Terminologijos komisijos (1921–1926) veiklos apžvalga

Overview of the Activities of the Terminology Commission (1921–1926) ALBINA AUKSORIŪTĖ Institute of the Lithuanian Language KEYWORDS: Terminology Commission, term, terminology, minutes of the Terminology Commission For the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Terminology Commission The article reviews the activities of the Terminology Commission (1921–1926), discusses the circumstances of its founding, its structure and composition, seeks to explain the reasons for changes in the Commission, and assesses the significance of its work for the development of terminology in Lithuania. After the independent Lithuanian state was restored in 1918, attention turned to the development of science and education: school textbooks began to be published, Lithuanian terminology for needed fields began to be created, and the first collections of terms were compiled. In 1919, M. Šikšnys’s Glossary of Arithmetic and Algebra Terms (47 pp.) and Lithuanian–Russian and Russian–Lithuanian Military Glossary (106 pp.) appeared; in 1920, Z. Žemaitis’s Collection of Geometry and Trigonometry Terms (99 pp.), J. Elisonas’s Glossary of Zoological Systematics Terms (144 pp.), and A. Maciejauskas’s Technical Glossary (141 pp.) followed. The creation and standardization of terms were undertaken only at the initiative of individual linguists and specialists in various fields. As the need for Lithuanian terminology grew, it became necessary to create Lithuanian terms and carry out terminology work in an organized manner. The linguist Jonas Jablonskis had already written about this in 1920: “Textbooks for schools are being written, as are other works for people; one has to speak about new scientific and other matters to scholars and to those working in various branches of the state. When speaking or writing about these matters, we do not all use the same terms for the same purpose. The new life has given rise to such a multitude of needs that it is now difficult for various people and institutions to manage with the small number of terms that sufficed for us before. In the realm of these terms, one way or another, a mixture is now forming; because of this 80 A. Auk soriūtė | Terminologijos komisijos (1921–1926) veiklos apžvalga “...the school suffers from the mixture, and cultural work itself suffers...” (JR II 210–211). Following the Latvian example, J. Jablonskis proposed that the Ministry of Education establish a terminology commission to deal with matters of terminology. He envisioned its structure as follows: “Within the state apparatus, several or a dozen terminology commissions should be formed, consisting of specialists from various fields of work; commissions could be formed for the various natural sciences, administrative and economic matters, new matters of trade and industry, military affairs, and so on. Each major area of state activity that has to do with various terms should itself establish a commission for its needs, which would be able to work systematically on its terminology, consulting with the Ministry of Education’s central terminology commission” (JR II 211). The Terminology Commission was established under the Ministry of Education on March 14, 1921. The Commission’s first meeting took place on April 21, 1921. The Ministry of Education had invited ten commission members to the meeting; seven attended the first meeting: Kazimieras Būga, Aleksandras Dambrauskas-Adomas Jakštas, Pranas Dovydaitis, Jonas Jablonskis, Pranas Mašiotas, Antanas Smetona, and Antanas Vireliūnas. Vladas Požela, Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, and Adomas Varnas did not attend. A. Smetona chaired the meeting, and A. Vireliūnas served as secretary. As the meeting minutes report, “the Commission’s primary task was identified as standardizing the official language of state institutions. Those present also expressed the need to review and correct the terminology of various fields more generally” (TKP 1921: 1)1. The Commission’s working procedures were also discussed at this meeting. It was decided that the responsible officials of the ministries concerned would officially submit terminology proposals for consideration in writing: ten copies of each proposal had to be provided, to be distributed to Commission members for review. The Commission would inform in writing the ministry that had submitted a proposal of the date on which it would be considered. Representatives of the ministry concerned would also be invited to the proposal’s consideration; in addition, it was decided to accept for consideration terminology proposals submitted in writing by individuals. The minutes note that each term in a proposal should be accompanied by illustrative sentences containing that term. The meeting participants decided to announce in the newspapers that the Terminology Commission had been established and had begun its work. 1The minutes of the Terminology Commission, Nos. 1–80 (1921–1923), are held at the Terminology Centre of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language, while Nos. 81–180 (1924–1926) are held at the Lithuanian Central State Archives (f. 631, ap. 12, b. 94). The number after the colon indicates the number of the minutes. Terminologija | 2011 | 18 81 Figs. 1 and 2. Minutes No. 1 of the Terminology Commission. 82 A. Auksoriūtė | Terminologijos komisijos (1921–1926) veiklos apžvalga Terminologija | 2011 | 18 83 The second meeting of the Terminology Commission took place on April 24; nine of its members attended: K. Būga, A. Dambrauskas, Pr. Dovydaitis, J. Jablonskis, Pr. Mašiotas, A. Smetona, J. Tumas-Vaižgantas, A. Varnas, and A. Vireliūnas. A. Smetona was elected permanent chair of the Commission, and A. Vireliūnas secretary. The meeting discussed general working procedures and decided that “questions raised in the Commission shall be decided by a simple majority of the votes of members attending the meeting” (TKP 1921: 2), and that decisions could be made at a meeting only if at least six Commission members were present, including at least one philologist (J. Jablonskis or K. Būga) and the rapporteur. It was also decided to publish extracts from the minutes in newspapers and to meet every Thursday. At the second meeting, sixteen foreign geographical names submitted by J. Jablonskis were considered. It was decided to write: “1. Éstas, éstai (instead of ‘įgauniai’); 2. graikas, graikai; 3. olándas, -ai (7 votes for, 1 against, and 1 abstention); 4. skótas, -ai (Scholten), Skotiją; 5. aĩris, aĩriai (Iren); 6. lãtvis, lãtvai; 7. skandinãvas, Skandinaviją; 8. švėdas, švėdai; 9. norvėgas; 10. prancūzas (8 votes for, 1 against), Prancūziją (4 votes for, 1 against, 4 abstentions; ‘Fransija’ received 4 votes for, 3 against, and 2 abstentions); 11. eskìmas, eskìmai; 12. samojédas; 13. nẽgras, -ai; 14. hotentótas (5 votes for, 3 against, 1 abstention); 15. bušmėnas (4 for, 1 against, 4 abstentions; ‘bušmėnis’ received 2 votes for, the others abstained); 16. beduinas”2 (TKP 1921: 2). Various geographical names were considered at several subsequent meetings and it was decided to publish them in the press, although some names were reviewed once more by the Commission before publication. The Commission considered the names of streets in the city of Telšiai and the town of Užventis, as well as various terms and words used in the press. For example, the minutes of the meeting held on June 9 state: “A. Smetona emphasizes the need to establish more firmly the everyday words needed in journalism that correspond to the Russian words власть, правительство, начальство, наследствие and others. He points out that the words ‘pasekmė, įvykis’ and others used in the Lithuanian press were formed contrary to the rules of the language. <...>it was established that the Russian ‘власть’ corresponds in our language to valdžia, ‘правительство’ to vyriausybė, ‘начальство’ to vyresnybė, while ‘факт’ should be retained as faktas, which in particular cases may be made more popular by the words reiškinys, atsitikimas; ‘результат’ — rezultatas, made more popular by the words galas, išdavas; ‘сверхчеловек (Uebermensch)’ may be translated as viršžmogis, antžmogis; ‘сверхестественный’ as viršugamtis; and ‘процесс’ as veksmas” (TKP 1921: 10). 2Quotations from the minutes are reproduced authentically, with the spelling unchanged. 84 A. Auksoriūtė | Terminologijos komisijos (1921–1926) veiklos apžvalga The draft 1922 budget of the Terminology Commission was considered at the meeting held on October 6, 1921; it was also decided to establish subcommittees for mathematical, natural-science, geographical, literary, and legal terminology, each comprising three members. The mathematical terminology subcommittee consisted of A. Dambrauskas, Pr. Mašiotas, and A. Varnas; J. Jablonskis and A. Vireliūnas were appointed to the geographical terminology subcommittee, and were tasked with inviting an outside collaborator as the third member. A. Smetona was tasked with forming the legal terminology subcommittee, while J. Tumas-Vaižgantas was charged with forming the literary terminology subcommittee and inviting Liudas Gira and Vincas Krėvė to collaborate. The formation of the natural-science terminology subcommittee was postponed until a specialist natural scientist could be invited to join the Commission. Tadas Ivanauskas was added to the Commission at the next meeting and tasked with forming the natural-science terminology subcommittee. In early February 1922, the Terminology Commission raised the question of reorganizing its work. The minutes of the February 2 meeting give two reasons for reorganization: “1) because fewer and fewer commission members are attending meetings, and 2) because the work of the commission itself and its subcommittees has become particularly stagnant, unprepared, and unproductive” (TKP 1922: 31). It was decided to leave the Commission’s organization unchanged, increase compensation for meetings, and require its presidium to convene additionally to organize material and prepare documents; the establishment of a permanent Working Subcommittee to consider and prepare terms for full Commission meetings was proposed. At meetings held in late February and early March, it was decided to invite teacher M. Zinkevičaitė, Jonas Avižonis, Morkus Morkelis, and Izidorius Tamošaitis to join the Commission. At the March 9 meeting, M. Morkelis was elected Commission chair in place of A. Smetona, who had resigned from the position; at the next meeting, J. Avižonis was elected secretary in place of P. Vireliūnas. At the March 30 meeting, J. Jablonskis resigned from the Commission as an official member, but agreed to continue participating in its work as an adviser on language matters. The Working Subcommittee was confirmed in late April; it included linguists J. Jablonskis and K. Būga, and the Commission’s business manager and secretary was proposed as its third member. At the October 13 meeting, two new members were added to the Commission: Jonas Martynas Laurinaitis and M. Bagdonas. After M. Morkelis declined to serve as chair, I. Tamošaitis was elected chair and A. Vireliūnas secretary. Terminology proposals submitted to the Commission were not always accepted or considered. For example, in 1921 the Commission received a list of psychology terms submitted by the Book Publishing Commission of the Ministry of Education’s Department of General Affairs, and a list of terms sent by the Education Division of the Department of Agriculture Terminologija | 2011 | 18 85 The list was returned by the Commission as improperly prepared, with instructions to prepare it properly. As the minutes show, the Commission responded not only to letters and inquiries sent by institutions, but also to questions from private individuals. For example, the minutes of October 5, 1923, No. 75, state that “It was decided to respond, through the Minister of Education, to the report numbered 1915 and dated September 20 of this year, addressed to the Prime Minister by the High Commissioner of the Government of Lithuania for the Klaipėda Region and forwarded to the Ministry of Education, from where, by ministerial resolution, it was sent to the Terminology Commission for review, as follows: In the Commission’s opinion, the name Šilutė should be retained, as the Commissioner himself proposes; instead of „Försterei – Klampovė“, the commission proposes choosing one of the following names: Budriai, Jankai or Girūliai. Mr. Vaitkūnas (31N Respublikos St., Panevėžys) is to be informed, in response to his letter of September 23 of this year, that at its meeting on October 5 of this year the Commission clarified that both kirptuvė and kirpykla are acceptable terms” (TKP 1923: 75). After receiving proposals and corrections, the Commission would reconsider some terms and supplement or change them. For example, the minutes of February 22, 1923, No. 57, state that “After a month had passed since the day of publication (see the issues of ‘Lietuva’), the criticisms, corrections, and other comments sent by Kn. J. Laukaitis, M. Grigonis, J. Lazauskas, J. Beinoris, and A. Varnas concerning the terms published for educational purposes were considered. It was decided to make the following changes: 2. Alongside aplinka and aplinkuma, include tarpas as well. For example: And all sorts of people turn up among us. 4. Auklėja, -jos (noun) — delete. 8. Delete “Dorybingas.” 10. Add doroviškas and dorovinis before dorovingas. 13. Mark the stress on didvalda. 14. Indicate that dviprasmas is an adjective (e.g., dviprasmas žodis, ‘ambiguous word’), while dviprašmis is a noun and an adjective. 18. Alongside “savilava,” also add lavinimasis; alongside lavinti, add lavėti (lavėja — развиваться). 20. Add prigimtis alongside natūra. 26. Add pamėga to “pomegis, mogis, magmogis”” (TKP 1923: 57). On January 11, 1923, J. Jablonskis declined to take part in the work of the smaller committees, explaining that he saw no benefit in the Commission’s work and that the terms would not, after all, help improve the language of the press. At the next meeting (January 18), he also declined to participate in the work of the Terminology Commission. It should be noted, however, that he also withdrew because of disagreements among its members. The Commission disagreed over the question of Lithuanizing terms: A. Varnas and A. Vireliūnas deman- 86 A. Auksoriūtė | Terminologijos komisijos (1921–1926) veiklos apžvalga They sought to leave no term originating in other languages untouched, aiming to replace all international terms with neologisms. In June, M. Morkelis and M. Zinkevičaitė left the Commission; St. Dabušis and J. Beinoris were proposed as their replacements, and in the autumn Kazys Kepalas and J. Murka were invited to join the Commission. On December 2, 1924, K. Būga died, leaving the Commission without another linguist who had worked there continuously since its establishment. After J. Jablonskis left, and especially following K. Būga’s death, the Commission’s work shifted toward extreme purism (see Palionis 1979: 268). At the end of 1921 and in 1922, the Commission considered terms from literature, law, excise, railways, technology, geography, and education. The minutes give not only the Lithuanian terms approved by the Commission but often their Russian and, less frequently, German equivalents; explanations of terms or examples of usage are sometimes also provided. A few examples of railway (a) and geography (b) terms approved by the Commission: a) “1. Atšlaita, cokolį – цоколь. 2. Plūkti kelią. Kietas plūkimas. Plūkimas, plūkė – утрамбовка. Plūktuvas – a tamping tool. 3. Šlaitas – откос. 4. Atkalnė – косогор. Atkalnė or pašlaitė. 5. Iškasa – выемка. 6. Pýlimas – насыпь. Much sampilos is needed for an embankment <...>” (TKP 1922: 27); b) “1. A. Vireliūnas proposed: aukštė = возвышенность, lygė = равнина. The Commission decided: aukštuma (aukštė) = возвышенность, lyguma (lygė) = равнина. 2. Žemuma, valley = низменность. 3. Paslėnė – a slightly elevated area beside a valley or lowland. 4. Slesnas, –a. A slesna place – <...>. Low, slesna and high islands. Panevėžys lies lower than Vilnius. 5. Įslėnis or klõnis, -io – Tal. Rivers flow through valleys. 6. Kalnesnis, -ė, įkalnesnis,-ė. The area around Luokė is hillier than that around Panevėžys. <...> 9. Kaũpras (kaũbrė), not pointed, a hill rising gently in a rounded shape. Kuppe. 10. Stalkalnis – Tfelberg. Stalžemis – Tafelland. 11. Masiniai kalnai, maskalniai. Massengebirge. Masyvas. 12. Raukšlėtiniai mountains. In the Alps, folds can be seen; they are folded. Raukšlė – Falte; folding – Faltung. 13. Šūkakalnis – Kammgebirge <...>” (TKP 1922: 44). Not only generic terms but also a considerable number of specific terms were considered and approved, for example: “41. Kopėčios – лѣстница. 42. Hook ladder – штурмовая лѣстница. 43. Sustumtinės kopėčios – видвижная лѣстница. 44. Sukamosios, mechaniškosios kopėčios – механическая лѣстница. 45. Stoginės kopėčios – Dachleiter. 46. Atremiamosios kopėčios – Stockleiter. <...> 48. Káukė – маска. 49. Dūminė káukė – дымовая маска. 50. Dujinė kaukė – газовая маска. <...> 56. Žarna – рукавъ – Schlauch. 57. Suction hose – всасывающій рукавъ. 58. Liejamoji švirkščiamoji žarna – выкидной рукавъ – Druckschlauch” (TKP 1923: 63); “835. Comparative, Terminologija | 2011 | 18 87 visible, relative motion, relative humidity, relative measurement error, relative (refractive) index of refraction, specific weight, specific resistance” (ТКР 1923: 77). In 1923, the Terminology Commission discussed terms in telephony, political economy, education, physics, and firefighting, as well as place names in the Klaipėda Region. In 1924, it considered terms in technical drawing, physics terms submitted by A. Varnas, V. Adamovičius, J. Baronas, J. Končius, A. Baltrušaitis, and J. Juzikis, and proper names sent by the Railway Board. The terms adopted by the Terminology Commission were published in the periodical press. Commission members paid attention to whether the terms they had approved were being used. For example, the minutes of December 7, 1922, state: “A. Vireliūnas reported that the editors of published legislation do not always adhere to the Commission’s established terms, as in statute 917 N (“Vyr. Žinios” 118N), where “akčyžės” and “bravarus” are used instead of “mielių dirbtuvė” [yeast workshop], among others. According to the reporter’s information, in the Office of the Council of Ministers the Commission’s established terms are sometimes deliberately replaced with others. It was decided to write to the Ministry of Education on this matter” (TKP 1922: 48). In 1924, A. Vireliūnas published in a separate volume the terms adopted up to the end of 1923: Proper Names, or Terms, Adopted by the Terminology Commission: 1. For Excise, 2. Law, 3. Roads, 4. Telephony, 5. Geography, 6. Education, and 7. Political Economy. In the preface to the booklet, the compiler wrote that “this directory, too, contains only those names that were printed in ‘Švietimo Darbas’; however, they have been reorganized more precisely and in greater detail, making them more convenient to use” (Įv 3). In 1925, J. Jablonskis briefly reviewed the newly published booklet in issue 4 of Švietimo Darbo, drawing attention to its careless preparation, the abundance of proofreading errors, and other errors and inaccuracies in the collection (see JR IV: 322–324 for more detail). Nevertheless, despite various inaccuracies and misprints, and terms of doubtful formation, many terms included in the collection are still used today, for example: akcizas Įv 5, baudžiamoji byla Įv 14, diktantas Įv 119, drėgmė Įv 110, dvilaidė linija Įv 74, gnybtas Įv 75, griovys Įv 30, įduba Įv 32, įkalnė Įv 33, imtuvas Įv 76, įpjova Įv 77, išlydis Įv 77, kainoraštis Įv 34, kintamoji srovė Įv 80, klodas Įv 35, kubinis metras Įv 36, laibgalys Įv 36, liudytojas Įv 18, matuoklė Įv 38, mygtukas Įv 82, misa Įv 7, nuokalnė Įv 39, plaktukas Įv 44, plokštė Įv 44, prietaisas Įv 45, rietuvė Įv 47, rodyklė Įv 88, sankasa Įv 48, siųstuvas Įv 88, skiedinys 4 Įv 9, skri- 88 A. Auksoriūtė | Terminologijos komisijos (1921–1926) veiklos apžvalga dinys Įv 50, spyruoklė Įv 51, sraigtas Įv 51, tariamoji varža Įv 91, trintukas Įv 134, vandenynas Įv 116, vožtuvas Įv 95, žaliava Įv 142. That same year, in issue 46 of Lithuania, J. Jablonskis published an article criticizing the neologisms coined by the Commission on Terminology. He wrote: “Terminologists keep forging new terms. In Lithuania (No. 43), a new draft of terms for ‘projective (warp) drawing’ has appeared again, this time. The further it goes, the more elaborate the terms for our cultural life become” (JR IV: 307). J. Jablonskis gives examples of neologisms he finds incomprehensible and unnecessary, e.g.: “e) interior lighting – центральное освещение, įžambys – диагональ, induva – ваза; f) horizontal projection – горизонтальная проекция, šalių dėjinys – периметр, mok­snis, -io – etiudas, mok­sniuoti – studijuoti; g) tyra – исследование, Forschung, tyruoti – исследовать, forschen; h) mata – измерение, matomokslis – геометрия, žemėmata – геодезия, plokštomata – planimetrija, trikampjomata – trigonometrija...” (JR IV 307). He observes “that the Commission on Terminology’s task was much narrower at the outset: it had to produce far fewer terms for the new life. The Commission must have overworked, or strayed somewhat from its proper course” (JR IV 308). Following this article by J. Jablonskis, the Commission on Terminology received a letter from the Ministry of Education concerning its deviation from the mandate established for the Commission; then, on March 21, 1925, the Ministry of Education sent the Commission a letter informing it that a new Commission on Terminology had been formed and asking it to hand over all its affairs to the newly appointed chair, J. Jablonskis. The first meeting of the new Commission on Terminology took place on March 26, 1925. Those attending were Jonas Balčikonis, J. Jablonskis, Antanas Salys, and Pranas Skardžius. J. Jablonskis read the Ministry of Education’s letter, which stated that the Commission on Terminology was composed of the following members: J. Jablonskis (chair), J. Balčikonis, Vaclovas Kasakaitis, A. Salys, Pr. Skardžius, and A. Vireliūnas. When A. Vireliūnas declined, Stasys Šalkauskis was invited in his place. It was decided to invite A. Smetona, Z. Kuzmickas, and J. Laurinaitis as well, but A. Smetona also declined to take part in the Commission’s work due to lack of time. At this meeting, J. Jablonskis noted that he was undertaking the chairmanship because of “ill health, only until there is a larger number of members on the Commission”; at his suggestion, Pr. Skardžius was elected secretary (see TKP 1925: 146 for more details). The new Commission on Terminology, under J. Jablonskis’s leadership, carried out substantial and highly significant work. It reconsidered the surgical and veterinary terms approved by the previous Commission, first of all rejecting newly coined adjectives with the suffix -iškas, derived from people’s names, such as fran- Terminologija | 2011 | 18 89 kiška needle (=Franko a.), fogeliškas urometer (=Vogel’io u.), and so on. In addition, in many cases the new Commission restored international terms in place of neologisms, for example, approving aerometro rather than ormàčio; elemento rather than pradojo; masažo rather than laitymo; termometro rather than šilčiarodžio, and so on (see Palionis 1979: 268–269). As the linguist Jonas Palionis observes, “in general, the new Commission on Terminology carried out the work of term codification very cautiously and on the basis of the sound theoretical principles that J. Jablonskis had formulated earlier” (Palionis 1979: 269). The Commission’s membership changed again at the end of 1925, when St. Šalkauskis, A. Salys, and Pr. Skardžius left. At J. Jablonskis’s suggestion, humanities students Kazys Alminauskis, Jurgis Talmantas, and Kazys Masiliūnas were added to the Commission. In 1925, the Commission examined surgical and veterinary terms, place names in the Klaipėda Region, and station names submitted by the Ministry of Transport; in 1926, it examined terms relating to military sanitation and medicine, artillery, land reclamation, and the office of national defense, as well as the names of Catholic saints and Evangelical Lutheran names. On June 11, 1926, J. Jablonskis resigned as chair by letter on grounds of ill health, and the Ministry of Education decided to dissolve the Commission on Terminology and instructed Kaunas University to establish a new commission. A statute for the Commission on Terminology of the University of Lithuania was drafted, and at the end of 1926 a Commission was formed at the university consisting of P. Avižonis, J. Balčikonis, and St. Šalkauskis; however, when P. Avižonis declined to serve on it, this newly formed Commission never began its work. Thus, the work of the Commission on Terminology, which had lasted five years, ended in mid-1926. CONCLUSIONS The Terminology Commission worked for five years. It was the first Terminology Commission established with state support, and its work marked the beginning of the organized management of Lithuanian terminology. The Commission’s working procedure—whereby collections of terms are prepared by specialists in particular fields, and the terms are then discussed together with the compilers and linguists—has remained in use to this day. Although during the Terminology Commission’s period of work there were various disagreements among its members, changes in its composition, and its work was hindered by the purism of some members, the Commission’s activities were very important for the development of Lithuanian terminology. During that time, the Commission considered, approved, and published in the press numerous terms and nomenclatural names from various fields needed for the life of the state; most of them entered usage and are still used today. 90 A. Auksoriūtė | Terminologijos komisijos (1921–1926) veiklos apžvalga LITERATURE AND SOURCES Įv – Įvardai, or terms adopted by the Terminology Commission. A publication of the “Sakalas” company, 1924. JR II–V: Jablonskio raštai. Redagavo J. Balčikonis. Kaunas, 1933–1935. Palionis J. 1979: Lietuvių literatūrinės kalbos istorija. Vilnius. TKP 1921–1926: Terminologijos komisijos protokolai (Nr. 1–80 (1921–1923) saugomi Lietuvių kalbos institute, Nr. 81–180 (1924–1926) – Lietuvos centriniame valstybės archyve (f. 631, ap. 12). OVERVIEW OF THE ACTIVITIES OF TERMINOLOGY COMMISSION (1921–1926) After the re-establishment of Lithuanian independence in 1918, the publication of Lithuanian school text-books was started, Lithuanian terminology of various fields began to develop and the first lists of terms were drawn up, although terminology creation and ordering was performed on the initiative of individuals. As the need for the Lithuanian terminology grew it became necessary to create terms and to perform terminology work in an organized way. Thus, on 14 March 1921 the Terminologijos Komisija (Terminology Commission) was established at the Ministry of Education. The members were famous specialists of linguistics and other fields as well as public figures, for instance J. Jablonskis, K. Būga, A. Dambrauskas, Pr. Dovydaitis, Pr. Mašiotas, A. Smetona, J. Tumas-Vaižgantas, A. Varnas, A. Vireliūnas, V. Požėla. Terminology Commission discussed and approved many necessary terms of law, economics, transport and communications, surgery and veterinary science, philosophy and theology, physics, geodesy, mathematics, natural sciences, agriculture and other fields. Terms approved by Terminology Commission were published in the press. Some of them were published as a dictionary Įvardai, arba terminai, priimti Terminologijos komisijos (Terms approved by the Terminology Commission) in 1924. Terminology Commission discussed not only terms, but also names of cities, countries and their inhabitants, rivers, mountains, islands and other geographical names, approved Lithuanian names of Klaipėda region and street names of some towns in Lithuania. It was reorganized in 1925 and carried out its work until the middle of 1926. Terminology Commission was the first terminology institution established in Lithuania on the initiative of the state. It signifies the start of organized terminology ordering. There were various disagreements among its members, changes in its make-up and at times activities were disturbed by the puristic attitudes of some members; but despite that Terminology Commission had a significant influence on the development of Lithuanian terminology. During the five years of its activities Terminology Commission discussed, approved and published quite a lot of terms and nomenclative names important to the life of the state. Majority of these terms were established and still are being used today. Received 2011-12-15 Albina Auksoriūtė Lithuanian Language Institute P. Vileišio g.5, LT-10308 Vilnius E-mail [email protected] Terminologija | 2011 | 18 91