Tarptautinė mokslinė konferencija „No vārda līdz vārdnīcai“

178 A. Butāne, A. Rimkutė | International Scientific Conference No vārda līdz... International Scientific Conference From word to dictionary aNIta BUtāNE LU Institute of Latvian Language aUŠRa RIMkUtė Institute of Lithuanian Language On 22-23 February 2010, the international scientific conference No vārda līdz vārdnīcai (From word to dictionary) was held in Riga to mark the 137th anniversary of the birth of the linguist Janis Endzelyns. The Institute of Latvian Language of the University of Latvia organizes the conference dedicated to the academician every year. During the conference, the main topics were lexicography and terminology, and the experience of preparing dictionaries was shared. Presentations are read in Latvian, Lithuanian and Russian. A collection of conference theses has been published. The conference was opened and greeted by the Rector of the University of Latvia Marcis Auzinis (Mārcis Auziņš). Ilga Jansone, Director of the Institute of Latvian Language, presented the latest dictionaries and published works on Latvian language in 2009. The presentation of Sarma Kļaviņa (Riga) was dedicated to the manuscript Latvian language dictionary by Karl Mulenbach, edited and supplemented by Janis Endzelynas. Ieva Zuicena (Riga) spoke about the contributions of the correspondent member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, Professor Laimdots ceplītis (1930–1992), to Latvian linguistics, briefly discussing his most important works. The linguist devoted most of his years of research – 28 – to lexicography and the first large Latvian language dictionary. Until his death, he was the responsible editor of the General Dictionary of the Latvian Language (Latviešu literārās valodas vārdnīcas) (from the first to the eighth volumes). The speaker also provided information about how the dictionary was written, its structure and quality. Terminology | 2010 | 17 179 Renate Siliņa-Piņķe (Riga) discussed the names of the peasants of Vidzemes in the first half of the 17th century. The presentations of Gita Elksnīte (Liepaja) and Elga Skrūzmane (Riga) were devoted to the 17th-century written language recorded in G. Mancelis’ dictionary Lettus (1638) and the collection of sermons Postilla (1654). Miroslav Jankowiak (Warsaw) examined the lexicon of the Polish work of Jan Kunowski, Ekspedycyja inflantska 1621 roku. Liene Markus-Narvila (Liepaja) discussed the types of dialect dictionaries published in Latvia. She regretted that they are not many and that they are not comprehensive, and acknowledged that they should be undertaken in the near future, for example, the preparation of dictionaries of family, urban language, etc. According to the rapporteur, sociolinguists should also be interested in this. Brigita Bušmane, Riga, also spoke about dialects. Various other aspects of the Latvian language were studied by Ilze Štrausa (Riga), Dace Strelēvica-Ošiņa (Riga), Vineta Ernstsone (Riga), Maija Brēde (Riga), Daiga Straupeniece (Liepaja). Baiba Bankava and Ojārs Bušs (Riga) read a report on eponyms. Ilgas Miglas (Ilga Migla, Riga) presentation examined phraseologisms, comparisons and proverbs with the words koks (tree) and zars (branch) found in dictionaries of different ages. Laimdota Oldere (Riga) discussed the semantics of the adjective labs (good), and Ārija Ozola (Riga) analyzed the adjective dižs (great). Anitra Roze (Riga) in her presentation examined the semantics and usage of the Latvian words bēšs, blonds, brunets, šatens, which refer to a certain shade of brown. Vineta Poriņa (Riga) discussed the problems of bilingualism in Latvia in the first decade of the 21st century, while Janis Sīlis (Ventspils), emphasizing the need for knowledge of English as a lingua franca, discussed the difficulties of compiling Latvian-English conversation books in the 21st century. The speaker also mentioned the increasing influence of English on Latvian, especially in the 21st century. at the beginning of the treatment. The joint presentation of Viesturs Šulcs (Riga) and Inese Ēdelmane (Riga) dealt with the Latvian national botanical nomenclature database – its structure, elements and scope. According to the speakers, such a database of botanical nomenclature facilitates the analysis of terms. 180 A. Butāne, A. Rimkutė | International Scientific Conference No vārda līdz... Juris Baldunčiks (Ventspils) pointed out that life without the Internet is more and more unimaginable, so an electronic lexicographic source is needed, where not only words are explained, but also detailed linguistic information is provided. According to the speaker, such a Latvian language database (Leksipēdija) could be created following the example of Wikipedia (implementing the principle of democratic cooperation and guaranteeing scientific control). Eduardas cauna (Eduards cauna, Riga) emphasized in his presentation that journalists, translators, editors and proofreaders often face the problem that there is no single electronic source to refer to and where they can find the right word, see how to spell it, find synonyms and equivalents in other languages, as well as communicate with other language users and specialists. The prototype of such a dictionary is Leksikons (www.leksikons.lv). The presentation of Māris Baltiņš (Riga) was devoted to the history of Latvian terminology in the early 20th century. The speaker said that in the spring of 1915, due to the war, a large part of the Latvian people left their homeland – the nation’s intelligentsia withdrew from Riga to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Many cultural workers published their works in the newspaper Dzimtenes atbalss (Echo of the Fatherland), which was published in Moscow (1915–1918). In this important newspaper for the Latvian nation, there was a discussion about the necessity of its own terminology, especially in the field of education – to use Latvian terms. These debates ideologically prepared the society in 1919 to form The Terminology Commission. Academician Valentina Skujinia (Valentīna Skujiņa, Riga) discussed the concept and usage of new words in articles of the 21st century. She defined what is novelty, discussed the synonymous term neologism. A large number of linguists from the Lithuanian Language Institute also participated in the conference. Professor Grasilda Blažienė reviewed the material of the Prussian dictionary of the Latvian linguist J. Endzelynas’ work Senprūšu valoda. Ievads, gramatika un leksika (1943). Danutė Liutkevičienė read a presentation about the General Dictionary of Lithuanian Language prepared by the Lexicography Centre of the Lithuanian Language Institute. This dictionary will be a normative publication for the public, the main purpose of which is to reflect the correct usage of words in the current common language. The editors of the dictionary strive for maximum systematicity. They, following the traditions of preparing dictionaries of the current Lithuanian language, try to Terminology | 2010 | 17 181 To gradually modernize the preparation of the Lithuanian language dictionary and to orient it to the modern lexicography of other languages. The database of this dictionary is also being completed. Vilija Sakalauskienė discussed Lithuanian dialect dictionaries and the principles of their preparation. According to the researcher, the main goal of preparing dialect dictionaries is to record the treasure of words of the old generation, which would allow to analyse dialect vocabulary in detail, present its system, the functioning of dialect words. Thus, the main source of the schnekt vocabulary must be the living language and dialect material, in individual cases, when recording the facts of peripheral extinct dialects, printed texts. The works of fiction should not be a source of dialect vocabulary. Rima Bacevičiūtė also spoke about dialect dictionaries. Her presentation focused mainly on the principles and problems of presenting phonetic features of dialect dictionaries (quantity of vowels, qualitative variants of vowels, double positional variants, softness of consonants, co-articulatory processes and prosody elements). Having reviewed the reflection of these features in the dictionaries, the linguist came to the conclusion that the authors present them in unequal detail, and the inconsistency is mainly determined by reasons related to the dialect structure, the purpose of the text and the addressee, as well as the practical possibilities of printing. Vidmantas Kuprevičius in his presentation „Rytų aukštaičių rankraštinis žodynas (rtŽ) – akademinio „Lietuvių kalbos žodyno“ leksikos šaltinis“ (Rytų aukštaičių handwritten dictionary (rtŽ) – the lexical source of the academic „Lietuvių kalbos žodynas“ (Dictionary of Lithuanian Language)) examined some questions of the meaning and origin of words from the East Highlands handwritten dictionary that have entered the Lithuanian language dictionary. Aušra Rimkutė read a report on the terms of religion in the small catechism for children by priest Juozas Laukaitis. The three editions of this catechism use not only Lithuanian religious terms, but also foreign ones. Most of the religious terms are used synonymously in catechisms, preferring usually the Lithuanian term. Regina Kvašytė (Šiauliai), based on Lithuanian and Latvian languages, explained what is beekvivalent vocabulary, often simply called national realities. According to the speaker, these are unique elements of material and spiritual culture, characteristic of a certain nation, country or region of the world, which usually have no counterparts (equivalents) in other cultures and languages. Interestingly, this layer of vocabulary is distinct, not equally familiar to the speakers of their own language. 182 A. Butāne, A. Rimkutė | International Scientific Conference From Word to... The two-day conference focused on the problems of lexicography of Lithuanian and Latvian languages, sharing experience in the preparation of dictionaries, especially dialects, and computerized terminology management, and presenting various databases. The 21st century is also not forgotten. speech disorders. The next conference, dedicated to academician Janis Endzelynas, will take place in 2011. Retrieved 2010-09-14. Anita Butāne LMA Terminology Commission, Lu Institute of Latvian Language E-mail [email protected] Aušra Rimkutė Institute of Lithuanian Language P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius, Lithuania Email: [email protected]