Eglė MAKARIŪNIENĖ

THE MANUSCRIPT TERMINOGRAPHIC LEGACY OF HENRIKAS HORODNIČIUS

The compilation and publication of Lithuanian dictionaries of physics terms¹ attest to the great concern of the senior generation of professors for the standardization and systematization of physics terminology and the development of the Lithuanian language of science. The inspiration and organizer of this work was Professor Povilas Brazdžiūnas, who involved his contemporaries—Antanas Puodžiukynas, Jonas Stanaitis, and Henrikas Horodničius—as well as younger colleagues—Kostas Užpalis and Henrikas Jonaitis—and former students—Alfonsas Juodviršis, Jonas Batarūnas, the author of these lines, and others.

The tradition of organizing physics terminology at Lithuanian institutions of higher education is quite old. As early as 1916, when Ignas Končius was writing a physics textbook, Kazimieras Būga advised him on the formation of Lithuanian terms (K. Būga’s letter to I. Končius. MA CB Manuscripts Department. F12, ap. 1742). The group of lecturers at the Agricultural Academy convened by I. Končius in Dotnuva to discuss terms in physics and meteorology should also be remembered. When I. Končius moved to work at the University of Lithuania, terminology work continued at that institution. The university’s associate professors and assistants P. Brazdžiūnas, Antanas Žvironas, A. Puodžiukynas, Kazimieras Baršauskas, and Alfonsas Jucys joined the effort. The terms they discussed and proposed were reviewed by linguists Jonas Baronas and Juozas Balčikonis. A manuscript dictionary of physics terms was prepared in three languages, but due to a lack of funds it was never published before the Second World War².

¹ Dictionary of Physics Terms: [Lith.-Russ.] /Ed. P. Brazdžiūnas. V.: State Political and Scientific Literature Publishing House, 1958. [123] p.; Dictionary of Physics Terms: [Lith.-Russ.-Eng.-Ger.] /Editorial board: P. Brazdžiūnas (chair and editor-in-chief), <...> H. Horodničius et al. Vol. 1. A-L. V., 1971. 419 p. Vol. 2. M-Ž. V., 1973. 588 p. (The project was printed by rotaprint); Dictionary of Physics Terms: [Lith.-Russ.-Eng.-Ger.] /Editorial board: P. Brazdžiūnas (chair and editor-in-chief), K. Užpalis (deputy), J. Narūšis (secretary), R. Banienė, T. Banys, J. Batarūnas, A. Česnys, K. Gaivenis, H. Horodničius, A. Jucys, A. Juodviršis, A. Kaulakienė, V. Kaveckis, J. Klimavičius, E. Makariūnienė, J. Nainys, A. Puodžiukynas, J. Stanaitis. V.: Mokslas, 1979. 680 p.; Dictionary of Laser Physics Terms: [Lith.-Russ.-Eng.], Project for Discussion /Editorial board: P. Brazdžiūnas, K. Gaivenis, H. Horodničius, J. Klimavičius, A. Piskarskas, A. Stabinis. V.: VVU, 1984. 169 p.

² Končius I. Physics Terms // Gamta. 1938. Vol. 3, No. 4. P. 258–264.

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Later, when most members of the physics terminology commission had moved to Vilnius University, the work continued there. The principal advisers to the physicists were linguists Pranas Skardžius, Antanas Salys, Petras Jonikas, and J. Balčikonis³.

The dictionary of physics terms was not published during the German occupation either. The fate of the physics terminology card files compiled by the commission members is also unknown. Only A. Žvironas wrote about his own that he had handed it over to the Academy of Sciences in 1943⁴. However, it has not been possible to locate it to this day.

After the restoration of the Lithuanian-language Vilnius University, H. Horodničius, an assistant at the former Stefan Batory University, also became involved in Lithuanian physics terminography. His excellent command of Polish and good knowledge of other languages, as well as the valuable comments and suggestions he made during discussions, proved very useful on the Physics Terminology Commission; these are reflected in his manuscript terminographic legacy. This legacy, which H. Horodničius’s daughter Marija Rūta transferred in 1990 to the Terminology Group of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, consists of four physics terminology card files compiled at different times and ten binders. They contain material related to the preparation of the Dictionary of Physics Terms and the planned Explanatory Dictionary of Physics Terms.

The first physics terminology card file, as noted in H. Horodničius’s own hand, was compiled in January–February 1944. He supplemented it after undertaking translation work. H. Horodničius wrote about this in his autobiography: “In 1943, when Vilnius University was closed, I was assigned to work at the railway administration <->; not wishing to sever my ties with physics, I began translating Russian physics textbooks. By the end of 1944, I had translated Landsberg’s Optics and Sachrov and Kosminkov’s Problems in Physics. The terms in this card file cover all branches of physics. The cards are filled out in H. Horodničius’s hand, in small, neat handwriting. The terms are given in Lithuanian, German, French, and Russian. The author himself stated that the card file comprises 1,801 cards. Alongside an international term, the cards often also give a Lithuanian equivalent; for example, alongside the then widely established term feinstruktūra, they also give smulkioji struktūra.”

The second, somewhat smaller card file, consisting of 1,200 cards, was written mostly on a typewriter, with some entries handwritten. The terms are given in six languages—Lithuanian,

³Šenavičienė I. The Development of Physics in Lithuania, 1920–1940. V.: Mokslas, 1982. P. 85–91.

⁴Antanas Žvironas: Bibliography /Comp. E. Makariūnienė. V.: [FI], 1988. Vol. 1. P. 9.

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English, German, French, Russian, and Polish. Some terms have equivalents in only some of the languages. Terms relating to the atomic nucleus, optics, and spectroscopy are presented most extensively, but there are also terms from other fields. In this card file, terms are arranged in nests, e.g.: vision, adj. daytime, adj. binocular, etc. The date when the card file was compiled is unknown; it appears to have been based on the first card file.

The other two card files were written while preparing a four-language and an explanatory dictionary of physics terms. A reference to the four-language physics dictionary published in Berlin in 1973 is often found alongside the terms. H. Horodničius described the third card file as follows: “Cards that must be reviewed, with some set aside for the future.” This card file contains 200 terms.

The fourth card file, which H. Horodničius called “Cards Needed in the Future,” apparently consists of terms that were proposed but not ultimately accepted by the commission. Here we find terms that did not make it into the four-language “Dictionary of Physics Terms,” for example, pranara; свиль, слой течения; schliere; Schlieren (f), although the dictionary includes pranarinė optika FTŽ 206. This card file comprises about 100 cards.

The card file of entries for the explanatory dictionary of physics covers only optics and spectroscopy. H. Horodničius prepared a list of entries in these fields for the aforementioned publication and supervised their preparation. Concepts that should be mentioned when writing on the topic are often noted alongside the headword of an entry, e.g.: absorption (light absorption, absorptive capacity, light filter, optical wedge, Beer’s law, reabsorption). The cards were handwritten, in Lithuanian only, arranged alphabetically, and cover about 750 entry titles.

The folders containing the handwritten legacy also include other materials related to physics dictionaries of terms, either organized or only somewhat tidied up. Groups of terms relating to a particular physical phenomenon were collected, for example, dosimetry units and others; meeting discussions of dictionary projects with terminologists were briefly summarized. There are also other notes. The editors of the “Dictionary of Physics Terms” were divided into two groups that generally discussed matters peacefully, although sharper disagreements sometimes flared up. One group supported the Lithuanianization of international physics terms, and was represented most consistently and resolutely by P. Brazdžiūnas. The second was more tolerant of international terms, relying chiefly on the established usage of international physics terminology. Those who most often argued in favor of these terms

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were H. Horodničius, J. Batarūnas, and the author of these lines. These tendencies are illustrated by a note handwritten by H. Horodničius: “Lithuanianizing terms, Prof. P. Brazdžiūnas: radius → spindulys; process → vyksmas; specific → savitasis; phenomenon, effect — retain both; selective → išrinktinis”. After lengthy discussions, the law of energy dissipation was replaced by the Lithuanian law of uniform distribution of energy. H. Horodničius attributes the creation of this Lithuanian version to himself.

H. Horodničius worked extensively on the “Dictionary of Laser Physics Terms,” actively participating in meetings where new terms and additions to the four-language “Dictionary of Physics Terms” were discussed. A note from that period reads: “chirp — čirpas (frequency) and its derivatives čirpinimas, čirpa, čir pintuvas <~>” One of these (čirpas) is already used in physics terminology.

For many years, as they deliberated over physics terms for dictionaries in preparation, younger colleagues learned from H. Horodničius’s tolerance and great attentiveness to the subject under discussion, grounded in his excellent command of his field.

5—880

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