Abstrakčiųjų daiktavardžių daugiskaitos vartojimas ekonomikos kalboje ir norma

190 Languages and Culture | 85 Discussions RAMUNĖ VASKELAITĖ Bank of Lithuania Abstract Pronouns Long Term Use The Language of Economics and Norms KEY WORDS: singular nouns, abstract nouns, numbering, meaning specification, derivatives, norm, usage. INTRODUCTION Normality of the number of nouns would not seem to be very problematic, if it were not for nouns whose norm allows to recognize only one number – singular or plural – or the use of one number in certain circumstances. Grammatical forms and their use: the singular is considered unacceptable for Lithuanian common language when referring to plants, animals or similar species, more than one person, events, places and other names without generalization (KP1 2002: 19–20). In such cases, consumers tend to choose the singular (KPIb 1995–2005). The insightful studies of non-normative language phenomena and the relationship between codified norms, perhaps the most actively developed in Lithuanian linguistics by Rita Miliūnaitė (2002; 2003a, b, c; 2004; 2006a, b; 2007), reveal that persistent resistance of usage to one or another written norm should not be hastily identified as a violation of the latter, a lack of knowledge of common language. Sometimes such opposition only shows syntactic, semantic or other circumstances lying in the deep structure of language, which are not grasped or sufficiently understood by language normers. VasKela. the use of the plural of abstract nouns in economic language and the norm 191 mai evaluated. Therefore, the prevalence of some cases considered non-normative in usage should be addressed, further investigated and, if there are good reasons, perhaps even the codified norm should be amended. The article deals with the tendency to use singular nouns in the plural form, which is often observed in usage. We are talking about one subgroup of such nouns, namely abstract nouns. The relevance of this question is demonstrated by the long-observed area of common language use – economic language. In it, the nouns of transfers, payments, settlements, calculations, fluctuations, commitments, capacities, risks, threats, crises, deficits, budgets, balance sheets, economies, economic activities, equality, volumes, values and other seemingly abstract nouns are used abundantly, although in the Language Advices, which provide the norm of general language, the plural of singular abstract nouns is assessed as the most negative of the four degrees used in that publication to denote the relationship of a language phenomenon to the norm – the reference etc. (“unpresentable”), meaning that the phenomenon is not presentable to general language (KP1 2002: 20). However, this discrepancy should not be hastily regarded as a contradiction between usage and norm – the Language Guidelines provide for two exceptions. It is true that one of them – the plural of abstract nouns used as a stylistic means of emphasizing abundance – cannot be applied to the usage under consideration. were studied texts of official subjective style, which in places even approaches scientific, so emotional expressive means are not characteristic of their language. They are generally found across the boundaries of styles and genres, but the plurals used to emphasize abundance have not been detected. These texts objectively describe and analyze the economic processes that occurred during a certain period (year, half-year, quarter), so accuracy is much more important here than expressiveness. Although officially some of these texts are referred to as reviews and others as reports, for convenience in this article they are all referred to as economic reviews. excluding the exception of abundance, the only justification for the plural of abstract nouns in Language Tips remains the specification of the noun’s meaning. The norm would seem simple: if a noun of abstract meaning is concreted, its plural must be used; if not, the use of plural is a violation of the norm. but is the line between norm and error really so clear? Does it take sufficient account of all factors that encourage the use of the plural form? This should be revealed by examining the tendencies of usage, but before proceeding to it, it is necessary to discuss in more detail the norm of the use of the number of abstract nouns formulated both in the Language Tips and in other normative works. 192 Languages and Culture | 85 1. Codified norms and expected outcomes As for the number of abstract nouns, the language guidelines formulate the following statement: “plural ntk. = singular, when the noun is abstract, denotes indivisible (uncountable) objects and is singular” (KP1 2002: 20). The concepts of abstract, singular or indivisible (uncountable) nouns are not defined either in the booklet Grammatikas formos ir jų naudojimas (Grammatical forms and their use) or in other books of this series. Of course, defining them is not the purpose of this kind of publication, but without explaining what meaning is given to them, there is a risk of interpreting the proposition in two ways: 1) plural cannot be given when the noun satisfies all three conditions (it is both abstract and singular, and denotes indivisible or uncountable objects); 2) plural cannot be given when the noun satisfies one of the conditions. the answer to how this statement should be interpreted cannot be found in the descriptions of the number of Lithuanian nouns; from them it would appear that no one interpretation is possible. These descriptions usually contain a classification according to which abstract nouns are distinguished as one of the subgroups of singular nouns1, the latter – as one of the groups of non-numerable nouns, identified with those denoting objects that cannot be counted (Jakaitienė et al. 1976: 36–41; Paulauskienė 1983: 166–167; 1994: 149–150; 2004a: 148–149; 2006: 73–77; Paulauskienė, tarvydaitė 1986: 67–77; DlKG 1997: 65–68). It would be illogical to consider some subgroup first and then the whole group. Thus, the set of language advice is not based on the classification of nouns by number, but on their general division into concrete and abstract, and from the abstracts it is suggested not to use singulars in the plural form. only unclear third condition of unpresentability – that the noun must also be denoting indivisible (uncountable) objects. According to the above-mentioned classification, all singular nouns are meaningful 1 Other subgroups are not indicated in the same way: in some places there are also distinguished coopiniai (vegetation, elite, intelligentsia), tikriniai (Lithuania, Kaunas, Klaipėda) and substance-denoting nouns (acetas, auksas, betonas) (Jakaitienė et al. 1976: 38; DlKG 1997: 66), elsewhere a subgroup of disease names (flu, whooping cough, cold) is added (Paulauskienė, tarvydaitė 1986: 74), separately mentioned are the names of the countries of the world, the winds (sudys, rytys, šiaurys) (lKŽin 1998: 100; Paulauskienė 1994: 150; 2004b: 300–301; 2006: 74). adelė Valeckienė, having drawn attention to the fact that both singularia tantum and pluralia tantum nouns often have the same meanings, provides a general classification that includes both nouns (Valeckienė 1998: 218–219). r. VasKELaItė. the use of the plural of abstract nouns in economic language and the norm 193 indivisible (uncountable) objects, and those denoting divisible (countable) are no longer singular. Therefore, the clarification in the Language Tips is not necessary. If it is not given any meaning, which is simply not attempted to clarify here, the norm formulated in that publication can be summarized as follows: the plural of singular abstract nouns should not be given to the common language, except in cases of emphasizing abundance and specifying the meaning of the noun. Some textbooks on language culture do not mention the exception to the specification of meaning, and official styles specify that no singular nouns, including abstract ones, should be used in the plural form. For example, in Jon Šukis’s book Kalbos kultūra visiem (Language culture for all) it is written: “in official language styles, the plural of singular nouns should not be used, especially if the nouns are abstract and mean things that cannot be counted” (Šukys 2003: 105), while in Aldona Paulauskienė’s Lithuanian language culture it is stated that the plural of singular nouns should not be used in a neutral style (Paulauskienė 2004a: 152). In the main description of the morphological forms of the contemporary Lithuanian language – the Grammar of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language (DlKG) – an exception to the specification of the meaning is provided for: “Sometimes abstract nouns become concrete and are used not only to describe generalized actions, states, characteristics, but also specific manifestations of those actions, states, characteristics. The abstract singular noun can then also be used in the plural form, e.g.: džiūgsmas – džiaugs maoj, rrpestis – rrpesčiai, skaũsmas – skausmaų“ (DlKG 1997: 62). However, it is clear from the wording of the DlKG that the specification can be of varying degrees: a noun can not only acquire a new meaning, but also acquire a certain shade of meaning (DlKG 1997: 66). only refers directly to the plural pronounability of “concretized” nouns, but the interpretation of “concretization” would show that this statement could also cover weaker cases of change of meaning. the DlKG does not provide any clear wording or whether the plural of words differing from the abstract only in a small degree of specificity. but even if it were presented, the norm would still not be completely clear, because neither the DlKG nor other normative publications contain lists of abstract and concrete nouns, especially those that have only acquired some degree of concreteness. Neither the abstractness of the meaning nor the different degrees of its concretization are indicated in the dictionaries. When this is the case, it is up to the usage to decide how much concreteness to give to the abstract noun. but when and 194 Language Culture | 85 As far as it would be granted, when the marginal norms and the limits of error are observed, the use of the plural of nouns that have acquired even the slightest shade of specificity cannot be considered a violation of the norm. Of course, it is not easy to define the degree of specificity of the meaning. Having drawn attention to this, Miliūnaitė considers the contradiction between concreteness and abstractness as one of those which prevents drawing a clearer boundary between normative and non-normative language phenomena, and one of the reasons for distinguishing not only those cases which can and cannot be attributed to general language, but also intermediate cases (Miliūnaitė 2003a, b). In language advice, the system of intermediate cases is indeed applied: in addition to the cases that can and cannot be given, avoidable cases and secondary variants of the norm are also distinguished. However, when evaluating the number of abstract nouns, only marginal boundaries are drawn, i.e. the plural of a purely singular abstract noun is considered an error, the plural of a concreted abstract noun – the norm. It would appear that the possibility of choosing intermediate cases is neither excluded nor recognized. in the normative work Grammatical norms and current usage, published almost three decades ago, in addition to the criterion of meaning specificity, another criterion was raised – how much the plural noun used is characteristic of the Lithuanian language (Paulauskienė, tarvydaitė 1986). For example, the usefulness of the term ‘pedagogical skills’ and the materials2 that were spread in the field of journalism at the time was doubted, because it was recognized that these were direct values from the Russian language, but the capacities used with a concreted meaning began to be accepted (Paulauskienė, tarvydaitė 1986: 76–77). In later published works of the co-author of this publication, capacities and volumes are also called valuations (Paulauskienė 2004a: 152; 2004b: 304). Two decades after the publication’s appearance, the influence of not only Russian but also English is already noted in the article by Ramunė Kasperavičienė (Kasperavičienė 2006: 217). It is based on it that the revision of the abstract sales in the Consultation Bank set up by the State Lithuanian Language Commission is based: this form allegedly arose due to the influence of the English language, more precisely – due to the English sale (see http://www.vlkk.lt/lit/2331). More reasons justifying the plural of singular abstract nouns, apart from the specification of meaning and stylistic considerations, are not provided in the normative publications of Lithuanian language. In morphological descriptions, one other stimulus is mentioned when discussing singular nouns of other subgroups. Their plural is described as denoting a state, 2 The current usage would indicate that the term material, which was used to describe articles, messages and reports in general a decade and a half ago, has at least disappeared from the public language. r. VasKELaItė. use of the plural of abstract nouns in economic language and the norm 195 characteristic of more than one time, indicating the continuity of the state (Paulauskienė 1989: 166; 2004b: 305). a. Paulauskienė’s Lithuanian language culture separately mentions two cases where the plural form is used because of the words that go alongside, indicating more than one object: He saved not one person’s lives; By the beginning of August the school repairs must be completed (Paulauskienė 2004a: 152). such plural is considered unrepresentable, but these cases are not examined further. firmly adhering to the provision that singular abstract nouns are not changed by numbers, that their plural is not a sign of change but of difference in lexical meaning, which is emphasized in all the works written by the author alone or with co-authors (Paulauskienė 1983, 1989, 1994, 2004a, 2004b, 2006; Jakaitienė and others 1976; Paulauskienė, tarvydaitė 1986), these cases are identified as the simplest carelessness in writing, omission in editing the text; nevertheless, it must be added that sometimes people count both lives and repairs (Paulauskienė 2004a: 152). Further incentives for the use of the plural of abstract nouns are mentioned in two recent articles on the tendency to use the plural. r. Kasperavičienė associates the plural of some nouns (joy, cry) with the need to express intensity, while she considers the plural of others (flu, pain, rain, snow) to denote repetition (Kasperavičienė 2006: 218–219). It is true that the need to emphasize repetition as a factor supporting the plural is not discussed in more detail, and the fact that only fictional literature examples are given would indicate that such plural is considered as an artistic means of expression. The need to emphasize repetition with abstract nouns, more precisely with nouns with suffix -imas (-ymas), is directly linked in the article of rasuolė Vladarskienė (2008). The use of such a plural is somewhat doubtful, but the use of nouns denoting an abstract thing that can be divided, is of various kinds or can be counted, in the plural form is not considered impossible. Unlike the above-mentioned morphological descriptions, the examples in this article are not of artistic, but of formal subjective style. In general, the authors of the article show that the plural of nouns previously considered abstract are no longer isolated cases in the current Lithuanian language – its use is called a tendency (Vladarskienė This current tendency, based on the use of the economic field, will be attempted to examine here. the 2008: 125). analysis focuses on the factors that encourage or support the use of nouns considered abstract in the plural form. 196 Languages and Culture | 85 2. USE AND TRANSPORT 2.1. Typical abstract plurals Perhaps the most typical abstracts are the derivatives of verbs made with the suffix -imas. The DlKG acknowledges that this suffix is the most constructive of the affixes used to make abstracts and that its derivatives are used in a very clear and pure meaning of the verb name (DlKG 1997: 94)3. the -ymas suffix, which is considered a variant of the same abstract formant, is recognized as a more limited derivative (DlKG 1997: 95). The abundance of nouns with these suffixes, at least in the official language, was established almost twenty years ago (oginskienė 1994). It is associated with the influence of foreign languages, but the productivity of the working type must also be considered as a reason for the spread of such nouns. However, the fact that a word has the most typical abstract suffix does not mean that it is abstract. Some derivatives of the suffix -imas (-ymas) are completely concreted, i.e. have undergone semantic changes4. Some of them are used in the meaning of an event, more precisely – a certain gathering. In economic reviews, nouns with this meaning are most often used – commemoration, consultation, meeting, meeting, convention, deliberation, e.g. : The Board of Governors normally meets twice a year – during the spring and annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group (lbMa 2012 05: 68); During these meetings, it also identified issues to be included on the agenda of the meetings of the ESCB Social Dialogue Working Group (Ma 2011: 206); In addition, meetings were held between ECB experts and Members of the European Parliament on various issues falling within the ECB’s competence (Ma 2008: 184). There are also derivatives of the suffix -imas (-ymas) that are not foreign to the usage under consideration and that are fully specific, denoting written text. these are mainly the names of documents: order, law, instruction, decision, certificate, notification, decision, etc. When indicating that there is more than one document, the plural form is used, e.g. : The legislation is necessary for the Danish deposit insurance scheme to comply with the monetary financing prohibition (Ma 2011: 118); The Governing Council, among other things, drew attention to 3 in view of the productivity of the action type and the proximity of the action names (nomina actionis) to the verb form, such derivatives are even proposed to be given a special place in the grammatical description (Pakerys 2006). Zofija babickienė (2012) examines in detail the semantic changes of 4 regular verb abstracts and their patterns. r. VasKELaItė. the use of the plural of abstract nouns in economic language and the rule 197 statements by some governments on measures and reforms in the areas of fiscal and structural policy (Ma 2012: 15). such nouns are varied in number as other nouns of a specific meaning. so their plural is the result of counting by number and at the same time – a considerable incentive to spread and other suffix -imas (-ymas) derivative plurals. The plural form is also used in economic language for nouns with the suffix -imas (-ymas), which can be described as having the meaning of the result or object of an action. In the sentence Each country’s banking system was able to offset the value of remittances related to net imports of goods and services or the acquisition of assets from another euro area country with income (Ma 2012: 35) the noun payments is used in the sense of the object of the action, while the noun transfers used in the sentence EU transfers in the first quarter of 2012 were higher than in the previous quarter (lEa 2012 08: 12) should rather be linked to the result of the action5. In any of these meanings such nouns are used, they are much more concrete than pure abstracts – nouns with the meaning of the name of the action. For example, payments according to the degree of specificity would correspond to the derivatives of the pre-payment or subordinate action taxes, contributions, and transfers – the derivative of transfers or the like. From the description of noun construction given by the DlKG it is clear that it is more typical for Lithuanian to name the result or object of an action not with the derivatives of the suffix -imas (-ymas), but with words of other prepositions or endings (DlKG 1997: 125–128). It is proposed to specialize the meanings of the types of word formation, i.e. to use the -imas (-ymas) derivatives of the prefix only in the meaning of the name of the action, and to describe the result of the action (and the system of certain actions, the scope of activity) not with verb nouns of the pure action meaning, but with derivatives of other prefixes (or prepositions, endings) (oginskienė 1994: 56). Unfortunately, in the usage under consideration, such a recommendation can not always be followed, because the derivatives of different suffixes or prepositions are usually “occupied”, i.e. used in the same field as terms having other meanings, and the connection with the base verb denoting action is relevant to maintain. In other words, the amount of money that is paid to the taxpayer by the taxpayer is the amount of money that is paid to the taxpayer by the taxpayer, and the amount of money that is paid to the taxpayer is the taxpayer's income. 5, Z. babickienė points out that in Lithuanian linguistics it is customary to classify the abstracts of verbs, which could be called the object names of the action, into the group of the result of the action, and distinguishes a separate semantic model nomina objectum (babickienė 2012: 20). 198 Languages Culture | 85 Words with nouns atsiskaitymai, įsipareigojimai, pervedimai having a common root are not used in economic language, so derivatives could be made, but the base verb itself is a derivative, so making other derivatives from it is not easy or even impossible at all. this is also a factor that supports the spread of nouns with the abstract suffix in the meaning of object or result of action. Of course, these nouns can be called abstract only conditionally, because they are concreted. Their meaning differs from that of pure abstracts, and this difference in meaning is indicated by the use of the noun in the plural form. In these cases, the plural is not the result of nouns being multiplied by number, but of meaning differentiation. A number of the names in this group have acquired a term status in usage. such terms, usually as components of other terms, are also included in the glossaries of economic terms. For example, one of the most recent works of this kind – D. W. Pearce’s English-Lithuanian Explanatory Dictionary of Economics (aEtŽ)6 contains the terms balance of payments (aEtŽ 2006: 205–207), international payment system (aEtŽ 2006: 154), transfer problem (aEtŽ 2006: 628), spot market (aEtŽ 2006: 588), futures settlement transaction, futures settlement transaction market (aEtŽ 2006: 251), liabilities (aEtŽ 2006: 362), current liabilities (aEtŽ 2006: 148), employment (aEtŽ 2006: 195), import restrictions (aEtŽ 2006: 290), rational delays (aEtŽ 2006: 532), etc. Even more terms in the plural form are used in that dictionary to explain concepts. They are also included in the term bank of the Republic of Lithuania managed by the State Lithuanian Language Commission: a settlement account; a settlement agent; current transfers; economic fluctuations; commitments to the investor; balance of payments; use of the state budget, accounting and payment system; current liabilities; the state budget, accounting and payments system; business segment commitments, etc. (lrtb 2012). actual usage confirms that nouns with the suffix -imas (-ymas) in the plural form are not merely data from dictionaries. Transfers, 6 Economics is the field in which terminology has undergone one of the greatest revolutions. in Lithuania for 50 years there was no free market economy and its terminology. after independence, English terms began to flow. Their influx was tried to deal with by translating English dictionaries of terms, but, in the absence of a tradition of using terms, the most accurate and correct Lithuanian equivalents were not always chosen. This translation dictionary is distinguished by the fact that most of the terms presented in it are usage-checked and evaluated by language specialists – the terminology department of the Lithuanian Language Institute contributed to the preparation of the dictionary. r. VasKELaItė. The use of the plural of abstract nouns in economic language and the norm 205 ria is mainly developed in economic theory, this word varies by number (see risk, risks), but the use of the plural of the noun risk would encourage to assume that the primary incentive is not the inclinations of the English language, but the sorting of phenomenal processes, characteristics and other abstract things. This sort is particularly typical of economic analysis texts, and from there it enters economic reviews. For example, risks associated with banking activities are generally divided into liquidity, operational, credit and other risks. In order to generalize all or some of its types in one word, the plural form is used, e.g. : When investing foreign reserves, the Bank of Lithuania faces several risks: credit, exchange rate and interest rate. In implementing the principle of security of foreign reserves, it sets standards and limits for managing all these risks (lbMa 2012: 35); The Governing Council decided to make provisions against foreign exchange rate, interest rate and gold price risks (see Ma 2011: 210). in Lithuanian only the general plural of substance names is considered normative. it is true, that in the Language Advices, where the system of degrees of evaluation of language phenomena is applied, it is considered not as the main, but as a secondary variant of the norm – the main variants are various wines, various kinds of wine, various kinds of tea, yogurt (KP1 2002: 21). For another subset of singular nouns, abstract nouns, the general plural is not directly recognized, but is provided by the above-mentioned exception to the specification of meaning. This can be explained as follows: A person may be overwhelmed by a variety of fears. The threats to the country can be divided into several groups (KP1 2002: 20). such a plural is abundant in usage, e.g. : This shows that the financial markets saw the main threats to Lithuania due to possible influence from abroad (lbMa 2012: 33); The main threats to the financial sector and the stability of the economy as a whole are the limited prospects for economic growth and the threats related to the peripheral problems of public finances in the euro area and the possible negative consequences for the main trading partners of Lithuania (Ma 2010: 26). On the other hand, there are sometimes variants with singular, which in the Language Tips is considered the main variant of the norm, e.g. : In accordance with the principle of safety, the Bank of Lithuania limits and actively manages all types of financial risks encountered when investing foreign reserves (Ma 2010: 40); It is important for banks to further increase their capital buffers, assess the various types of risks conservatively and make the necessary provisions (Fsa 2012: 3). but not always possible in those variants vers- 206 Languages Culture | 85 tis. For example, in the sentence Inspektuojant ypatingai domėjosi, kaip valdoma tam tikrų rūšių rizika, labai daug dėmesio skirta kredito ir likvidumo rizikų valdymui ir vidaus valdymo kokybei (lbMa 2011: 41) the first noun risk uses the standard variant, but the second one can only be used in the plural. Using the singular would not distinguish between credit risk and liquidity risk as two types of risk. The accuracy factor is also contributed by the requirements of style and language economy – repeating a word would be both uneconomical and unstylish, and when discussing the types of risks in detail, it would have to be repeated many times. very similar tendencies are also characterized by the activity of the Lithuanian word, more precisely – economic activity – consumption. After the publication of the Classification of Types of Economic Activities – a systematized set of social and economic activities existing in the country’s economy, the classification unit of which is the type of activity (e.g., agriculture, forestry and fisheries, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, transport and storage, accommodation and catering services, etc.), the usual analysis of the country’s economy by sectors for texts of the previous period began to recede from economic reviews, and at the same time the scope of use of the word sector narrowed. However, the substitution of the compound economic activity seems to have taken over the more specific noun sectors, which indicates the area, place, meaning, e.g. : The increase in wages in the private sector was mainly driven by higher wages in the services sector, mainly in trade, information and communications, transport and storage activities. It also increased throughout the year in other private sector economic activities – industry, construction and agriculture (lbMa 2011: 20). Some cases show that the words (economic) activity and sector are indeed used interchangeably, e.g. : Employment is increasing in the private sector, especially in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, but there are activities where employment is decreasing, such as finance and insurance, education, health care activities (lEa 2012 05: 3); The increase in wages in the private sector was mainly driven by higher wages in the services sector, especially in trade, transport and storage, and information and communications activities. Wages also rose in other private sector activities – in industry, construction and agriculture. More than half of wage growth in the private sector was due to increased non-regular payments (lEa 2012 05: 10). r. VasKELaItė. 207 Consequently, the meaning of the word activity used in such circumstances is considerably concreted and its plural would be the result of the pluralization of the concreted noun. but it is also driven by another factor. When analysing the economy by economic activity, like when discussing the financial sector by the types of risks to which it is exposed, a general variant is needed, and this is usually achieved by using the word activity in the plural, e.g. : The decline in Lithuanian exports would primarily directly affect economic activities more oriented towards foreign trade, i.e. industry, mining, trade, transport and agriculture (Fsa 2012: 26); The portfolio of bank loans to non-financial corporations consisted mainly of loans granted for production, trade, transport, construction and real estate activities (lbMa 2012: 24); Among the main manufacturing activities, only the food industry, one of the activities most dependent on domestic demand, generated less added value than in 2009 (lbMa 2011: 14). In language advice, the more expressive version of the norm – statements with adjectives vary, vses – is not suitable for texts of the official subjective style because of insufficient definition, and the combination of various types of economic activity would not comply with the principle of economicity. Economists are particularly respectful of him. The use of the international word economy in the plural form can also only at first glance be associated with the English language, where the noun economy varies in number (see economies)9. In Lithuanian texts, the plural is most often used to refer to a certain type of economy. true, the need to name it is often caused by a term from the English language. The term "small open economy" is often used to refer to a small and open economy (or small, open economy; small open economy). The term emerging economy Lithuanian equivalent is not yet established, in the usage there are variants emerging economy, emerging market economy, emerging economy, emerging market economy, etc. such statements can be described by a particular country's economy, but more often these are concepts that cover the economy of more than one country, e.g. : To enhance the effectiveness of surveillance, in 2011 the IMF produced for the first time a systemic cross-cutting and consolidated multilateral surveillance report for the five largest economies in the world (euro area, US, UK, China and Japan).9 In economics, economics is a plural noun. 208 Language Culture | 85 issues (lbMa 2012: 68); However, these small and open economies are more affected by the international environment (lEa 2012 08); Changes in domestic demand in systemically important and large world economies, such as the EU, China or the USA, determine changes in Lithuanian export demand through direct and indirect channels (Fsa 2012: 26); Growth in advanced economies remained relatively modest. At the same time, emerging economies, particularly in Asia, have contributed to the global recovery, even raising concerns about overheating pressures in some countries (Ma 2011: 23); Global growth trends continued to diverge not only between developed and emerging economies, but also between developed economies (Ma 2011: 20). The more specific noun farm (farms), which could be used to translate the English word economy (economies), is not used in such terms, and quite rightly. The use of these compounds in English texts indicates that they do not refer to the economies of specific countries, but to the economy as a system with certain structural characteristics. such meaning of the word economy is also indicated in international dictionaries of words (tŽZ 2003: 192; Vaitkevičiūtė 2007: 278). system may be more than one, to indicate their group, the plural system would be used. Thus, a group of economies can be named as economies, and systems divided on some basis can be called species concepts (developing economies, emerging economies, etc.). R. Vladarskienė (2008: 126) has also drawn attention to the fact that plurals arising from similar incentives are no longer isolated cases of use. She noted the following change: earlier it was noted that we are talking about certain species or areas, and now the plural of the abstract noun is even used next to the word species, e.g. : In a competitive business world there are many risks. The types of risks and their classification depend on the nature of the business. The plural used in this way is considered unjustifiable, but in general the plural of things divided into types tends to be accepted: Gross and net profitability of sales of the company; This pollution assessment procedure does not meet the requirements of the EU regulation, since this regulation also requires registration of productions that emit even small amounts of 25 types of pollutants; Rural tourism is one of the most popular alternative activities. It is associated with cases of calculating abstract things (the human psyche seems incapable of feeling two threats, two dangers at the same time; here several influences and tendencies should be distinguished), and the normativity of the latter is considered to be at least doubtful. However, the causal sequence of these cases is probably reversed: phenomena r. VasKElaItė. the use of the plural of abstract nouns in economic language and the norm 209 (processes, characteristics, etc.) are first classified, and only then the units of classification (species, groups, etc.) are counted. The sequence of evaluation of cases, apparently, should also be reversed: since the classification of phenomena, processes, characteristics is a self-evident thing and its consequence – nouns of more specific meaning – is recognized by the codified norm, it is unlikely that a plural naming the distinct units of classification in a general way could be recognized. more consideration should be given to the extent that a further step, namely the counting of excluded species, could be recognised. In the case of direct counting of items sorted in the usage, e.g. : Taking into account the macroeconomic developments and emerging challenges in Lithuania and other countries, three main risks that could threaten the financial sector of our country were identified: a) fiscal consolidation of Lithuania’s most important foreign trading partners, b) increase in risk premiums, and (c) decreased liquidity of parent banks from Scandinavia (Report 2011 05: 54). but much more commonly unclassified objects, named by nouns balance, bankruptcy, budget, reform, debt, calculation, e.g. : The significant increase in the number of bankruptcies and the solvency problems of enterprises increased the share of non-performing loans in the MFI loan portfolio and reduced the ability to borrow (lbMa 2010: 31); The fiscal union would most likely be implemented in tandem with the political union and would allow European-level institutions to influence the budgets and economic reforms of the euro area Member States, as well as pooling and solidarity of national public debts (lEa 2012 08: 5); The widespread and deepening public debt crisis in the euro area poses a particularly serious threat to both the European and the global economy (Report 12/2011: 7). The codified norm of common language, without making any exceptions even for special areas of its use, is not inclined to recognize abstract nouns, at least such as volume, environment, influence, capacity, effect, repair, counting by number, thus also counting the objects marked by them (see Šukys 2003: 105; Paulauskienė 2004a: 152; KP1 2002: 20). In this respect, it seems to be fully in line with the theory of number of nouns taught in morphological works, which distinguishes between nouns denoting countable objects and nouns denoting non-countable objects, respectively – nouns that can and cannot be changed by numbers. abstract nouns are included in the group of non-numerable nouns. The plural of the nouns of this group is considered not as another form of number, but as a sign of another lexical meaning (Paulauskienė 1983: 171; 1989: 165; 1994: 147–148). 148; 2004: 149–151). the same form is considered to be a plural form in one case, 210 Language Culture | 85 kitu – adjective: “Number-invariant nouns can have both plural and singular forms. there may also be some correlation between those forms. only always between the members of the correlation there is a difference in lexical meaning. In this case, consonant words with different number forms cannot be considered as forms of the same word, because the members of the correlation are connected not by a substitution but by an adjective relationship. The grammatical form of the number is used here as an indicator of another meaning” (Paulauskienė 1989: 165). However, the norm is not violated in the usage under consideration, since those abstract nouns are substantially concreted. For example, the budget, which is interpreted in the LC as 1) an estimate of the income and expenditure of the state, institution or person and 2) as a planned calculation of expenditure for a certain period of time (lKŽ 2012), as well as debt, balance are usually associated with a certain amount of funds, and bankruptcy, reform – with a specialized procedure. Thus, the plurality of these nouns should rather be interpreted as the result of recategorization – the transition of formerly uncategorized nouns into the category of variables (see roduner, ČižikProkaševa 2006). The language of economic reviews discussed by IŠVaD reveals that the use of singular abstract nouns in the plural form is determined by a number of factors. based on the usage examined, it is possible to distinguish certain prototypical factors, i.e. those that promote the plural of certain nouns. The use of abstract nouns with suffixes -imas (-ymas), -umas, plural is encouraged by the need to distinguish lexical meanings, i.e. the meaning of the object or result of the action from nouns designating the action (in economic language – a certain operation), process, phenomenon. The latter is also used in the plural form, but this is primarily driven by the need to emphasize repetition. The proliferation of nouns with the meaning of object or result of an action, having the plural form, is also encouraged by the status of a term acquired by some of them and the legalization of this status in economic dictionaries. this is a prerequisite for making more analogous terms. the principle of analogy encourages the use of plural and to indicate repetition. The use of the plural of nouns meaning measures in economic research is mainly determined by the frequent association of these words with specific numbers – r. VasKELaItė. plural use of abstract nouns in economic language and norm 211 in economic indicators. thus the meaning becomes concrete, and the noun begins to count. Another stimulus for the specification of meaning is the division of concepts, specialization, characteristic of economic analysis texts, arising from the tendency to classify phenomena, processes, objects. This is also the case for the generalization of the classification. The investigated usage shows that the plural form is increasingly chosen as such. The variants proposed in normative works for the general naming of species are not suitable for the field of language use, especially respecting the economic principle, and often they are not even possible to use. When classifying phenomena, objects, characteristics, the question of calculating the allocated units of classification also arises. examples of such calculation exist in economic language, but in terms of norm this phenomenon is not evaluated. In general, in normative works, the plural of singular nouns is considered inappropriate for texts of the official subjective style, except in cases of noun specification. In this respect, the norm is fully in line with the theory of noun numbers taught in Lithuanian language morphology works. In theoretical works abstract nouns are named as a subgroup of singular nouns, in normative works their plural use is considered unpresentable. The current codified norm clearly recognizes only one possibility of using singular abstract nouns in the plural form – the noun concretization. but the degree of specificity may be uneven, this is not taken into account in the normative works. They only draw the edge: the use of an abstract singular noun in plural is considered an error, the use of a concrete one – the norm. Insufficient definition of the norm is also a factor that encourages the use of the plural of so-called singular nouns. The usage functioning under such conditions, specifically the economic language, reveals that in most cases the plural of the singular abstract noun is associated with the specification of the meaning. However, the main incentive to use it is not the specificity of the meaning, but other factors. They are not adequately evaluated in normative works. This article is an attempt to discuss these factors. A more reliable answer to the question of whether the discussed factors and usage patterns are characteristic not only of the economic language could be obtained by examining the usage tendencies of other areas of general language, especially of the specia lyzuotų, number. It is therefore hoped that language researchers, developers and users in other fields will also be involved in this discussion. 212 Languages Culture | 85 Sources Fsa 2011: Bank of Lithuania. Financial Stability Review 2011 Fsa 2012: Bank of Lithuania. Financial Stability Review, 2012. lEa 2011: Lietuvos bankas. 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Gauta 2012 11 06 tHE usaGE oF abstraCt NouNs IN Plural IN tHE laNGuaGE oF ECoNoMICs aND tHE NorM Summary the article deals with the topical issue of singular abstract nouns used in plural in one particular domain of modern lithuanian – the language of economics. Factors determining and supporting such usage are discussed. Insufficient determinacy of codified norm can be viewed as one of the factors: publications codifying the language mention only the exception when the meaning becomes more concrete, though concreteness can have a different degree. When only opposing margins of the norm and mistake are indicated (usage of a concrete noun is viewed as correct and of an abstract noun as incorrect) the users are entitled to make a decision about every borderline case. analysis of particular groups of nouns uncovers other factors supporting the usage of abstract nouns in plural. It appears that the plural of the most typical representative of abstract nouns – derivates with the suffix -imas (-ymas) is not only a sign of a change in meaning. Quite a few of such derivates are used in the plural in texts of economics as terms and some of them are included in dictionaries of economics; this encourages the creation and usage of new terms in plural based on analogy with existing terms. another group of abstracts in plural raises the importance of such a factor as avoidance of ambiguity – a noun in the singular could be ambiguous in a particular context. this factor ought to be related with previously mentioned factors of concreteness of the meaning and necessity to express an opposition “one – many”. the codified norm allows an exception for one group of nouns in the singular – names of materials – to be used in plural in order to express a variety of