Simono Daukanto Patarlių ortografijos lūžis Sankt Peterburge (~1838–1841)
Volume 22 (2020): Archivum Lithuanicum, pp. 131–216
Pub. online: 31 December 2020
Type: Article
Open Access
Open Access
Published
31 December 2020
31 December 2020
Abstract
Simonas Daukantas (1793–1864) moved to St Petersburg in 1835. Impermanence and competition of variants were typical for his orthography. During the four initial years in that city, Daukantas managed to shape at least two consecutive distinct Lithuanian orthographies of his own: (1) of the Beginning Years in St Petersburg (1835–1836) and (2) of his First Printed Books (ca. the 2nd half of 1836 to 1838). This study analyzes Daukantas’s third period of significant orthographic transformations during his residency in St Petersburg— a prolonged four-year phase of orthographic modifications that can be termed the Orthographic Switch of Proverbs (ca. 1838–1841), since the change was best reflected in the draft lists of proverbs. The major orthographic data was collected from Daukantas’s manuscript Margumynai (Miscellanea, p. 156–166, LLTIBR: f. 1 – SD 27) and printed book Abecieła Lîjtuwiû- Kalnienû ir Żiamajtiû Kałbos (The Primer of the Lithuanian Language—of Highlanders and of Lowlanders, St Petersburg, 1842). The most significant modifications within the Orthographic Switch of Proverbs were these:Orthography of Daukantas’s First Printed Books (ca. second half of
1836 to 1838) → Orthographic Switch of Proverbs (ca. first half of 1838 to 1841)
1. <-ai, -ei> word-final position → <-aj, -ej> word-final position
2. <ù> [ọ] → <ó> [ọ]
3. <î> [ẹ] → <ĩ> [ẹ]
4. <i> [i·, i] word-medial position → <y> [i·, i] word-medial position
5. <ai, ei> word-medial position [in great part] → <aj, ej> word-medial position [in great part]
6. <îj> [ẹi] → <ĩj> [ẹi]
7. <on> (<ą>) [ọn, an] → <ąn> [ọn, an]
8. <-te> infinitive → <-tĩ> infinitive.
The characteristics of the Orthographic Switch of the Proverbs entailed, on the one hand, a substitution of characters (<î> → <ĩ>, <îj> → <ĩj>, <ai, ei> → <aj, ej>, <on> → <ą> → <ąn>), and on the other hand—an achievement of a higher degree of generalization of orthographic rules, their phonetization and delexicalization (<y> [i·, i] in word-medial position was adjusted to <y> [i·, i] in the word-final position; analogously, <aj, ej> in word-medial position were attuned to the usage earlier adopted in flexions; graphic realization of the infinitive on <-tĩ> was altered according the use of the letter <ĩ> in other positions—to signify the sound [ẹ] of Daukantas’s native Lithuanian Lowland dialect). Also, after the Orthographic Switch of Proverbs the amount of parallel graphic realizations (variants) somewhat decreased.
The end of Orthography of Daukantas’s First Printed Books partially overlapped with the beginning of the Orthographic Switch of Proverbs, since in 1838 some older orthographic features were employed beside the new ones, for instance, <î> and <ĩ>, <ù> and <ó>. After the four\ years of the Orthographic Switch of Proverbs (ca. 1838–1841) a comparatively stable period of Daukantas’s newly shaped spellings followed, the spellings that might be termed Daukantas’s Lithuanian Orthography of the Capital City (ca. 1842–1846), since Daukantas conjured up his creation as the Lithuanian orthography of St Petersburg (this latter period, however, is not covered in this study).