„Aš veržiuosi į praeitį, kuri man spindi lengvumu, šventumu ir paprastumu“ (In memoriam Angelei Vilutytei-Rimševičienei, 1943–2022)

JOLITA URBANAVIČIENĖ Institute of the Lithuanian Language “I am drawn to the past, which shines for me with lightness, holiness, and simplicity” (In memoriam of Angelė Vilutytė-Rimševičienė, 1943–2022) Photograph from LAURYNAS RIMŠEVIČIUS’s album. On June 28, 2022, sad news reached the Institute of the Lithuanian Language: lexicographer, one of the authors of the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, and recipient of the Lithuanian Science Prize Angelė Vilutytė-Rimševičienė had passed into Eternity. A couple of weeks earlier, Angelė had presented her latest book, Treasures of the Language of Her Native Land, to the people of her native Kaltanėnai region; she probably had more creative plans as well, but Providence arranged things otherwise—she departed on the eve of her 79th birthday. Angelė Vilutytė-Rimševičienė was born on June 29, 1943, in the village of Kūriniai, in Kaltanėnai County (Švenčionys District). The future linguist attended Saldutiškis Secondary School and later graduated in classical philology from Vilnius 248 BENDRINĖ KALBA | 95 University. From 1966 to 2010, she worked at the Institute of the Lithuanian Language and Literature (since 1991, the Institute of the Lithuanian Language), in the Lexicography Center. A. Vilutytė-Rimševičienė is one of the representatives of the Lithuanian lexicographic school. She belongs to the highly productive fourth generation of authors of the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, alongside Antanas Balašaitis, Irena Ermanytė, Onutė Kažūkauskaitė, Sofija Kėzytė, Antanas Lyberis, Gertrūda Naktinienė, Kazys Pakalka, Jonas Paulauskas, Ritutė Petrokienė, Dovilė Svetikienė, Zita Šimėnaitė, Kazys Ulvydas, Adelė Valeckienė, Vytautas Vitkauskas, and Klementina Vosylytė. A. Rimševičienė worked on the dictionary from Volume X onward: she wrote entries for Volumes X–XX and edited the texts of Volumes XIX–XX. Since the editorial staff of the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language had no linguists from the Švenčionys region, Angelė’s contribution was very important, because knowledge of the dialect was highly valued when working with authentic dialect material and transposing dialect facts recorded in dialect into standard language. “We don’t have any linguists from the Švenčionys region, so you’ll have to join in, collect material, bring it to us, and take an interest in the Kaltanėnai dialect”—these were the tasks Professor Juozas Balčikonis1 set for Angelė at the beginning of her scholarly career. The scholar followed them throughout her life, saying: “I contributed as much as I could to the dictionary, so that our region would be known.”2 In 1996, for her work on Volumes VII–XVI of the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, A. Vilutytė-Rimševičienė and her colleagues were awarded the Science Prize of the Republic of Lithuania. After the final volume of the dictionary appeared, A. Rimševičienė and the other dictionary authors wrote sample texts for dictionary supplements and also edited and adapted texts for the electronic Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language3. Another area of A. Rimševičienė’s scholarly activity was closely connected with the card files of the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language. She recorded more than 70,000 words, 40,000 of them from Lithuanian dialects. Angelė spoke about this aspect of her work as follows: “People used to tell me: ‘You haul in sacks of material—where do you get so much?’ Priest Šimėnas kept asking: ‘What are you doing with those old women in the churchyard? What do you want from them?’ And I would ask them questions; and since there were few young people who wanted to talk, the women were happy to talk with me—” 1 Jakštas Algis. Mylėdami savo kalbą, mylėkime savo gimtąjį kraštą. Švenčionių kraštas, 2022 m. birželio 25 d., p. 3. 2 Ten pat, p. 3. 3 Lietuvių kalbos žodynas (I–XX, 1941–2002): elektroninis variantas, redaktorių kolegija: G. Naktinienė (vyr. redaktorė), J. Paulauskas, R. Petrokienė, V. Vitkauskas, J. Zabarskaitė; programuotojai: E. Ožeraitis, V. Zinkevičius, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2005 (atnaujinta versija – 2018). Prieiga internete: www.lkz.lt; https://ekalba.lt/lietuviu-kalbos-zodynas/. JOLITA URBANAVIČIENĖ. „Aš veržiuosi į praeitį, kuri man spindi lengvumu, šventumu ir paprastumu“ 249 (In memoriam Angelei Vilutytei-Rimševičienei, 1943–2022) would come.“4 A. Rimševičienė was considered one of the most experienced collectors of words for the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language; she was able to pick out from the flow of spoken language a vivid sentence illustrating an authentic dialect word; her sentences did not need to be abridged, and she provided headword forms and explanations of meanings with lexicographic precision. A. Rimševičienė advised novice word collectors, organized the collection of lexical data, and took part in expeditions to Lithuanian-speaking enclaves in Belarus—in Pelesa and Rodūnia—as well as in Degučiai (Zarasai district), Žilinai (Varėna district), Adutiškis (Švenčionys district), and elsewhere. She was interested in the authenticity of the data in the card index of the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, and in her publications assessed the reliability of material collected by word gatherers5. In 2001, A. Rimševičienė, together with her colleagues I. Ermanytė, O. Kažukauskaitė, G. Naktinienė, J. Paulauskas, and Z. Šimėnaitė, prepared and published the Dictionary of Phraseology6. It brings together phraseological units from spoken language (dialects), early writings, periodicals, and literary works; it also indicates the structure, meaning, and usage features of phraseological expressions, and discusses the phenomenon of phraseology itself. Another area of A. Rimševičienė’s work concerned the lexicographic legacy of Jurgis Ambraziejus Pabrėža. She studied J. A. Pabrėža’s botanical terminology dictionary Sryje Balsenynyn. Biuluu Žemayt (1834)7, a systematic register of plant names, Waardaa taislynee Augimiu, and analyzed Jonas Kruopas’s notes on J. A. Pabrėža’s works8. A. Rimševičienė’s publications on various other questions of lexicography and language culture appeared regularly in scholarly journals. During her long career as a lexicographer, Angelė also experienced the work of a teacher, translator, and editor. From 1975 to 1982 she taught Latin at Vilnius Pedagogical University, and from 1988 to 2007 she worked at the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University. While teaching Latin to future medical professionals, she translated 4 Jakštas Algis. Mylėdami savo kalbą, mylėkime savo gimtąjį kraštą. Švenčionių kraštas, 2022 m. birželio 25 d., p. 3. 5 Vilutytė Angelė. Didžiojo Lietuvių kalbos žodyno kartotekos duomenų autentiškumo problemos. Tarmės: Tekstų ir žodynų rengimo problemos. Tarptautinio mokslinio seminaro, skirto Antanės Kučinskaitės 85-mečiui, medžiaga, 2000, Šiauliai: Šiaulių universitetas, p. 108–116. 6 Dictionary of Phraseology, compiled by Irena Ermanytė, Ona Kažukauskaitė, Gertrūda Naktinienė, Jonas Paulauskas (editor), Zita Šimėnaitė, and Angelė Vilutytė, Vilnius: Institute of the Lithuanian Language, 2001; electronic version, 2015. Available online: https://ekalba.lt/frazeologijos-zodynas/. 7 Vilutytė Angelė. J. A. Pabrėžos botanikos terminų žodynas Sryje Balsenynyn (1834). Lietuvių kalbotyros klausimai 35, 1995, p. 169–175. 8 Vilutytė-Rimševičienė A. Jono Kruopo pastabos apie Jurgio Ambraziejaus Pabrėžos leksikografinį palikimą. Leksikografija ir leksikologija 2, 2010, p. 35–45. 250 BENDRINĖ KALBA | 95 Sabina Filipczak-Nowicka and Zofia Grech-Žmijevska’s textbook Lingua Latina ad usum medicinae studentium9. A. Vilutytė-Rimševičienė collaborated with the Versmė publishing house in preparing monographs in the Lietuvos valsčiai series: Saldutiškis (2020)10, Viešvilė (vols. I–II, 2020)11, Kaltanėnai. Labanoras. Reškutėnai (still in preparation). Angelė also edited Jonina Lipskienė’s dictionary Vaizdingieji lietuvių kalbos posakiai (2008)12. Lexicographers who worked on the Lietuvių kalbos žodynas were accustomed to collaborative work, but Angelė did not limit herself to that. One of the most important works of her life—a monument to her native dialect—was the Kaltanėnų šnektos žodynas, published in 2008. More than 40 years of work went into this dictionary, whose material comprises 40,000 lexical items accompanied by illustrative sentences. It not only preserves the expressive dialect of the old Kaltanėnai residents, but also contains important geolinguistic material, since the boundary between two East Aukštaitian subdialects—Utena and Vilnius—runs through the Kaltanėnai area (from 1919 to 1939, the demarcation line between Lithuania and Poland ran through this area). Data presented by A. Rimševičienė show that at the beginning of the 21st century, in the villages of Kukliai, Ožkiniai, and Kaltanėnai, the short unstressed [o] of the standard language was pronounced as half-long [ɔˑ], while in the villages of Berniūnai, Terpežis, Kūriniai, and Žvirbliškė, the half-long [aˑ] was retained13; this information is valuable for determining subdialect boundaries. All the dictionary’s illustrative sentences are written in phonetic transcription, making them valuable to lexicographers and phoneticians alike, while the authenticity of the material may also interest ethnographers. In the dictionary’s Preface, the author wrote: “Whenever I was in my homeland, I was drawn to an old word spoken aloud, a neighbor’s story I had never heard before.”14 She fondly remembered her mother, Eleonora Dailidytė-Vilutienė—an incomparable storyteller—and her grandmother, Eleonora Dailidienė—a herbalist and a midwife famous throughout the area. Their words, too, found their way into the dictionary. Paskutinę savo knygą Gimtinės kalbos lobiai (2022) Angelė rašė karantino sąlygomis, tik mintimis apsilankydama gimtuosiuose Kūriniuose. Knygoje pateikiami Kaltanėnų senosios kartos žmonių tarminiai pasakojimai, 9 Filipczak-Nowicka Sabina, Grech-Žmijevska Zofia. Lingua Latina ad usum medicinae studentium, iš lenkų k. vertė Angelė Rimševičienė, tekstą papildė ir adaptavo Jūratė Baronienė, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras, 2004; 2-oji patais. laida – 2010. 10 Saldutiškis: monografija, sudarė Jūratė Baltrukaitienė, serijos Lietuvos valsčiai 38-oji knyga, Vilnius: Versmė, 2020. 11 Viešvilė: monografija. III dalys, sudarė A. Sinkevičius, serijos Lietuvos valsčiai 40-oji knyga, Vilnius: Versmė, 2020. 12 Lipskienė Jonina. Vaizdingieji lietuvių kalbos posakiai, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2008. 13 Vilutytė Angelė. Kaltanėnų šnektos žodynas, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2008, p. XIV. 14 Ibid., p. IX. JOLITA URBANAVIČIENĖ. „Aš veržiuosi į praeitį, kuri man spindi lengvumu, šventumu ir paprastumu“ (In memoriam Angelei Vilutytei-Rimševičienei, 1943–2022) 251 The book contains collected expressive sayings and phraseologisms, a glossary of Slavic loanwords, and photographs from her personal album. It also includes a CD with stories told by her mother, Eleonora Dailidytė-Vilutienė, recorded in 1975. Angelė acknowledged that in publishing the book she had hoped to encourage the people of Kaltanėnai to love their language, learn a little about their dialect, and, through their language, love their homeland15. The author also had time to present the book to the Kaltanėnai community. Her son Laurynas, a physician and poet, also attended the event. He said that his mother’s work had influenced his creativity: “I used to read the cards with dialect sentences that accumulated by the thousands at home. That’s why I know all kinds of words that reality has already driven out.”16 In the author’s words, Angelė herself also speaks poetically, returning in her memories to the past, “which shines with lightness, holiness, and simplicity”17. As you read, you can see Angelė sitting by her childhood home on the banks of the Kiauna, listening to the birds’ concert. Beside her, you can almost sense the presence of her ancestors, resting peacefully in the village cemetery. Angelė now lies beside them, too—a person of extraordinary modesty who devoted her life to serving her native land and its dialect. Rest in peace, dear colleague; your work will never be forgotten. May the soil of Kaltanėnai lie lightly upon you! JOLITA URBANAVIČIENĖ Lietuvių kalbos institutas Petro Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius [email protected] 15 Jakštas Algis. Mylėdami savo kalbą, mylėkime savo gimtąjį kraštą. Švenčionių kraštas, 2022 m. birželio 25 d., p. 6. 16 Binkauskienė Liana. Medicina ir poezija veda stebuklo ieškojimo keliu. Bernardinai, 2015 m. balandžio 27 d. Prieiga internete: https://www.bernardinai.lt/2014-01-09-medicina-ir-poezija-veda-stebuklo-ieskojimo-keliu/. 17 Vilutytė Angelė. Gimtinės kalbos lobiai, Vilnius: Versmė, 2022, 15. 252 BENDRINĖ KALBA | 95