„Kitaip nepasakysi“ (metakalbiniai komentarai tekstuose)

Mr. Jupper. You can't say otherwise (metalinguistic comments in texts) 141 KAZIMIERAS ŽUPERKA University of Šiauliai You can't say otherwise (MeTaKaLBINIaI COMMENTS (Text) The article discusses a functional semantic group of metalinguistic comments (MK)1, the dominant of which can be considered the phrase otherwise you cannot say. These comments express the conviction that a word or phrase is appropriate to describe the subject: the speaker says that he has found (at least it seems to him) the optimal variant of expression. In terms of function and semantics, the comments of this group are in contrast with the comments of searching for expression (as here said)2, doubting the goodness of expression, etc. (if it is possible to say so; it is possible to say; I would say; let us say so; I will say so), as well as with references to inappropriate expression (e.g., it is not the right word; you cannot say anything stupider). In addition to emphasizing and commenting on the expression, the commentary can also be seen as an excuse – an effort to anticipate possible objections, different formulation, different designation. In other words, the addressee is not only convinced of the appropriateness of his word, but also seeks to convince the addressee. (Even more clearly the intention to insure against the opposite or otherwise different statement is shown by MK I am not afraid of this word.) The analyzed examples (over 700) are collected from various sources (now-day and Soviet written and spoken media, fictional and scientific literature, spoken language), as well as from the Textbook of Contemporary Lithuanian Language and Lithuanian language contexts provided by the search engine Google. 1 The term metalinguistic commentary is taken from the publications of Czech linguists (see Jiřičková 1979; Mareš 1983). This and other characteristic terms of metalanguage and metatext are discussed in previous articles of the author (see Župerka 1995; Župerka, Inčiūrienė 2005; Macienė, Župerka 2007), so they are used as self-evident in this article. 2 for comments on this functional semantic group. 1995 Jukebox. 142 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 81 CHaracteristic COMMENTS to the main comment of the functional semantic group under discussion the closest MK is otherwise not to say (this one is even more common than otherwise not to say), as(also) otherwise say (to say, to name). To this group still belong or at least are very close to MK: no other word (here) fits; here this word is absolutely necessary; other / other word does not use; the real word (name) is as follows; I can't find a more accurate word; you can't say better; otherwise to speak / name the tongue does not turn; I'm not mistaken and so on. In these MKs, the conviction of the goodness of the used statement is not the same. Some comments categorically affirm the goodness of a statement, others are more cautious, as if with a certain reservation: the recipient could understand that the speaker does not consider the commented statement as the only or optimal one, but only as suitable for describing the subject in the communication situation or context. The categoricity / non-categorization of the MK depends on the modal words with which the MK is supplemented, as well as on the grammatical forms of expression. The categoricity is reinforced by certain intensifiers, for example, adverbs nokaip next to kitaip, particle only with adverb taip, repetition figure: You cannot call that morbidly tormented feeling [= That... feeling] anything else than love She 2003 23 12; Adolescence – that’s how and only how I can call the state in which we are all now Lr 1990 40. The categorical nature of the statement that it is impossible to say otherwise is reduced by MK’s use of the form of the predicate, the modal verbs galėti, ryžtis (often with a negation) and so on: kitaip nepasakyčiau / nepavadinčiau; otherwise I couldn't / we couldn't / I can't / you can't / I don't decide / I can't say / name. e.g.: the worst thing is those permanent debtors / I wouldn't call them otherwise / permanent debtors speak 1985 (about students); The situation in our company is tragic / I could not use another word / because people are left to their fate rdj 2007 07 27; I do not doubt the professionalism of the actors of such a performance, but I do not dare to call the troupe anything else but self-acting... KB 1986 3 21. Some comments close to the spoken group, without claiming that the used statement is optimal, indicate that it is particularly suitable for describing the situation under discussion: the speaker usually accompanies his statement with comments from the spoken group. the language expression of the interlocutor or third person is Mr. Jupper. You can't say otherwise (metalinguistic comments in texts) 143 It is said: played a political role; nowhere is this saying more appropriate than in the People's Seimas [1940]. It was not without reason that L. Dovydėnas began at the State Theatre (LM 1989 08 12); We should be glad that, after the war, tens and hundreds of thousands of songs and melodies were recovered in time and saved from destruction (this word is really appropriate here). S. geda (LM 1986 01 18); We need a financial injection / this will help us to survive in the Press House theatre hall / I said it very well / Press House theatre hall TV 2000 02 21 (speaker emphasizes the accuracy of the statement: the hall is not ours, only the hall). evaluated in this way much less often. In the comments, the second generalizing person of the singular is most often used, applied primarily to oneself, to one's own word. When the speaker uses the first-person singular form, he emphasizes his person more, but it is precisely the contexts with the first-person form that are characterized by mitigating means of categoricity. When comments on the lexical composition in question are said in interrogative intonation (of a true, not rhetorical question, i.e. not an expressive affirmation or denial) or without it, but with particles or maybe, perhaps, probably, they belong to another group – doubting the complete suitability of the expression. Are they comments or should they be called otherwise? ; otherwise can hardly be called; otherwise probably could not be called; otherwise than to call it difficult. e.g. : Was it a premonition of disaster? How else can I call it? <t>. MK with the adverb otherwise, pronouns none, other, other does not say in which respect the commented statement is appropriate (it can be understood only from the situation, context), and MK with an adjective or adjective adverb (usually higher, sometimes superior or non-comparative degree) better / more accurately / more accurately you will not say; (you can't find) a more beautiful description; the most accurate name (would be)... defines, more specifically indicates why the chosen means of expression is appropriate – because of beauty, accuracy, precision, etc. e.g.: the difference between them [optimists and pessimists] was best ironicized by Justis Mikutis: for some blake smells like cognac, and for others – cognac smells like blake... <t>; Not without reason we have a saying – protect as your eyes. You can't really put it any better. Eye protection is essential. No matter what age you are <t>; Suddenly I said: / – Good your mother, John! / Since he didn’t respond, I added after a while: / – And the song is good. / Surely, you can’t say better: when a good mother – and a good song Marc 34; Expansion of Lithuanianness – that, I think, would be the most accurate name of our spiritual manifestations, 144 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 81 without any fear of the word “expansion” <...> The Latin meaning of expansion – expansion, spreading is the “peaceful” form of this word KT 1989 06 14; And true and abominable infidelity is betrayal and wickedness – only such are their true names TMot 1985 9 21. The position of the MK of the discussed group in the metalinguistic unit is fourfold: a) preposition: the MK is said before the commented means of speech, b) postposition: the comment goes after the means of speech, the optimality of which is confirmed, c) interposition: the MK interferes with the commented few-word statement, d) the commented means of speech interferes with the comment, distances the members of the MK. e.g. : (a) With the catastrophic threat of bird flu, you can’t say otherwise – chickens are dead. Because they are still without documents of origin Š 2006 11; How else, looking from the positions of ordinary citizens, can we call this, if not a steadily increasing disrespect of the authorities for man? <t>; (b) the top-level thieves (how else to call people who distribute someone else's money at will) are not punished Dlg 2002 10 11; A person who is exploited (and you can't name the current working conditions of a teacher otherwise) cannot develop as a professional <int>; (c) And he feels very tired, his legs dragged (otherwise you can't say) like tied <t>; but he didn’t take his foot off the accelerator pedal and with superhuman – you can’t say otherwise – effort made the engine come alive <int>; (d) We drove to the square in a trolleybus, which I can only call a ghost. A lot of young, very young people (maybe fourteen...), all drunk, all smoking, all trying to sing. This was the introduction of the coming New KT 1989 2; cooperation with the occupying authorities could not be called otherwise than collaboration <t>. in the case of preposition (a) the MK is a signal of speech strategy: it warns the addressee that a strong word will be said. postpositionally (b) the MK appended is a final comment; it reinforces, emphasizes the word used, and can also be understood as a kind of excuse for a deliberate or deliberately stronger statement. MK interposition (c) is closer to postpositional comments, because the most important (strongest, characterizing) word of that expression is usually said before the comment. Readable (d) is usually a comment other than... you can't call it. We could also refer to MK interposition as the emphasis of the evaluative word by repetition – when it is said before MK and repeated after MK, e.g. : Mr. Jupper. 145 With joy she entered the stage and greedy, you can’t say otherwise, – greedy, she took up her work <t>; At that moment one of them [windows] suddenly opened and through it a heavy bird with strange wings <int> flew out – you can’t say otherwise, it flew into the air. Statistical data of MK position are calculated only for metalinguistic units with MK otherwise not to be said (not to be named); how(yet) else you will say (call; say, name). Of the 604 samples, the most common proved to be postposition (about 80%). preposition cases account for about 12%. Insertion of the commented expression into the MK was found in more than 6% of cases, and the rarest is MK interposition – just over 2%. The language group MK is used in the so-called free styles – mainly in written publications, in public and private speech. They are very rare in scientific texts; They can be detected in the texts of those authors who do not follow a strict, dry subjective style in their scientific works, do not avoid a livelier, more pictorial word, speak more personally (albeit in an impersonal construction), e.g. : Maximalist – otherwise it would not be possible to call – M. Kūsio requirements <...> – to dedicate a monograph to each more important proverb Sauk 273; Thus the Solar System forms a quite distinct isolated unit in the space of the Universe, which is just appropriate for the name of the “system” Slav 7. These comments are not typical of artistic texts either, but, apparently, for quite different reasons. fiction is granted the greatest freedom of speech (licentia poetica), and the comments of the group that do not say otherwise restrict that freedom. for example, the philosopher Arvydas Šliogeris says: „Here S. geda writes some lines – when the hawthorn blossoms, I sowed flax, seeds like gold in the clay mountains... he writes them, but he does not tell me: this is the only way to say it“ (Mt 2007 12 80; thinned out in quotation). It would come out – when a poet says you can’t say otherwise, at that time, in that text, he is not a poet? In his essays, Sigitas Geda does not avoid such comments. a couple of examples of his text: It is already a breath of eternity, and you can not say otherwise here. These are the images and comparisons of eternity and ideality that the divine Muse whispered to Maironis; The poetic revelation is so wonderful that you will not find a more beautiful description of it as extraterrestrial LM 1987 44. 146 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 81 The phrase used by the speaker, which he describes as the optimal variant of expression, may be (a) his own, original or (b) a common phrase, typical of the spoken situation, even a phrase that has become a stamp, e.g.: (a) It was the highest night in my life. No, no, no other word fits; only when I say “the highest”, I see the true color of that night – dark blue, shining, chilling... p. Dirgėla (prg 1986 5 53); (b) If you compare the fields to the sea, you are no longer original. But as the car flies south-east of Chisinau, no other word fits the vineyards outside the window. Sea, a true endless sea of vineyards T 1979 08 08. From the collected material with the discussed functional semantic group MK, it is clear that these comments are usually used next to expressive evaluative statements, often with vivid, strong words, phrases. The evaluation is either positive or negative. Negative evaluation statements (words, phrases) are used much more often (more than 10 times), they are more diverse. With the group of comments, positive (a) and negative (b) evaluative words spoken in the current language can be illustrated with the following examples taken from metalinguistic units: (a) angel, angel, superhuman (efforts), aukselis, rebirth, elite (2 k.), fiction, (just) genius, outstanding (personality), happiness, fabulous (2 k.), paradise, (literary) flights, miracle (3 k.), masterpiece; (b) indifference, absurdity, anti-Lithuanian, negligence, obsession, pathetic (situation), donkey (2 k.), (human) herd, bandits (2 k.), mad, mad (project) (2 k.), monkey business, disgust, bob, (real) fault, circus (3 k.), chaos, hooliganism, daunė, daunai (country of daunai), degradation, dergia, disinformation, diedai (negatively about men), dilettantiškas, ėsti (eat), farce, gang, genocide, cock (about a man), gyvatynas (about people), gyvuliai (about people), graphomania, idiot, -ai (6 k.), idiotic (3 k.), invalids (parade of invalids), perverts (a perverted generation's pastime), mad (enthusiasts), idiots, kitsch, collaboration, commercial (music), curious, fool, fools (3 k., bitch some kind of you), (real) war, catastrophic, kitsch, collaboration, (style) mixture, monsters, fools, some kind of underdevelopment, disrespect (for man), nonsense (2 k.), dishonesty (2 k.), failure, disorder, fools (brotherhood), whistled, creature (about man), mad, mockery (of people), penny (about a young man), malice, provocation, provocative (step), psychosis, arbitrary (building), mentally ill, violence, violent (violent means), scammers (gang of scammers), fooling, (was) dealt with, split, disgusting, dogsnoots, (money) waste, tragedy, tragic (budget), ghostly, hypocritical, devil, slaves, chicken (talking about herself). Mr. Jupper. 147 The appreciative connotation of the commented word can be (a) strengthened or (b) weakened by an attributive word: (a) insolent shameless delaying, classical masterpiece, very impressive, angry muzzles, disgusting nationalism, rat picks (about people); (b) slightly broken. MK otherwise not say accompanies and evaluative phraseologies, periphrases, prepositions, signifying (a) positive or (b) negative evaluation: (a) gold-handed masters, barbie nine-handed, dream team; (b) absurd theatre, pit digging, spirit beggars, summit of insolence, dung heap, fairyland, self-enemy, money laundering, political prostitutes, (universal) mental darkness, mental illness, feast in famine, sow of evil seed, wonderland, nation of drawl, comedy, and vanity fair; from great writing went out of the land, for foolishness there is no cure. In addition, foreign, slang, uncensored words and sayings are considered valuable words. examples with such vocabulary mainly found on the internet (Google search), e.g.: best game, brudas, cool (very cool), darboholikė, durnas, durnius (dumb ship, dumb site, dumb nation), fainas, glušės, jėga!, kaifas, malačiai, maladec, nachalas, nu nerealu, nuvaryti į pievas, suka (dkt., rus. „bitch“), super, šliucha, tupas, urodai, žulikai. What word is chosen depends first of all on the author's attitude to the subject of the speech, on education, linguistic expression abilities, concept of etiquette, linguistic preferences, intentions, mood. Examples of language usage and usage, lack of language skills (e.g., you can’t call them otherwise, apart (= as) naive), simple illiteracy are mostly, as we know, on the Internet. The evaluative word is also related to the theme and style of the text. Finally, it should be said that the function of emphasizing expression and ensuring the word used can be performed by a word close to the conjunctions, namely: These [slippery] stairs are crawled, namely crawled, by people of different ages every day rV 1986 02 21. 148 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 81 CONCLUSIONS After discussing the functional semantic group of MK, by which the speaker or the author of the written text indicates that the statement he uses is appropriate or even the most appropriate in the spoken situation, several generalizations can be made. 1. This group and the MKs close to it, their diversity allows to nuance the expression and strength of the conviction that the appropriate statement has been chosen, cf.: here this word is absolutely necessary / I said very well / you cannot say otherwise. 2. comments of the group that do not say anything else are more often used postpositionally, after the statement whose appropriateness is confirmed, i.e. those comments are usually final in the metalinguistic unit. From this one can assume that many of the used “optimal” statements, accompanied by those comments, are not anticipated, deliberate (see strategy signals), but created during the speech act, often unexpectedly, due to a strong emotional relationship with the subject of speech. These comments confirm one of the universalities of language: the linguistic expression of negative evaluation occupies a much larger space than that of positive evaluation, and attention to it is much more frequent. ŠaLTINIaI Dlg – Dialogas (savaitraštis). <int> – internetas – pavyzdžiai iš paieškos sistemos Google (www.google.lt) lietuvių kalba (žiūrėta 2007 m. gruodžio mėn.). Ji – Ji (žurnalas). KB – Kultūros barai (žurnalas). KT – Komjaunimo tiesa (sovietmečio dienraštis). LM – Literatūra ir menas (savaitraštis). Lr – Lietuvos rytas (dienraštis). Marc – Just. Marcinkevičius. Dienoraštis be datų, Vilnius, 1981. Mt – Metai (žurnalas). prg – Pergalė (sovietmečio žurnalas). rdj – radijas. rV – Raudonoji vėliava (sovietmečio Šiaulių miesto dienraštis). Sauk – D. Sauka. Tautosakos savitumas ir vertė, Vilnius, 1970. Slav – p. Slavėnas. Saulės sistema, Kaunas, 1946. Š – Šeimininkė (žurnalas). šnek. – šnekamoji kalba. T – Tiesa (sovietmečio dienraštis). K. ŽuperKa. Kitaip nepasakysi (metakalbiniai komentarai tekstuose) 149 <t> – Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos tekstynas. Interneto prieiga: http://donelaitis.vdu.lt "Soviet Woman" (in Russian). TV – television. LITeraTūra Jiřičková J. 1979: Metalanguage commentator. – The Word and Verbity XL (2), 149– 151. Macienė J., Župerka K. 2007: Use of commentary to soften language expression. – Philosophy 12, Šiauliai: Šiaulių University Press, 55–65. Mareš p. 1983: Metalanguage, metalanguage, metatext. – Slovo a slovesnost XLIV (2), 123–131. Župerka K. 1995: Metalinguistic commentaries on searches for expression. – Philosophy and Methodology 2, Šiauliai: Šiaulių Pedagogical Institute, 102–109. Župerka K., Inčiūrienė S. 2005: Positive evaluation of language expression in non-linguistic texts. – Proceedings of the 19th Congress of the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Sciences, Vilnius, 505–515. received 03/11/2008 YOU CANNOT SAY OTHERWISE (MeTa-LINGuISTIc COMMENTS IN TEXTS) Summary In a large variety of meta-linguistic comments there is a distinct functional semantic type of comments where the addressor evaluates his/her expression (a word or a phrase) as important, relevant, most precisely worded and indispensable in the situation. Stereotypical meta-linguistic comments of the type include such phrases as kitaip nepasakysi / nepavadinsi; otherwise than (...) you cannot say / name; how else to say / call it. The above comments most frequently occur in post-position, i.e. the commentary follows the language item which is treated as optimum, or the most precise. The final, post-positional, comment emphasises the preceding word or phrase; moreover, the comment can be treated as justification for a stronger expression or a slip of the tongue. The most frequent post-position of the comment presumably attests to the fact that the preceding words and phrases are created in a flow of speech and are definitely emotionally coloured; they are not instances of prefabri-