„Murdyti(s)“, „murgdyti(s)“, „murkdyti(s)“ pateikimas žodynuose ir dabartinė vartosena

DAIVA MURMULAITYTĖ Institute of the Lithuanian Language THE PRESENTATION OF MURDYTI(S), MURGDYTI(S), MURKDYTI(S) IN DICTIONARIES AND CONTEMPORARY USAGE INTRODUCTION One of the innovations of the forthcoming Dictionary of Standard Lithuanian (hereafter BŽ), and one of the reasons for its delay, is that it is being written and edited not alphabetically, as was done previously, but by grouping words according to their shared semantic features and derivation (Liutkevičienė 2006: 9). The aim is to make the dictionary as systematic as possible. The starting point was the computerized version of the 3rd edition of the Dictionary of Contemporary Lithuanian (hereafter DŽ). Its headwords are divided into lexical-semantic groups; the data are analyzed, revised, and supplemented; contemporary usage and the latest lexicographic sources (including later editions of DŽ) are examined; and all of this ultimately becomes new dictionary entries1. When writing entries for verbs with the suffix -yti and their derivatives (one subgroup of this set), it was noted that the relationships among the verbs murdyti, murgdyti, murkdyti (and their derivatives) are treated quite differently in various editions of DŽ and the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language (hereafter LKŽ). Contemporary usage shows them to be variants2: verbs with the roots mur- and murk- (with one or two exceptions) have identical meanings, whereas the least frequently used verbs with the root murg- generally have fewer meanings than the main variant with murk-. Thus, in writing entries for these verbs and their derivatives, it was necessary to consider how far earlier lexicographic sources could be relied upon 1 See also D. Liutkevičienė’s article in this volume of Language Culture (pp. 141–150). 2 Kalbotyroje varianto sąvoka suprantama įvairiai (ЛГС 1990: 80). Šiame straipsnyje variantais vadinamos to paties kalbos vieneto, šiuo atveju – žodžio, skirtýbės, atmainos, turinčios tapačią semantiką ir skirtingą raišką. Pagrindinis, nusistovėjęs, bendrinėje kalboje reikalaujamas variantas yra norma (KTŽ 1990: 225, 134). D. MURMULAITYTĖ. Murdyti(s), murgdyti(s), murkdyti(s) pateikimas žodynuose ir dabartinė vartosena 151 sources, whether it is possible to preserve continuity with their presentation of these words, whether preference can be given to the contemporary usage of these verbs if its study supports treating the words mentioned as variants and shows the clear predominance of one of them, how to reconcile BŽ with LKŽ, in which one of the variants is considered an error, and so on. The answers to these questions are not yet fully clear; therefore, this article aims to stimulate discussion3 and invite criticism and suggestions that would make it possible to present these words appropriately in BŽ, without violating normative requirements or distorting the facts of actual usage. 1. LEXICOGRAPHIC PRESENTATION OF THE VERBS UNDER STUDY 1.1. DŽ1 includes all three verbs under discussion; two of them—murdyti and murgdyti—are listed in a single entry: mùr(g)d∥yti, ~o, ~ė 1. to sink, plunge into water or mud: M., someone into a puddle. The village roads are churned up (in spring); you cannot drive along them. 2. to stuff, push, cram: To stuff hay into a barn. The measure is stuffed full, crammed, and heaped over. They crammed a whole barnful of hay. 3. refl. to wade, wallow (in mud): To wallow in the mud in the lowland. ~ymas (1) mùrkd∥yti, ~o, ~ė 1. to push into a puddle, plunge, murdyti: He plunges the animals into puddles. While wallowing, they pulled the hay out of the puddle. They put all the laundry into the tub. 2. fig. to entangle, get someone into trouble. ~ymas (1) In entries for verbs without prefixes, DŽ1 also lists prefixed and reflexive derivatives of the headword verbs, together with usage examples (DŽ1 VII, XI); thus, this edition of the dictionary also includes įmurdyti, išmurdyti, numurdyti, primurdyti, mur(g)dyti and sumurkdyti. Clearly, for economy’s sake, murdyti and murgdyti are treated as variants with entirely identical meanings and presented in one entry. Judging from the prefixed derivatives given in the examples, all of which are formed only from murdyti, one may surmise that the latter variant is considered the basic form. It is also used to explain murkdyti, which is given in a separate entry and which only in its first 3At the request of the dictionary editors (through Aistė Pangonytė, chief specialist at the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language), Associate Professor Dr Jurgis Pakerys and Associate Professor Dr Albinas Drukteinis have expressed their views on the issue in question. It would be very useful if they agreed to elaborate on their thoughts and make them known publicly to a wider audience. 152 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 83 its meaning coincides with that of the other two verbs, and in addition it has a figurative meaning not characteristic of them. The reflexive derivative murkdyti is not distinguished by a separate sense (cf. mur(g)dyti 3. refl.). 1.2. DŽ₂ includes only two of the verbs without prefixes under discussion: mùrd‖yti, ~o, ~ė 1. to sink, plunge into water or mud: Don’t plunge it so deep. ‖ refl.: To wallow in the mud. 2. to stuff, push, cram: He stuffs hay into a bag, into a barn. ~ymas (1) mùrk‖dyti, ~o, ~ė 1. to plunge into water, murdyti: He is plunging the child into the river—he’ll drown the poor thing. ‖ refl.: While wallowing, they pulled the hay out of the puddle. 2. fig. to entangle, get someone into trouble. ~ymas (1) Both in DŽ₂ and in later editions, prefixed verbs are listed in separate entries, except for derivatives with the prefix ne-. This edition has several prefixed verbs with the root murg-, so, in essence, DŽ₂ includes verbs with all three roots (mur-, murg-, murk-). Interestingly, murádyti and murkdyti, as well as įmurádyti and įmurkėdyti, are given in separate entries. Other prefixed derivatives, including their variants with the root murg-, are listed in the same entry (išmur(g)dyti, numur(g)dyti, primur(g)dyti, sumur(g)dyti, užmur(g)dyti), except for pamurádyti and pamurgdyti, which are given separately. Incidentally, pamurgdyti is defined as “pamurdyti” (rather than being referred to it). In this case, the illustrative examples (both abbreviated and full) do not make it possible to guess which variant is considered basic. For example: išmùr(g) d‖yti, ~o, ~ė to bathe, immersing in water: To bathe a puppy. ‖ refl.: He fell into the river and got completely soaked. užmùr(g)d‖yti, ~o, ~ė 1. to plug, stop up: He plugs the bottle with a cork. 2. to torment by rough handling: The children will torment the kitten. 3. to plop (something) on: He plops a hat onto his head. The semantic structure of the verbs under discussion and their derivatives is presented much as in the previous dictionary edition, except that reflexive verbs are no longer listed as separate senses. 1.3. DŽ₃₋₄ lists all three non-prefixed verbs: mùrd‖yti, ~o, ~ė 1. to submerge, plunge into water or mud: Don’t submerge it so deeply. ‖ refl.: To wallow in mud. 2. to stuff, put, cram: He stuffed the hay into a sack, into the barn. 3. figurative to drag, involve in trouble: He got caught himself and dragged me in too.~ymas (1) mùrgd‖yti, ~o, ~ė see m u r d y t i mùrkd‖yti, ~o, ~ė 1. see m u r d y t i 1. 2. see m u r d y t i 3 D. MURMULAITYTĖ. Murdyti(s), murga(dyti)(s), murkdyti(s) pateikimas žodynuose ir dabartinėje vartosenoje 153 Their meanings are arranged differently, i.e. the figurative meaning “to draw, involve in trouble,” which in earlier editions of DŽ was characteristic only of the verb to murkdyti, is now also assigned to the verb to murdyti, which is treated as the main variant; the other verbs are merely referred to it. Moreover, the semantics of murgdyti completely coincide with those of murdyti (as in DŽ₁), while murkdyti does not have the meaning “to stuff, insert, cram” (this is characteristic of all editions of DŽ). The most striking innovation in DŽ₃₋₄ is the absence of prefixed verb variants with -g-, which in the previous edition were given under a single headword with the main variant. The sole form išmur(g)dyti (also the only instance of variants being given under one headword) apparently survived by mistake. Thus, only two verbs with the root murg- remain in DŽ₃₋₄: murgdyti and išmurgdyti. 1.4. In the electronic versions of DŽ₅₋₆, the picture changes substantially: variants with the root murk- disappear (except for prisimurkdyti), while verbs with the root murg- are consistently referred throughout to the main variant murdyti and its prefixed derivatives. It is also interesting that all editions of DŽ except the first give a second meaning for užmurdyti: “to torment to death by wallowing (murgdant in DŽ₂)”: Children will torment the kitten to death. However, the entry for the base verb contains no such meaning on which the derivative could be based (cf. the LKŽ definition “to fondle, knead”). 1.5. The presentation of the verbs under discussion and their prefixed derivatives in LKŽ ir LKŽₑ skiriasi. Pirmiausia atkreiptinas dėmesys, kad LKŽₑ murgdyti laikomas klaida, taisomas į murkdyti, pateikiamas be iliustracinių pavyzdžių, nėra nei jo vedinių. Spausdintinis LKŽ pateikia tiek murgdyti, tiek sangrąžinį ir priešdėlinius jo vedinius įmurgdyti, numurgdyti, nusimurgdyti, pamurgdyti, pasimurgdyti, primurgdyti, prisimurgdyti, sumurgdyti. Jie visi nurodomi į murdyti arba atitinkamus priešdėlinius ar sangrąžinius jo vedinius, iliustruojami pavyzdžiais iš gyvosios kalbos ir raštų. Apskritai LKŽ užfiksuota daugybė tos pačios arba artimos semantikos žodžių su šaknimis mur-, murg-, murk- ir kt.: murà „klampynė, purvynas“; ¹ mùras „įmirkusi, pažliugusi žemė“; mùras², -à „šlapias, pažliugęs“; murdėti, mùrda (mùrdi?), -ėjo „būti paskendusiam, skendėti, grimzdėti“; murdýnas, murdỹne „klampi, pelkėta vieta, dumblynas“; mùrdinti (-yti), -ina, -ino žr. murdyti 4 („kišti į vandenį ar šiaip kokį skystį, gramzdinti, nardinti“); mùrduloti, -oja, -ojo „bet kaip prausti, murdyti“; ¹ murgėti, 154 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 83 mùrga, -ėjo „smulkiai lyti, purkšti“; murglà „tiršta migla; labai smulkus lietus“; mùrglinas, -à 1. „purvinas, nešvarus“; 2. „sukaitęs, suprakaitavęs“; murglýnas „purvynas“; murglýnė „labai klampi vieta, dumblynas“; 2 muõglinti, -ina, -ino „purvinti, tepti“; muõglytis, -ijasi, -ijosi „maudytis, turlytis“; murgliuoti, -iuoja, -iavo „tepti, terlioti“; murglótas, -a „su smulkiu lietumi, miglotas“; murglóti, -ója, -ójo „smulkiai lynoti, dulksnoti“; 3 mùrinas, -à 1. „purvinas, murzinas, išteptas“; 2. „šlapias, suplukęs, sušilęs“; 1 mùrinti, -ina, -ino 1. „tepti, terlioti, murzinti“; | refl.; 2. „mirkyti, šlapinti“; 2 mùrinti, -ina, -ino „murdyti“; 2 įmùrinti „įmurdyti, įkišti“; 2 išmùrinti žr. išmurdyti 3 („važiuojant išmindyti, išdrembti“): Išmùrintas kelýs; mùrioti, -ioja, -iojo 1. „tepti, teršti, purvinti“; 2. refl. „netikusiai praustis, terliotis“; mùrkyti, -o (-ia), -ė „maigyti, niurkyti“; įmùrkyti „įkišti, įniurkyti“; sumùrkyti 1. „sulamdyti, sumurdyti, sumaigyti“; 2. „sutraiškyti, sutriuškinti, sumurdyti“; 3. „sukišti į vandenį, sumerkti“; murklýnė žr. murglýnė; 2 mùrklinti, -ina, -ino žr. 2 murglinti; murklóti, -ója, -ójo „klampoti, makoti“; murknà „atlydys, atodrėkis“; murknùs, -i „apsiniaukęs, darganotas“; murksóti, mùrkso, -ójo 3. „būti apsiniaukus“; 1 murkšlà „smulkus lietus“; murkšlénti, -ėna, -ėno „terlioti, purvinti, nešvariai ką daryti (pvz., skalbti)“; 1 mùrkšlinti, -ina, -ino „tepti, terlioti“; mùrkšlioti, -ioja, -iojo 3. „prastai, nešvariai mazgoti, prausti“; murkšlótas, -a „apsiniaukęs; smulkiais lašeliais lynojantis“; 1 murkšlóti, -ója, -ójo „smulkiai lyti, lynoti“; mùrkteleti, -ėja (-ia), -ėjo 1. „staiga pasinerti“; 2. „staiga įlįsti, įbėgti, šmurkštelėti“; 2 mùrkti, -ia, -ė „be paliovos lyti, merkti“; 2 murla „rūkas, migla“; 2 murlìà „klampi vieta, dumblynė“; muõliotis, -iojasi, -iojosi „lynoti, dulkti“; muõlyti, -ija, -ijo 1. „teršti, tepti, drumsti“; 2. refl. „pliuš kentis, tašky tis, turly tis“; mùrti, -sta (mūra), -o 1. „šlapti, mirkti, težti“; 3. „klimpti, grimzti“ ir kt. Dar plg. mùrmaliuoti, -iuoja, -iavo žr. murlyti 2: Ančiukai mùrmaliuoja po klaną; murmýnė 1. „klampynė“; mùrminti (-yti), -ina, -ino 3. „kišti, grūsti, murdyti“; 5. refl. „važiuoti blogu keliu, klampoti“. Turint galvoje tiek formos, tiek reikšmės tapatumą ar panašumą, straipsnyje nagrinėjamus šaknų mur-, murg-, murk- ir kitus čia išvardytus žodžius dar galima sieti su mirkti, merkti, maurai ir pan. The extensive data in LKŽ show that words with both the root murg- and the root murk- form sizable derivational families. In both cases, they can occur before a vowel and a semivowel (e.g., murgėti, murgla, murkti (murkia, murkė), murkyti, murkna); therefore, it would be incorrect to consider the spelling of the root murg- incorrect because of consonant assimilation. D. MURMULAITYTĖ. Murdyti(s), murga(dyti)(s), murk(dyti)(s) pateikimas žodynuose ir dabartinė vartosena 155 Summarizing the data in LKŽ and LKŽₑ, it is apparent that verbs with the root mur– are more characteristic of Samogitians and Western Highlanders, whereas those with murg– / murk– are more characteristic of Eastern Highlanders. 2. DATA FROM ETYMOLOGICAL SOURCES In Ernst Fraenkel’s Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, the -gl- in mūrg̃linas ‘soaked’ is derived from -*dl-; this word is associated with mùrdyti, mùrti, mùras, murióti, máuras ‘mud, dirt’, as well as Latvian murdi ‘jet, spring (Sprudel)’, mùrdēt ‘to bubble, boil’, murdinât ‘to muddy’, murga ‘puddle, pool, unclean creature (Pfütze, unreines Wesen)’, murît, -êt ‘to soil, make dirty’ (Fraenkel 1965: 472). In the dictionary by Kārlis Mīlenbahs and Jānis Endzelīns, murdinât means 1. ‘to muddy’ (water); 2. ‘to make bubble, boil’ (water); 3. ‘to make purr’ (a cat), and is possibly associated with Lithuanian mùrdyti (Wohl zu li. murdyti „etwas im Wasser rüttelnd behandeln“; ME 1925–1927: 668), while murga is associated with Lithuanian mùrti (ME 1925–1927: 669). The Latvian etymological dictionary associates Latvian murdētb ‘to bubble, boil’ and the Russian dialect word мурда́ ‘mud, mire’ with murdyti. The basic meaning of the root is illustrated by dialectal murît ‘to splash, soil, besmirch’ and murga ‘puddle, pool’. The meaning of the Latvian word was influenced by the homonym murdēta ‘to speak unclearly, grumble, mumble’ (Karulis 1992: 608–609)⁴. In Wojciech Smoczyński’s Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, the root murk- words murksėti ‘to submerge, sink’ and murknà ‘thaw’ are presented in the etymology of the verb merkti, while the root mur– verbs and nouns (i)mùrti, mùrdyti(s), murdėti, mùrinti, murà, mùras, mùrinas and others are discussed in the etymology of máuras. Meanwhile, murgėti, murglà, murglóti, on the basis of the relationship between the meanings of Polish mżyć (1. ‘to drizzle, rain lightly’ and 2. ‘to be visible as if through mist, shine with diffuse light, glimmer, twinkle’), are associated with Latvian mùrgt ‘to spend time without sleeping, toil, struggle’, mùrgi ‘delirium, hallucination; apparitions; aurora borealis’, and mùrguôt ‘to rave, hallucinate, fantasize’, and are discussed in the etymology of mirgėti (Smoczyński 2007: 378, 390, 404). 4 Cf. Lithuanian mùrminti (–yti), –ina, –ino 1. intr. N ‘to mutter, grumble’. 2. tr. ‘to irritate, anger’: Kam mùrmini juos, t. y. pykini! J. 3. tr. ‘to put in, stuff, agitate’: Dukrele, mùrmink gerai siūlus, kad dažai geriau nukąstų Kp. 4. tr. ‘to poke, dig’: Dalgiočiu èmiau murmýti liūną, ir atsivėrė eketėlė Slm. 5. refl. ‘to travel along a bad road, trudge through mud’: Mùrminas po duobes, ir gana Skr. (LKŽₑ). 156 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 83 In one of the entries in the Database of the Etymological Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language (http://etimologija.baltnexus.lt/?w=murdyti) murdyti ‘to shake’ is compared with Serbian–Croatian words of Proto-Slavic origin (based on *mъrd-) *mъrdati (sę) – mȍdamu (ce)) and their counterparts in Slovenian mȑdati, Bulgarian мъ̀рдam, мръ̀двам, мръ̀дна, Polish mardać, merdać, and Serbo-Croatian mrdati (all have similar meanings: ‘to move, touch’). There is no data on murgdyti, murkdyti (consulted 2010 11 24). Thus, information about the verbs under consideration in etymological sources is quite varied and, in some cases, raises doubts. None of the etymologies mentions all three. Most likely, murdyti(s), murgdyti(s), murkdyti(s) should be regarded as words of different origins. From a synchronic perspective, the first is related to murti, while the third is related to merkti, mirkti. The second, murgdyti(s), is clearly not a voiced variant of murkdyti(s). 3. SEMANTICS The primary meaning of the verbs under discussion, murdyti, murgdyti, murkdyti, is “to (usually repeatedly) put, plunge into a liquid or similar medium”; e.g., murkdyti into water, into snow; murkdyti in mud (for further examples illustrating this and other meanings in use, see the first dictionary entry in the BŽ dictionary presented in Section 5 of this article). A figurative meaning, “to harm, embroil in trouble, demean, disparage, ruin,” developed from this meaning; e.g., a good person’s reputation is now being dragged through the mud; to murkdyti someone in court; a sumurdytas competitor is unlikely to recover. The verb murdyti is distinctive in that its derivative iš-murdyti also means “to make soft and rutted by treading or driving over (of roads)”5. It is noteworthy that an example of usage with this meaning is recorded only in the first of all editions of DŽ (see the cited entry for murgdyti); however, it erroneously illustrates the first meaning mentioned above. Yet examination of usage suggests that the verb išmurdyti is most often used in the sense of making something soft and rutted. Related to the primary meaning of plunging into a liquid or similar medium are the meanings of the reflexive derivatives murdytis, murgdytis, murkdytis: “to wade laboriously, move while sinking, flounder, etc.” and “to bathe, dive, splash about”; there is also 5Probably, išmurdyti in this sense should be considered a suffixed verb with a prefix, rather than a prefixed verb—that is, a causative derivative formed with the suffix -dyti from išmurti, rather than a derivative of murdyti with the prefix iš-. The LKŽ entry for the latter does not give this meaning. Of course, depending on context, the derivation of išmurdyti, like that of many other verbs bearing prefixes and suffixes, may also be interpreted differently (Urbutis 1978: 92). D. MURMULAITYTĖ. Murdyti(s), murgdyti(s), murkdyti(s) pateikimas žodynuose ir dabartinė vartosena 157 a figurative meaning, “to struggle, have a hard time, encounter obstacles, make efforts to cope with worries, solve problems, etc.”; e.g., to murkdyti someone in debt, intrigues, scandals. According to data from the printed editions of DŽ, murkdyti does not have the meaning “to forcefully put, stuff, cram,” which is characteristic of the verbs murdyti and murgdyti. LKŽₑ provides examples of įmurkdyti, primurkdyti and sumurkdyti in use that show this meaning of stuffing or cramming: And who put you into that sack? rš. Whatever he could find, he crammed into his sack Svn. The woman, having stuffed the rooster back into the basket as it was climbing out, hurried on her way P. Cvir. It is true that in the printed LKŽ the first two sentences illustrate the verbs įmurgdyti and primurgdyti (with the same sources cited)6. 4. REFLECTION OF CURRENT USAGE ON THE INTERNET To investigate current usage of the verbs murdyti(s), murgdyti(s), murkdyti(s) and their prefixed derivatives, the Google search engine was used (consulted 2010 06 16–20; reflexive verbs were additionally investigated on 2010 11 08, and the results obtained essentially matched the earlier ones). Publicly accessible online texts can, according to their communicative character, be provisionally divided into informational and communicative texts; the latter are more akin to “a (more or less) private spoken-language variety in written form” (Vaicekauskienė 2008: 71–72). In this case, statistical data were collected without classifying online texts into these categories, although at first glance one can say that texts of a communicative nature were more numerous. This is natural, since the words under investigation are stylistically marked and characteristic of colloquial speech. They are particularly often used in figurative senses. Texts of a partly communicative nature may even be more important for this study—as a counterbalance to the lexicographical sources examined, from which (because their presentation is quite heterogeneous) it is difficult 6 In general, some examples given in the printed LKŽ with the root murg-, but correspondingly amended in the electronic edition, illustrate the usage of verbs with the root murk- (doc. dr. Albinas Drukteinis drew the attention of the BŽ editors to this). Most of the amended examples come from spoken language; the word collectors may have written them down according to their own understanding of correct spelling (i.e., with –g–). When the compilers of LKŽₑ decided to treat murgdyti as a misspelling, the cited and other usage examples may have been corrected and placed under entries for verbs with the correct spelling. It is true that several examples from written sources were also corrected, but these were old or, for other reasons, not especially reliable in terms of spelling; they are marked with the abbreviations BsP (= Lietuviškos pasakos įvairios. Surinko Dr. J. Basanavičius. I–IV dalis. Chicago 1903–1905) and rš (= a word or sentence from translations and other writings that are not otherwise especially distinctive). 158 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 83 to determine the actual usage of the aforementioned verbs and the relationships among them. Searches were conducted for both simple and reflexive finite forms, as well as active and passive participles. Since the search-string length is limited, while verbs have a large and varied range of forms, the most likely, i.e. most frequent, forms were selected for the searches (cf. Aleksandravičiūtė 2008: 270). For example, in the case of murdyti, murdytis, the search strings were as follows: (1) simple finite forms – “murdyti” OR “murdau” OR “murdai” OR “murdo” OR “murdomė” OR “murdote” OR “murdžiau” OR “murdei” OR “murdė” OR “murdėme” OR “murdėte” OR “murdydavau” OR “murdydavai” OR “murdydavo” OR “murdydavome” OR “murdydavote” OR “murdysiu” OR “murdysi” OR “murdys” OR “murdysime” OR “murdysite” OR “murdytų” OR “murdyk” OR “murdykite”; (2) reflexive finite forms – “murdytis” OR “murdausi” OR “murdaisi” OR “murdosi” OR “murdomės” OR “murdotės” OR “murdžiausi” OR “murdeisi” OR “murdėsi” OR “murdėmės” OR “murdėtės” OR “murdydavausi” OR “murdydavaisi” OR “murdydavosi” OR “murdydavomės” OR “murdydavotės” OR “murdysis” OR “murdytusi” OR “murdykis” OR “murdykitės”; (3) active participle forms – “murdomas” OR “murdomo” OR “murdomam” OR “murdomą” OR “murdomu” OR “murdomame” OR “murdomi” OR “murdomų” OR “murdomiems” OR “murdomus” OR “murdomais” OR “murdomuose” OR “murdoma” OR “murdomos” OR “murdomai” OR “murdomoje” OR “murdomoms” OR “murdomomis” OR “murdomose”; (4) passive participle forms – “murdytas” OR “murdyto” OR “murdytam” OR “murdytą” OR “murdytu” OR “murdytame” OR “murdytiems” OR “murdytus” OR “murdytais” OR “murdy tuose” OR “murdyta” OR “murdytos” OR “murdytai” OR “murdytoje” OR “murdytoms” OR “murdytomis” OR “murdytose”. The search results are presented in Table 1. The first column gives statistics for the simple verbs’ finite forms (1) and reflexive verbs’ finite forms (2), while columns (3) and (4) give numerical data for active and passive participles (excluding the plural nominative and genitive forms, which coincide with the infinitive and third-person conditional forms and are therefore counted together with the simple finite forms). The first row of figures gives the statistics for verbs without prefixes; the following rows cover verbs with various prefixes, e.g., the second row gives į(si)murdyti, į(si)murgdyti, į(si)murkdyti, and the third gives iš(si)murdyti, iš(si)murgdyti, iš(si)murkdyti, and so on. The abstract nouns of the verbs under discussion were also examined; their search strings consisted of the complete inflectional paradigms of the simple and reflexive nouns. Table 2 shows the frequency of usage of action nouns. D. MURMULAITYTĖ. Murdyti(s), murgdyti(s), murkdyti(s) pateikimas žodynuose ir dabartinė vartosena 159 TABLE 1. Usage of verbs with the roots mur-, murg-, murk- Prefix murdyti (1) (2) (3) (4) total murgdyti (1) (2) (3) (4) total murkdyti (1) (2) (3) (4) total − 153 192 31 9 385 52 86 16 4 158 278 529 122 21 950 į- 53 1 15 16 85 8 1? − 2 11 108 5 6 35 154 iš- 10 2 − 4 16 8 5 − 2 15 31 21 2 18 72 ne- 16 12 1 1 30 1 12 1 4 18 16 19 3 4 42 nu- 10 2 − 7 19 3 − − 1 4 8 1 1 4 14 pa- 39 35 1 5 80 31 21 − 5 57 76 92 5 10 183 pri- 11 3 − 1 15 1? − − − 1 4 4 − 2 10 su- 51 11 1 22 85 23 − 1 8 32 78 2 5 31 116 už- 4 − − 2 6 − − − − − 7 4 3 1 15 Total 347 258 49 67 721 127 125 18 26 296 606 677 147 126 1556 TABLE 2. Usage of action nouns with the roots mur-, murg-, murk- Prefix murdymas simple refl. total murgdymas simple refl. total murkdymas simple refl. total − 19 23 42 11 5 16 39 5 44 į- 1 − 1 1 − 1 − − − iš- − − − − − − 2 2 4 ne- − − − − − − 1 − 1 nu- − − − − − − − − − pa- 2 3 5 1 6 7 7 19 26 pri- − − − − − − 1 − 1 su- 5 − 5 − − − 3 1 4 už- − − − − − − − − − Total 27 26 53 13 11 24 53 27 80 160 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 83 Tables 1 and 2 clearly show that verbs with the root murk- and their abstract nouns are the most frequent, with 1,556 and 80 usage examples, respectively. Verbs and nouns with the root mur- are considerably less common (721 and 53), while verbs with the root murg- are more than five times less frequent (their abstract nouns 3.3 times less frequent) than the most common verbs with the root murk- (296 instances of verb use and 24 of noun use were found). Given the diversity of internet texts, the predominance of communicative texts, the varying literacy levels of their authors (most texts are unedited), and other non-linguistic factors, these frequency figures can be relied on only to a limited extent when choosing one or another root variant as the main one. It is not known which authors consciously choose variants with murg- and murk-, and which simply write as they hear the words, paying no attention to consonant assimilation. Nevertheless, the statistical data are highly revealing and show that forms with the root murk- clearly predominate in present-day usage7. 5. PRESENTATION IN THE DICTIONARY OF STANDARD LITHUANIAN According to the concept of the DStL, this dictionary “must be a dictionary of actual norms, in which, by applying the criterion of correctness in a differentiated way and without avoiding the presentation of variants, a prestigious language would be shaped without eliminating everyday language” (Naktinienė 2000: 16). In everyday speech, according to the study conducted, verbs with the roots mur-, murg-, and murk- are used as variants and have the same basic meanings, while the semantics of the mur- and murk- words are almost identical. It should be borne in mind that the new dictionary will be normative, and changes in norms cannot be sudden. The principal requirement of codification is to maintain an essential characteristic of the norm—stability (Pupkis 1980: 37; Vitkauskas 1995: 88). On the other hand, “the compilers of the DStL must heed the social nature of norms and, when choosing among several variants acceptable in standard language, follow the principle of usage precedence” (Naktinienė 2000: 17). When deciding on the main variant for the DStL, attention should be paid to word origin, derivational relationships with words in the same derivational family (in terms of meaning and form), the history of their presentation in dictionaries, and current usage. The latter factor is especially significant in this case, since present-day written usage shows that the semantics of murdyti and murkdyti have become almost identical, and the words have the same 7 It is interesting that the Google search tool, drawing on its own statistical data and usage-frequency figures, sometimes asks whether you meant to search for a more frequent variant, e.g., “Perhaps you meant to search for įmurkdyti?” (when searching for įmurgdyti). D. MURMULAITYTĖ. Murdyti(s), murgdyti(s), murkdyti(s) pateikimas žodynuose ir dabartinėje vartosenoje 161 same meanings. Among prefixed derivatives, only išmurdyti has distinctive meanings. Some prefixed derivatives of murgdyti have fewer meanings than their principal variants, at least according to their usage on the internet. The most frequently used form, murkdyti, which has the greatest number of meanings, is proposed as the main variant in the dictionary being compiled. For each of its meanings, the meanings of the less frequent variant murdyti are to be given separately, together with illustrative examples. To avoid departing too far from LKŽ, Murgdyti is currently planned to be included only as a cross-reference to the main variant, without distinguishing its meanings or providing illustrations. Thus, dictionary entries for the verbs under discussion could look roughly as follows (this is not their final wording; among other things, it contains an excessive number of usage examples, included to better illustrate the words’ semantic structures and their relationships): mùrkdyti, mùrkdo, mùrkė verb. 1. (someone/something) (usually repeatedly) put, plunge into water or another liquid, mud, snow, etc., and move about after submerging: Children like to swim and dunk one another. Fortunately, I noticed the girls in time as the waves were tossing them about. | (someone/something, into something, in something): I rub a soapy rag over the greasy plates and swish them in the water. Drivers will again churn up cars on the lawns in apartment-block courtyards that have turned to mud. I baked angel-wing pastries, then dipped them in honey. | intransitive, reflexive: When the float starts bobbing under, pull in the fishing rod. | negative form (someone/something, into something, under something): I no longer trudge my winter boots through mud and puddles; I got my boots out. You mustn’t fool around in the water or dunk one another. That’s a good off-roader, never driven through bogs and mud. | figurative (with something): I was grateful to the author for not rubbing my nose in the goose he was describing. 2. intransitive, reflexive (in something, through something) slog, wade, move while sinking, struggle, rummage: The photographer slogged through the meadow [through the mud] in boots. Second-hand-clothes sellers slog through puddles [through puddles] in the rain. It seems that rugby players really like wallowing in mud. Plumbers spent several hours slogging through the sewer over a (lost) precious ring. People slogged through the river while driving across it. | figurative: You wallow in self-pity. | negative form (in something, through something): I won’t slog through the snow. So that people would not have to slog through the spring and autumn mud, the constantly waterlogged gravel road was paved with stones. 3. intransitive, reflexive (in something) bathe, swim, splash about: Children, that’s enough splashing about; get out onto the bank! We sunbathed and splashed about in the sea [in the waves] until we turned blue. Birds splash about in the stream. In winter they used to bathe in an ice hole. 4. (someone/something) harm, do wrong, drag or involve in trouble, humiliate, disparage, ruin: While the tsar was oppressing us, other nations created masterpieces. In its year as European Capital of Culture, Vilnius was both praised and dragged through the mud. The strategy is simple—somehow attract a customer and then exploit him. A person was, and will remain, a person, however much you may degrade him. | (someone/something, into something, in something, with something, through something): The creator of the advertising business is constantly dragged through the mud. The authorities are dragging Lithuania into 162 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 83 the mire of debt. How much longer will we let them drag the country’s good name through the mud? Let us encourage and support our interlocutor, not drag them through the mud of criticism. Why are we dragging one another through the mud now? I myself have more than once been dragged face-first through the mud. • cf. drown, bog down. | negative (of whom/what): If you are going to exalt yourself, at least don’t drag your colleagues through the mud. There is no need to drag other people through the mud. | negative (whom/what, in what): A true journalist should not drag the reader through the dregs. 5. reflexive (in what, with what) to toil, struggle, encounter obstacles, make efforts in a particular condition (usually while coping with worries and unpleasantness or solving problems): Toil in poverty [corruption, conflicts of interest, intrigues, debt]. We are bogged down in routine [a tangle of laws], just as we have been bogged down before. I too have been pushed into the same pit in which all of Lithuania is bogged down. The former president is mired in scandal. The team is mired at the bottom of the tournament table (sports). I queue for ages and promise myself again that next time I’ll shop in advance. • cf. sink, get stuck. | (with what): I’ve been struggling with that password for a second day now. 6. (what, into what) to forcefully put; [syn.] stuff, cram: The girl shuts the book and stuffs it into her handbag. Just take such a little gift and pop it into Santa Claus’s sack. | figurative: Children dip their little noses into the news. | negative (what, into what): Don’t force the child’s little feet into the shoe. 7. (what) to rumple, squeeze: The kitten being mauled by the little girl does not resist for a while. mùrdyti, mùrdo, mùrdė verb. MURKDYTI: 1. (what): The thawing rains kept pressing down on the trees, mùrdė. | (what, into what, in what): The puppy keeps burying its bruised little muzzle in the snow. They drive their off-road vehicles through the mud, taking them onto dangerous tracks. | negative (what, into what, in what): You won’t bury me in the snow [in snowdrifts], and we won’t throw snowballs at each other anymore. | figurative (with what): Our police still don’t slam women who have committed crimes face-first onto the asphalt. 2. reflexive (in what, under what): I’m wallowing in a ditch [in slush, in a swamp], sinking. Having arrived (at the market), we wallowed in the snow. The off-road vehicles wallowed in the puddles on the track. 3. reflexive (in what): The children are happily splashing about in the pond. Pigs, birds, and dogs wallowed in the street dirt. 4. (what): She did not give in while being persecuted, and even won the case. Lithuania, oppressed by occupiers for fifty years, breathed freedom once again. | (what, into what, in what): To burden with debt. Mired in lies and slander, people longed for the truth. The special commission is a powerful weapon for dragging a political opponent through the mud. The residents’ garbage fee plunges them into chaos. | negative (what, into what, in what): We would like them not to drag us deeper into the muck than we already are. I won’t be dragged into this mess again! (about a tangle of laws). 5. reflexive (in what): You too will be mired in the grey routine of everyday life. If the economies of developing countries do not grow, they will continue to be mired in poverty. I’m struggling with the encyclopedia and finding nothing. You buy a good car and then have to struggle through the streets [traffic jams] with heaps of junk. | negative reflexive (in what): I live here and now; I don’t wallow in the past. 6. (what, into what): The caretaker rakes up the fallen leaves and stuffs them into a bag. With my eyes closed, I pushed my face deeper and deeper into the pillow D. MURMULAITYTĖ. Murdyti(s), murgdyti(s), murkdyti(s) pateikimas žodynuose ir dabartinė vartosena 163 with my head. Standing on the roof, at the edge of the wheel, the stork wedged the branch it had brought between the spokes. Every official dips a hand into the state treasury. | negative (what, into what): Painted items should not be put in the container marked “Paper.” 7. (what): She is always picking on and pestering the little one (her sister). | negative (what): Don’t disturb the puppies now; they’re sleeping, full and peaceful. mùrgdyti, mùrgdo, mùrgdė verb. MURKDYTI. The prefixed derivatives are also intended to be presented in an analogous way. Bearing in mind the distinctiveness of the verb išmurdyti (i.e. its characteristic meaning of making something soft and sodden, trampling it down, and the like, in which it is most often used), the verbs under discussion with the prefix iš– are to be presented somewhat differently: išmurdyti, išmùrdo, išmùrdė verb. 1. (what) to damage by driving over, make soft and sodden, trample down: The road is already badly churned up. The soil is warm, churned up by wheels and trampled by cattle. 2. (what, in what) IŠMURKDYTI 1: I poured water and detergent into the sink and washed the plates in that water. The boys who caught a nasty fellow will churn him about in the mud [in the pond]. 3. reflexive (in what) IŠMURKDYTI 2: Yesterday he fell into a river or ditch, into a puddle, and got completely muddy. išmùrkdyti, išmùrkdo, išmùrkdė verb. 1. (what, in what) to wash, bathe, thoroughly soak, or dirty by immersing in liquid, mud, snow, etc.: I managed to soak the cat, but didn’t have the patience to wipe and dry it. It is not enough to soak the meat in marinade; it has to marinate for several hours. The rain soaked us through. Those things weren’t damaged by a flood; they were deliberately soaked in puddles. 2. reflexive (in what) to get very wet or dirty by wallowing: The hikers also had to get soaked in the swamp. It seems I swam across the water’s surface, only to get thoroughly soaked in it. Before climbing into the boat, the dog got covered in mud. | figurative: To achieve perfection, you have to immerse yourself in mistakes. 3. (what) to harm, do wrong, get someone into trouble, humiliate, disdain: The victim also feels no less dragged through the mud in this case. Whoever you’ve gotten involved with, they’ll make a right mess of you! 4. (what) to rumple thoroughly, squeeze: When I got home, I would first rumple and cuddle all my cats. 5. (what, with what) IŠMURDYTI 1: With machines weighing ten tonnes, they churn up not only roads but also farmers’ fields. išmùrgdyti, išmùrgdo, išmùrgdė verb. IŠMURKDYTI. By consistently referring verbs with the root murg- to the main variant with the root murk-, the intention is to show that their spelling is not incorrect (since they were included in the normative dictionary), while also avoiding too great a departure from the presentation in LKŽₑ. Nevertheless, this way of presenting them is not precise, because internet usage and LKŽ show that the meanings of verbs with the root murg- do not entirely coincide with the meanings of the main variant in every case. Most often, they have fewer meanings. 164 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 83 For example, išmurgdyti has only one meaning, “to wash, bathe, thoroughly wet, or soil by immersing in liquid, mud, snow, or the like”: Sour cream, lots of herbs <...>, pepper, onion, juice of half a lemon—and then you thoroughly soak the meat in all of that (about marinating). The little dog takes my glove, simply pulls it off my hand, and then buries it in the snow. The reflexive form išsimurgdyti is likewise used only in the sense “to get very wet or dirty by splashing about”: You do the puppy’s hair, and the very next moment it gets dirty in the mud with the others—such a shame. Many got covered in mud during the survival competition. These two meanings are only two of the five given in the entry for the primary variant išmurkdyti, although, when referred to the entire entry rather than to a specific meaning of the primary variant, it is natural to expect the secondary variant to be semantically identical to the primary one, that is, to have all the meanings characteristic of it. On the other hand, pa(si)murgdyti has more meanings in internet usage than pa(si)murkdyti, to which it is intended to refer. The verb under study in the sentence My (cat) is so full of herself; she’ll come to you only when she wants to, of course, though sometimes I force her to let me cuddle her clearly connects with the seventh meaning of the non-prefixed verb murkdyti, “to fondle, handle,” which, in the absence of usage examples, is not intended to be included in the entry for the word pamurkdyti. This meaning is also attested by the use of the verbal noun in the sentence Barbė (the dog) was waiting to be cuddled at the show. It should also be borne in mind that in BŽ reflexive verbs are presented in the entries for their corresponding non-reflexive verbs; this can cause additional confusion when a reference points to an entire entry rather than to a particular sense. Not to mention that non-philologist dictionary users have difficulty understanding the cross-referencing of variants (Naktinienė 2000: 21). It is true that BŽ is intended to include only the most frequently used prefixed derivatives of murgdyti(s) with the prefixes į-, iš-, nu-, pa-, and su-; among their verbal nouns, only pa(si)murgdymas would be included, because of the rarity of its use. Usage research found insufficient evidence for verbs of this root and their verbal nouns with other prefixes to warrant their inclusion in BŽ. In general, words with the root murg- are used much less frequently, as the statistics show, and on the basis of usage frequency alone perhaps should not be included in the headword list of BŽ. Nevertheless, excluding them altogether would also be misguided, precisely because of the variation discussed here; and given that this is the rarest and semantically simplest of the three variants, it should be presented accordingly—unlike the second variant, with the root mur-, which is almost completely equivalent in meaning to the primary variant. Thus, of the several theoretically possible ways of presenting verbs with the root murg- and their verbal nouns, this approach has been chosen at present as the lesser evil. It D. MURMULAITYTĖ. Murdyti(s), murgdyti(s), murkdyti(s) pateikimas žodynuose ir dabartinė vartosena 165 is an unavoidable drawback, since in this case some words are presented inaccurately in BŽ. However, that proportion is very small. There are also advantages: the two kinds of cross-reference make it possible to show the differences between variants, and the rarest variant is nevertheless included in the dictionary because, on the basis of an analysis of related words and other evidence, it is not to be avoided in standard language. CONCLUSIONS 1. The verbs murdyti, murgdyti, murkdyti, together with their reflexive and prefixed derivatives, are intended to be presented in BŽ in a substantially different way from that used in previously published dictionaries and their electronic versions. 2. These verbs and their derivatives are presented quite differently across various publications on contemporary language and in editions of the academic dictionary, so it would be difficult for BŽ to maintain any kind of continuity. In an attempt to reconcile the requirements of stability of norms and the primacy of usage—which are difficult to reconcile in this case—a differentiated system of cross-referencing variants has been chosen. 3. Because of their greater frequency of use and richer semantics, verbs with the root murk- would be treated as the primary variants in BŽ; less frequently used verbs with the root mur-, which have almost identical meanings, would be cross-referenced to them, while also being divided into senses and provided with usage examples. The rarest verbs with the root murg-, whose meanings overlap only in part, would likewise be presented with references to the primary variants, but without being semantically divided or illustrated. 4. Presenting verbs with the root murg- in this way gives a somewhat distorted picture of their semantics. However, presenting them as equivalent to verbs with the root mur- would amount to acknowledging the equivalence of two variants (with the roots murg- and mur-), thereby contradicting LKŽe, where verbs with the root murg- are regarded as erroneous and corrected. 5. To present the verbs murdyti(s), murgdyti(s), murkdyti(s) and their prefixed derivatives in BŽ properly—accurately and systematically, without contradicting normative requirements or distorting actual usage—it would be very useful to hear the views not only of lexicographers but also of specialists in lexicology, semantics, word formation, etymology, and especially spelling. After these issues have been discussed, already in the first edition of BŽ these verbs and the words in their extensive word-formation families could be presented anew, with all errors and inconsistencies found in earlier dictionaries corrected and contemporary usage reflected. 166 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 83 ŠALTINIAI DŽ1 1954: Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas. Atsak. red. J. Kruopas. 1 leidimas, Vilnius: Valstybinė politinės ir mokslinės literatūros leidykla. DŽ2 1972: Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas. Atsak. red. J. Kruopas. 2 leidimas, Vilnius: Mintis. DŽ3 1993: Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas. Vyr. red. S. Keinys. 3 leidimas, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidykla. DŽ4 2000: Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas. Vyr. red. S. Keinys. 4 leidimas, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas. DŽ5e 2003: Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas. Vyr. red. S. Keinys. 5 (elektroninis) leidimas, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas. – Prieiga per internetą: www.lki.lt DŽ6e 2006: Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas. Vyr. red. S. Keinys. 6 (elektroninis) leidimas, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas. LKŽ 1966, 1970: Lietuvių kalbos žodynas 7, 8. Atsak. red. J. Kruopas, Vilnius: Mintis. LKŽe 2005: Lietuvių kalbos žodynas 1–20 (elektroninis variantas). Vyr. red. G. Naktinienė, Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas. – Prieiga per internetą: www.lkz.lt Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos tekstynas, Kaunas: Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas. – Prieiga per internetą: http://donelaitis.vdu.lt Interneto tekstų ištekliai (naršyta paieškos sistema Google). LITERATŪRA Aleksandravičiūtė S. 2008: Paieškos sistemos Google naudojimo galimybės tiriant kalbos reiškinius. – Kalbos kultūra 81, 266–282. Fraenkel E. 1965: Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter. Universitätsverlag, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. Karulis K. 1992: Latviešu etimoloģijas vārdnīca 1, Rīga: Avots. KTŽ 1990: Gaivenis K., Keinys S. Kalbotyros terminų žodynas, Kaunas: Šviesa. Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė. – Prieiga per internetą: http://etimologija.baltnexus.lt Liutkevičienė D. 2006: Bendrinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas. Siekiamybė ir realybė. – Aiškinamųjų bendrinės kalbos žodynų aktualijos [Leksikografija ir leksikologija 1], Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 9–18. ME 1925–1927: Mīlenbahs K. Latviešu valodas vārdnīca 2. Red. J. Endzelīns, Rīga: Kultūras fonds. Naktinienė G. 2000: Bendrinės kalbos žodynas ir leksikos norminimo problemos. – Kalbos kultūra 73, 12–24. Pupkis A. 1980: Kalbos kultūros pagrindai, Vilnius: Mokslas. D. MURMULAITYTĖ. Murdyti(s), murga(d)yti(s), murkdyti(s) pateikimas žodynuose ir dabartinė vartosena 167 Smoczyński W. 2007: Słownik etymologiczny języka litewskiego, Wilno: Wydawnictwo Universitето? Urbutis V. 1978: Žodžių darybos teorija, Vilnius: Mokslas. Vaicekauskienė L. 2008: Nauji naujųjų skolinių norminimo klausimai. – Kalbos kultūra 81, 65–79. Vitkauskas V. 1995: Apie „Lietuvių bendrinės kalbos žodyną“: – Kalbos kultūra 67, 87–91. ЛЭС 1990: Лингвистический энциклопедический словарь. Гл. ред. В. Н. Ярцева, Москва: Советская энциклопедия. Gauta 2010 11 26 TREATMENT IN THE DICTIONARIES AND THE CURRENT USAGE OF THE VERBS MURDYTI(S), MURGDYTI(S), MURKDYTI(S) Summary The article compares the presentation of the verbs murdyti(s), murgdyti(s), murkdyti(s) ‘dip (into), plunge (into)’ in different dictionaries of Lithuanian, namely, six editions of the Dictionary of Contemporary Lithuanian (Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas) and two editions of the Dictionary of Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalbos žodynas), which have been released both in the print and electronic versions, analyzes the current usage of the verbs, their interrelation and semantics. The analysis of frequency in the contemporary Lithuanian language and semantic analysis of the verbs call for a new treatment of these verbs and their derivatives in the Dictionary of Standard Lithuanian. Attempts to accomodate the requirement of norm stability and the criterion of variable language use encouraged the application of differentiated approach to the inclusion of cross-references. Yet this approach has certain drawbacks as it fails to accurately reveal the semantics of variants with the root murg-. Hopefully, this article will stimulate a discussion among lexicographers, lexicologists, language norm prescribers and other experts and will eventually allow to improve the treatment of the above-mentioned and other verbs in the Dictionary of Standard Lithuanian. DAIVA MURMULAITYTĖ Lietuvių kalbos institutas P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius [email protected] 168 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 83