Padėkos raiškos galimybės

BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 GIEDRĖ ČEPAITIENĖ Šiaulių universitetas EXPRESSION POSSIBILITIES OF THANKS KEY WORDS: thanks, recipient, addressee, linguistic expression. INTRODUCTION Thanksgiving is one of the situations of language etiquette. The basis of this situation is the recipient’s felt, i.e. real, or supposed feeling of gratitude for the action performed or promised by the recipient. The true sense of gratitude is when the addressee of the addressee's activity is useful or brings pleasant feelings. In some cases, the term is used to refer to a person who is not a member of a particular religious group (e.g., a member of the Catholic Church), but rather to a person who is a member of a particular religious community. The purpose of the thank you is to show the recipient attention, demonstrate that the recipient notices the recipient’s actions and appreciates them. The words of thanks themselves serve as a reference for the speech act. It can be extended when a reason for thanks is given. Often, the addressee is named in the forms of thanksgiving. Other themes of the deikse (time, place) are not necessary for the expression of thanks and are rarely mentioned. The expression of gratitude is usually extended by various modifiers, appreciative words, they perform an expressive function. The aim of this article is to discuss the causes of gratitude situation and its expression possibilities in Lithuanian language. Its sources are the Textbook of Contemporary Lithuanian Language (hereinafter – Textbook) and the material collected by the author herself from living language and letters of various writers and cultural figures. The article mainly relies on the semantic analysis method, the meanings of words are interpreted based on the Lithuanian language dictionary. REASONS FOR ACCUSE The need to thank is a common situation for every person. The reason for the thanksgiving may be the physical, intellectual or spiritual actions of the addressee. They can be divided into the following groups: • physical assistance to the recipient (thank you for uploading, I would not be able to do it on my own, etc.); • information provided by the recipient to the recipient (thank you for reporting; warning, etc.); positive description of the addressee or support for his position, expressed orally or in writing BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Giedrė Čepaitienė. Opportunities to express appreciation | 2 (thank you for the kind words; thank you for your support); greetings, wishes, which were said to the addressee during the speech or a little before (thank you for…; thank you for remembering, not forgetting); inquiring about the addressee's or his relatives' life, health, etc. (thank you, everything is fine; thank you, everyone is well); saying a compliment; • a promise that the recipient will perform a physical or intellectual action necessary for the recipient, for example, will come to the task force, write a recommendation (thank you for agreeing / agreed …). DIRECT EXPRESSION OF APPRECIATION In the Lithuanian dictionary, the word padėka is described as: "a feeling of gratitude for the good done, thanksgiving". So gratitude is the expression of a certain feeling. The most commonly used emoticon is thank you. The textbook (T) shows that this emoticon outperforms other expressions of thanks by tens of times: 10 208 examples with ačiū were found, with the emoticon dėkui – 1 042, a similar number of examples with the performative verb dėkoju – 1 476, the form thank you was used tus. Taigi, nors jaustukas dėkui gerai dera su dėkojimo žodžių paradigma (dėkoju – padėka – 452 times (thankfulness – grateful), it is used almost 10 times less often than ačiū. Emoticons are described as “an invariable part of speech, consisting of words that directly and expressively convey feelings, acts of will and impulses without naming them” (DLKG 1994: 462), but gratitude emoticons always perform an act of gratitude, are competitors of the performative verb thank you, which can replace each other in any situation, both in speaking in a domestic style and in an official environment. In addition to these emoticons, analytical constructions are used to express gratitude, the direct meaning of which is to identify the addressee’s current (or anticipated future) state. They consist of the adjective grating (-a) with the verb being present or future 1st person forms esu1 (būsiu) dėkingas (-a), less often – the 1st person of the pronoun (būčiau dėkingas), i.e. a compound conjunction. The direct meaning of these constructions is the determination of the addressee’s state, but the act of thanksgiving does not realize this meaning of the statement, which describes the addressee’s state. Here the indirect meaning is actualized, i.e. the statement I am (will be) grateful is used instead of the performative statement I thank you and is equivalent to it. The construction esu (būsiu; būčiau) dėkingas (-a) can replace the verb dėkoju in all positions. When expressing gratitude with an adjective construction, it can be extended with intensifiers very, greatly, extraordinarily, etc. Such possible expression of gratitude is shown by the following examples: I am grateful to M.G. for the excessive idealization of my person, but I do not want others to be misled Bit451; I am grateful to all old Friends [...] Bit471; Good! I cannot even express how grateful I am to you for caring for me Bit290; [...] Also very grateful for the pleasures done, done and promised AVien654; Very grateful to you for the machine SNėr391; Dear mom, we are grateful for your care, tenderness of hands, sleepless nights and understanding GyvK; I am very grateful to you for taking me to GyvK; I'll be grateful if you print it in the magazine And, please, don't postpone T; I will be grateful to you for your E. Mieželaitis T; I'll be forever grateful to him, I said to T; I'll be grateful to you T; I would be extremely grateful if all the soldiers one by one would enter T very briefly; I would be grateful if you would agree to this T; Mystery of the Prime Minister! I would be very grateful if you could explain T. When kal1 When the addressee is a group, the plural forms are used (we are grateful). BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Giedrė Čepaitienė. Possibilities of expressing gratitude | 3 bama in the third person, used in the 3rd person form of the pronoun, e.g. : The Directorate-General would be grateful if the Ministry would approve T. In addition to the conjugated participle for expressing gratitude, the conjugated participle forms are also used, which consist of the personified form of the verb turiu, the communicative form be and the conjugated form – the adjective dėkingas, e.g. : I have to be grateful to my brother Mirta Larsen T for finding this treasure; This expression also has a turiu būti dėkingas už tokį pakantumą T; už savo išgelbėjimą turiu būti dėkingas Džonsonui T. connotation of obligation, which is given by the verb turėti, which denotes an obligation or preposition, meaning "to have, to be obliged (to do something)". In addition to the verb to be, other verbs are used in such thanks. Sometimes they emphasize the sense of the addressee, such as the verb feel "to feel external and internal sensations". The present tense is used in the 1st person singular form. : I can't even tell you how grateful I feel T; I feel very grateful that I had the good fortune to use T; I feel grateful to them all T. This is how the addressee feels during the speaking act. A slightly different shade is given by the use of verb forms to remain. The meaning of this verb 7 is “to remain the same, in the same state”. Thus, thanksgiving expressed by the word combination lieku (likau) dėkingas shows not only the addressee's current state, but also the fact that he will maintain this state in the future, e.g.: lieku visiem giliai dėkingas T; I'm an old man, living in the age of two axes... I remain grateful, may God bless you T; After intensive research I was particularly grateful to one person T. The official relationship between the addressee and the recipient is shown by thanks, in which the analytical forms with the noun padėka and some verbs are used to designate the action, i.e.: to express gratitude; utter words of thanks; send a thank you. This thanks is given when the situation of the act of speaking is not only formal, but also solemn. This kind of confirms the thesis that Lithuanian language is characterized by verb expression: noun constructions are not usually used, so they are perceived as examples of different, non-everyday usage. The noun gratitude in these sentences can be extended by the adjectives great, special, sincere, heartfelt. The following examples show this usage: Once again I express my gratitude to T; I mean a big thank you pagarbą ir padėką T; Už gramatiką tariu didelės padėkos žodžius Bit231; Šiuo reiškiu didžią T; For this I express my sincere thanks to this collector T; Special thanks to […] T; I thank you for the blessing of destiny T; I express my sincere thanks to you Bit284. Sometimes, the same words are repeated twice, e.g.: (esu) ačinga ir dėkoti, ačinga ir dėkingumą pareikšti: Geroji! I cannot express how grateful I am to you for taking care of me. You've been too good to me. I do not know how to thank you Bit290; Thank you for reviewing those letters, but it seems to me that the gratitude will be more accurately expressed if you would kindly assign to yourself some tenth of the fee [...] Bit315. The hidden expression of gratitude In addition to the usual, direct expression of gratitude, somewhat hidden statements are also possible2. They usually have some additional semantic shade, which is expressed in the personified form of the verb. There are 6 semantic nuances in the expression of gratitude: desire, opportunity, request, obligation, 2 For more details, see 2007: 179–200. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Giedrė Čepaitienė. Possibilities of expressing gratitude | 4 forging, completion of the speech act, denoting the lack of expression. These semantic shades are determined by the chosen modal verbs, for example, the shade of desire is shown by the forms of the verbs to want or to desire, necessity – need, obligation – necessity. Gratitude as an expression of desire It is often used to express a desire, such as: I want to thank, I wanted to thank, I would like to thank. Wishes, as we know, are always directed to the future, they as if do not yet reflect the real action, and in the gratitude situation the forms of the verb want I want (we want; want), I wanted, I would only show the modality, give the shade of the desired action. In addition to this form of gratitude sometimes used, I wanted to thank, want to thank. In addition, these expressions of gratitude differ from the basic expression of gratitude in several ways. First of all, there are several possible variants of modal verb forms: 1) 1st person forms of the present tense of the direct pronoun noriu, norime and 3rd person form nori; 2) the 1st person singular form of the past tense of the direct pronoun: norėjau; 3) in the singular of the 1st or 3rd person mens formos norėčiau, norėtų. Šių formų pagrindinės reikšmės skiriasi. Tiesioginės nuosakos esamojo laiko vienaskaitos 1-ojo asmens forma noriu rodo, kad adresantas ketina šiuo metu of the pronoun asato perform the action of the request: I want to thank those who love our theater, and the form of the 3rd person usually refers to a company addressee, e.g. : The vote counting committee would like to thank you for your work. The use of the past participle forms (I wanted to thank) usually indicates that the action of thanksgiving is long, someone else has already been thanked, and at the end of this act another recipient of thanks is remembered, e.g. : I wanted to thank the Minister T. The 1st person singular form of the conditional pronoun I would like to shows the addressee's indecision to perform or not to perform the requested action. When the 3rd person form of the pronoun would be used to express gratitude, the addressee as if hides, evaluates his own action from the side, e.g. : Quarto would like to thank these organizations. Of course, the indirect meanings of these forms are realized in the formulas of etiquette. So both the construction I want to thank and the construction I would like to thank mean I thank and are synonyms of this performative. However, they are not absolutely synonymous because they have a stylistic difference. This is due to the use of the forms of the pronoun: this pronoun does not have a categorical meaning, so it is usually considered more gentle, somewhat polite. The construction related to the semantics of desire I want to thank. In this combination, the 2nd transitive meaning of the word "to desire" is actualized. Thus, this expression of gratitude is more expressive, because the expression of the desire is supplemented here with the sememe “very” showing its intensity. Thanksgiving as an expression of request Another shade is shown by gratitude expression constructions with the 2nd person plural form of the verb dovoliť in the imperative pronoun dovoľte poďakovať, e.g. : First of all, let me sincerely thank you for the opportunity to listen to T; Honourable Council! First of all, let me thank your Bureau T; Let me also thank you on behalf of the whole diaspora for the Citizenship Act T. The direct meaning of this statement is a request: with an imperative verb the addressee addresses the addressee, who can allow / not allow the addressee to perform the desired action. However, in the act of thanksgiving (and in general in politeness formulas) the form let is de-emphasized. She's just BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Giedrė Čepaitienė. Possibilities of expressing gratitude | 5 refers to polite address to the addressee and usually means that the speech act takes place by choosing a distanced strategy of politeness between interlocutors with a high hierarchical position, i.e. the high style. This form is usually used when the act of communication takes place not between two participants, but in public: what is said to the addressee is heard by some public audience (participants of prestigious meetings, symposia, etc.). Often the addressee is named in the thank you. The following examples in text, press and spoken language would illustrate this: Let me, on behalf of all freedom-loving men and women, thank those of you who […] T; On behalf of all of us here, let me thank Mr Schulz. ; On behalf of the Rector, let me thank you for your sincere work in GyvK. Formality, a more pronounced expression of the distanced politeness strategy is shown by the analytical construction with the noun thank you and the verbs please or accept: please express / pass on / express gratitude; Accept my thanks. In this expression, two situations of language etiquette seem to collide: request (indicated by the verb please or the imperative form) and thanks (indicated by the noun). Thus, by choosing this expression, the recipient establishes a special relationship with the recipient: he asks the recipient to accept his words of thanks, e.g. : Thank you for this, and accept the sincere thanks of all my compatriots T; Ladies and gentlemen! Accept my sincere thanks for sending me, the old one, your best wishes [...] Bit452; Accept my most heartfelt thanks for caring; I'm old and I'm afraid I won't be able to serve you anymore... Bit189; Dear Sir! Accept warm words of thanks for a nice gift, together for the promise to fix the language Bit371. Sometimes such thanks are not expressed directly to the addressee, but are passed on through the third participant in the speech act – a witness, who is as if obliged to pass on the thanks. The following examples of usage would show this: Please express my sincere thanks to her T; Please convey my sincere thanks to T; Please convey my thanks and best wishes. In the letters of cultural figures of the early 20th century there was another variant of this expression – accept the expression of gratitude, e.g. : Accept [...] and kart (i. e. – together with G. Č.) expression of gratitude for the good heart, which you showed so much in your last letter to Bit77. Gratitude as an expression of opportunity There is an expression of gratitude where the recipient chooses the description of the opportunity. This is shown by the various forms of the verb to be able to: I can, I could, it is possible, being able to thank… The second meaning of this verb, as shown by the Lithuanian language dictionary, is described as “to have the opportunity”. The use of the present tense and the pronoun forms is adequate to the nuances of the expression of desire: the present tense indicates the present state, the pronoun indicates an indirect action, e.g. : How nice to be able to thank you again T; how can I thank you? T. On the other hand, the question-form thanks with the form of the pronoun has another semantic feature: the addressee as if says that it is impossible to thank, that he has not found the appropriate expression of thanks. The definition of the possibility of another hidden expression of gratitude differs in that the non-personalized forms of the verb are used here: the participle of necessity can or the semi-participle form having the ability. In the case of a person who is not a member of the party, the party must be aware that the party is not a member of the party, and that the party must be aware that the party is not a member of the party. : They can be thanked for the beauty of life T. It is different when thanks are expressed in the semi-participle. In these cases, the recipient appreciates the opportunity, e.g.: I am pleased to be able to publicly thank everyone T. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 GIEDRĖ ČEPAITIENĖ. Padėkos raiškos galimybės | 6 Padėkos kaip būtinybės raiška Sometimes the recipient perceives the situation of thanks as a necessity. This means that the various forms of the verb have used to express gratitude: I have (we have), I should thank. In the Lithuanian language dictionary, the meaning of this verb 33 is "need, have to (do something)". The following examples of thanks show this kind of gratitude: I have to thank you for all of them T; We must now thank God T; we have to thank for the interpretation of secondary experience in the use of media T; We have to thank many people for their contribution and patience T; I should thank my son T. for this. There are examples where the adjective is necessary. The Lithuanian dictionary describes its first meaning as follows: "without which it is impossible to translate, very necessary". Therefore, thanks with this adjective also have a shade of necessity, e.g. : At first it is necessary to thank for the honour T. Sometimes the recipients perceive thanks as a duty. The latter noun is interpreted in the Lithuanian dictionary as "what is necessary, must be done". Thus, such thanks have a shade of necessity, e.g. : The author feels a pleasant duty to thank the editor-in-chief of this journal T. These thanks are thanks with a near shade of necessity. This shade is usually indicated by various forms of the verb need. Their Lithuanian dictionary describes it as "being necessary, necessary". In the dictionary of synonyms, the word potřebovat is listed in the nest where the verb mít is listed next to it. However, there is even a small semantic difference between necessity and necessity. The shade of necessity indicates that no choice is allowed: the action is necessary, compulsory. The verb potřebovat seems to have no necessity semantics, its closer semantics is „desirable“. In gratitudes with a need shade, the 3rd person forms of the present tense or of the pronoun are used: treba, trebao bi zahvaliti. This is shown by the following examples in the Textbook: and for this we should especially thank the clever young man T; In fact, it is necessary to thank, not to say that they work badly T; should be thanked to these people T; I should thank the Cultural Research Centre T. located here. Very rarely the need is expressed in the 3rd person present tense of the verb: And this is already a good sign and for it you have to thank T. Lack of resolution Pasitaiko atvejų, kai adresantas užima tarsi nežinios poziciją, jaučiasi ir sakosi esąs arba pats too poor to express thanks, or his vocabulary being too poor. Indeed, the actual meaning of these words is thanksgiving. Then the gratitude is expressed indirectly. The recipient usually chooses the forms of the present singular 1st person verbs with the prefix ne- (I don’t know, I can’t find, I can’t, I don’t have), as if showing the addressee’s disorder, inability to formulate thanks, e.g. : I don't know how to express my thanks to GyvK; I'm so grateful that I can't find the words GyvK; I got the expected photo from you, I enjoyed all the holidays. I just can't thank VMač351; I don't know how to thank you, uncle. We're not gonna stay here! JBalt166; I don't have so many good words to thank T; I can’t find the right words to thank T. Less often, the forms that more generalize the situation are chosen: the passive participant (it is impossible to thank) or the 3rd person form (there are no words). In this way, the addressee as if distances himself from the specific situation, expressing not only his feelings, but also the fact that any speaker in a similar situation would feel the same way, e.g.: […] it is impossible to thank for such heartfelt openness to Earth10; There are no words in the world with which I could express my thanks to T; I lack words to express my thanks to GyvK. BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Giedrė Čepaitienė. Possibilities of expressing gratitude | 7 There are very individual gratitudes that are expressed through denial. Then the recipients deliberately take the position of the person unable to thank, only emphasizing that they are really very grateful. The following examples illustrate this: Good! Your letter is a dream or a fairy tale… I didn’t expect such people to exist nowadays!.. So much kindness in that letter that he alone should heal... I can't thank you. Vakar paėmiau tą laišką, o šiandien, jojo prisiminus, dar ašaros byra... Bit162; Verkti tik ima noras, kad niekuomet niekuomet neatsidėkosiu... Jau per sena... Bit434. Such thanks show a close relationship between the recipient and the recipient, because with such non-traditional thanks the recipient as if opens his soul, speaks about very intimate experiences. Completion of the speech act Rarely (only 2 examples in the text) thanks finishes the speech act, with the addressee emphasizing this specifically. This situation is indicated by the present or past tense forms of the verb remain, e.g. : I only have to thank the author of the regulation T; The prepositional forms remain, the use of the preposition to express thanks is not measured: the preposition corresponds to the meanings of the particles va, vis, jau, tik, here and usually indicates the continuation of the action (LKG II: 295), rather than its end, as the addressees of the thanks would like. Sayings remain (only) to thank; left (only) to thank Not recorded in text. CONCLUSIONS The situation of gratitude is characterized by several actions of the recipient: physical assistance, various verbal supports (approval, inquiry, compliment) or a promise to provide assistance in the future. Direct gratitude is usually expressed by the sentiment ačiū, less often – dėkui, the performative verb dėkoju and the analytical constructions esu (būsiu, būčiau) dėkingas. The official relationship between the addressee and the recipient is shown by thanks, in which analytical forms are used to designate the action with the noun padėka and some verbs to express (express; express) thanks; to express gratitude; utter words of thanks; send a thank you). In the expression of hidden gratitude, it is possible to discern 6 semantic nuances: desire, mą, privalėjimą, kalbėjimo akto užbaigimą, raiškos trūkumo nusakymą. Šiuos semantinius possibility, request. The nuances are usually determined by the chosen modal verbs, e.g. the shade of desire is indicated by the forms of the verbs want or desire, the necessity – need, the obligation – necessity. The semantic nuances are also indicated by the chosen grammatical forms: the imperative clause is primarily associated with a request, the predicative with the uncertainty of the action. The addressee’s disorder (real or perceived) is evidenced by the absence of verbs with prepositions (I cannot find; there are no words). BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Giedrė Čepaitienė. Ways to Express Your Appreciation | 8 REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS AVien – Vienuolis A. Raštai 6, Vilnius: Vaga, 1988. Čepaitienė G. 2007: Lithuanian language etiquette: semantics and pragmatics, Šiauliai: Šiaulių universiteto leidykla. DLKG 1994 – Grammar of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla. 1965. pp. 6. "G. Bitė-Petkevičaitė, Vilnius: Vaga, 1968. JBalt – Baltušis J. The Tale of Juza, Vilnius: Vaga, 1989. GyvK – the living language. LKG II – Lithuanian Grammar 2. Red. K. Ulvydas, Vilnius: Mintis, 1971. LKŽ I–XX – Lithuanian Language Dictionary, 1−2, 2nd edition, Vilnius: Mintis, 1968−1969; 3−6, Vilnius: State Political and Scientific Literature Publishers, 1956−1962; 7−9, Vilnius: Mintis, 1966−1973; 10−15, Vilnius: Mokslas, 1976−1991; 16−17, Vilnius: Science and Encyclopedia Publishers, 1995−1996; 18−19, Vilnius: Science and Encyclopedia Publishing Institute, 1997−1999; 20, Vilnius: Lithuanian Language Institute Publishers, 2002. 1984. pp. 3. "S. Nėris Raštai 3", Vilnius: Vaga, 1984. sp. – press. T – Textbook of contemporary Lithuanian language. Accessed on: http://www.vdu.lt (accessed 2014 02 20). VMač – Mačernis V. Under the cloudy skies of ignorance: poetry, letters, prose, Vilnius: Vaga, 1990. Earth - Earth. 1957. Selected Writings 6, Vilnius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1957. Received 14 April 2014 BENDRINĖ KALBA | 87 (2014) www.bendrinekalba.lt ISSN 2351-7204 Giedrė Čepaitienė. 9 POSSIBILITIES OF EXPRESSING GRATITUDE Summary By gratitude one shows attention to the addressee, demonstrates that the addresser takes notice of the addressee’s actions and appreciates them. The very words of gratitude perform a referential function of a speech act. It can be expanded when the cause of gratitude is specified. Quite often, an addressee is mentioned in the formulae of gratitude. The expression of gratitude is usually expanded with various modifiers, evaluative words, which perform an expressive function. The article discusses the causes of the situation of gratitude and possibilities of expressing it in the Lithuanian language. The sources used are data from Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos tekstynas (Corpus of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language) as well as from the live speech and letters of different writers, cultural workers collected by the author herself. The article is essentially based on the method of semantic analysis. The situation of gratitude is presupposed by several actions of the addressee: physical aid, varied verbal support (assent, inquiry, compliment) or a promise to provide assistance in future. Direct gratitude is usually expressed by an interjection ačiū, less often – dėkui, a performative verb dėkoju and analytic constructions esu (būsiu, būčiau) dėkingas(-a). The formal relationship between the addresser and the addressee is indicated by expressions of gratitude where an action is denoted by analytic forms with the noun padėka and some verbs. As many as 6 semantic shades can be discerned in the expression of implicit gratitude: a wish, an opportunity, a request, an obligation, completion of a speech act, lack of expression. These semantic shades are usually determined by chosen modal verbs, e.g. a wish is implied by verb forms norėti or trokšti, need – reikėti, obligation – verbs denoting necessity. Semantic shades are also evident from the grammatical forms chosen: the imperative mood should first of all be linked to a request, subjunctive mood – indefiniteness of an action. The addressee’s embarrassment (actual or merely apparent) is signalled by the use of verbs with the prefix ne- (nerandu; no words). KEYWORDS: gratitude, addresser, addressee, linguistic expression. GIEDRĖ ČEPAITIENĖ Šiaulių universitetas P. Višinskio g. 38, LT-76352 Šiauliai, Lithuania [email protected]