GIEDRĖ ČEPAITTIENĖ

Šiauliai University

POSSIBILITIES FOR EXPRESSING GRATITUDE

KEYWORDS: gratitude, addresser, addressee, linguistic expression.

INTRODUCTION

Gratitude is one of the language etiquette situations. The basis of this situation is the addresser’s felt—that is, genuine—or feigned feeling of gratitude for an action performed or promised by the addressee. Genuine gratitude occurs when the addressee’s actions are beneficial to the addresser or evoke pleasant feelings. Feigned gratitude is associated with certain situations in public life (for example, one gives thanks at the end of a public speech); it is related not to the addresser’s own feelings, but to norms of linguistic behavior accepted by a particular community. The purpose of gratitude is to show the addressee attention and demonstrate that the addresser notices and appreciates the addressee’s actions. The words of thanks themselves perform the referential function of the speech act. This can be expanded by stating the reason for the gratitude. In gratitude formulas, the addressee is often named. Other deictic dimensions (time, place) are not necessary for expressing gratitude and are rarely mentioned. Gratitude is usually expanded with various modifiers and evaluative words, which perform an expressive function.

The aim of this article is to discuss the reasons for the gratitude situation and the ways it can be expressed in Lithuanian. Its sources are the Corpus of Contemporary Lithuanian (hereafter, the Corpus) and material collected by the author herself from spoken language and from letters by various writers and cultural figures. The article relies mainly on the method of semantic analysis; word meanings are explained with reference to the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language.

REASONS FOR GRATITUDE

The need to give thanks is a common situation for everyone. The reasons for giving thanks may be the addressee’s physical, intellectual, or spiritual actions. They can be divided into the following groups:

• physical assistance to the addresser (thank you for lifting it up; I wouldn’t have managed it on my own, and so on);

• information provided to the addresser by the addressee (thank you for letting me know; warning me, and so on); a positive description of the addresser or support for their position, expressed orally or in writing

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(thank you for your kind words; thank you for agreeing); greetings and good wishes expressed to the addressee during the speech act or shortly beforehand (thank you for..., thank you for remembering, for not forgetting); an inquiry about the addresser’s or their relatives’ life, health, etc. (thank you, everything is fine; thanks, everyone is well); paying a compliment;

a promise that the addressee will perform a physical or intellectual action needed by the addresser, for example, come to help with a communal task or write a recommendation (thank you for agreeing...).

•

DIRECT EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE

The Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language defines gratitude as “the showing of a feeling of thankfulness for a good deed done; an expression of thanks.” Thus, gratitude is the expression of a certain feeling. The interjection ačiū (‘thank you’) is most commonly used to express thanks. The Corpus (T) shows that this interjection outnumbers other expressions of gratitude by dozens of times: 10,208 examples were found with ačiū, 1,042 with the interjection dėkui (‘thanks’); the number of similar examples with the performative verb dėkoju (‘I thank you’) is 1,476, while the form padėkoti (‘to thank’) was used 452 times. Thus, although the interjection dėkui fits well into the paradigm of words for expressing gratitude (dėkoju – padėka – dėkingumas – dėkingas [‘I thank’ – ‘gratitude’ – ‘thankfulness’ – ‘grateful’]), it is used almost 10 times less often than ačiū. An interjection is defined 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 interjections of gratitude always perform an act of thanking; they compete with the performative verb dėkoju and can replace one another in any situation, both in everyday speech and in formal settings. Alongside these interjections, gratitude is also expressed by analytic constructions whose literal meaning is to state the addresser’s present (or anticipated future) state. They consist of the adjective dėkingas (-a) (‘grateful’) with first-person forms of the present or future tense of the verb būti (‘to be’), esu¹ (būsiu) dėkingas (-a) (‘I am [will be] grateful’), and, less frequently, with the first-person conditional form (būčiau dėkingas, ‘I would be grateful’), that is, a compound predicate. The literal meaning of these constructions is to describe the addresser’s state, but in an act of thanking it is not this utterance meaning, which describes the addresser’s state, that is realized. Rather, the indirect meaning is foregrounded: that is, the expression esu (būsiu) dėkingas (‘I am [will be] grateful’) is used instead of the performative expression dėkoju (‘I thank you’) and is equivalent to it. The construction esu (būsiu; būčiau) dėkingas (–a) can replace the verb dėkoju in all positions. When used to express gratitude, the adjectival construction can be expanded with intensifiers such as labai, didžiai, nepaprastai (‘very, greatly, extraordinarily’), and so on. The following examples illustrate this possible expression of gratitude: I am grateful to M.G. for idealizing my person far too much; I just do not want others to be misled Bit451; I am grateful to all my old friends [...] Bit471; Dear one! I cannot even express how grateful I am to you for taking care of me Bit290; [...] I am also very grateful for the favors already done, being done, and promised AVien654; Very grateful to you I am for the typewriter SNer391; Dear Mother, we are grateful for your care, the gentleness of your hands, sleepless nights, and understanding GyvK; I am endlessly grateful to you for giving me a lift GyvK; I will be grateful if you print it in the journal Ir, and please do not delay T; I will be grateful to you Yours, E. Mieželaitis T; I will be forever grateful to him, I said T; grateful to you till my dying day I will be grateful to you T; I would be extraordinarily grateful if all the soldiers came by one at a time for a very short while T; I would be grateful if you agreed to that T; Mr Prime Minister! I would be extremely grateful if you explained T. When spea-

¹ When the addresser is a group, plural forms are used (we are grateful).

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aking in the name of a third person, the third-person conditional form is used, e.g.: General Directorate would be grateful if the ministry approved T.

Alongside the compound predicate, forms of the complex predicate are also used to express gratitude. These consist of a finite form of the verb turi (‘have’), the infinitive būti (‘to be’), and an inflected form—the adjective dėkingas (‘grateful’), e.g.: For having stumbled upon this treasure, I must be grateful to my brother Mirtis Larsen T; I must be grateful for such tolerance T; for my rescue I must be grateful to Johnson T. This expression also carries a sense of obligation, conveyed by the verb turėti, which also denotes an obligation or duty, meaning ‘to need, to be obliged (to do something)’.

In such expressions of gratitude, verbs other than būti (‘to be’) are also used. Sometimes they emphasize specifically the addresser’s feelings; one such verb is jausti (‘to feel external and internal sensations’). In expressions of gratitude, first-person singular present-tense forms are used, e.g.: I cannot even say how I feel grateful T; I feel very grateful that I had the good fortune to benefit T; I feel grateful to them all T. This makes explicit what the addresser feels during the speech act. A somewhat different nuance is conveyed by the use of forms of the verb likti (‘to remain’). The seventh meaning of this verb is ‘to continue to be the same, in the same state’. Thus, gratitude expressed by the phrase lieku (likau) dėkingas (‘I remain [remained] grateful’) indicates not only the addresser’s current state, but also that this state will persist into the future, e.g.: I remain deeply grateful to everyone grateful T; I am already an old man, living in the age of two little axes... I remain grateful, may God comfort you T; After intensive research I remained especially grateful to one person T.

Formal relations between addresser and addressee are reflected in expressions of gratitude that use analytic forms to name the action, with the noun padėka (‘gratitude’) and certain verbs, namely: to express (convey; offer) gratitude; to utter words of gratitude; to send thanks. Gratitude is expressed in this way when the speech-act situation is not only formal but also ceremonial. This seems to confirm the thesis that Lithuanian is characterized by verbal expression: nominal constructions are not ordinarily used, so they are perceived as examples of a different, non-everyday usage. In these expressions, the noun padėka can be modified by adjectives such as great, special, sincere, heartfelt. The following examples illustrate this usage: Once again I express my gratitude T; I express great respect and gratitude T; For grammar I offer words of great gratitude Bit231; On this occasion I express great gratitude T; For this I express my sincere gratitude to this team T; I express my special gratitude [...] T; I offer you gratitude for blessings bestowed by fate T; I offer you heartfelt thanks Bit284.

Sometimes words sharing a root with dėkui (‘thanks’) are repeated twice, e.g.: (I am) grateful and to thank; grateful and to express gratitude: Dear one! I cannot even express how grateful I am to you for taking care of me. You have already been far too kind to me. I do not even know how to thank you Bit290; Grateful to you for reviewing those manuscripts, but it seems to me that this gratitude would be expressed more accurately if you would be so kind as to allot yourself a certain percentage of the honorarium [...] Bit315.

HIDDEN EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE

Besides the usual, direct expression of gratitude, somewhat implicit expressions are also possible². They usually carry some additional semantic nuance, expressed by a conjugated verb form. As many as six semantic nuances can be discerned in the expression of gratitude: desire, possibility, request, permission, completion of a speech act, and indication of a lack of expression.

² Plačiau žr. Čepaitienė 2007: 179–200.

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These semantic nuances are determined by the modal verbs selected; for example, the forms of norėti ‘to want’ or trokšti ‘to desire’ indicate desire, reikėti ‘to be necessary’ indicates necessity, and verbs expressing obligation indicate obligation.

Gratitude as an expression of desire

Gratitude is often expressed as a desire, e.g.: I want (we want) to thank, I wanted to thank, I would like to thank. Desires, as is well known, are always directed toward the future; as it were, they do not yet reflect an actual action. In a situation of gratitude, however, the forms of the verb norėti ‘to want’—noriu (norime; nori), norėjau, norėčiau—merely indicate modality, adding a nuance of a desired action. Alongside this expression of gratitude, the forms norėjau padėkoti, nori padėkoti are sometimes used. These variants of expressing gratitude differ from the basic expression in several respects. First, several variants of the modal verb forms are possible: 1) first-person present indicative forms noriu, norime and the third-person form nori; 2) the first-person singular form of the simple past indicative norėjau; 3) first- or third-person singular conditional forms norėčiau, norėtų. The basic meanings of these forms differ. The first-person singular present indicative form noriu indicates that the speaker intends to perform the speech act of requesting at that moment: I would like to thank those who love our theater, while the third-person form usually refers to a collective speaker, e.g.: The vote-counting commission would like to thank for the work. The use of the simple past forms (norėjau padėkoti) usually signals that the act of thanking is lengthy, that someone else has already been thanked, and that, as this act comes to a close, one more addressee of thanks is remembered, e.g.: I wanted to thank Minister T. The first-person singular conditional form norėčiau indicates the speaker’s indecision about whether or not to perform the speech act. When the third-person singular conditional form norėtų is chosen to express gratitude, the speaker seems to conceal themselves and assess their own action from the outside, e.g.: Quarto Publishing House would like to thank these organizations. Of course, etiquette formulas realize indirect meanings of these forms. Thus, both the construction I want to thank and the construction I would like to thank mean I thank you and are synonymous with this performative. Nevertheless, they are not absolutely synonymous, since they differ stylistically. This is due to the use of conditional forms: this mood does not convey categorical force and is therefore generally considered gentler and somewhat more polite. The construction trokštu padėkoti ‘I yearn to thank’ is associated with the semantics of desire. In this phrase, the second figurative meaning of the word trokšti—‘to want very much, to long for’—is activated. This expression of gratitude is therefore more expressive, since the expression of desire is supplemented here by the sememe ‘very much,’ which indicates its intensity.

Gratitude as an expression of a request

Another nuance is conveyed by constructions expressing gratitude with the second-person plural imperative form of the verb leisti ‘to allow’: leiskite padėkoti ‘allow me to thank,’ e.g.: First allow me to sincerely thank you for making it possible to hear T; Honorable Council! First allow me to thank your Presidium T; Likewise, allow me to thank on behalf of the entire diaspora for the Citizenship Law T. The direct meaning of this utterance is a request: by using a verb in the imperative, the speaker addresses the addressee, who can allow or refuse to allow the speaker to perform the action they wish to undertake. However, in an act of gratitude (and in politeness formulas generally), the form leiskite has become desemanticized. It merely

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signals a polite address to the addressee and usually indicates that the speech act takes place using a distant politeness strategy between interlocutors in high-ranking hierarchical positions, that is, in a formal register. Such a form is generally used when the communicative act does not take place between just two participants but in public: what is said to the addressee is heard by some public audience (participants in ceremonial meetings, symposia, and the like). Often, the speaker is also identified when expressing thanks in this way. This is illustrated by the following examples from the Corpus, the press, and spoken language: Allow me on behalf of all freedom-loving men and women to thank those of you who [...] T; On behalf of everyone gathered here allow me to thank sp.; Allow me on behalf of the Rector to thank you for your devoted work GyvK. Analytical constructions with the noun padėka ‘gratitude’ and the verbs prašau ‘I ask’ or priimkite ‘accept’—prašau išreikšti / perduoti / pareikšti padėką ‘I ask you to express / convey / offer thanks’; priimkite padėką ‘please accept my thanks’—convey formality and a more pronounced use of a distant politeness strategy. In this expression, two language-etiquette situations seem to converge: a request (indicated by the verb prašau ‘I ask’ or an imperative form) and gratitude (indicated by the noun). Thus, by choosing this form of expression, the speaker establishes a particular relationship with the addressee: the speaker asks the addressee to accept their words of thanks, e.g.: Thank you for that, please accept, too, the heartfelt thanks of all my compatriots T; Dear all! Please accept my heartfelt thanks for remembering me, an old woman, and sending your good wishes [...] Bit452; Please accept my most heartfelt thanks for your concern; I am old and fear I may no longer be able to do anything for you... Bit189; Dear Sir! Please accept my heartfelt words of thanks for the lovely gift, and also for promising to correct the language Bit371. Sometimes such thanks are not addressed directly to the addressee but are conveyed through a third participant in the speech act—a witness, who is thereby seemingly charged with passing on the thanks. The following usage examples illustrate this: Please express to her my heartfelt thanks T; I will ask you to convey my heartfelt thanks T; Convey my thanks and good wishes T.

Letters by cultural figures from the early 20th century contain another variant of this expression—accept the expression of gratitude, e.g.: Accept [...] and also (that is, along with it—G. Č.) an expression of gratitude for the kind heart you showed so much of in your last letter Bit77.

Expressing gratitude as possibility

There is a way of expressing gratitude in which the addresser chooses to describe it in terms of possibility. This is indicated by various forms of the verb to be able: I can, I could, it is possible, being able to give thanks. As indicated by the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, the second meaning of this verb is defined as “to have the possibility.” The use of present-tense and conditional forms is appropriate to the nuances of expressing desire: the present tense names a current state, while the conditional describes an indirect action, e.g.: How nice that I can thank you once again T; how could I thank you? T. On the other hand, gratitude phrased as a question with a conditional form has another semantic feature as well: the addresser seems to say that it is impossible to give thanks, that they cannot find a suitable way to express gratitude. The description of possibility differs from another covert means of expressing gratitude in that non-finite forms of the verb are used here: the necessitative participle galima or the half-participle form galėdamas. Gratitude expressed with the necessitative participle seems to indicate the addresser’s view that the addressee is only partly deserving of thanks, since the expression it is possible to give thanks also implies that this is not necessary, e.g.: One can thank them for the beauty of life T. It is different when gratitude is expressed with a half-participle. In these cases, the addresser acknowledges the opportunity that has arisen, e.g.: I am glad to be able publicly thank everyone T.

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Expressing gratitude as necessity

Sometimes the addresser perceives the situation of giving thanks as a necessity. This is indicated by the various forms of the verb have used to express gratitude: I have (we have), I should thank. In the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, the verb’s 33rd meaning is “to need, to be obliged (to do something).” The following examples of gratitude convey this nuance: I have to thank you all for them thank T; We have now thank God T; we have to thank for explaining media use based on ant rinės patirties T; For their contribution and patience, we have to thank many people T; I should thank my son for that T. Examples also occur in which the adjective necessary is used. The Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language defines its first meaning as “that which one cannot do without, very necessary.” Therefore, expressions of thanks with this adjective also have a nuance of necessity, e.g.: At the outset it is necessary to thank for the honor bestowed T. Sometimes addressers perceive gratitude as a duty. In the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, this noun is defined as “that which is necessary, obligatory to perform.” Thus, such expressions of thanks also carry a nuance of necessity, e.g.: The author feels a pleasant duty to thank the editor-in-chief of this journal T.

Gratitude expressions with a shade of necessity are close to these expressions of gratitude. This shade is usually marked by various forms of the verb to need. In the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, they are described as “being necessary, being a necessity.” In the Dictionary of Synonyms, the word to need is listed under must, alongside the verb to have. However, there is a slight semantic difference between necessity and need. The shade of necessity indicates that there is no choice: the action is necessary, obligatory. The verb to need apparently does not contain the seme of necessity; the seme “desirable” is closer to its meaning.

In expressions of thanks with a nuance of advisability, present-tense or conditional third-person forms are used: one should thank, one ought to thank. This is illustrated by the following examples from the Corpus: and for that one should especially thank a clever young man T; In fact, one should thank, rather than say that they work poorly T; one ought to thank these people T; one ought to thank the Culture Research Centre located here T. Very rarely, advisability is expressed by the third-person present-tense form of the verb fall to: And this is already a good sign, and for it you deserve thanks T.

Lack of expression

There are cases in which the addresser adopts a sort of position of uncertainty, feeling and saying that they are either too insignificant themselves to express gratitude or that their vocabulary is too limited. In fact, the main communicative meaning of these utterances is gratitude. In such cases, gratitude is expressed indirectly. The addresser usually chooses first-person singular present-tense verb forms with the prefix ne- (do not know, cannot find, do not know how, do not have), as if indicating the addresser’s embarrassment and inability to formulate an expression of gratitude, e.g.: I do not even know how I could express my gratitude GyvK; I am so grateful that I cannot find the words GyvK; I got the photo I had been waiting for from you and enjoyed it throughout the holidays. Now I just do not know how to thank you VMač351; I do not know how to thank you, uncle. We will not remain in your debt!]Balt166; I do not have enough kind words to thank you T; I cannot find the words properly to thank you T. Less often, more general forms are chosen: a passive participle (it is impossible to thank) or a third-person form (there are no words). In this way, the addresser seems to distance themself from the specific situation, describing not only their own feelings but also the fact that any speaker would feel the same way in a similar situation, e.g.: [...] it is impossible to express thanks for such heartfelt openness Žem10; There are no words in the world with which I could express my gratitude T; Words fail me, so that I could express my gratitude GyvK.

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There are some highly individual expressions of gratitude that are conveyed through negation. In such cases, senders deliberately adopt the position of someone unable to give thanks, thereby merely emphasizing that they are in fact very grateful. The following examples illustrate this: Dear Geroji! Your letter is a dream or a fairy tale... I never expected that there could still be such people nowadays!.. There is so much goodness in that letter that it alone should be enough to heal... I don't know how to thank you. Yesterday I picked up that letter, and today, remembering it, I still have tears streaming down my face... Bit162; I feel like crying because I will never, ever be able to repay you... I am too old now... Bit434. Such expressions of gratitude indicate a close relationship between sender and recipient, since through these unconventional expressions of thanks the sender seems to open their soul, speaking about very intimate experiences.

Closing the speech act

A speech act is rarely concluded with an expression of gratitude (only 2 examples were found in the Corpus), with the sender explicitly emphasizing this. This situation is illustrated by present or past simple forms of the verb likti (‘remain’), for example: I can only thank the author of the Regulations T; I could only thank T. The use of the prefixed forms belieka, beliko (‘it remains’, ‘it remained’) to express gratitude is not well-founded: the prefix be- corresponds to the meanings of the particles vos, vis, jau, tik, čia and usually indicates the continuation of an action (LKG II: 295), rather than its completion, as the senders expressing gratitude would intend. The expressions lieka (tik) padėkoti; liko (tik) padėkoti (‘all that remains is to thank’; ‘all that remained was to thank’) are not attested in the Corpus.

CONCLUSIONS

The situation of gratitude is characterized by several actions on the part of the recipient: physical assistance, various forms of verbal support (agreement, an inquiry, a compliment), or a promise to provide assistance in the future. Direct gratitude is most often expressed with the interjection ačiū (‘thank you’), less often with dėkui (‘thanks’), the performative verb dėkoju (‘I thank you’), and the analytic constructions esu (būsiu, būčiau) dėkingas (‘I am (will be, would be) grateful’). Formal relations between sender and recipient are indicated by expressions of gratitude that use analytic forms with the noun padėka (‘gratitude’), together with certain verbs: reikšti (išreikšti; pareikšti) padėką; tarti padėką; tarti padėkos žodžius; siųsti padėką (‘express gratitude; offer thanks; say words of thanks; send thanks’).

Six semantic nuances can be identified in indirect expressions of gratitude: desire, possibility, request, obligation, closure of the speech act, and an indication of insufficient means of expression. These nuances are most often determined by the modal verbs chosen; for example, the forms of the verbs norėti (‘want’) or trokšti (‘long for’) convey desire, reikėti (‘need’) conveys necessity, and verbs expressing necessity convey obligation. Semantic nuances are also marked by the grammatical forms selected: the imperative mood is primarily associated with a request, while the subjunctive mood indicates uncertainty about the action. The sender’s consent (genuine or merely apparent) is evidenced by the use of verbs with the prefix ne- (‘not’), as in nerandu; nėra žodžių (‘I can’t find [the words]; there are no words’).

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REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS

AVien – Vienuolis A. Raštai 6, Vilnius: Vaga, 1988.

Čepaitienė G. 2007: Lietuvių kalbos etiketas: semantika ir pragmatika, Šiauliai: Šiaulių universiteto leidykla.

DLKG 1994 – Grammar of Contemporary Lithuanian, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla.

Bit – Bitė-Petkevičaitė G. Raštai 6, Vilnius: Vaga, 1968.

JBalt – Baltušis J. Sakmė apie Juzą, Vilnius: Vaga, 1989.

GyvK – spoken language.

LKG II – Grammar of the Lithuanian Language 2. Ed. K. Ulvydas, Vilnius: Mintis, 1971.

LKŽ I–XX – Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, vols. 1–2, 2nd ed., Vilnius: Mintis, 1968–1969; vols. 3–6, Vilnius: Valstybinė politinės ir mokslinės literatūros leidykla, 1956–1962; vols. 7–9, Vilnius: Mintis, 1966–1973; vols. 10–15, Vilnius: Mokslas, 1976–1991; vols. 16–17, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla, 1995–1996; vols. 18–19, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 1997–1999; vol. 20, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos instituto leidykla, 2002.

SNėr – Nėris S. Raštai 3, Vilnius: Vaga, 1984.

sp. – press.

T – Corpus of Contemporary Lithuanian. Available online: http://tekstynas.vdu.lt (accessed 2014 02 20).

VMač – Mačernis V. Po ūkanotu nežinios dangum: poezija, laiškai, proza, Vilnius: Vaga, 1990.

Žem – Žemaitė. Rinktiniai raštai 6, Vilnius: Valstybinė grožinės literatūros leidykla, 1957.

Received 2014 04 14

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POSSIBILITIES FOR 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 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; nėra žodžių).

KEYWORDS: gratitude, addresser, addressee, linguistic expression.

GIEDRĖ ČEPAITIENĖ

Šiauliai University

P. Višinskio g. 38, LT-76352 Šiauliai

[email protected]

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