Ar vis dar aktualus Didžiųjų kalbos klaidų sąrašas? Vertinių atvejis

BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 ERIKA RIMKUTĖ Vytautas the Great University IS STILL RELEVANT THE MAJOR LINGUISTICAL ERRORS A LIST? THE CASE OF VALUE KEY WORDS: language culture, Lithuanian language, non-presentable values, list of major language errors, textbook of contemporary Lithuanian language, motivated and unmotivated usage. 1. Introduction Common language, like other language variants, is constantly changing: it is renewed, borrowing new words, dictionaries, like language archives, accumulate words used in a certain period, new creations are recorded in new words databases. The language norms and the requirements for proper language are also changing. Since we have to adhere to codified norms when speaking a common language, we want the norms to be flexible, acceptable to the majority of language users, up-to-date, taking into account various changed circumstances (for more on the norming principles, see: Pupkis 2005; Shukys 2003). One of the most rigorous sources describing normative and non-normative usage is the List of Major Language Errors (hereinafter – CLS). There are quite categorical opinions about this list: that it punishes with fines, that it contains obsolete words, that it controls the language of the media, etc. (cf. 2013; Vaicekauskienė 2010: 169; Vaicekauskienė This article deals with one of 2011). the parts of the CFS – non-presentable values and their usage in the text of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language (hereinafter – CFL), but does not aim to discuss either language norming or the CFS itself. The choice of this topic was prompted by the decision of the State Lithuanian Language Commission in 2014 to delete two sub-sections of the dictionary errors from the CFS: non-presentable foreign words and their derivatives and non-useable new foreign words (see discussion in Urnėžiūtė 2014). Linguists who have discussed the changed CFR conclude that the list needs to be updated, revised, refined, supplemented, and therefore the decision to review the issues relevant to language users is welcomed, since some of the recommendations for borrowed equivalents are reacted quite actively (unfortunately, often unfavorably). However, the question arises as to whether the CFR will be amended in the future, particularly the glossary error section. Kalbos vartotojai labai laukia Kalbos patarimų knygelių, skirtų kitiems leksikos vienetams discuss.1 This study aims to provide data on how one of the possible sources of current language – the DLKT – uses the non-presentable values presented in the CFS. It is expected that information about 1 It is envisaged that the second booklet of the lexical part will be devoted to the meanings of words, and the third to other cases, including values. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Erika Rimkutė. Is the list of major language errors still relevant? The analysis of the distribution of the verbs in the text, the period of use, frequency and motivation will be useful both for Lithuanian language norm-setters and other language users. 2. RESEARCH MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY Non-presentable values (also called negatively connoted terms) are “uncreatively, inappropriately or unnecessarily translated words, which are usually replaced by their own” (Šukys 2003: 44); “ a word or phrase formed from a foreign language example, in other words, translated “for example” (Paulauskienė 2000: 85). “All [values] that cannot be semantically motivated in the Lithuanian language or that do not correspond to the Lithuanian language’s word-making tendencies are denounced” (Pupkis 2005: 262). Aldonas Pupkis (2005: 262–263) calls negatively codified values equivalents and classifies them into continuous and partial. Completely translated words are considered complete (e.g.: apystova (= circumstance); one way (=but, but); consequence (=result, effect) or word combinations (often phraseologisms) (e.g.: pastas ant ausų pakabinti (=eye dumpling, soaping); to overdo the stick (=to overdo, overexert). Partial equivalents are words in which the prefix, suffix or other accent is used incorrectly (e.g.: atreguliuoti (=regulate); non-alcoholic (=non-alcoholic, non-alcoholic, fresh); something this (=something). Loreta Vaicekauskienė (2007: 17) points out that sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between values and semantics, because the former are translated in form, and the latter in meaning, and suggests that only translations of morphologically complex (composed) foreign words, clearly new creations that do not coincide with the word of the native language and therefore are easily distinguished from the borrowed meaning, should be considered as values. In this article, the view is held that the non-presentable values are words of construction not characteristic of Lithuanian language, word samples or word combinations that are similar in form to regular Lithuanian words for the purpose of translation from other languages, usually Russian. 37 non-presentable values are presented in the CFS – combinations of 12 words and 25 words: apystova; welfare; legislator, -ė, lawmaker, -ė, lawmaking, lawmaking; to express, expression; free-will, -ė, free-willed, -a, freely; no colour, -i; immediately; obalsis; yield; self-consistent, -i, self-consistently, self-consistency; shed(s); one way; on how much; on your own; on health; on so much; at home; from the mountain; as a generation; as a whole; as a rule; who is being treated; which link; to what; be it; sometime this; on how much, on how much; as it is; (something) like this; (something) what it is; (someone) whose it is; (something) why this; (something) what it is; (something) that, (something) that; be (not) in the course; and so; (some)where it is. All of these values (not only the heading but also all the numbering forms) were searched in all parts of the DLKT. There are no samples found in the text to be (not) in the course, and so, (some)where it is. It should be noted rėtų būti) suredaguoti. Kita vertus, jei kalbos redaktorių tvarkytuose tekstuose lieka DKKS that the textbook is not quite a suitable source for analysing values, because most texts are (or were presented as) values, this may indicate that values are difficult to recognize, so they are still relevant to be studied. It should also be taken into account that the CFR was adopted in 1997 and that texts can be found in the textbook since 1992, so that in a sense the non-presentable values used in earlier texts cannot be considered major linguistic errors (but not correct). In normative or other publications (see Pupkis 2005: 263; Šukys 2003: 50; Vilkončius 2001; Paulauskienė 2000: 87) several figurative translational expressions are also mentioned. Most of the words or phrases are translated from BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Erika Rimkutė. Is the list of major language errors still relevant? Valuative case | 3 e.g.: pokít prase (= vychovávat prasátko); hang pasta (= to blow fog into the eyes, to dump the eyes); we will count the chickens in autumn (=we will see when we put the bottom); the roof is moving (= one jump is missing); to overdo the stick (=to overdo it, to overdo it); program nail (= most important, most significant); with forks on water written (= soap bubble, some nonsense); go as through a barley (= as through butter, as buttered); needed as a second tail for a dog (= fifth leg); to burn wood (=to cook porridge); have a good time (=to have a good time); no problems (=no problem, nothing bad, I will do it); put in a corner (=put against a wall, tied to a goat's horn); raise a toast (= raise a cup, announce a toast); I bet that... (=I'm sure, I'm lying down); see you later (=goodbye(v)! Goodbye! For that time! ); died on the spot (=immediately). According to Jon Šukis (2003: 50), some translational Russian phraseologisms were used too often in the Soviet press (they are still used today). The linguist does not state clearly whether these expressions are not to be used or whether they can (but are not required) be replaced by Lithuanian figurative expressions. The following word combinations are mentioned: look from your bell tower (to take care of your own affairs, interests); throwing stones at (whose) garden (criticizing); putting stakes in wheels (disturbing); sewn with white threads (unproven); to wrap in cotton wool (to speak tacitly, to blow fog); rubber to pull (delay). These translational expressions are not considered in the DLKT. I would like to draw the attention of the language norm-setters to the fact that more attention should be paid to such expressions (especially the figurative ones): explain why they are not to be used, because it seems to language users that if the expression is figurative, it is correct; precisely indicate the degree of appreciation, i.e. whether they should not be used, should be avoided, or other Lithuanian expressions should be used instead. The article examines the values in four aspects: 1) how often they are used in the text; 2) in which part of the text to use; 3) in which period of time (the hypothesis was raised that more values will be in older texts, i.e. published before 2000, and less in newer ones, published since 2001); 4) whether they are used motivatedly or unmotivatedly (the assumption was made that the more frequently used non-presentable values are used unmotivatedly, because the language users do not recognize them and do not feel that they are using non-presentable words) (see section 3). The methodology of this study is not new – in the article “Propensity to use foreign words in Lithuanian texts” published in 2005, Povilas Rudzevičius at the DLKT examined 144 old foreign words mentioned in the CFS. The methodology presented by this author will be used, some of the results of this study will be compared with the data of P. Rudzevičius. 3. USE OF NON-VALUEFUL WORDS IN CONTEMPORARY LITHUANIAN LANGUAGE IN THE TEXT Tekstyne rasta daugiau nei 20 000 konkordanso eilučių su neteiktinais vertiniais. Vis dėlto English incorrectly in recent years), it does not mean that there are so many cases of incorrect use. In many cases, non-presentable translational combinations coincided randomly with regular word combinations, e.g.: (1) in companies only A and B paths are possible. Either do nothing and watch what it will lead to, or - to fold the old “body” of control.2 2 All examples are from the DLCT. Examples are unedited, some slightly shortened; the value under consideration is blackened. The examples and statistical data are taken from Agnė Sendaitė’s bachelor thesis “Usage of non-presentable verbs in contemporary Lithuanian texts” (supervisor Erika Rimkutė), which was defended in 2014. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Erika Rimkutė. Is the list of major language errors still relevant? The Case of the Valuers | 4 (2) But... maybe the devil himself got in the way. Of course, logically thinking, what the hell is this? The election campaign has messed everything up. (3) for which the spirit has been raging against itself for too long, obviously, boldly and vainly: (4) which has a very good effect on the ventricular ulcer. I experienced it in Kaunas myself. Of course, if it's cancer, then you can't do without surgery. After excluding the concordance lines (see examples 1, 3) in which the regular word combination was used, there remained 3086 concordance lines with non-presentable values (in various forms). Frequency of use of the CFS values found in the text that cannot be presented (see 3.1), distribution in the CFS sections (see 3.2), consumption by period (see 3.3) and motivation for consumption (see 3.4) are discussed below. 3.1. Frequency of use of non-presentable pronouns in contemporary Lithuanian texts As mentioned in Chapter 2, a total of 34 values were found in the DLCT. According to the frequency of use, they are divided into three groups: 1. used more than 100 times, 2. used between 10 and 100 times, 3. used less than 10 times. 12 words of the first group were found (they constitute 35.3% of the total number of unusable words found in the text). The most common values found in the text are: išsireikšti, išsireiškimas (506)3, vienok (277), gerbūvis (241), neilgai (235), (kaž)koks tai (231), (kaž)kas tai (209). The second group, i.e. those used between 10 and 100 times, included 16 words (47%). These are apystova (54), obalsis (52), on itself (16), prie ko (33) and others. The least frequently used, i.e. less than 10 times, were 6 values (17.7%), all of them are samples. It can be assumed that the values of this group and of the text as a whole, i.e. on how much, on so much, on health, to be (not) in course, and so, as a time, (something) whose this, (something) why this, (something) where this, are to be considered disappearing in the current language. To confirm this conclusion, more data from oral language should be studied, since these values are probably more frequently used in oral language, and newer written language texts should also be studied. On the other hand, such rare use may also be due to the fact that the regular equivalents of these rarely used values in the text are not frequent. Summarizing the frequency of use of non-presentable values, it can be said that more than a third of the values are very frequent, so it is unlikely that they will disappear in the near future. It has been noted that translation words are used more often than word samples. The frequency of the use of values must be discussed in a broader context, therefore the next subsection describes in which parts of the textbook the values are used, and 3.4 presents the motivation tendencies of value consumers. 3 The number of uses is given in parentheses. 2014. pp. 87–88. "The 2014 World Cup Qualifiers". www.worldcupqualifier.com.au. Is the list of major language errors still relevant? The Case of Values | 5 3.2. Distribution of non-presentable values in parts of the textbook of contemporary Lithuanian language As mentioned in the introduction, all the values specified in the CCC are subject to the CCC. The textbook has a size of 140 million words and contains texts written between 1992 and 2009. 1 PAV. Structure of DLKT4 There is a lot of discussion about the representativeness of textbooks, the principles of compilation, etc. (see Marcinkevičienė 2000), this article does not go into the mentioned discussion issues, but immediately draws attention to the fact that some of the research results are determined by the proportions of the textbook structure (see below). As can be seen from the second figure, the majority of non-presentable values were found in journalism (58.2 per cent), much less in non-fiction literature, oratory language and fiction. As expected, the lowest number of uses was in the administrative language textbook (2.6%). However, these data should be evaluated in a slightly different way: the majority of evaluations were found in publications, not because the texts in this part of the textbook are the most irregular, but because the publications are the largest part of the DLKT (see Figure 1); spoken language is certainly not the most correct, but only the smallest part of the DLKT, therefore there are few non-presentable values found in it. 2 PAV. Distribution of non-presentable values in DLKT parts 4 Data taken from http://tekstynas.vdu.lt/tekstynas/menu?page=statistics. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Erika Rimkutė. Is the list of major language errors still relevant? In order to provide accurate data on the usage of values in the DLKT, a normalized frequency was calculated: how many uses per 100 000 words (see figure 3). 3 PAV. Distribution of non-presentable values in the DLKT parts (normalized frequency) From these data it can be concluded that the use of non-presentable values is not frequent, they are most often used in sentence language, which is not regulated (except for public, official usage). The spoken language part of the DLKT is divided into public (including recordings of radio, television broadcasts, official speeches), private (consisting of recordings of everyday language – the majority of them) and transcripts (some Seimas transcripts are provided). Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to examine one or more dialects of spoken language separately. The majority of the population speaks an informal dialect of the language. Therefore, the non-presentable values presented in the CFS are most typical of everyday spoken language, in which the use of values is considered motivated (see subsection 3.4). Prior to the start of the study it was thought that the values, as a certain stylistic tool, will be necessary in fictional literature works, however, 1.5 cases of use per 100 thousand words allow us to say that the values transmitted to the language and characters of fictional literature characters are not particularly characteristic. Looking at the data of the third figure, it is not possible to say that the language of the documents is incorrect. Nevertheless, even the scarce use of non-presentable values in the administrative literature was somewhat surprising. Most examples are found in older texts, i.e. used before In 2000, e.g. : (5) Competition problems in the local economy. Wide application is envisaged in the markets for housing services, urban services, transport and other local services. (6) The Contracting Parties shall, upon request, exchange information on their legislation, legal systems and case law. ARTICLE 2 Marriage shall not be entered into without the free and genuine consent of the parties to the marriage. a) With derama respect to the traditional (8) destruction in the following circumstances: a) it occurred as a result of a road traffic accident when the insured vehicle was driven by the owner (9) The SUBSCRIBER may have one or more facilities (with self-contained inputs and outputs) consuming water and discharging wastewater. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Erika Rimkutė. Is the list of major language errors still relevant? 7 Thus, from the use of non-presentable vertics in individual parts of the DLKT, it is clear that in the official usage, regulated by the decisions of the State Lithuanian Language Commission, there are relatively few vertics in publicly published works, therefore it is not possible to talk about numerous violations of language norms. dimus. The introduction raises the hypothesis that the irregular values should be used more frequently in older texts, but this is not the case. Relatively older texts are considered to be works published before 2000, while newer texts are considered to be published since 2001 (i.e. already in the 21st century). The analysis showed that the hypothesis was confirmed: 59% of the values were found in texts published before 2000, and 41% of the values were found in texts published after 2001. Some values are clearly more frequent in older texts: nekuris, -i (87.5 per cent in older texts), pasėka (83 per cent), savarankiškai (79 per cent), stovyla (79 per cent), vienok (80 per cent), while translational samples (kaž)kaip tai, (kaž)kas tai are more frequently used in newer texts (respectively 91 and 86 per cent). The frequency of use of other values (e.g., kaip tai, kaip sykis, kaip kartas, gerbūvis) is similar in both older and newer texts. Therefore, it is not possible to draw a clear conclusion that in recent years the non-presentable values are becoming obsolete – we can only talk about specific values that are disappearing or still often used. The main focus of this article is on the motivation of the use of non-representable terms, since this data is the most accurate way to see whether the terms presented in the CFS are used deliberately, i.e. with the understanding that it is a mistake, but for stylistic or other reasons it is a necessary word, or whether language users do not feel the foreignness of the terms and therefore use them as ordinary common language words. Firstly, it discusses what cases are considered to be motivated consumption. J. Šukys (2003: 25–26) states that stylistically motivated violations of norms, most commonly occurring in fiction, journalism, and everyday language, are not considered errors. In fiction, foreign words are used to convey the character of the characters, but they must be used in moderation, otherwise the text becomes overwhelming. Unmotivated language violations, according to J. Šukis, are usually unintentional. They are attributed to those mistakes that language users make because they do not know the common language, do not know its norms. Intentional are considered such language violations, when the language user knows how to say one or another word correctly, but opposes the norm and deliberately violates it (Šukys 2003: 25–26). P. Rudzevičius, having examined the unpresentable old foreign words, in his article „Svetimotybių vartojimo tendencijos lietuvių kalbos tekstyne“ (2005: 214–215) considered the following as motivated violations of norms: 1) existing or implied insertions not from the current common language: (a) folklore; (b) ancient literature; (c) dialect texts; 2) updated foreignness, when elements of older usage are reworked and inserted into context for stylistic reasons; 3) quotations of current non-normative language: (a) where a longer text is quoted in order to preserve the authenticity of the language; (b) whenever BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Erika Rimkutė. Is the list of major language errors still relevant? Case of values | 8 separate word is written in quotation marks; c) when foreignness is used as an emotional-expressive means of style; (d) in dialogues; (e) language guidelines. When examining the non-presentable valuations, not all cases listed by P. Rudzevičius were found, so the motivated cases are not so detailed. For the purposes of this Article, the following shall be considered as reasonable consumption: 1) written in quotation marks or italics; 2) rasti citatose iš senų tekstų; 3) to be found in normative publications for training, education; 4) used in the speech of fictional characters; 5) to find spoken language in quotes conveying someone’s words; 6) find in the oral language textbook part. After counting the cases of motivated and unmotivated use, it turned out that 74% of the values were used unmotivated and motivated – 26%. This data is obtained by counting all cases of usage in all parts of the textbook. It has already been mentioned that all cases found in the oral part of the language are considered motivated use. This is not entirely accurate, because this part of the textbook also contains examples of public, official language (Seimas transcripts, radio, television broadcasts), which are subject to correctness requirements. However, the majority of the oral language consists of informal domestic spoken language, and it is not possible to distinguish between examples of official language, so all cases of oral language are considered to be motivated. On the other hand, the other types of motivated usage mentioned above can also be found in sentence language, for example, someone's incorrect language recounted, an inappropriate value used to describe a certain person, etc. Therefore, in this part of the textbook there may be several cases of motivated usage, but a more detailed analysis has not been carried out. Therefore, excluding the oral language part of the DLKT, the results of the motivation analysis are somewhat different: unmotivated consumption is typical in 84% of cases, and motivated – in 16%. Here are some examples of reasoned usage: (10) After the calculation of self-man’s “circumstances”5, the summarizing part is moved (11) The well-being achieved there has formed the dimension of “well-beingism”, which continues to expand its spaces of spiritual traditional values. (12) Fully - completely; express - to say; (13) Neužilgo - soon, soon enough, soon enough, soon enough, soon enough, soon enough. The unlucky one is a loser. I read - I think. (14) stated that “the handover of the embassy cannot in any way be understood as a voluntary act”, and J. Skaisgiris of the lowest diplomatic rank (15) was chosen to hand over the keys (ibid.). The leader of the Shooting Union P. Saladžius: “Your slogan ‘Lithuania for Lithuanians!’ is beautiful and dear to all Lithuanians. (16) and the translation: “among the names, mined by people of a foreign country, some famous men of our country left in the past...” (p. 53-54). Robinson Crusoe (17) The faces are bold, and on the skinny faces the boldness blooms. Stand, speech, and bold step mean all the free beings 5 Cases of reasoned use are not corrected. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Erika Rimkutė. Is the list of major language errors still relevant? Vertinių case | 9 (18) I was worried in my own skin, I was very concerned to find out, “to what extent”, as the Kaunas people say, my game was serious (19) but I just wanted to surprise myself a little, birthday is coming soon. Of course, lies have short legs, but that's nothing. About singing. Okay, okay. (20) says: oh, Mr. McCormick, all the English teachers make us write about some kind of stupid thing, like our summer vacation or our life story. gradually replaced by a role best caught by (22) factions not yet ready to (21) vadina „interpretatyviuoju protu“: tradicinis filosofo vaidmuo, aprašytas „įstatymdavio“ metafora, make peace”. "Rabbani given the opportunity to resign "voluntarily"". This must be done by 21 March. In examples 10-11, the values not to be presented are separated graphically, i.e. by quotation marks – such cases of motivated usage were found most, they are most clearly identified. 12-13 examples are taken from normative or educational publications. In examples 14-15, someone else’s language is quoted (it was obviously important to convey everything accurately, so nothing is changed in the quotes and unrepresentable values are used). The examples 16-17 illustrate passages from ancient scriptures, so the use of unpresentable words here is motivated.6 In the eighteenth example of motivated usage, the translational conjugation is not only graphically distinguished, but also obviously used to convey the stylistics of Kaunas speaking. The nineteenth example is an excerpt from oral language, so the value used here is also considered motivated usage. On the other hand, the speaker may not know the language norms and soon uses it as a regular word – in this case, the use should be considered unmotivated. However, it is not possible to verify whether the authors of the sentences in the oral part of the textbook are familiar with the language norms, so, as mentioned above, although it is not entirely appropriate to say so, all cases of oral language are considered to be reasoned use. In the twentieth example, the speech of uneducated adolescents is accurately expressed by means of language, so it is clear that the value is used in a motivated way. Examples 21–22 are somewhat unclear: in them the quotes may be written not only because of the wish to insure against mistakes when quoting, but perhaps in order to ironize – in such a case it may be that the writer of the text does not realize that the legislator, voluntary are unrepresentable words, and the quotes are needed only to express irony. The following are some examples of unmotivated use and their comments: (23) without saying anything, as if nothing had happened, I continued my work. The circumstances were favourable for me - I had a business trip to Moscow (24). I thought: these spectators, having such material wealth, overwhelmed with spectacles, numerous television programs, will sit and watch my (25) of two spheres that limit each other, in other words - as Fichte expresses (=says, says) - they are ‘parts’ (quantitative). 6 Such examples of the Old Lithuanian language slightly distort the statistical data: 1) due to the distribution in the textbook parts, because the text can be assigned, for example, to non-fiction literature, and it perceives an excerpt of a work of fiction literature; 2) because of the distribution according to period, since the concordance line analyzed may be from a relatively new text, and there is a quotation illustrating the old Lithuanian language or dialectal speech. On the other hand, such cases are not very many, so it can be said that they do not significantly affect the results presented in the article.