LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI, I

LIETUVOS TSR MOKSLŲ AKADEMIJA

STRESS AND ACCENT IN THE KRETINGA DIALECT

J. ALEKSANDRAVIČIUS

This article describes stress and accent in the Kretinga dialect. The area described includes not only Kretinga but also several localities near Kretinga, namely Palanga, Darbėnai, Kartena, and others. According to the classification adopted in Lithuanian dialectological research, the dialect described belongs to the coastal Samogitian donininkai dialect.

Since the features of a dialect as a linguistic system emerge most clearly when compared with the literary language, stress and accent are examined here chiefly by means of comparison with the literary language.

Stress

The stress pattern of the coastal Samogitian donininkai dialect differs greatly from that of the literary language. Particularly noteworthy is the mismatch in stress placement compared with the literary language. The most characteristic features of coastal Samogitian stress are retraction of stress and a tendency for words to have not just one but two stressed syllables. It is chiefly because of these stress-pattern features that the stress placement of dialect words differs from that of the literary language.

It is assumed that the Couronian and Selonian languages influenced the emergence of stress retraction.

Stress retraction is a tendency in the dialect to shift stress from the end of a word toward its beginning. There are two types of stress retraction: in some dialects stress is retracted only in certain cases, whereas in others it is retracted in all cases (except from an ending with a falling accent on a long syllable). When stress is not retracted in every instance, but only from a short ending (historically with a falling accent) to a long stem, for example, gȉvė ~ gyva (the Mūša river basin), this type of stress retraction is called conditional stress retraction¹.

The second type of stress retraction occurs when stress is retracted from an ending with a circumflex accent or a short ending (except an ending with a long syllable bearing an acute accent, from which stress is never retracted) onto any stem, whether long or short:

¹ Žr. Archivum Philologicum, 4, 32, Kaunas (1933).

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ža.u,kā ~ laukāi, rọ.n,kā ~ rankā, gė,rā ~ gerā, ša,kā ~ šakā (northern and northwestern Samogitians), laūkai ~ laūkai, gžīva ~ gyvā, šaka ~ šakā (Joniškis)². This kind of stress retraction is called universal stress retraction.

The Kretinga dialect has universal stress retraction. Here stress is retracted from a circumflex-length and short ending (except a circumflex-length ending, e.g.: sakâu ~ sakáu (I say), darā ~ darái (you do), laukāms ~ laukáms) onto every stem, both long and short: lā.u,kā ~ laukāi, dā.r,žā ~ daržai, vie,žīs³ ~ vėžys, rọ,gīs ~ rugys, kộp,rà ~ kuprà, mėg,là ~ migla.

A distinctive feature of stress retraction in the Kretinga dialect should be noted. Here stress is not retracted completely, but is divided between the beginning and the end of the word: part of the stress is shifted to the beginning of the word, while the other part remains in its former position. Thus, after stress retraction, two stresses occur in the word—alongside the old stress, a new stress appears, called retracted stress: ša,kā ~ šakà, lė.ntā ~ lentà, rọ.n,kā ~ rankà, gāi,dīs ~ gaidýs, á.rk,līs ~ arklys, lọ.n,gā ~ langāi, vie,žīs ~ vėžys, dọ.u,bže ~ duobė.

In terms of vocal effort, these two stresses are not alike in the dialect: retracted stress is stronger than the old stress, which is called secondary stress. In the introduction to his dictionary, K. Būga emphasizes that “The Samogitians, in addition to the new retracted stress, continue to pronounce the old ending stress, which is nevertheless weaker than the new one”⁴. The dialect’s secondary stress corresponds to stress in the literary language, e.g.: akìs ~ à,kės, ausìs ~ à.u,sės.

It should be noted that this distinctive pattern of stress retraction, in which stress is divided into two parts when retracted, does not occur throughout the entire Northern Samogitian dialect. In the northeastern corner of Northern Samogitian (Veg eriai, Klykoliai, Akmenė), which lies within the area of universal stress retraction, stress is retracted completely from the end of the word to its beginning, leaving no trace in its former position: rọ.nka ~ rankà, āusės ~ ausis. In this case, stress is retracted fully from the end of the word to the beginning, so that only one stress occurs in the word.

The dialect has words with three and four stresses, which occur in trisyllabic or four-syllable words when stress is retracted from the end of the word to its beginning: šė,lộmà ~ šilumà, blėz,dingà ~ blez dingà (swallow), dá.r,bėninkùs ~ darbininkùs, drė,gọntùs ~ drigantùs (stallions), vė,lienėjė ~ velėnijà.

The third stress (the second from the end) is called secondary retracted stress here. It arises when stress is retracted from the end of the word to its beginning, if not only the old stress remains at the end of the word, but the adjacent syllable is also stressed. This syllable bears secondary retracted stress. It is called secondary retracted stress because it is weaker than retracted stress—or, one might say, than primary retracted stress—but stronger than secondary stress.

² Žr. Archivum Philologicum, 4, 32, Kaunas (1933).

³ All consonants before the vowels ę, į (i) and the diphthong ie, as well as the consonants č, g, k, l, š, ž before the vowels e, ė (ę, ē) and the diphthongs ei, ėi, are not marked in any way for softness, since in these cases they are always soft.

The transcription used here is that provided by the Lithuanian Language Atlas data-collection program (1956).

⁴ K. Būga, Lietuvių kalbos žodynas, 1 sąs., LI, Kaunas, 1924.

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The dialect has words with two stresses, which arose not through stress retraction but from a tendency to pronounce long syllables as stressed. When discussing the emergence of stress due to a tendency to pronounce long syllables as stressed, we encounter two stresses—the primary and the shifted stress.

Primary stress here refers to the stress found in words that do not retract stress from the end of the word to its beginning. In addition to primary stress, such words that do not retract stress may have another stress, known as shifted stress. It occurs in words that have a long syllable in the dialect after the primary stress. A long syllable following the primary stress is pronounced with stress in the dialect. This stressed pronunciation of the syllable gives rise to a new stress in addition to the primary one—shifted stress. It is called shifted because the primary stress is divided into two parts, with one part seemingly shifted from the beginning of the word to its end; that is, stress is divided between the beginning and the end of the word: árk,lõu ~ arkliuo (to the horse), vã,kõu ~ vaikuo (to the child), sẽi,nã ~ sienai (to the wall), šǫ,nẽi ~ šunie (to the dog), prãus,tẽis ~ prausties (to wash oneself). Primary stress is pronounced with greater force, and shifted stress with less.

The emergence of shifted stress is, as it were, the reverse of the process of retracting stress from the end of a word to its beginning.

Shifted stress occurs when a long syllable follows the primary stress, or when a long syllable results from the loss of the short vowel in a closed ending: lõn,gõu ~ lánguo (to the window), trũo,bã ~ tróbai, kãrk,lã ~ kãrklai, bīm,bãls ~ biṁbalas, vẽr,pãls ~ vẽrpalas, giẽ,rãls ~ gėralas, dū,bẽls ~ dóbilas, kẽr,mẽns ~ kìrminas, žǭ,sẽns ~ žąsinas, kón,dõuls ~ kánduolas (kernel).

In some cases, words with shifted stress have a short intonation on the primary-stress syllable. This occurs when the syllable bearing primary stress consists of a short vowel: kã,tẽns ~ kãtinas, ã,vẽns ~ ãvinas, stã,lõu ~ stãluo (to the table), gà,lõu ~ gãluo (to the head), ã,vẽi ~ ãvie (to the sheep), šã,kã ~ šãkai, sǫk,tẽis ~ sùkties (to turn oneself). It should be noted that when a word has no shifted stress, the intonation is long: kãtẽna ~ kãtiną, ãvẽno ~ ãvinų, stãla ~ stãlo, gãla ~ gãlą, ãvis ~ ãvys, šãkas ~ šãkos.

Compound words, usually being polysyllabic, generally have two stresses—the primary and the shifted. In these cases, as in non-compound words, shifted stress follows the primary stress. Shifted stress occurs chiefly in compound words in which the primary stress falls on the connecting vowel or on the first part of the compound: avẽ,kãilis ~ avikailis, galvūo,vẽršis ~ galvovi̇ršis, saulẽ,kãita ~ saulėkaita, griẽblà,kūotis ~ grėblãkotis, ognà,vẽitė ~ ugnãvietė, akì,brǫ́ukšmis ~ akibruokšmis, sãldà,rū́kštis ~ sáldrūkštis, põs,brúolis ~ pùsbro­lis, rẽt,sĩkis ~ rẽtsykis, kél,vẽitė ~ kélvietė, luopẽt,kūotis ~ lopėtkotis, meškẽr,kūotis ~ meškėrkotis.

If a word has no long-pronounced syllable in the dialect after its primary stress, it has no shifted stress either, even if the primary stress falls on the connecting vowel or on the first part of a compound word: miešlãvežis ~ mėšlãvežis, arklãganis ~ arklãganis, kaulãšeris ~ kiaulãšeris, tãrpšakis ~ taĩpšakis, pō.spadė ~ pùspadė.

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There is also no shifted stress when the primary stress in the dialect falls on the second part of the compound word: vėinrọnkis ~ vienrañkis, stuorlūpis ~ storlūpis, dẹtpẹlvis ~ didpilvis, mažakālbis ~ mažakalbis, veĩnakis ~ vienāki̇s.

From what has been said about stress in the dialect, we see that it has five stresses in all: retracted stress (primary retracted stress), secondary stress, secondary retracted stress, primary stress, and shifted stress. In the dialect, words can have not only one stress, as in the standard language, but two, and sometimes even more.

Intonation

In the Kretinga dialect, word intonations, like word-stress placement, differ considerably from those of the standard language. This dialect has not three intonations, as the standard language does, but five: short, circumflex, broken, middle, and acute.

Some intonations resemble those of the standard language, while others are characteristic only of the dialect. In their movement of pitch, the short, circumflex, and acute intonations most closely resemble their corresponding standard-language intonations, whereas the broken and middle intonations are characteristic only of the dialect. The broken intonation differs most from standard-language intonations: in the dialect it is pronounced where the standard language has the acute intonation and is marked by a sharp fall and break in the voice, much sharper than in the standard-language acute intonation. The circumflex intonation resembles the standard-language circumflex only in its rising pitch, but differs in its falling pitch. The dialectal circumflex is longer and more sustained than in the standard language. The standard language has no middle intonation at all. It resembles the circumflex, but is considerably shorter. In the dialect, the middle intonation is pronounced on lengthened short vowels, either when the short intonation is lengthened or when stress is retracted from a circumflex-length ending to a circumflex-length stem.

As mentioned, some words in the dialect have two, and sometimes even more, stresses, which may be primary, retracted, or shifted. In the dialect, intonations are borne not only by primary stresses but also by retracted and shifted stresses. Since all stressed syllables also have intonations, words with two stresses have two intonations, while words with more stresses have the same number of intonations as stresses.

The intonation of a retracted stress is of three types: short, middle, and acute.

The short intonation of a retracted stress occurs when stress is retracted from a short or circumflex-length ending to a short stem: lãz,dà ~ lazdà, mė,dõs ~ medùs, rà,sà ~ rasà, sà,là ~ salà, šẹ,lòmà ~ šilùmą, tẹ,kėnà ~ tekinà, nãš,lĩs ~ našlỹs, šẹ,rĩs ~ šerỹs, d,veñã ~ avinãi, kã,teñã ~ katinãi, pẹ,lẹnã ~ pelenãi.

The middle intonation of a retracted stress occurs when stress is retracted from a short or circumflex-length ending to a circumflex-length stem: ã.u,sẹs ~ ausis, lộ,n,kà ~ lankà, bã.rz,dà ~ barzdà, skũo,là ~ skolà, žẹ.i,mà ~ žiemà, lã.u,kã ~ laukai, dọ.u,biẹ ~ duobė, vie,žie ~ vežė, žũo,lie ~ žolė, pũs,lie ~ pušlė.

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The acute intonation of a retracted stress occurs when stress is retracted from a short or circumflex-length ending to an acute-length stem: á.rk,lìs ∼ arklỹs, grieblìs ∼ grėblỹs, ló.nigà ∼ langai, še.r,dės ∼ širdìs, tie,vã ∼ tėvai, čã.u,dõlìs ∼ čiaudulỹs.

In the dialect, stress is never retracted from an acute-length ending: gerà ∼ gerái (used.), nušãls ∼ nušãls (will cool down), laukáms ∼ laukáms, arkliẽms ∼ arkliáms, gerám ∼ gerám, ausìms ∼ ausìms, galvióms ∼ galvóms; likewise in first- and second-person singular verbs, because in these cases the dialect has an acute-length ending: darãu ∼ darãu (I do), rašãu ∼ rašãu (I write), palekáu ∼ palikáu (I left), matã ∼ mataĩ (you see), darã ∼ darái (you do), skaitė ∼ skaitėi (you read), nešė ∼ nešėi (you carried), padarė ∼ padarėi (you did).

Secondary stress, which arises in the dialect through stress retraction, also has an intonation. It has one of two intonations: short or circumflex. If stress is retracted from a final short syllable, the secondary stress intonation on that syllable (at the end of the word) is short: à.kẽs ∼ akìs, gè.rà ∼ gerà, lã.u,kùs ∼ laukùs, põ.i,kòs ∼ puikùs, šà,kà ∼ šakà, vã,r,kùs ∼ vaikus; but if stress is retracted from a final circumflex-length syllable, the secondary stress intonation on that syllable (at the end of the word) is circumflex: dã.r,bã ∼ darbai, è,žỹs ∼ ežỹs, lã.u,kã ∼ laukai, lã,šẽnẽ ∼ lašiniai, vã,kã ∼ vaikai.

Secondary retracted stresses have one of two intonations: short or circumflex: Vúo,kitėjè ∼ Vokytiją (Vokietiją), Krẽ,tingà ∼ Kretingą.

From what has been said, we see that in the dialect, as a result of stress retraction and the tendency to pronounce long syllables with stress, retracted, secondary, and shifted stresses arise, with five intonations: short, circumflex, broken, middle, and acute.

Short intonation. Short intonation (marked with the grave accent “`”) is found in short syllables consisting of vowels pronounced short in the dialect: a, e, ė, i, o, u. Its pitch movement in pronunciation is brief and of medium strength.

In the dialect, short intonation occurs in the following cases:

a) In monosyllabic words with the short vowels a, e, ė, i, o, u, corresponding to the standard language’s short vowels a, e, i, u, u: kàs, tàs, ràs, nèš, vèš, lès, šès ∼ šis, krès ∼ kris, vès ∼ vis, lìg, dò ∼ dù, sò ∼ sù, pùkš, bùpt.

b) On the short vowels e, o, corresponding to the standard language’s short vowels i, u, in dialectal monosyllabic words that developed from disyllabic words through the loss of the short vowel in a closed ending: kèts ∼ kitas, dèkts ∼ diktas, pẽkks ∼ piktas, bòts ∼ būtas, tòšts ∼ tuščias, sòkts ∼ sūktas.

c) On the short vowels a, e, corresponding to literary-language a, e with circumflex accent, in monosyllabic words arising from disyllabic ones when the short vowel of a closed ending was lost: kàps ∼ kąpas, làps ∼ lapas, šàps ∼ šapas, gràps ∼ grąbas, màšes ∼ mažgas, pàts ∼ padas, ràks ∼ rągas, slàpts ∼ slaptas, tàks ∼ takas, lèts ∼ lėdas, mèts ∼ metas, šèšts ∼ šeštas, šèšks ∼ šeškas.

d) On the short vowels a, e, corresponding to literary-language vowels a, e with circumflex accent, in monosyllabic words that arose in the dialect from dis-

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yllabic words when the short vowel of an open ending was lost: kàs ~ kasa, žàd ~ žada, nèš ~ neša, kėp ~ kepa, lės ~ lesa, mèt ~ meta, vėž ~ veža.

e) On the short vowels ę, ė, corresponding to literary-language i, u, in monosyllabic words that arose in the dialect from disyllabic words when the short vowel of an open ending was lost: lėp ~ lipa, tėk ~ teki, kėš ~ kiša, lóp ~ lupa, sōk ~ suka, krōt ~ krūta.

f) At the beginning of a word, on the short vowels a, e, ę, ė, u, corresponding to literary-language a, e, i, u, u with acute accent—in words with retracted stress, from a short or long final syllable to a short root: 1) from a short final syllable: à.kės ~ akis, grà.žūs ~ gražūs, à.vežà ~ aviža, mè.dòs ~ medūs, lè.gà ~ liga, vė.dòs ~ vidus, pǫ.šės ~ pušis, ǫg.nės ~ ugnis, nù.krės ~ nukris, nù.lòps ~ nulups;

2) from a long final syllable: là.šėnė ~ lašiniai, àt.àudà ~ ataudai, è.žīs ~ ežys, vė.dòris ~ vidurys, pǫ.šė ~ pušė(i) (pušyje), ǫg.niė ~ ugnė(i) (ugnyje), nù.dàuš ~ nudauš, nù.ės ~ nueis.

g) At the beginning of a word, on the short vowels a, e, corresponding to literary-language a, e with circumflex accent, in disyllabic or polysyllabic words with secondary stress, arising not through stress retraction from the end of the word to its beginning, but because of lengthened syllables pronounced long in the dialect: bamà.tònt ~ bamāt ant, sà.kǫnt ~ sàkant, là.kǐntė ~ lãkinti, kà.tė ~ katė, là.pė ~ lapė, lė.sìntė ~ lėsinti, mè.tā ~ mėtai, švè.tìntės ~ švėtinties (švėtintis, to go somewhere to get out of the rain).

i) At the beginning of a word, on the short vowels a, e, corresponding to literary-language vowels a, e with circumflex accent, in words with secondary stress arising when the short vowel of a closed ending was lost, thereby creating a secondary diphthong and lengthening the syllable: à.vė̀ns ~ avìnas, àb.dàrs ~ áp daras, àd.bòls ~ atbulas, kà.ràms ~ kàramas, bà.ràms ~ bãramas, kà.tėns ~ kàtinas, svè.tėms ~ svėtimas, tè.kėns ~ tėkinas, vè.dėns ~ vėdinas.

j) At the beginning of a word, on the short vowels ę, ė, corresponding to literary-language i, u with acute accent, in disyllabic words with secondary stress arising because syllables lengthened and were pronounced long in the dialect: rė.hìntė ~ rìkinti, rè.tìntė ~ ritinti, švè.tìntė ~ švītinti, dè.dìntė ~ didinti, pǫ.šėi ~ pušies (pušiai), pǫ.tùoms ~ pūtoms, jǫ.dìntė ~ judinti.

k) At the beginning of a word, on the short vowels ę, ė, corresponding to literary-language i, u with acute accent, in disyllabic or polysyllabic words with secondary stress arising when the short vowel of the ending was lost, thereby lengthening the syllable: dė.dėn ~ didina, rė.tėn ~ ritina, kǫ.šėn ~ kušina, jǫ.dėn ~ judina.

l) At the beginning of a word, on the short vowels a, e, corresponding to literary-language a, e with circumflex accent, in disyllabic or polysyllabic words with secondary stress arising when the short vowel of an open ending was lost, thereby lengthening the syllable: mà.šėn ~ mašina, mà.žėn ~ mažina, dè.dėn ~ dedina, kè.pėn ~ kepina.

m) At the end of a word, on the short vowels a, e, ę, i, ė, u, corresponding to the short vowels of literary language with acute accent, in the dialect’s secondary stress

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in the accentuation of words with retracted stress: šã,kà~šakà, à,vėžã~avižà, gà,lė~galè, kè,i,mė ~ kiemè, dzà,sė~dvasia, và,lė~valia, à,kìs~akis (perhaps), ã,u,sìs ~ ausis (perhaps); rō,n,kō~ ranka (sometimes), krŏ,tò ~ krutù, stà,lùs ~ stalùs, lã,u,kìs ~ laukùs.

Circumflex accent. The circumflex accent (marked with the tilde sign “~”) is pronounced in the dialect with a sustained, long vocal impulse. In pronouncing this accent, the voice gradually rises for a relatively long time and then suddenly falls. The dialect’s circumflex differs from the literary-language circumflex in that its fall in pitch is sharper and shorter in the dialect than in the literary language.

The location of the accentual impulse in diphthongs differs greatly from that in the literary language. In the literary language, when pronouncing the circumflex accent in diphthongs, the vocal impulse is concentrated on the second component, whereas in the dialect under discussion the vocal impulse of this accent in diphthongs is always concentrated on the first component: màišas ~ maišas, làiks ~ laikas, lãuks ~ laukas, kẽims ~ kiemas, kŏmps ~ kampas, tẽmptę ~ tempti, rŏnkas ~ rankos, lŏnks ~ lankas, lėkte ~ lėkti, driėpte ~ drėbti, diėdę ~ dėdė, tiėr ~ tera, ǫz,būons ~ uzbonas, Jūons ~ Jōnas, žūodis ~ žodis, lūops ~ lōpas.

Because the vocal impulse of this accent is concentrated on the first component of diphthongs, in the dialect the second component of some diphthongs (ai, ei) tends to disappear. Here are some examples in which the second component of diphthongs has disappeared in the dialect: vãks ~ vaikas, ẽte ~ eiti, grẽts ~ greitas, svẽks ~ sveikas, rẽkals ~ reikalas.

The circumflex accent of the dialect under discussion is similar to the same accent in the Samogitian dūnininkai dialect. They coincide in the type and duration of the vocal impulse and in the movement of the voice, but differ in the location of the vocal impulse, since the circumflex accent of the dūnininkai occurs on both components of all diphthongs, though it is closer to that of the Samogitian dounininkai, with a tendency to concentrate on the first component⁵.

The circumflex accent occurs in:

a) Long syllables consisting of vowels with circumflex length: ėšėgōstę ~ išsigąsti, grōžts ~ grąžtas, škęštę ~ skęsti, lįstę ~ lįsti, pīkę ~ pykti, šūstę ~ siūsti, liūts ~ liūtas, mūris ~ mūris, liūdns ~ liūdnas.

b) Long syllables consisting of stressed lengthened a and e: dãrę ~ darė, eglãsakę ~ eglasakė, mãžos ~ mažas, šãkę ~ šakė, šãsos ~ šašas, sãkę ~ sakė, kẽkę ~ kėkė, mẽdis ~ medis, šẽnis ~ senis.

However, in words where, after the ending is shortened, a short-pronounced syllable arises in the dialect, the vowels a and e in such a syllable have the short accent, as noted above: bāts ~ batas, lāps ~ lūpas, kāps ~ kāpas, lēts ~ lėdas, svēts ~ svečias, neš ~ neša, vēd ~ vėda.

c) Long syllables consisting of pure or mixed diphthongs with circumflex length; in this case the accent falls on the first components of the diphthongs: lāuks ~ laukas, āuls ~ aūlas, šāuktę ~ šaukti, lāiks ~ laikas, pēiktę ~ peikti, dėina ~ dieną, šēins ~ šienas, jōuks ~ juokas, mōils ~ muilas, kālts ~ kaltas, šāltis ~ šaltis, kōmps ~ kampas, lōnks ~ lankas, pāršos ~ paršas, šēlptę ~ šelpti, lēngvos ~ lengvas, vērstę ~ versti, tēlptę ~ tilpti, īmtę ~ imti, gīntę ~ ginti,

⁵ Cf. P. Jonikas, Pagramančio tarmė, § 15, Kaunas, 1939.

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to become sick ~ to suffer, to fall ~ to collapse, short ~ short, to sink ~ to sink, rotten ~ rotting.

Circumflex accent. The circumflex accent (marked by a caret-shaped sign “^”) is characteristic of Samogitians who retract the stress, and thus also of the dialect described here, in which stress retraction is particularly prominent. This kind of voice pressure in the accent differs from the Lithuanian standard language’s acute accent. When pronouncing the circumflex accent, a sudden break in the raised voice is clearly audible in the middle of the sound, because at that moment the glottis closes abruptly. When the glottis opens again at the same moment, the second part of the stressed phoneme is completed with the voice descending. The break in the voice of the circumflex accent is greater than that of the Lithuanian standard language’s acute accent.

When pronouncing the circumflex accent, the glottis is not closed to the same degree in every case. In pronouncing some sounds it closes more, and in pronouncing others less. This depends on the quality of the sounds. The glottis is not fully closed when pronouncing, for example, the sounds ī and ū: rīts ~ rytas, lūpa ~ lūpa. In connected speech, the glottis is also generally closed less than when the same words are pronounced separately. The glottis opens more when pronouncing the vowels ā, ē: sāu ~ sau, gārs ~ gāras, gērs ~ gēras, dēr ~ dēra. In addition, it opens more when a word is pronounced separately and emphatically.

In terms of the location of voice pressure, the circumflex accent does not differ from the Lithuanian standard language’s acute accent, since the location of voice pressure in the circumflex accent is the same as in the standard language’s acute accent: namely, in diphthongs, diphthongs of secondary rise, and diphthongs corresponding to the standard language’s o, ē (uo ~ o, ie ~ ē), it is concentrated on the first component: kāilis ~ kāilis, šāukšts ~ šaukštas, sēile ~ seilė, lēipa ~ liepa, dōuna ~ duona, šālts ~ šaltas, ōmžos ~ amžius, pōntis ~ pantis, tārps ~ tarpas, kēlte ~ kelti, lēmba ~ lėmė, sēnte ~ senti, gērte ~ gerti, kā,tēns ~ kątinas, lēns ~ linas, gērs ~ gēras, grūopte ~ gróbti, mūolis ~ móolis, dēte ~ dėti, siedēte ~ sėdėti.

When pronouncing the circumflex accent, the movement of the voice is the same as for the acute accent, namely, rising-falling. It takes longer to pronounce than the dialect’s acute accent (see the subsection “Acute accent”).

By nature, the circumflex accent resembles the Latvian circumflex accent. In the introduction to his dictionary, K. Būga calls the Samogitian circumflex accent explosive or breaking (circumflex) and compares it with the Latvian circumflex accent, called “krituoša” and “grūsta” or “lauzta” in Latvian. The dialect’s circumflex accent differs from the Latvian circumflex in the location of voice pressure, since the Latvian circumflex is concentrated on both components of the phoneme, whereas the Samogitian circumflex is concentrated on the first component. It also differs from the Latvian circumflex in the degree of glottal closure, since when the Samogitian circumflex is pronounced, the glottis closes more.

The dialect has the circumflex accent in:

a) Long syllables consisting of vowels of acute length: kõsnis ~ kąsnis, kõste ~ kąsti, sprēste ~ spręsti, žīste ~ žįsti, rīts ~ rytas, gīte ~ gyti, vīrs ~ vyras, skūste ~ skųsti, sūls ~ siūlas, grūts ~ grūdas, lūpa ~ lūpa.

⁶ K. Būga, Lietuvių kalbos žodynas, 1 sąs., XXIV.

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b) Long syllables consisting of pure or mixed diphthongs with the circumflex accent: bãime ~ báimė, káuls ~ káulas, sáulė ~ saũlė, méilė ~ meilė, pẽiva ~ pieva, sẽina ~ siena, pẽins ~ pienas, dṹna ~ duona, ǒusis ~ ũosis, kálts ~ káltas, sãmtis ~ sám tis, põntis ~ pántis, kãrvė ~ kárvė, bãrtė ~ bártė, dẽlns ~ dẽlnas, pẽmpė ~ pémpė, lẽnkė ~ lénkė, gẽrvė ~ gérvė.

In the literary language, the stress of mixed diphthongs consisting of i, u + l, m, n, r, and of the diphthong ui with the circumflex accent is marked by a grave accent, since the vowels i and u are always short and remain so in these diphthongs. In the dialect described, the first components of diphthongs consisting of i, u + l, m, n, r, and of the diphthong ui are pronounced long and have the broken accent rather than the short accent: skėlte ~ skílti, ė́lks ~ ilgas, tẹ́lts ~ tiltas, tĩmpa ~ timpa, pĩntė ~ pinti, trĩnka ~ trinka, bẽrtė ~ birti, kṓltė ~ kulti, dṹmtė ~ dumti, kṓrpė ~ kurpė, õitė ~ ūiti.

The mixed diphthongs of secondary origin consisting of i, u + l, m, n, r have the same accent: pẽl ~ pila, šẽls ~ šilas, vežẽms ~ vežimas, liekẽms ~ lėkimas, pẽn ~ pina, lẽns ~ linas, mẽn ~ mina, tẽn ~ tina, kõl ~ kulia, gõl ~ gula, aukštõms ~ aukštumas, gelõms ~ gilumas, dõr ~ duria.

The dialect's mixed diphthongs of secondary origin formed from a, e + l, m, n, r after a short closed ending was lost in the dialect also have the broken accent: gãls ~ galas, nõms ~ namas, trãns ~ trãnas, gãrs ~ gãras, kẽls ~ kelias, pẽns ~ penas, gẽrs ~ gẽras.

c) Long dialectal syllables with secondary stress, arising not from retraction of stress from the end of the word to its beginning, but from syllable lengthening in the dialect: lūo,pĩtė ~ lópyti, vĩ,rã ~ vyrai, vã,kõu ~ vaikუo (vaikui), ãrk,lõu ~ arkliuo (arkliui), gnãi,bĩtė ~ gnaibyti, dãik,stĩte ~ daigstyti, trẽ,lĩnks ~ trilinkas, dė-, gĩntė ~ dėginti, dẹ,dĩnte ~ didinti, lẽ,sãls ~ lėsąlas, sprã,gẽls ~ spragilas, pã-, šãrs ~ pašaras, vã,bãls ~ vabalas.

The mid accent. The mid accent (marked with an upright circumflex “⁀”) is considerably shorter than the circumflex accent and is pronounced without prolongation. Its stressed phoneme is less tense than that of the circumflex accent. It also differs from the circumflex accent in the rise and fall of the voice.

With regard to the location of vocal effort, it does not differ in the dialect from the circumflex accent. In diphthongs, vocal effort is concentrated on the first component: dẽ.i,nã ~ dieną, dõ.u,bĩe ~ duobė, lã.u,kã ~ laukai.

The following have the mid accent in the dialect:

a) The vowels ę, ǫ, corresponding to literary-language i, u with the short accent, in open syllables bearing only one stress (i.e., in words without secondary stress): vẽ.sos ~ visas, bẽ.jė ~ bijo, lẽ.pa ~ lipo, tekẽ.nis ~ tekinis, krẽ.ste ~ krėsti, šõ.kas ~ šūk os, bõ.va ~ buvo, šõ.ni ~ šunį, nõ.gara ~ nūgara, šõ.tẽni ~ šūtinį.

If disyllabic or polysyllabic words have two stresses, i.e. a primary and a secondary stress, then the vowels ę, ǫ, corresponding to literary-language i, u with the short accent, have the short accent in the dialect, not the mid accent: vẽ,sãs ~ visais, bẽ,júom ~ bijom, lẽ,pãm ~ lipam, tekẽ,nẽ ~ tekiniai, krẽ,tiuot ~

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kritot, šõ,kuoms ~ šukoms, bõ,vuom ~ būvom, šõ,nõ ~ šuniu, nõ,gario ~ nūgaro(j), šõ,tęnõu ~ šutiniu (šutiniu).

b) Long syllables in disyllabic or polysyllabic words with stress retracted from the end of the word to a circumflex-length root: õ,sà ~ ąsa, plì,tà ~ plyta, žõ,sės ~ žąsis, dìg,lìs ~ dyglys, bù,rìs ~ būrys, lã,i,kã ~ laikai, sã,u,lã ~ aulai, žė,i,mã ~ žiema, kã,l,vã ~ kalvà, dõ,n,gõs ~ dangūs, mã,r,kã ~ markà, lė,n,tã ~ lentà, dė,r,vã ~ dervà, kõ,l,nės ~ kulnis, dė,r,và ~ dirvà, lã,i,kėnã ~ laikinai, kù,m,pnūosõ ~ kumpnosà, lã,uk,nėšà ~ lauknešà.

Acute accent. The voice movement of the acute accent (marked with the right-hand sign “´”) is rising-falling. The rising part of the voice movement is shorter than the falling part. In pronunciation, the voice pressure rises suddenly, then falls for a longer time and evenly toward the end.

In terms of the location of voice pressure, the acute accent coincides with that of the literary language. In diphthongs, the accentual pressure is concentrated on the first component: á,rk,lìs ~ arklys, šė,r,dės ~ širdis. Voice pressure is also concentrated on the first component in diphthongs corresponding to the vowels o and ė of the literary language: žùo,gã ~ žiogai, grìeb,lìs ~ grėblys.

In the dialect, only words with stress retracted from the end of the word toward its beginning have the acute accent. As is known, in the dialect stress is retracted from circumflex and short endings, while the intonation of retracted stress can be of three kinds: short, medial, or acute, depending on the type of root to which the stress is retracted. The acute accent occurs when stress is retracted to an acute root, i.e., one whose stressed syllable bears the acute accent: vie,žīs ~ vėžys, gì,và ~ gyvà, vie,gėlė ~ vėgelė, gá,l,và ~ galvà, gė,l,žės ~ gelžis, vùo,žīs ~ ožys, gė,lž,gàlīs ~ gelžgalys, vùo,bėlė ~ obelė, tie,vã ~ tėvai, vùo,šėkà ~ ožika (ožka), tā,u,kã ~ taukai, šė,r,dės ~ širdis, dá,r,bėninks ~ darbininkas.

Since there are relatively few words in the dialect whose stress is retracted to an acute root, and the acute accent occurs only when stress is retracted to an acute root, this accent is uncommon in the dialect.

STRESS AND INTONATION IN THE KRETINGA DIALECT

И. И. АЛЕКСАНДРАВИЧЮС

Summary

According to the classification adopted in Lithuanian dialectology, the dialect described belongs to the coastal Samogitian dialect group, the Northern Samogitian (Dounininkai) variety. Linguists have long taken an interest in this dialect because it preserves archaic linguistic features.

Since the features of a dialect as a linguistic system are most clearly seen when compared with the standard language, stress and intonation are studied mainly through comparison.

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The stress and intonation of the dialect described differ from those of the standard language. The most characteristic features of the dialect’s stress system are stress retraction and the presence of two or more stressed syllables.

In the Kretinga dialect, stress is shifted from a rising long syllable and a short ending (except endings with falling quantity) onto every long or short syllable; however, it is not shifted completely, but is distributed between the beginning and end of the word: part of the stress is shifted to the beginning, while the other part remains in its original position. As a result of this stress retraction, the number of stressed syllables in a word increases. Thus, words with retracted stress have not just one stressed syllable, but two or more.

Secondary stresses in the dialect arise not only as a result of stress shift, but also when a long syllable follows the primary stress. If no long syllable follows the primary stress in a word, that word has no secondary stress.

The Kretinga dialect has five intonations: short, rising, broken, mid, and falling. In terms of voice movement, the short, rising, and falling intonations are closest to those of the standard language, whereas the dialect’s broken intonation differs from the standard language’s falling intonation in its steep drop in pitch.

The dialect’s rising intonation resembles the standard language’s rising intonation only in its pitch rise. The dialect’s rising intonation is longer and more sustained than that of the standard language.

The dialect’s mid intonation is absent from the standard language. It resembles the rising intonation, but is much shorter. In the dialect, mid intonation occurs when there are short vowels resulting from the lengthening of a short intonation, or when stress is shifted from a syllable with rising quantity to a root syllable with rising quantity.

In the dialect, both primary and secondary stresses carry intonation, regardless of how the secondary stress arose in the word: whether as a result of stress retraction or of stress occurring on a long syllable. Words with two or more stresses also have two or more intonations.