ABOUT RUSSIAN SWEAR WORDS IN A LATVIAN LANGUAGE TEXTBOOK

The Latvian press (Latvijas avīze, No. 29 (3955), 2010 01 29, www.la.lv) published an article by Artis Drēziņš about Russian swear words in a Latvian-language school textbook – Krievu lamuvārdi latviešu valodas mācību grāmatā. Perhaps it will also be interesting and even useful to Lithuanian linguists and the general public, prompting discussion and the sharing of thoughts on current issues of public language use.

The author says that the first volume of a Latvian-language textbook for secondary schools, written by Iluta Dalbina and Inese Lāčauniece and published by RaKa, became the best-known textbook of the week. The book acquired this popularity not in schools at all, but among journalists—first it was noticed by the TV5 television channel, then by internet portals and Russian-language newspapers. What is so special about this book? Its page 87 contains the crudest Russian swear words. The authors drew on linguist Inta Urbanoviča’s presentation “Low-Style Vocabulary on the Internet,” delivered at the conference “The Mother Tongue in the Public Sphere.” Pupils are asked to read an excerpt from the linguist’s text and hold a class discussion about it.

The textbook explains vulgarisms, colloquial words, and barbarisms, and also critically assesses their use. It quotes: “Vulgarisms from other languages are common on the internet, where they function as expressive words: bl*_n, bl*_g, pi***ts, h**_ną, po**_i, and so on.” (The newspaper’s editors add that in the book these words are printed in full, without the asterisks normally used in such cases. Incidentally, the article is illustrated with a page from the textbook in question, where, seen as if through a magnifying glass, the aforementioned swear words stand out in all their “glory.”)

A. Drēziņš continues: “‘What was suitable for our parents is no longer suitable for us’: the authors used this quotation from Oscar Wilde as the motto for the chapter “Do We Speak Latvian?” I’m addressing one of the authors, for whom, it would seem, the language spoken by our fathers and mothers is no longer suitable... Iluta Dalbinia, a teacher at the Pļavnieki Gymnasium in Riga, speaking with me, invites me to

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read not just that one page, page 87, but the whole book, or at least the chapter, so that I understand why the harsh words are mentioned, rather than taking them out of context and causing a stir: “The book has its own methodology: each chapter begins by posing a problem that we examine, and pupils are instructed to think together and analyze language. You have to understand that we are speaking with tenth-grade pupils, not small children. We do not instruct them to write these words on the board or memorize them. Quite the opposite: we want to discourage the use of such words and want pupils to express a negative opinion about them. Do you think it is easy to teach an attitude toward language? Besides, various teaching materials that mention obscene words can be found on the internet. Should teachers not be allowed to use these materials as well?”

SCHOOLS CAN USE ANYTHING

Kristina Ilgaža, public relations specialist at the National Centre for Education, explains that anyone can publish textbooks and that the law does not prescribe which books or other resources teachers must use in their lessons; the most important thing is that pupils acquire the body of knowledge specified by the educational standard. Another matter is that, in practice, teachers try to use books accredited by the National Centre for Education, since they can receive a state subsidy to purchase them. K. Ilgaža points out an interesting detail: on the title page of the book, where it is usually stated that the book is accredited, it says that it was prepared in accordance with (emphasis by A. Drēziņš. – D. M.) the general secondary education subject standard “Latvian Language.” If not read carefully, such an entry could mislead book buyers. The new standard was introduced recently, and RaKa is the first publisher to have issued a book of this kind.

However, representatives of the National Centre for Education, while disapproving of the inclusion of Russian swear words in a Latvian-language textbook, emphasize that vulgarisms should be explained in other ways. The LETA news agency also quotes K. Ilgaža as saying that the Centre will not have the authority to prohibit the use of such a book in lessons, since it is not a censorship body.

Vilnis Purēns, chief editor at RaKa, says that the textbook’s accreditation is still ahead. So far, only an initial print run has been issued, and this is the book’s trial period. V. Purēns did not want to say how many copies have been published and sold so far, but confirmed that teachers had the book

Apie rusiškus keiksmažodžius latvių kalbos vadovėlyje

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uses. Now all that remains is to wait for feedback. In about a year, they will improve the book and publish a new edition; perhaps the Russian swear words will then be removed if they cause considerable dissatisfaction. But will that make them any less likely to be used? asks V. Purėnas. He thinks the uproar over these words has been manufactured: “It was stirred up by Russian journalists, who could not speak with me in the state language, Latvian. In the comments about this book, I read more obscene swear words than there are in the book itself... I agree with the authors that we often don’t think about what we say, and that is bad. This book is intended for young people of an age when they can think for themselves; it shows them: this is how people speak, and that is not good.”

LET’S SAY “PIG” INSTEAD!

Comment by Anita Vanaga, chair of the Latvian Language and Literature Teachers’ Association and Latvian-language teacher at Āgenskalns State Gymnasium: “Russian swear words are well known and appear in the slang dictionary, but this is a special publication and the only one in which they can be written out in full and explained. Professional linguists describe taboo, coarse swear words, but do not name them. The book’s authors play on young people’s feelings, but this can produce the opposite effect: the words are used because, after all, they are written in a book... I see no educational or formative value in using these words.”

Comment by Valentīna Skujina, senior researcher at the Latvian Language Institute: “As an older linguist (I. Dalbinia and I. Lačauniece are 40 years old), I find it unacceptable for rubbish to be spread through language—in theatre, on screen, and in books. Russian three-part swear words were spread in Latvia after the Second World War by déclassé elements. Mentioning these words in a book makes the fight against their use merely declarative; even more people will adopt them. Russian swear words should not be used or mentioned at all—we have our own swear words, after all, for example, ‘pig’!”

DAIVA MURMULAITYTĖ

Institute of the Lithuanian Language

P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius

[email protected]

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