ABOUT FLOWERS, THE NAMES OF THEIR COLORS, AND OTHER MATTERS

It is customary to adorn and tend our homes and surroundings. Whatever the world around us may be like, pleasant or less so, we cannot do without flowers. “Flowers are our good friends: they accompany us in joy and sorrow, from birth throughout our lives, silently able to express the finest human feelings, create a festive mood and a healthy environment, and give us spiritual strength”¹.

By homesteads, especially in the summer gardens of city dwellers, and even on the balconies of apartment blocks, one can see the most colorful blooms. In flowerbeds people still plant flowers traditionally grown for generations, for example: avizių, bitučių, jurginų, katilėlių, medetkų, ramunių, tulpių, žirnelių, žirniukų, and night-scented nakti­nukių, naktibal­dų. However, flowers are often given foreign names even though they have attractive Lithuanian ones; for example, kankalicas, kankalijas, prancūzus should be called auskarėliais; pinavijos, pivonijos, panavijos should be called bijūnais; zinijos – puikiosiomis gvazdūnėmis; what are called pliokcijas arba plioksus should be called flioksais; čebatėlius, čebatukus, bernardinus – mėlynosio­mis kurpelėmis; gausiai žydinčias balsaminkas – sprigėmis; uzarėlius – nasturtėmis; konvalijas should be called pakalnutėmis; not šarelis, šparas, but vaistinis smidras; karoliukai should be called žydrėmis. Of course, not all of them can be listed here.

Nowadays all kinds of flowers are brought in from abroad, and plant enthusiasts and growers can learn about them by browsing publications intended for them. Bookshops display large, lavishly illustrated books such as “Flowers,” “Among Flowers,” “The Flower Book,” “Garden Flowers,” “Houseplants,” and others; magazines such as “Flower Garden,” “Garden Colors,” and “Our Gardens” are published; even booklets for young gardeners are printed, for example “A Beginner’s Guide to Gardening” and “My Little Garden.” Flowers and garden plants are also discussed in the magazine “Our Home.” Naturally, the catalogs of the firm “Florexlit,” which reach many people’s homes, must also be mentioned; in 1999,

¹ Balvočiūtė J., Gudanavičius S. Jaunajam gėlininkui. K.: Šviesa, 1988. P. 3.

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the company “Biofonas” published its “Flower Seed Catalog.” The eye is drawn to the abundance of brightly colored leaflets, information sheets, and small catalogs from various companies, introducing readers to plant seeds, different kinds of flowers, ornamental plant seedlings, their care products, tools, fertilizing methods, compost-soil mixtures, and the like.

This short article aims to draw attention to one or two language-related issues in the publications and booklets mentioned above.

The loveliest and strangest flowers are presented wonderfully, but, unfortunately, names that are not especially convenient to use slip through. Sometimes these names evoke unwanted, negative associations through their sound, for example, heliosperma, leptosifonas. Many names imported from abroad have not been adapted to our phonetics. Will we not tie our tongues in knots trying to pronounce them? Here are a few examples: alstromerija, brachiskomė, centrodenija, cinerarija, dizigoteka, ekremokarpas, eschinan tas, ešolcija, faukarija, godecija, hipocirta, hortaderija, hutčinzija, ipomėja, kosmidijumas, nyrembergija, rodžersija, salpiglosa, and so on. These and many other imported flower names urgently need Lithuanian equivalents. Suggestions for what to call the ornamental, beautiful flowers that have until now been known only by foreign names could come not only from linguists but also from flower growers, sellers, bouquet makers, and others. To find an appropriate name, one must see the flowers often, watch how they grow, and be able to identify their distinctive features.

It is worth recalling the new Lithuanian flower names proposed by the linguist Kazimieras Gaivenis. Margalapė difenbachija—a plant in the arum family—is proposed by K. Gaivenis to be called ajerūne. The sansevieria, a flower from the lily family often grown indoors, sansevjerą, whose long, fleshy leaves resemble swords, is proposed to be called karduote in Lithuanian. Hutčinzijas, flowers that grow in clumps, could be called kupstūnėmis. A flower often grown indoors for its highly decorative leaves is proposed to be called not kaladžiu but lapainiu. Avortiją is especially adorned by its beautiful, variegated leaves. In Lithuanian, it is proposed to call it margule. The flower that blooms in flowerbeds in early spring, known by the foreign word erantis, is proposed by K. Gaivenis to be called pavasariuku. The spotted beloperone blooms with small spotted flowers. Its inflorescences resemble hop cones,

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therefore, the Lithuanian name of the genus could be spurguotė. Sternberg’s chlorophytum blooms with small white flowers, but it is usually not the flowers that catch the eye, but the clusters of little roots growing from the tips of the stems. K. Gaivenis suggests that this plant be called by the Lithuanian word viksvūnė².

Quite a few flowers already have a good native name that is familiar to many, but unfortunately is sometimes forgotten. For example, primroses blooming in gardens and flower beds delight the eye. In the past, primroses were garden flowers only; now they are also grown indoors. Primroses should no longer be called primulas. The Lithuanian name kardeliai is already becoming established for the gladioli, gladioluses grown in many countries. Flower growers distinguish bijūnas from pinavija, although in fact they are merely different species of the same genus. The name pinavija, or pivonija, derives from the Latin name Paeonia L. Thus, the flowers with large, bowed heads, which were grown in medicinal gardens and monastery grounds and came to Lithuania several hundred years ago, should also be called bijūnai. The beautiful flower-bed flowers vilkdaligiai are quite often called by flower growers by the foreign name irisai. Geranium blooms profusely and for a long time. It is especially suitable for flower beds and for planting on balconies, but another name is preferred: snaputis. The small flowers of the balsam, often grown in flower beds and in boxes on balconies and windowsills, should not be called balsaminomis, balsaminkomis. The charming little flower should be called sprigė. Until the first frosts, gardens are adorned by the long-blooming flower tagetė, whose name, borrowed from Latin, is common in various publications. However, the 1993 *Dictionary of Contemporary Lithuanian* (hereafter DLKŽ₃) (p. 688) states that the aforementioned strongly scented garden plant should be called by another name—serentis. The flowers of the heliotrope (not elijotrope) grown on balconies smell of vanilla; it has dark, beautifully colored, crinkled leaves, so the name raukšlius might catch on.

In many a room, one can admire the arum-family plant long grown in Lithuania—calla. It also has the Lithuanian name žinginys. The flower window is brightened by cyclamen, which is vividly called the Alpine violet in magazines for flower growers.

² Gaivenis K. Siūlome kelis lietuviškus gėlių pavadinimus // Kalbos kultūra. Sąs. 69. 1997. P. 46–48.

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Gerberas can be bought as cut flowers; some people grow them in pots, so their blooms bring pleasure regardless of the time of year. They come in a great variety of colors. But they should be called gerbera, not herbera³.

In the publications and booklets mentioned earlier, one-word names predominate. Some nomenclatural words are simply genus names adapted to the Lithuanian language system, for example: achimenė, brunfelsija, dipladenija, dipterakantas, erantema, eševerija, gardenija, iksora, krosandra, puansetija, stefanotis, and so on. Another group of one-word names consists of common-language words adapted for this purpose, for example: ąsotenis, bajorė, gvaizdūnė, katilėlis, margenis, mėlenis, nakviša, rykštenė, snaputis, sprigė, sukutis, šilokas, vaistutis, viks­vuolė, žvaigždūnė, and others.

It should be noted that there are many compound names that allow a plant to be called by a shorter and fairly informative word, for example: gebenkrūmis, juodgrūdė, karpažolė, kauliauogė, kiškiako­pūstis, liūtpėdė, pilarožė, plačiaragis, rugiagėlė, saulėgraža, storalapis, šilagėlė, viks­vamel­dis, žiognagė, and others.

A particularly distinctive group, however, consists of compound names made up of several words. Compound names are used when one wishes to highlight a particular characteristic or specify a term, for example: leaf cacti, broad-leaved fern, small-flowered bellflower, graceful chamaedorea, yellowish callistemon, fragrant pelargoniums, and the like.

It is very important that a compound name be morphologically and grammatically correct.

A flower’s species or variety is customarily specified using definite forms, so it should be not geltona lelija, but geltonoji lelija; not baltas katilėlis, but baltasis katilėlis; not paprasta šilagėlė, but paprastoji šilagėlė; not mėlynas vilkdalgis, but mėlynasis vilkdalgis, as in paprastoji saulėgraža, paprastoji lobelija, and so on. The forms to use and write are not kvepiantis narcizas, kvepiantys naktinukai, but kvapnusis narcizas, kvapnieji naktinukai.

The name of the same flower genus should not vary across different literature, for example: Latin Celosia, Lithuanian celiozija, celioza—the form should be ce-

³ Terminologijos taisymai / Liet. k. inst.; Parengė K. Gaivenis ir kt. V.: Mokslas, 1992. P. 44.

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liozija; lat. Zephyranthes, Lith. zefyrantas, zefirantas – should be zefyrantas; lat. Hydrangea, Lith. hortenzija, ortenzija. DLKŽ₃ (p. 198) gives hortenzija as the name of a garden or potted shrub in the Saxifrage family.

To describe plants, their color needs to be stated as precisely as possible, so it is worth paying attention to ways of describing color. Writers on plants often choose adjectives with the suffix -inis, -ė, which can indicate resemblance to the color of an object denoted by the base word, e.g.: apricot, lilac, and orange color; raspberry-colored flowers; golden flowers; a chestnut-colored flower center; cream-colored petals; carrot-colored shade; brick-red color; a pink bud; silvery-green leaves; beige color; cherry-colored flower, etc.

Not only linguists should find comparisons with specific objects, which occur quite frequently, interesting, e.g.: ivory color; lemon-colored petals; lemon-yellow flowers; feathery amber-colored flowers; egg-yolk-yellow color; the flower’s center is the dark color of blackcurrants.

Naturally, convention plays a major role, since many of the adjectives mentioned above have a figurative sense of resemblance, e.g.: a center with a golden eye, that is, an eye the color of gold.

It is necessary once again to recall the case-use errors that are frequently made and often corrected. In booklets, purpose and function are incorrectly expressed using the genitive with the dative of a verbal noun, e.g.: one of the most beautiful spring plants, suitable for decorating rock gardens (=to decorate rock gardens); a profusely flowering plant, suitable for greening walls (=to green walls); a perennial plant, ideal for bouquets and drying (=to dry); the fruit is used to decorate rooms and the exterior (=to decorate rooms and the exterior); used for planting the edges of flowerbeds (=to plant the edges of flowerbeds), and so on.

Literal translation from other languages produces new words and syntactic constructions that are not always well formed, e.g.: an abundance of spherical (=ball-shaped), double small flowers; a compact (=small, short, densely branched, densely leaved) flower, shrub; has large, beautiful, yellow petals and wide central disks (=di-

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large center); dried when not fully (=not completely, barely) open; remedies against pests (=remedies for pests); the traditional lupine significantly (=greatly) improves the color palette.

It was already noted in “Terminologijos taisymai” that the expression evergreen plants should be replaced with the standard term evergreen plants (p. 14), and that instead of the phrase flowering plants, one should simply use flowers (p. 41).

It is quite often reported that a particular flower is suitable for growing in flowerbeds and garden containers. In Lithuanian, the international word konteineris (‘container’) is used in a fairly narrow sense—“a large box for transporting cargo” (DLKŽ₃, p. 324). Of course, in this case it would not be very suitable to replace it with sodo dėžė (‘garden box’), since this phrase tends to describe a kind of tool shed in which garden tools are stored. Instead of sodo konteinerio, dėžės (‘garden container, box’), sodo vazonas, vazondėžė, gėliadėžė (‘garden planter, planter-box, flower box’) might be more suitable, and so on. Incidentally, the word gėliadėžė, meaning “a box for planting flowers outdoors,” is included in DLKŽ₃ (p. 169).

The variety of ways to describe places for growing flowers is no less diverse than the flowers themselves. Alongside familiar terms such as flowerbed, flower patch, flowerpot, etc., many new names have appeared, e.g.: balcony or windowsill trough, flower box, hanging basket, hanging pot, half-barrel, flower basket, flowerpot, flower wall, (flower) garden tub, flower shelf, flower shelf-stairs (better called tiered flower shelf). All this helps reveal the beauty of flowers and makes the surroundings cozy and pleasant. And we all certainly need that!

Literatūra

1. B a l v o č i ū t ė J., G u d a n a v i č i u s S. Jaunajam gėlininkui. K.: Šviesa, 1988.

2. Botanikos vardų žodynas. V.: Botanikos institutas, 1998.

3. Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas / Liet. k. inst.; Redkol.: S. Keinys (vyr. red.) ir kt. 3-čiasis patais. ir papild. leid. V.: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų l-kla, 1993.

4. Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos gramatika / Red. V. Ambrazas [K. Garšva, A. Girdenis ir kt.]; Lietuvių k. inst. V.: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų l-kla, 1993.

5. G a i v e n i s K. Siūlome kelis lietuviškus gėlių pavadinimus // Kalbos kultūra. Sąs. 69. 1997. P. 46–48.

6. K e i n y s S. Terminologijos abėcėlė. V.: Mokslas, 1980.

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7. Plateliai: monografija. V.: Versmė, 1999.

8. Tarptautinių žodžių žodynas / Vyr. enciklopedijų red.; Ats. red. V. Kvietkauskas. V.: VER, 1985.

9. Terminologijos taisymai / Liet. k. inst.; Parengė K. Gaivenis ir kt. V.: Mokslas, 1992.

10. Trumpas anglų–lietuvių ir lietuvių–anglų kalbų augalų biologijos terminų žodynas / Parengė Ona Rupainienė. V.: UAB „Nacionalinių tyrimų centras“ leidykla, 1998.

Dana VAINAUSKIENĖ

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