Instr. tēs~tais, tēm~taim, ši.tes~šitais, ši.tem~šitaim, kitēs~kitais, kitēm~kitaim; Loc. tuõs~tuose, ši.tos~šituose, kituõs~kituose

The forms anas, katras, vi.sas are also declined in the same way.

The singular locative has an acute-accented ending instead of the expected circumflex-accented one. The acute accent here apparently arose by analogy with the dative, which in the dialect coincides with the locative once its final -e has been lost.

The plural dative has forms without -s, formed on the model of other plural datives, which in the dialect have dual endings or dual dative forms.

The plural instrumental has two sets of forms. The first set coincides with the corresponding forms in 1k. The second is a dialect-specific innovation. All (į) a-stem nominal instrumental forms in the Biržai dialect have this ending. They are especially well established northwest of Biržai, where the 1k. forms are almost never used. The basis for the emergence of such forms lay in the dialect’s own morphology. Since nominal forms of all other stems have dual forms or endings in the plural instrumental, they end in -m, e.g.: galvǫm, akim, pelėm, sunim, tǫm, baltǫm, baltǫsǫm. By analogy with these, final -s in the plural instrumental of (į) a-stem nominals was replaced by -m, taken from the dual ending. In this way, the forms kalnēm~kalnam, bãtēm~bãtaim, brōlem~brōliaim, tēm~taim, ši.tēm~šitaim, baltēm~baltaim, baltaišēm~baltaisiam, and so on, were formed. The Lk. forms are apparently more recent, having arisen in the dialect later under the influence of 1k. Thus

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The ending of these specific Biržai forms arose through contamination, as the ending of the old (i) a stem instrumental plural crossed with the new dialectal instrumental plural marker -m. The Latvian instrumentals of the tēviem type, with final -m, may have helped it gain acceptance.

ia stem

Singular

V. jìs, jisė~jisai, tōks, toksė~toksai

K. ją~jō, toką~tokio

N. jām, tokām

G. jį~jį, tokį~tokį

Į. jō~juō, tōk~tokiu, tokō~tokiuō

V. jām~jamē, tokām~tokiāmē

Daugiskaita

V. jẽ~jie, tokẽ~tokie

K. jų, tokų

N. jiem, tokiem

G. jōs~juos, tōkōs~tokius, tokōs~tokiuos

Į. jēs~jais, jēm~jāim, tokēs~tokiais, tokēm~tokiam

Vt. juos~juose, tokiuos~tokiuose

The following are also declined: kŏks, jŏks, nejŏks, ši.toks, kitŏks. The declension of all these pronouns differs little from that of the corresponding Lithuanian standard-language pronouns. In the dialect, emphatic pronouns are used in the singular nominative. Differences from the standard language in the singular locative, plural dative, and plural instrumental are explained in the same way as for a-stem pronouns. The pronoun tōks, unlike in the standard language, is invariably oxytone in the dialect. Alongside the usual singular instrumental and plural accusative forms, this and other pronouns of this type have longer forms with unshortened endings—these forms are not used in the standard language. The pronouns ši.toks, kitŏks, nejŏks are stressed on the stem, not on the ending, unlike the other pronouns of this stem type.

o stem

Singular

V. tō, ši.to, kit~kità

K. tōs~tōs, ši.tos~šitos, kitōs~kitōs

N. tāi, ši.tai~šitai, kitai

G. tū~tą, ši.tu~šitą, ki.tu~kitą

Į. tō, ši.to, ši.tu~šita, kit~kitą

Vt. tāi, ši.tai, kitai

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Plural

V. tós, ši.tos, ki.tos

K. tū¹, ši.tu, kitu-

N. tóm, ši.tom, kitom

G. tôs, ši.tos, ši.ts~šitas, kìts~kitas

I. tóm, ši.tom, kitom

Vt. tós~tosè, ši.tos~šitosè, kits~kitose

Also inflected are anò “that woman,” katrò “each,” vls~visà.

The singular nominative has interesting forms of the type tò with an unusual ending. These may be remnants of emphatic forms. When the emphatic particle -ai began to mark the masculine singular nominative of pronominal forms in the dialect, and the pronoun -ji (-ja) was a feature of feminine pronominal forms, that pronoun may, by analogy, have begun to function as an emphatic particle. Thus, alongside the emphatic pronoun tasai, toji (toja) may have arisen, by analogy with baltasai, baltoji, (baltoja). That this newly arisen form was not a pronominal form in the dialect is shown by the fact that the pronoun was added only in the singular nominative, and, moreover, pronominal forms are not used in the dialect. Since the pronoun -ji (-ja) here was a purely formal addition arising through analogy, it could easily have been lost. In this way, toji, (toja) became toj in the dialect, and then tò. This shortening is phonologically possible in the Biržai dialect; compare the singular locative šakõ< ‘in a branch’, <galvõ ‘in the head’, where the final vowel also disappeared, followed by j. In dialectal pronominal forms of the type baltoji<baltoji (baltoja), j remained because it emphasizes the connection of the pronominal form with the pronoun ji, and that connection remains fairly strong in the dialect. Thus, forms of the type tò should be regarded as shortened emphatic pronouns, formations of the same kind as dialectal forms of the type tasė~tasai.

In the singular instrumental, alongside the usual forms, forms of obscure origin are used that phonetically coincide with the masculine singular instrumental forms of the a-stem.

The singular locative should be tŏ(j)<tojè, but the form tái is used, following the singular dative, since the singular locatives of other stems also tend toward the dative.

The plural dative and instrumental have forms without -s, like all other nominal words in the dialect.

Plural accusative forms of the type tõs phonetically coincide with the corresponding masculine forms. There seems to be no basis for assuming an o-stem plural accusative tõs<tãs, since the feminine plural accusative baltù·sis<baltánsias of pronominal adjectives shows that n was present in this ending, and adjectives are, after all, inflected like pronouns. Thus, the form tõs must have some other origin. Perhaps forms of this type, as well as similar forms of the singular instrumental, are masculine forms that, for some reason, came to be used with feminine meaning.

io stem

Singular

V. i², jinè~jinai, tŏk~tokia, toki, tokì

K. jõs, tokõs

N. jai, tokái

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G. jū~ją, tokū~tokią

Į. jõ, tõk~tokią

Vt. jąi, tokiài

Plural

V. jōs, tokōs

K. jū, tokū

N. jōm, tokōm

Genitive jōs, tōkēs~tokiàs

Į. jōm, tokōm

Locative jōs~josē, tokōs~tokiosē

The following are also declined: kõk~kokià, kokì, jōk~jokià, ši.tok~šitokia, višõk~visõkia, kitõk~kitokia. The latter three pronouns are consistently stressed on the stem. The pronoun tõk~tokia and other pronouns of that type, unlike in standard Lithuanian, are consistently oxytonic in the dialect.

Singular nominative forms of the type tokì appear to be of the same kind as tõ, ši.to, anõ, namely emphatic forms with a lost ending. Thus tokì < *tokýji (*tokýja), which indicates that alongside pronouns with the stem ending -ja, the dialect also had pronouns with the ending -ji < -jì, e.g., the first component of the pronoun *tokýji (*tokýja) and, perhaps, tõk < toki. In addition to other linguistic facts, the possibility of such double endings in its stem is also demonstrated by Lithuanian nouns with two forms of the same stem, e.g.: valdžià, dvasià but martì.

The singular instrumental and singular locative, and the plural dative, accusative, and instrumental have forms of the o-stem type; therefore, their differences from standard Lithuanian can be explained in the same way as those of the o-stem.

Pronouns oneself (masculine), oneself (feminine)

Singular

Nom. pàts, pàĩ~pati

Gen. patẽs~patìes, pačõs~pačios

Dat. pačám, pačái

Acc. pá.ti., pà.čū.~pàčią

Ins. pàč~pačiu, pàč~pàčia

Loc. pačām~pačiame, pačái

Plural

V. pà.ti.s, pà.čōs

K. pačū', pačū'

N. patiēm, pačōm

G. pàčēs~pačius, pàčēs~pačias

Į. pačēs~pačiais, pačēm~pačiām, pačōm

Vt. pačūdōs~pačiuosē, pačōs~pačiosē

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As can be seen, in some cases this pronoun has old i-stem endings, e.g., singular nominative, singular genitive, singular accusative, and plural nominative. Unlike Standard Lithuanian, the singular locative differs, being aligned with the singular dative, as in other pronouns. Unlike Standard Lithuanian, in the singular dative the feminine pronoun is stressed on the ending. In the plural instrumental, the masculine form, alongside the Standard Lithuanian form, has a form with a specific Biržai dialect ending, which has already been discussed.

3. Compound pronouns

As in the standard language, the dialect has compound pronouns, e.g.: ki.tkas, kaškas, kaži̇pkas, kažinkoks, biìkas, biìkatras, biìkoks. They are declined like their second components. The compound pronouns nė_vìens, ke_kàs are declined like vìens, kàs; in the pronoun tas_pàts both words are declined, while in the pronoun toks_pà?i — the first word.

PRONOUNS OF THE BIRŽAI DIALECT

И.П. ЯШИНСКАЙТЕ

Abstract

Pronouns in the Biržai dialect, as in the standard language, are divided into personal, reflexive, possessive, interrogative, demonstrative, relative, defining, and indefinite pronouns. There are some differences in the declension of pronouns in the Biržai dialect and the standard language. The dialect is characterized by emphatic pronouns. A tendency toward simplification of the declension system is emerging in connection with the spread of analogy. Of particular interest are personal pronouns in which the short forms of the genitive, accusative, and instrumental cases coincide in the singular, and those of the accusative and instrumental cases coincide in the plural. A feature of some pronouns is that the dative and locative cases coincide in the singular. In some pronouns, masculine and feminine forms are identical in the singular instrumental case. The dialect has a distinctive innovation: instrumental plural forms of masculine pronouns.

13. Kalbotyros klausimai II.