Baltic Online
Lesson 6: Lithuanian
Virginija Vasiliauskiene and Jonathan Slocum
The foundations for the flourishing of Lithuanian culture of the 18th century were laid in the previous two centuries. In the 16th and 17th centuries, a collective tradition for the production of religious and linguistic works had been created, and in Daniel Klein's grammar, norms for the written language had been codified. The distinguished literary historian Jùrgis Lebedỹs has emphasized that, without Jõnas Bretkū́nas, the greatest producer of religious literature at the end of the 16th century and the translator of the Bible, Kristijõnas Doneláitis (1714-1780) would never have become famous.
Kristijõnas Doneláitis as a poet was nurtured by the cultural milieu of 18th century East Prussia. At the age of 29 he was appointed pastor of the small East Prussian parish Tolminkiemis, where he lived until his death. He loved the simple and unhurried life. He had not only poetic talent, but also golden hands: he made optical and meteorological instruments and even built for himself a piano that he played, and he maintained a garden. A great part of his life was spent talking with the peasants of his parish and experiencing their woes and cares. Half the members of his parish were Germans who, supported by the government, tried to push Lithuanian peasants out of the more fertile lands. Thus, as a pastor, it frequently fell to his lot to quell national and social conflicts, encouraging the peasants to argue their cases in court.
It is thought that six fables belong to the initial phase of his literary activity. Some are borrowed from Aesop and others are original. However the most important work, which made him famous, is the poem Mẽtai 'The Seasons'. Most likely Doneláitis wrote this in the course of ten years without any preconceived plan for the work. The poem was constantly being supplemented and corrected, but remained unfinished to the end. The famous East Prussian Lithuanian cultural activist Liùdvikas Rėzà published it 38 years after its author's death. He was the first to call this work Mẽtai 'The Seasons'. This is made up of four parts: The amusements of spring, Summer work, The pleasures of fall and Winter cares. In these the author describes the East Prussian Lithuanian village, the way of life of its peasant inhabitants, and their work, all of which was well known to him. The impressive views of nature during the seasons described by the poet help to hold together the various parts of the work. The lives of the Lithuanian peasants in the poem are closely bound up with the cycles of nature. The most important things for the peasant are work, sleep and food. Doneláitis relied little on any kind of literary canons, but in the division of the poem's characters into positive (polite) and negative (good-for-nothing) persons we can see some elements of classical writing. The use of extravagant expressions and the tendency to hyperbolize are connected with the baroque tradition. In the work there are quite a few didactic precepts and pieces of advice, because its author is not only a poet but a preacher as well. In The Seasons, the author through the mouths of his characters comes out against the foreign German culture and emphasizes the value of his own language and culture. His national feeling is distinguished by conservatism.
The poetry of antiquity (Hesiod, Vergil) had a profound influence on him. His entire poem is in rhymed hexameter. Although the antique hexameter is based on the difference between short and long syllables, he applied it to the Lithuanian language, which has free stress, and he replaced the old hexameter with tonic hexameter. In his verses he alternates tonic dactyls and trochees, but the penultimate foot of a line is always dactylic. Characteristic of each line is a caesura in the third foot or two caesuras in the second and fourth feet. The caesura is for the most part masculine.
The episode given here is from the second part of The Seasons. Summer work tells about one of the most colorful good-for-nothing peasants of this poem, Plaučiū́nas. After a bit of unpaid collective work, he has his fill of food and drink at the place of his neighbor Kãsparas and wanders home, arriving only at dawn and without his new scythe and whetstone. He misses his tools only after the quail calls him to make hay. Unable to find his tools anywhere, Pliaučiū́nas beats his wife and children, saddles up his one-eared nag and rides off to Karaliáučius to buy a scythe. But there he forgets all about the scythe and at Mìkas' place pays for his drinks with his old nag and wanders home on foot after two weeks. Crawling and snorting, he cuts his neglected meadow with a sickle. This excerpt was translated by William Schmalstieg.
Reading and Textual Analysis
The text of the selection is given according to the rules of contemporary Lithuanian orthography and punctuation: as much as possible, an attempt has been made to maintain the authentic Donelaitis stress (he did not supply all the words with stress and some are stressed in several ways). In this selection as in the entire poem, abundant use is made of the half-participles, which are distinguished by their picturesque quality, e.g., klydinė́dams 'wandering around', miegódams 'sleeping', vaitódams 'groaning', pamatýdams 'seeing', žioplinė́dams 'gaping', šokinė́dams 'dancing', šnỹpšdams 'snorting', rėplinė́dams 'crawling'. Also characteristic of the author's language is the ending - s as a shortening of - as, i.e., the loss of mobile - a-, e.g., Plaučiū́ns, pavitóts 'having been given food and drink', miegódams 'sleeping', vaitódams 'groaning', etc. Infinitives are also shortened: šienáut(i) 'to make hay', pjáut(i) 'to cut, to reap', conjunctions ìk(i) 'until.' The locative ending -yje is shortened not to -y, but to yj, e.g.., naktỹj 'in the night'.
In the text given here Slavisms are encountered, e.g., pavitóts 'having been given food and drink', glū̃pas 'stupid, silly', nesvíetiškai 'not of this world, inhuman, beyond ordinary measure', dỹvas 'wonder', nedė́lė 'week', potám 'then'. Most common are the conjunctions kàd 'that, when', bèt 'but', ir̃ 'and', bei 'and'. Frequent in this excerpt are adverbs (paskiaũs 'afterwards, then', prastaĩ 'poorly', taĩp 'also', namõn 'home', daũg 'many, much', konè 'almost', etc.) and prepositions (pàs 'at', añt 'on', sù 'with', per̃ 'through', ìš 'from, out of', į̃ 'into', põ 'under, after', etc). In addition the adverb ir̃gi 'and even', characteristic of the literature of Lithuania Minor, is also used.
The excerpt is taken from the book Kristijonas Donelaitis. Metai ir pasakėčios. Vilnius: Baltų lankų leidyba, 2000, translated by William Schmalstieg.
Talkojè pavitóts, taĩp baĩsiai bùvo prir̀ijęs,
Kàd jìs nãktyj, añt tamsių̃ laukų̃ klydinė́dams,
Bùdę naũją sù dalgiù šukė́tu prapùldė
Ir̃gi namõn išaũšus jaũ vos võs parsibãstė.
- tàs -- pronoun; nominative singular masculine of <tàs, tà> this, that -- that
- nenáudėlis -- noun, masculine; nominative singular of <nenáudėlis, nenáudėlė> good-for-nothing -- good-for-nothing
- Plaučiū́ns -- proper noun, masculine; nominative singular of <Plaučiū́ns> Plauciunas -- Plauciunas
- pàs -- preposition; <pàs> at, to -- at
- Kãsparą -- proper noun, masculine; accusative singular of <Kãsparas> Kasparas -- Kasparas' (place)
- pérnai -- adverb; <pérnai> last year -- last year
- talkojè -- noun, feminine; locative singular of <talkà> collective labor -- in the collective labor
- pavitóts -- verb; nominative singular masculine of preterit participle passive of <pavitóti, pavitója, pavitójo> entertain, give food and drink -- having been given food and drink
- taĩp -- adverb; <taĩp> so, therefore -- so
- baĩsiai -- adverb; <baĩsiai> awfully -- much
- bùvo -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <bū́ti, yrà, bùvo> be -- had
- prir̀ijęs -- verb; nominative singular masculine of preterit participle active of <prirýti, prirỹja, prirìjo> drink -- drunk
- kàd -- conjunction; <kàd> that -- that
- jìs -- pronoun; nominative singular masculine <jìs, jì> he, she, it -- he
- nãktyj -- noun, feminine; locative singular <naktìs> night -- at night
- añt -- preposition; <añt> in, on -- around
- tamsių̃ -- adjective; genitive plural masculine of <tamsùs, tamsì> dark -- dark
- laukų̃ -- noun, masculine; genitive singular of <laũkas> field -- the fields
- klydinė́dams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <klydinė́ti, klydinė́ja, klydinė́jo> wander -- wandering
- bùdę -- noun, feminine; accusative singular of <bùdė> whetstone -- the whetstone
- naũją -- adjective; accusative singular feminine of <naũjas, naujà> new -- new
- sù -- preposition; <sù> with -- with
- dalgiù -- noun, masculine; instrumental singular of <dal̃gis> scythe -- the scythe
- šukė́tu -- adjective; instrumental singular masculine of <šukė́tas, šukė́ta> chipped -- chipped
- prapùldė -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <prapùldyti, prapùldo, prapùldė> lose -- lost
- ir̃gi -- adverb; <ir̃gi> and even -- and even
- namõn -- adverb; <namõn> home -- home
- išaũšus -- verb; preterit gerund(ive) of <išaũšti, išaũšta, išaũšo> break of dawn -- at the break of dawn
- jaũ -- adverb; <jaũ> already, just -- just
- vos võs -- adverb; <vos võs> barely -- barely
- parsibãstė -- verb; 3rd person preterit reflexive of <parsibastýti, parsibãsto, parsibãstė> wander -- (he) wandered
Pàmestų rỹkų laukè ieškót neminė́jo,
Ìk põ mẽto vė̃l šienáut jaũ pùtpela šaũkė.
- taĩp -- adverb; <taĩp> so, therefore -- so that
- jisaĩ -- definite pronoun; nominative singular masculine of <jìs, jì> he, she, it -- he
- paskuĩ -- adverb; <paskuĩ> afterwards -- afterwards
- per̃ -- preposition; <per̃> through -- through
- diẽną -- noun, feminine; accusative singular of <dienà> day -- the day
- vìsą -- pronoun; accusative singular feminine of <vìsas, visà> all -- whole
- miegódams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <miegóti, miẽga, miegójo> sleep -- sleeping
- pàmestų -- verb; genitive plural masculine of preterit participle passive of <pamèsti, pàmeta, pàmetė> loose -- lost
- rỹkų -- noun, masculine; genitive plural of <rỹkas> tool -- the tools
- laukè -- noun, masculine; locative singular of <laũkas> field -- in the field
- ieškót -- verb; infinitive of <ieškóti, íeško, ieškójo> look for -- to look for
- neminė́jo -- negative particle; <ne> not + verb; 3rd person preterit of <minė́ti, mìni, minė́jo> remember -- (he) didn't remember
- ìk -- conjunction; <ìk> until -- until
- põ -- preposition; <põ> after, over, on -- after
- mẽto -- noun, masculine; genitive singular of <mẽtai> year -- a year
- vė̃l -- adverb; <vė̃l> again -- again
- šienáut -- verb; infinitive of <šienáuti, šienáuja, šienãvo> make hay -- to make hay
- jaũ -- adverb; <jaũ> already, just -- already
- pùtpela -- noun, feminine; nominative singular of <pùtpela> quail -- the quail
- šaũkė -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <šaũkti, šaũkia, šaũkė> call -- called (him)
Ir̃ vaitódams vìs ir̃ šeñ, ir̃ teñ bėginė́jo;
Ìk paskiaũs, ìš pãpykio beržìnį pagãvęs,
Pãčią sù glūpaĩs vaikaĩs konè nùmušė smir̃das.
- štaĩ -- particle; <štaĩ> here -- so now
- Plaučiū́ns -- proper noun, masculine; nominative singular of <Plaučiū́ns> Plauciunas -- Plauciunas
- sàvo -- pronoun; genitive of <sàvo> he, she -- his
- dal̃gio -- noun, masculine; genitive singular of <dal̃gis> scythe -- scythe
- beĩ -- conjunction; <beĩ> and -- and
- bùdės -- noun, feminine; genitive singular of <bùdė> whetstone -- whetstone
- pasigẽdo -- verb; 3rd person preterit reflexive of <pasigèsti, pasigeñda, pasigẽdo> miss -- missed
- ir̃ -- conjunction; <ir̃> and -- and
- vaitódams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <vaitóti, vaitója,vaitójo> moan, groan -- groaning
- vìs -- adverb; <vìs> still -- ...
- ir̃ -- conjunction; <ir̃> and -- ...
- šeñ -- adverb; <šeñ> hither -- hither
- ir̃ -- conjunction; <ir̃> and -- and
- teñ -- adverb; <teñ> there, thither -- thither
- bėginė́jo -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <bėginė́ti, bėginė́ja, bėginė́jo> run about -- ran
- ìk -- conjunction; <ìk> until -- until
- paskiaũs -- adverb; <paskiaũs> then, after that -- finally
- ìš -- preposition; <ìš> from -- from
- pãpykio -- noun, masculine; genitive singular of <pãpykis> anger -- anger
- beržìnį -- noun, masculine; accusative singular of <beržìnis> birch stick -- a birch stick
- pagãvęs -- verb; nominative singular masculine of preterit participle active of <pagáuti, pagáuna, pagãvo> grab up -- grabbing up
- pãčią -- noun, feminine; accusative singular of <patì> wife -- (his) wife
- sù -- preposition; <sù> with -- and
- glūpaĩs -- adjective; instrumental plural masculine of <glū̃pas> stupid -- stupid
- vaikaĩs -- noun, masculine; instrumental plural of <vaĩkas> child -- (their) children
- konè -- adverb; <konè> almost -- almost
- nùmušė -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <numùšti, nùmuša, nùmušė> kill -- killed
- smir̃das -- noun, masculine; nominative singular of <smir̃das> stinking fellow -- the stinking fellow
Ir̃ vienaũsį kuĩnpalaikį prastaĩ pažebójęs,
Į̃ Karaliáučių dal̃gį pir̃kt tiesióg nukeliãvo.
- taĩp -- adverb; <taĩp> so, therefore -- so
- potám -- adverb; <potám> then, after that -- then
- jisaĩ -- definite pronoun; nominative singular masculine of <jìs, jì> he, she, it -- he
- nesvíetiškai -- adverb; <nesviẽtiškai> inhuman, not of this world -- unholy
- prisidū̃kęs -- verb; nominative singular masculine of preterit participle active reflexive of <prisidū̃kti, prisidū́ksta, prisidū́ko> rage, raise a row -- in a fit of rage
- ir̃ -- conjunction; <ir̃> and -- ...
- vienaũsį -- adjective; accusative singular masculine of <vienaũsis, vienaũsė> one-eared -- one-eared
- kuĩnpalaikį -- noun, masculine; accusative singular of <kuĩnpalaikis> old nag -- the old nag
- prastaĩ -- adverb; <prastaĩ> badly -- somehow
- pažebójęs -- verb; nominative singular masculine of preterit participle active of <pažebóti, pažebója, pažebójo> bridle -- having bridled
- į̃ -- preposition; <į̃> at, for, in, to -- for
- Karaliáučių -- proper noun, masculine; accusative singular of <Karaliáučius> Karaliaucius -- Karaliaucius
- dal̃gį -- noun, masculine; accusative singular of <dal̃gis> scythe -- a scythe
- pir̃kt -- verb; infinitive of <pir̃kti, per̃ka, pir̃ko> buy -- to buy
- tiesióg -- adverb; <tiesióg> directly -- directly
- nukeliãvo -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <nukeliáuti, nukeliáuja, nukeliãvo> travel -- set off
Ir̃ žioplinė́dams vìs beĩ bū̃riškai šokinė́dams,
Bùdę sù naujù dalgiù nusipir̃kt užsimir̃šo;
Bèt ir̃ kuĩnpalaikį taip jaũ pàs Mìką pragė́ręs,
Pė́sčias põ dviejų̃ nedė́lių võs parsibãstė,
Ir̃ sàvo píevą prìdergtą (tìkt gė́da sakýti)
Šnỹpšdams ir̃ rėplinė́dams vìs sù piáutuvu kir̃to.
- õ -- conjunction; <õ> and, but -- but
- veĩ -- particle; <veĩ> look -- ...
- teñ -- adverb; <teñ> there, thither -- there
- dỹvų -- noun, masculine; genitive plural of <dỹvas> miracle, wonder -- wonders
- visókių -- pronoun; genitive plural masculine of <visóks, visókia> all -- marvelous
- daũg -- adverb; <daũg> many, much -- many
- pamatýdams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <pamatýti, pamãto, pamãtė> see -- seeing
- ir̃ -- conjunction; <ir̃> and -- ...
- žioplinė́dams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <žioplinė́ti, žioplinė́ja, žioplinė́jo> gape -- gaping
- vìs -- adverb; <vìs> still -- still
- beĩ -- conjunction; <beĩ> and -- and
- bū̃riškai -- adverb; <bū̃riškai> like a peasant -- like a peasant
- šokinė́dams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <šokinė́ti, šokinė́ja, šokinė́jo> dance, skip -- dancing
- bùdę -- noun, feminine; accusative singular of <bùdė> whetstone -- a whetstone
- sù -- preposition; <sù> with -- and
- naujù -- adjective; instrumental singular masculine of <naũjas, naujà> new -- new
- dalgiù -- noun, masculine; instrumental singular of <dal̃gis> scythe -- a scythe
- nusipir̃kt -- verb; infinitive reflexive of <nusipir̃kti, nusìperka, nusipir̃ko> buy -- to buy
- užsimir̃šo -- verb; 3rd person preterit reflexive of <užsimir̃šti, užsimir̃šta, užsimir̃šo> forget -- (he) forgot
- bèt -- conjunction; <bèt> but -- but
- ir̃ -- particle; <ir̃> and -- ...
- kuĩnpalaikį -- noun, masculine; accusative singular of <kuĩnpalaikis> old nag -- the old nag
- taip jaũ -- adverb; <taip jaũ> also -- ...
- pàs -- preposition; <pàs> at, to -- at
- Mìką -- proper noun, masculine; accusative singular of <Mìkas> Mikas -- Mikas' (place)
- pragė́ręs -- verb; nominative singular masculine of preterit participle active of <pragérti, pràgeria, pragė́rė> drink up -- having drunk up
- pė́sčias -- adjective; nominative singular masculine of <pė́sčias, pėsčià> on foot -- on foot
- põ -- preposition; <põ> after, over, on -- after
- dviejų̃ -- number; genitive feminine of <dù, dvì> two -- two
- nedė́lių -- noun, feminine; genitive plural of <nedė́lia> week -- weeks
- võs -- particle; <võs> barely, hardly -- ...
- parsibãstė -- verb; 3rd person preterit reflexive of <parsibastýti, parsibãsto, parsibãstė> wander -- (he) wandered (home)
- ir̃ -- conjunction; <ir̃> and -- and
- sàvo -- pronoun; genitive of <sàvo> he, she -- his
- píevą -- noun, feminine; accusative singular of <píeva> meadow -- field
- prìdergtą -- verb; accusative singular feminine of preterit participle passive of <pridérgti, pridérgia, pridérgė> befoul -- befouled
- tìkt -- particle; <tìkt> only -- only
- gė́da -- noun, masculine; nominative singular of <gė́da> shameful -- (it is) shameful
- sakýti -- verb; infinitive of <sakýti, sãko, sãkė> say -- to say (it)
- šnỹpšdams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <šnỹpšti, šnỹpščia, šnỹpštė> snort -- snorting
- ir̃ -- conjunction; <ir̃> and -- and
- rėplinė́dams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <rėplinė́ti, rėplinė́ja, rėplinė́jo> crawl -- crawling
- vìs -- adverb; <vìs> still -- over and over
- sù -- preposition; <sù> with -- with
- piáutuvu -- noun, masculine; instrumental singular of <piáutuvas> sickle -- a sickle
- kir̃to -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <kir̃sti, ker̃ta, kir̃to> cut -- harvested
Lesson Text
Tàs nenáudėlis Plaučiū́ns, pàs Kãsparą pérnai
Talkojè pavitóts, taĩp baĩsiai bùvo prir̀ijęs,
Kàd jìs nãktyj, añt tamsių̃ laukų̃ klydinė́dams,
Bùdę naũją sù dalgiù šukė́tu prapùldė
Ir̃gi namõn išaũšus jaũ vos võs parsibãstė.
Taĩp jisaĩ paskuĩ, per̃ diẽną vìsą miegódams,
Pàmestų rỹkų laukè ieškót neminė́jo,
Ìk põ mẽto vė̃l šienáut jaũ pùtpela šaũkė.
Štaĩ Plaučiū́ns sàvo dal̃gio beĩ bùdės pasigẽdo
Ir̃ vaitódams vìs ir̃ šeñ, ir̃ teñ bėginė́jo;
Ìk paskiaũs, ìš pãpykio beržìnį pagãvęs,
Pãčią sù glūpaĩs vaikaĩs konè nùmušė smir̃das.
Taĩp potám jisaĩ, nesvíetiškai prisidū̃kęs
Ir̃ vienaũsį kuĩnpalaikį prastaĩ pažebójęs,
Į̃ Karaliáučių dal̃gį pir̃kt tiesióg nukeliãvo.
Õ veĩ teñ, dỹvų visókių daũg pamatýdams
Ir̃ žioplinė́dams vìs beĩ bū̃riškai šokinė́dams,
Bùdę sù naujù dalgiù nusipir̃kt užsimir̃šo;
Bèt ir̃ kuĩnpalaikį taip jaũ pàs Mìką pragė́ręs,
Pė́sčias põ dviejų̃ nedė́lių võs parsibãstė,
Ir̃ sàvo píevą prìdergtą (tìkt gė́da sakýti)
Šnỹpšdams ir̃ rėplinė́dams vìs sù piáutuvu kir̃to.
Translation
That good-for-nothing Plauciunas, (having participated) last year in the collective labor and having been given food and drink at Kasparas' place, had drunk so much that, wandering around the dark fields at night, he lost his new whetstone and chipped scythe. He wandered home just barely at the break of dawn so that afterwards, sleeping through the whole day, he didn't remember to look in the field for his lost tools, until after a year the quail called him to make hay again. So now Plauciunas missed his scythe and whetstone and, groaning, ran hither and thither until finally, from anger, grabbing up a birch stick, the stinking fellow almost killed his wife and their stupid children. So then in a fit of unholy rage, having somehow bridled the old one-eared nag, he set off directly for Karaliaucius to buy a scythe. But seeing many marvelous wonders there, still gaping and dancing like a peasant, he forgot to buy a whetstone and a new scythe. But having drunk up the old nag [i.e., having spent all the money he got from selling the nag] at Mikas' place, he wandered home on foot after two weeks and harvested his befouled field (it's only shameful to say it) with a sickle, crawling and snorting over and over.
Grammar
26 Adverbs
Adverbs express qualitative, quantitive, spatial or temporal characteristics of actions, states, properties, sometimes of things. They can also denote the circumstances under which actions and states occur. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, adverbs and clauses, e.g.:
- Kolegà rūgščiaĩ pàžvelgė į̃ manè 'My colleague glanced at me acidly'.
- Keliõnė bùvo neįprastaĩ sunkì 'The trip was unusually difficult'.
- Dažniáusiai visì darbaĩ užgriū̃va tuõ pačiù metù 'Most often all the jobs occur at the same time'.
Some qualitative adverbs can be used as predicatives, e.g.:
- Mán labaĩ blogaĩ
- 'I feel extremely bad'.
It should be noted that some words function either as adverbs or as prepositions, e.g.:
- Atsistók šalià 'Stand close'.
- Atsistók šalià manę̃s 'Stand next to me'.
Most adverbs are formed from other parts of speech (nouns, adjectives, numerals, pronouns, participles) by means of suffixes or prefixes.
The suffix -(i)ai is particulary common and productive in Lithuanian. Adverbs with the suffix -(i)ai are formed from adjectives and participles with an adjectival meaning:
| Adj/Part. | Adv | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| káršt-as 'hot' | karšt-aĩ 'hotly' | |||
| laimìng-as 'happy' | laimìng-ai 'happily' | |||
| aštr-ùs 'sharp' | aštr-iaĩ 'sharply' | |||
| mandag-ùs 'polite' | mandag-iaĩ 'politely' | |||
| nevỹkus-i 'unsuccessful' | nevỹkus-iai 'unsuccessfully' | |||
| dẽram-as 'proper' | deramaĩ 'properly' | |||
| neláukt-as 'unexpected' | nelauktaĩ 'unexpectedly' |
Before the suffix -iai, the consonants t and d are replaced by č and dž:
| Adj | Adv | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| skaud-ùs 'painful' | skaũdž-iai 'painfully | |||
| prìderant-i 'becoming, appropriate' | prìderanč-iai 'appropriately' |
Adverbs formed by adding the suffix -yn denote a change into the condition denoted by the root adjective, e.g.:
| Adj | Adv | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| šált-as 'cold' | šaltỹn '(turning, becoming) cold' | |||
| áukšt-as 'high, tall' | aukštỹn 'up', upwards' |
A number of adverbs are adverbialized case forms of nouns, e.g.:
| Case | Adv | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ganà 'enough', nežinià '(it) is not known' | |
| Dative | ilgám 'for long', trumpám 'for a short while' | |
| Accusative | trupùtį 'a little' | |
| Instrumental | gretà 'side by side, next to somebody', tỹčia 'on purpose', draugè 'together', kar̃tais 'sometimes' | |
| Locative | tarpùsavy 'between themselves' |
The instrumental endings -(i)ui, -mis and -ais have developed into adverbial suffixes, e.g.:
- véltui 'in vain'; pakeliuĩ 'on the way, the same way';
- paskubomìs 'in a hurry'; apgraibomìs 'gropingly';
- rẽtsykiais 'now and then'; dáiktais 'in places'.
The postpositional locative forms (the illative and the allative) are also used as adverbs, e.g.: šaliñ 'away, off', viršuñ 'up', vakaróp 'towards evening', velnióp 'to hell'. The adverbs namiẽ 'at home', artì 'near (by)', tolì 'far (away)' retain the archaic locative case form.
Numerous prepositional phrases have acquired adverbial meaning: iš kar̃to 'at once', bè gãlo 'extremely, on end' (lit. without end'), põ senóvei 'as of old, still', į̃ valiàs 'sufficiently'. Some of them lost case endings and developed into prefixed adverbs, e.g.: iškar̃t (cf: ìš kar̃to) 'at once', pernãkt (cf: per̃ nãktį) 'overnight', etc.
The following adverbs are adverbialized case forms of numerals, e.g., dvíese 'two by two', 'in twos'; trisè 'in a group of three'; vienaĩp 'in one way, in one manner'; antraĩp 'in another way, in a contrary manner'; trečiaĩp 'in a third way, in a third manner'.
The adverbs kur̃ 'where', kaĩp 'how', kíek 'how much, how many', kadà 'when', čià 'here', teñ 'there', visadà 'always', kitaĩp 'otherwise', etc. are related to pronouns. Their suffixes -(i)ur̃, -d(à) and -(i)ai~p can be used to form other adverbs, e.g., niekadà 'never', svetur̃ 'in a strange land (place)', vienur̃ 'in one place', savaip̃ 'in one's way', etc.
Some adverbs have developed from word groups, e.g., aną̃kart 'that time', kasdiẽn 'every day', šiẽmet 'this year'.
Words formed from verbs with the suffix -te, -tinai are traditionally considered to be non-finite verbal forms. They are called būdinỹs 'second infinitive'. However, in the newest Lithuanian grammars these forms are classed as adverbs, e.g.,
| skrìs-ti 'to fly' | skris-tè 'flying' | |||
| skrìs-ti 'to fly' | skris-tinaĩ 'flying' |
They are used with the verbs of the same root for emphasis. The suffix -tinaĩ is rare; tè is used instead, e.g.:
- Čià žmõgų nukankìndavo, čiulptè iščiul̃pdavo jõ sveikãtą, jõ jėgàs. 'Here (they) used to torture a person, sucking (lit. sucking used to suck) dry his health, his energy'.
- Astà skristè įskrìdo prõ durìs 'Asta came running fast (lit. flying flew) into the room'.
Adverbs deriving from adjectives which denote a variable property can form degrees of comparison. The comparative degree is formed by adding the suffix -iau while the superlative degree is derived by means of the suffix -iausiai or -iausia, e.g.:
| Pos. | Comp. | Sup. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kãršt-aĩ 'hotly' | karšč-iaũ ' more hotly' | karšč-iáusiai 'the most hotly' | ||||
| graž-iaĩ 'nicely' | gražiaũ 'more nicely' | gražiáusia(i) 'the most nicely' |
The comparative and superlative forms of adverbs coincide with those of the respective neuter adjectives, cf: gražù '(it is) nice', gražiaũ 'nicer', gražiáusia 'the nicest'.
Adverbs can be divided into a few semantic types (adverbs of manner, place, time, cause, etc.), e.g.:
- Išklausýk manè ramiaĩ 'Listen to me calmly'.
- Apliñkui bùvo tùščia 'It was empty all around'.
- Rudenióp oraĩ atšą̃la 'The weather gets colder towards autumn'.
27 Verbal Aspects and Transitivity
27.1 Verbal Aspects
Verbal aspect is that characteristic of the verb which shows whether the action has been completed or is still in progress. Two aspectual meanings are distinguished: perfective and imperfective. In Lithuanian the use of verbal aspect depends on three things, viz. the structure of the verb, its lexical meaning and tense.
The perfective meaning is mainly characteristic of prefixed verbs. Most prefixed verbs denote a completed action, especially in the preterit and future tenses, e.g.,
taĩsė '(he) was repairing': pataĩsė '(he) repaired, (he) has repaired'; výkdė '(he) was accomplishing': įvýkdė '(he) accomplished', (he) has accomplished'; pùvo '(it) was rotting': supùvo '(it) rotted, (it) has rotted'; nẽšė 'he was carrying': àtnešė 'he carried, he has carried'.
The following example illustrates the difference between the imperfective and the resultative perfective:
- Tė̃vas ilgaĩ taĩsė kavõs aparãtą, bèt nesutaĩsė
- 'Father was (in the process of) repairing the coffee machine for a long time, but he did not manage to repair (it)'.
The prefix pa- is the most common prefix to give verbs perfective meaning. However, the addition of the iterative suffix -inėti makes such verbs imperfective again or perhaps neutral in regard to aspect:
- àtnešė: atnešinė́jo 'he carried' (repeatedly);
- nurãšė: nurašinė́jo 'he kept copying'.
As far as the lexical meaning of the verb is concerned, the punctual verbs and the verbs which denote a very short (momentary) action can only be perfective, e.g., ràsti 'to find', šáuti 'to shoot', šū́ktelėti 'to utter a cry', žvìlgterėti 'to casts a glance'.
The duration of the action is also important because we can only imagine a finished action in the past or the future. A finished action in the present would be in the past at the moment of utterance. Perfective verbs can then only be used with present tense endings in secondary functions. They may denote:
A general action which is not connected with any special time, e.g., Šiáurėje Lietuvà susisiẽkia sù Lãtvija 'In the North Lithuania borders on Latvia'. The possibility of performing an action, e.g., Màno tė́vas jaũ vė̃l paeĩna 'My father is able to walk again'. The historical present, e.g., Põ trẽčiojo Žečpospolìtos padalìjimo (1795) Rùsija prisijùngia didèsniąją Lietuvõs dãlį 'After the third partition of the Commonwealth (1795) Russia annexes (i.e. annexed) the greater part of Lithuania'. The future, e.g., Tuõj pàt važiúoju ir̃ parsìvežu jį̃ namõ 'I am going right now and bringing him home'.
The aspectual meaning of a verb may depend on the tense form and context. The present tense form of a verb is imperfective and the preterit and future tense forms are either perfective or imperfective according to context, e.g.:
- Žmogùs mìršta (imperfective) 'A man is dying'.
- Pérnai mìrė sesuõ (perfective) 'Sister died last year'.
- Vaikaĩ mir̃s jū́sų akysè (imperfective) 'Children will be dying right before your eyes' (lit. 'in your eyes').
The imperfective aspect is most characteristic of unprefixed verbs. Among prefixed verbs, imperfective are those verbs which (a) are not used without prefixes or (b) the prefix of which changes or modifies their basic meaning, e.g.:
| (a) | suprañta '(he) understands', pãsakoja '(he) relates', pajė̃gia '(he) is able', prieštaráuja '(he) objects', uždarbiáuja '(he) earns a living'; | |
|---|---|---|
| (b) | jaũčia '(he) feels': užjaũčia '(he) sympathizes (with)'; àpkalba '(he) slanders': kal̃ba '(he) speaks'; apgáuna '(he) deceives': gáuna '(he) gets'; sùtaria '(he) gets on (with someone): tãria '(he) says'; ìšlipa '(he) climbs off, out of': lìpa '(he) climbs'. |
The suffixed verbs are usually imperfective (except -el(ė)ti, -er(ė)ti), cf: tráukti 'to pull': tráukyti 'to pull' (repeatedly); sùkti 'to twist': sukióti 'to twist' (repeatedly)'; rė̃kti 'to shout': rė́kauti 'to shout' (repeatedly); mèsti 'to throw': mė́tyti 'to throw, to fling' (repeatedly).
Some prefixed forms are neutral with respect to aspect. Their aspect depends on the context, e.g.:
- Jìs tìk žvìlgterėjo mán į̃ véidą ir̃ iškar̃t manè prisìminė 'He only glanced up at my face and remembered me at once'.
- Tù prisìminei manè visùs tuõs ìlgus issiskyrìmo metùs 'You remembered me after all those long years of separation'.
One should always remember that the various tenses of the verb can have different aspect.
It is important to distinguish carefully between the perfect tenses and the perfective aspect. A perfect tense denotes the state or condition which is the result of a past action, whereas the perfective aspect denotes a completed action. Thus the various perfect tenses may have verbs in either the perfective or imperfective aspect, e.g.:
- Mẽs nè kar̃tą ẽsam skrìdę šiõs óro lìnijos lėktùvais (imperfective) 'We have flown with the planes of this airline many times'.
- Kaĩ draudìmas skrìsti į̃ Bòstoną bùvo àtšauktas, mẽs jaũ bùvome isskrìdę į̃ Filadel̃fiją (perfective) 'By the time the ban on flights to Boston was cancelled we had already flown to Philadelphia'.
Although any combination of tense and aspect is theoretically possible, it is to be expected that the perfect tenses are more likely to be used with verbs of perfective aspect. This is because a condition which has been attained is more likely to be coupled with a completed action than with a noncompleted action.
27.2 Transitivity
Transitive verbs are used with the direct object in the accusative case. Intransitive verbs cannot take a direct object, cf.:
- Visàs nereikalìngas kampúotas síenas ansaĩ prótėvis nugrióvė 'This ancestor destroyed all the unnecessary awkward walls'.
- Vãkar jìs ìšsiuntė sàvo atsistatýdinimo prãšymą 'Yesterday he sent the application for his resignation'.
- Vaikaĩ dažnaĩ bìjo tamsõs 'Children often are afraid of darkness'.
- Kaĩ kuriẽ žmónes visuomèt džiaũgiasi kitų̃ žmonių̃ nesėkmėmìs 'Some people always rejoice at the misfortune of other people'.
There are some verbs that can be used as transitives or intransitives, e.g.:
- Àš dár geraĩ girdžiù 'I still hear well'.
- Àš pìrmą kar̃tą girdžiù šią̃ daĩną 'I am hearing this song for the first time'.
- Pyrãgas jaũ kẽpa 'The cake is already baking.'
- Renatà visuomèt kẽpa pyrãgą sàvo gimtãdieniui 'Renata always bakes a cake for her birthday'.
Many transitive verbs have intransitive counterparts. They can differ from each other in apophonic vowel alternation (a), the transitive verbs may take the causative suffixes -(d)inti, -(d)yti (b) or prefixes (c), the transitive counterpart is not reflexive (d):
| (a) | Obel̃s Šakà nulū́žo 'The branch of the apple tree broke off'. | |
|---|---|---|
| Vė́jas nuláužė obel̃s šãką 'The wind broke off the branch of the apple tree'. | ||
| (b) | Skruóstai dẽgė ìš gė́dos 'The cheeks burned with shame'. | |
| Egzòtiški príeskoniai dẽgino bùrną 'The exotic spices burned the mouth'. | ||
| (c) | Dár vãkar àš drą̃siai ėjaũ tuõ keliù 'Yesterday I still went bravely on that road'. | |
| Mẽs apė̃jome vìsą mìšką, bèt niẽko nerãdomè 'We went all over the forest but we found nothing'. | ||
| (d) | Prikélk manè aštuñtą vãlandą rýto 'Wake me up at eight in the morning'. | |
| Laĩkas kéltis 'It is time to get up'. |
28 Compound Tenses of the Passive Voice and Passivization.
28.1 The Compound Tenses of the Passive Voice
As was mentioned in lesson 5, the passive voice is formed with the auxiliary verb bū́ti 'to be'. There are as many tenses in the passive voice as there are tenses in the conjugation of the verb bū́ti. Since both the present passive and the past passive participle can be used to form the passive voice, there are actually always two tenses possible: one with the present passive participle (imperfect passive), the other with the past passive participle (perfect passive). The former is sometimes called the actional passive, and the latter the statal passive. One can render the tenses where the present passive participle is used into English as a regular passive, but with the word 'being' because the action is still being done (present tense), was being done (past tense), used to be being done (frequentative past), or will be being done (future). A sample paradigm of the imperfect passive tense is given below:
| Masculine | Feminine | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ('I am being invited') | ||||
| 1st sg | àš esù kviẽčiamas | àš esù kviečiamà | ||
| 2nd sg | tù esì kviec̃^iamas | tù esì kviečiamà | ||
| 3rd sg | jìs yrà kviẽčiamas | jì yrà kviečiamà | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs ẽsam(e) kviečiamì | mẽs ẽsam(e) kviẽčiamos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s ẽsat(e) kviečiamì | jū̃s ẽsat(e) kviẽčiamos | ||
| 3rd pl | jiẽ yrà kviečiamì | jõs yrà kviẽčiamos | ||
| ('I was being invited') | ||||
| 1st sg | àš buvaũ kviẽčiamas | àš buvaũ kviečiamà | ||
| 2nd sg | tù buvaĩ kviẽčiamas | tù buvaĩ kviečiamà | ||
| 3rd sg | jìs bùvo kviẽčiamas | jì bùvo kviečiamà | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs bùvom(e) kviečiamì | mẽs bùvom(e) kviẽčiamos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s bùvot(e) kviečiamì | jū̃s bùvot(e) kviẽčiamos | ||
| 3rd pl | jiẽ bùvo kviečiamì | jõs bùvo kviẽčiamos | ||
| ('I used to be (being) invited') | ||||
| 1st sg | àš bū́davau kviẽčiamas | àš bū́davau kviečiamà | ||
| 2nd sg | tù bū́davai kviẽčiamas | tù bū́davai kviečiamà | ||
| 3rd sg | jìs bū́davo kviẽčiamas | jì bū́davo kviečiamà | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs bū́davom(e) kviečiamì | mẽs bū́davom(e) kviẽčiamos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s bū́davot(e) kviečiamì | jū̃s bū́davot(e) kviẽčiamos | ||
| 3rd pl | jiẽ bū́davo kviečiamì | jõs bū́davo kviẽčiamos | ||
| ('I will be (being) invited') | ||||
| 1st sg | àš bū́siu kviẽčiamas | àš bū́siu kviečiamà | ||
| 2nd sg | tù bū́si kviẽčiamas | tù bū́si kviečiamà | ||
| 3rd sg | jìs bùs kviẽčiamas | jì bùs kviečiamà | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs bū́sim(e) kviečiamì | mẽs bū́sim(e) kviẽčiamos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s bū́sit(e) kviečiamì | jū̃s bū́sit(e) kviẽčiamos | ||
| 3rd pl | jiẽ bùs kviečiamì | jõs bùs kviẽčiamos |
Examples:
- Mẽs ẽsam kviečiamì į̃ sàvo kolègos naujõs knỹgos pristãtymą 'We are being invited to the presentation of the new book of my colleague'.
- Ketùri žmónės bùvo sužeistì per̃ avãriją Kū̃čių nãktį 'Four people were injured in an accident on Christmas Eve'.
The passive tenses with the past passive participles express the action as already complete, or completed, in any tense. Their paradigm is as follows:
| Masculine | Feminine | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ('I am invited, I have been invited') | ||||
| 1st sg | àš esù kviẽstas | àš esù kviestà | ||
| 2nd sg | tù esì kviẽstas | tù esì kviestà | ||
| 3rd sg | jìs yrà kviẽstas | jì yrà kviestà | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs esam(e) kviestì | mẽs ẽsam(e) kviẽstos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s esat(e) kviestì | jū̃s ẽsat(e) kviẽstos | ||
| 3rd pl | jiẽ yrà kviestì | jõs yrà kviẽstos | ||
| ('I was invited, I had been invited') | ||||
| 1st sg | àš buvaũ kviẽstas | àš buvaũ kviestà | ||
| 2nd sg | tù buvaĩ kviẽstas | tù buvaĩ kviestà | ||
| 3rd sg | jìs bùvo kviẽstas | jì bùvo kviestà | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs bùvom(e) kviestì | mẽs bùvom(e) kviẽstos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s bùvot(e) kviestì | jū̃s bùvot(e) kviẽstos | ||
| 3rd pl | jiẽ bùvo kviestì | jõs bùvo kviẽstos | ||
| ('I used to be invited, I would be invited') | ||||
| 1st sg | àš bū́davau kviẽstas | àš bū́davau kviestà | ||
| 2nd sg | tù bū́davai kviẽstas | tù bū́davai kviestà | ||
| 3rd sg | jìs bū́davo kviẽstas | jì bū́davo kviestà | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs bū́davom(e) kviestì | mẽs bū́davom(e) kviẽstos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s bū́davot(e) kviestì | jū̃s bū́davot(e) kviẽstos | ||
| 3rd pl | jiẽ bū́davo kviestì | jõs bū́davo kviẽstos | ||
| ('I will be invited, I will have been invited') | ||||
| 1st sg | àš bū́siu kviẽstas | àš bū́siu kviestà | ||
| 2nd sg | tù bū́si kviẽstas | tù bū́si kviestà | ||
| 3rd sg | jìs bùs kviẽstas | jì bùs kviestà | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs bū́sim(e) kviestì | mẽs bū́sim(e) kviẽstos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s bū́sit(e) kviestì | jū̃s bū́sit(e) kviẽstos | ||
| 3rd pl | jiẽ bùs kviestì | jõs bùs kviẽstos |
Examples:
- Mū́sų idė́jos nebùvo sùprastos 'Our ideas were not understood'.
- Rytõj àš bū́siu prezideñto pasvéikintas sù pérgale 'Tomorrow I will be congratulated by the president on the victory'.
To form the subjunctive of the passive voice, the subjunctive forms of the verb bū́ti 'to be' are combined with the appropriate passive participle:
| Masculine | Feminine | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ('I would be (being) invited') | ||||
| 1st sg | àš bū́čiau kviẽčiamas | àš bū́čiau kviečiamà | ||
| 2nd sg | tù bū́tum kviẽčiamas | tù bū́tum kviečiamà | ||
| 3rd sg | jìs bū́tų kviẽčiamas | jì bū́tų kviečiamà | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs bū́tume kviečiamì | mẽs bū́tume kviẽčiamos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s bū́tumėt(e) kviečiamì | jū̃s bū́tumėt(e) kviẽčiamos | ||
| 3rd pl | jiẽ bū́tų kviečiamì | jõs bū́tų kviẽčiamos | ||
| ('I would be invited, I would have been invited') | ||||
| 1st sg | àš bū́čiau pàkviestas | àš bū́čiau pakviestà | ||
| 2nd sg | tù bū́tum pàkviestas | tù bū́tum pakviestà | ||
| 3rd sg | jìs bū́tų pàkviestas | jì bū́tų pakviestà | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs bū́tume pakviestì | mẽs bū́tume pàkviestos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s bū́tumėt(e) pakviestì | jū̃s bū́tumėt(e) pàkviestos | ||
| 3rd pl | jiẽ bū́tų pakviestì | jõs bū́tų pakviestos |
Examples:
- Tù taĩp pàt bū́tum kviẽčiamas į̃ tàs vestuvès, jéi bū́tum jų̃ gimináitis 'You also would be (being) invited to that wedding if you had been their relative'.
- Vaĩkas bū́tų apžiūrė́tas tuõj pàt, jéigu gýdytojas neturė́tų sunkių̃ ligónių 'The child would be examined immediately if the physician didn't have (more) serious patients'.
The passive imperative is formed with the imperative forms of the verb bū́ti 'to be' and the appropriate passive participle:
| Masculine | Feminine | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ('be respected') | ||||
| 2nd sg | tù bū́k ger̃biamas | tù bū́k gerbiamà | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs bū́kim(e) gerbiamì | mẽs bū́kim(e) ger̃biamos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s bū́kit(e) gerbiamì | jū̃s bū́kit(e) ger̃biamos | ||
| ('be satisfied') | ||||
| 2nd sg | tù bū́k paténkintas | tù bū́k paténkinta | ||
| 1st pl | mẽs bū́kim(e) paténkinti | mẽs bū́kim(e) paténkintos | ||
| 2nd pl | jū̃s bū́kit(e) paténkinti | jū̃s bū́kit(e) paténkintos |
One can form the passive forms with the compound tenses of bū́ti, e.g., àš esù bùvęs apkalbė́tas 'I have been slandered'; tù bū́tum bùvęs ìškviestas 'you would have been (being) called out'; mẽs ẽsam bùvę skriaudžiamì 'we have been harmed', etc.
Examples:
- Irenà nè kar̃tą yrà bùvusi apkalbė́ta sàvo artimiáusių draugų̃ 'Irena more than once has been slandered by her closest friends'.
- Mẽs bū́tume bùvę apgautì, jei tu nebū́tum mū́sų laikù įspė́jęs 'We would have been deceived if you had not warned us in time'.
The passive infinitive is formed with the infinitive of the verb bū́ti 'to be' and the appropriate passive participle in the dative case, e.g.:
- Mán nepatìko bū́ti išnaudójamam 'I did not like to be exploited'.
- Bū́ti apgautám sùkčių -- mãžas malonùmas 'To be deceived by swindlers is a small pleasure'.
28.2 Passivization
The active voice is represented in Lithuanian by all the simple finite verb forms, infinitive, active participles and the compound tenses with the active participles. The passive voice is represented by passive participles and the compound tenses with the present and past passive participles.
In the passive construction, the semantic subject is expressed by the genitive or it is omitted. Passive participles agree with the subject in number and case, cf:
- Kaimýnai par̃davė šį̃ nãmą 'The neighbors sold this house'
- Kaimýnai yrà pardãvę šį̃ nãmą 'The neighbors have sold this house'.
- Šìs nãmas yrà kaimýnų pardúotas 'This house is sold by the neighbors'.
The accusative object of an active transitive verb is changed to the nominative subject in the passive construction, while the active subject is changed to the genitive agent. The same transformation is used for some verbs taking the genitive or dative object, e.g.:
- Tavę̃s láukia draugaĩ 'Friends are waiting for you'.
- Tù esì laukiamà draugų̃ 'You are awaited by friends'.
- Polìcininkas įsãkė jíems sustóti 'The policeman ordered them to stop'.
- Jiẽ bùvo įsakýti polìcininko sustóti 'They were ordered to stop by the policeman'.
In the latter instance the dative can be retained in the passive transformation, e.g.:
- Jíems bùvo įsakýta polìcininko sustóti
- 'They were ordered to stop by the policeman'
- (lit. 'To them it was ordered by the policeman to stop').
Constructions with the neuter forms of participles are possible, although they are not used frequently in Modern Lithuanian, e.g.:
- Šìs nãmas yrà kaimýnų pardúota
- 'This house is sold by the neighbors'.
The neuter participles are mostly used with the pronouns unmarked for gender (e.g., kažkàs 'somebody' 'something'; vìskas 'everything') and adverbs or other words (e.g., daũg 'many, much'; mažaĩ 'few, little'; tū́kstantis 'thousand') with the genitive of quantity, e.g.:
- Kažkàs čià taĩsoma 'Something is being repaired here'.
- Išgélbėta bùvo tū́kstančiai žmonių̃ 'Thousands of people were saved'.
Intransitive verbs have passive forms only with the neuter participles, e.g.:
- Jìs bė́go šiuõ siaurù takeliù 'He was running on this narrow path'.
- Jõ bė́gta šiuõ siaurù takeliù 'He must have run on this narrow path'.
- Čià stovė́jo màno nãmas 'My house stood here'.
- Čià màno nãmo stovė́ta 'My house must have stood here'.
29 Use of the Accusative, Instrumental and Locative
29.1 Accusative
The accusative is primarily the case of the direct object. All regular transitive verbs require the accusative case, e.g.:
- Kiekvíeną rùdenį mẽs sodìname medžiùs sàvo sodè 'Every fall we plant trees in our garden'.
- Pamėgìnk jám užčiáupti bùrną 'Try to shut his mouth'.
The accusative can express certain periods of time, such as the day of the week, the month, the season:
- Vãsarą Lietuvojè dažnì líetūs 'In summer rain storms are frequent in Lithuania'.
- Líepą bū̃na šilčiáusios diẽnos 'The warmest days are in June'.
- Penktãdienį pavėlavaũ į̃ tráukinį 'On Friday I was late for the train.'
The accusative case may denote definite time, limited time, or duration of time:
- Pótvynis prasidė́jo nãktį 'The flood started at night'.
- Dvì saváites negalė́jau kójos iš namų̃ iškélti 'Two weeks I could not leave my home even for a short period' (lit. '...could not put my foot out of the house').
- Nesutarìmai tę̃sėsi visùs metùs 'Disagreements lasted the entire year'.
It is also used with kàs to denote 'each, every':
- Kàs vãlandą skam̃binau bróliui tikė́damasis gáuti gerų̃ žiniũ
- 'Every hour I called my brother hoping to get the good news'.
Many prepositions govern the accusative case. The most frequent are:
- Apiẽ 'around, about, near, approximately, concerning': Papãsakok mán daugiaũ apiẽ savè 'Tell me more about yourself'.
- Apliñk 'around, by': Apliñk manè susibū́rė màno rėmė́jai 'My supporters gathered round me'.
- Į̃ 'in, into, to': Mẽs visì ẽsam įsipáinioję į̃ šį̃ nemalõnų reĩkalą 'We have all become involved in this unpleasant affair'.
- Per̃ 'through, across', during, throughout': Linksmýbės tę̃sėsi per̃ vìsą nãktį 'Merriment lasted the whole night'.
- Põ 'here and there, round about', in, on, over': Kiekvíenas užsisãkėm põ bùtelį alaũs 'We each ordered a bottle of beer apiece'. Rytaĩs braidžiodavau po rasótą žõlę 'In the morning I used to walk about on the dewy grass'.
- Priẽš 'before, in the presence of, ago, against': Niẽkad neĩsiu priẽš sàvo są́žinę 'I will never go against my conscience'.
- Prõ 'by, past, through': Simonà praė̃jo prõ šãlį nė̃ nepasisvéikinusi 'Simona passed by without even saying hello'.
- Ùž 'than, for, in return for': Nepyk añt jõ už tą̃ nekal̃tą mẽlą 'Do not be angry with him for the fib' (lit. '...for the harmless lie)'.
The preposition põ can be used with the genitive case (when it means 'after'), with the accusative case (when it means 'here and there, round about') or with the instrumental case (when it means 'under').
The preposition ùž can be used with the genitive case (when it means 'in, after') or with the accusative case (when it means '(in return) for').
29.2 Instrumental
The instrumental case may denote the means with which something is done, e.g.:
- Žaisdamì fùtbolą vaikaĩ kãmuoliu patáikė į̃ lángą 'The children hit the window with the ball while playing football'.
- Neketinù važiúoti automopbiliù, skrendù lėktuvù 'I am not going to go by bus, I am flying by plane'.
In place of the instrumental case by itself, the preposition sù may also be used with the instrumental:
- Žaisdamì fùtbolą vaikaĩ sù kãmuoliu patáikė į̃ lángą 'The children hit the window with the ball while playing football'.
- Neketinù važiúoti sù automopbiliù, skrendù sù lėktuvù 'I am not going to go by bus, I am flying by plane'.
The instrumental may be used to indicate the place along which or through which something or somebody is moving, e.g.:
- Dangumì skríejo baltì debesė̃liai
- 'The white small clouds were flying through the sky'.
It may also be used in certain expressions of time. The instrumental plural may imply that something happens repeatedly or regularly at a certain time:
- Saváitgaliais mẽs visuomèt žaĩdžiam brìdžą
- 'On weekends we always play bridge'.
Many fossilized expressions of time are actually old instrumental case forms (see section 26).
Certain verbs require a direct object or an indirect complement in the instrumental case, e.g.:
- Visà kománda džiaũgiasi praė̃jusių mẽtų pérgalėmis 'The whole team rejoices at the victories of the last year'.
- Supỹkęs pavadinaũ jį̃ ãsilu 'Having got angry, I called him an ass'.
The instrumental case may denote the condition or profession. Such constructions may be found with the verbs vir̃sti 'to turn into, to become', dė́tis 'to pretend to be', laikýti 'to consider...as', skìrti 'to name, to appoint', gìmti 'to be born', áugti 'to grow (into)', tàpti 'to become', etc.:
- Jìs dẽdasi màno draugù 'He pretends to be my friend'.
- Vãkar Sìlvija bùvo paskirtà komìsijos pìrmininke 'Yesterday Silvia was appointed the chairwoman of the commission'.
As a predicate the instrumental may be used with the verb bū́ti 'to be', especially when it is close in meaning to tàpti 'to become'. The Lithuanian standard grammars indicate that the nominative denotes a constant characteristic of the subject, whereas the instrumental denotes an accidental or temporary condition, e.g.:
Màno tė́vas yrà architèktas, õ àš bū́siu (tàpsiu) žurnalistù (žurnalìstas) 'My father is an architect and I will be (become) a journalist'.
However, this rule is not always reflected in spoken Lithuanian.
The nominative is most common as predicate of the verb bū́ti 'to be', whereas with the other verbs mentioned above the predicate is in the instrumental. But the instrumental may be used as a predicate of bū́ti 'to be' when it means approximately the same as tàpti 'to become'.
The instrumental case may be used as the object of certain prepositions, e.g.:
- Sù 'with': Gál galì supažìndinti mùs sù sàvo tėvaĩs? 'Can you introduce us to your parents?'
- Põ 'under': Põ páltu jì vilkė́jo tìk plóną suknẽlę 'She wore only a thin dress under the coat'.
- Sulìg 'up to, as far as': Sniẽgo pripùstė sulìg var̃tais 'There were drifts of snow up to the gate'.
- Tiẽs 'opposite': Bìtė sùko ratùs tiẽs màno nósimi 'The bee was circling round opposite my nose'.
29.3 Locative
The locative case is used primarily to indicate location, e.g.:
- Apsigyvẽnome miẽsto centrè 'We stayed downtown'.
- Gulė́jau rugių̃ laukè ir̃ žiūrė́jau į̃ dañgų 'I was lying in the field of rye and looking at the sky'.
It is also used in certain expressions of time, e.g.:
- Vidùrdieny pasidãrėbaĩsiai káršta 'It got terribly hot at noon'.
- Visì tìkimės, kàd ateityjè bùs geriaũ 'We all expect that it will be better in the future'.
The postpositional locative forms, viz. the illative, the allative and the adessive, are not common in modern Lithuanian.
30 Conjunctions and Particles
30.1 The Conjunctions
Conjunctions are of two types, coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions. With regard to form, conjunctions are divided into simple (e.g., ir̃ 'and', kàd 'that', ar̃ 'or') and complex (e.g., õ vìs dėltõ 'but still', võs tìk 'as soon as', kàd ir̃ 'though').
The words ir̃ 'and', õ 'and, but', bèt 'but', tačiaũ 'but, nevertheless, however', ar̃ 'or', ar̃ ... ar̃ 'either ... or', arbà 'or', arbà ... arbà 'either ... or', neĩ ... neĩ 'neither ... nor', beĩ 'and', etc. are coordinating conjunctions and can connect either clauses, phrases or single words:
- Taĩgi knygà prabỹla lietùviškai, ir̃ nè bèt_kaĩp, õ eiliúotai 'Thus the book speaks Lithuanian, and not any kind, but rhymed'.
- Žõdžiai arbà nè vìską tepasãko, arbà per_daũg pasãko ir̃ atvėsìna vìdų 'Words either don't say everything or they say too much and make the insides cold'.
In general õ and bèt are similar in usage, but bèt is more emphatic, e.g.:
- Bèt tenaĩ -- visì lýgūs. Õ čià -- niẽkur niẽko! Jokiõs prasmė̃s! 'But there - - everyone is equal. And here - - nothing anywhere! No meaning!'
- Gimináičiai ketìno paviešė́ti dvì saváites, bèt (õ, tačiaũ) išvỹko tìk põ trijų̃ 'The relatives were going to stay with us two weeks, but (however) they left only after three weeks'.
Bèt may be replaced by tačiaũ especially after negative clauses. The clause introduced by bèt also denote in some cases something which is unexpected in view of the meaning of the main clause:
- Visì susižval̃gė, bèt (tačiaũ) niẽkas neìštarė nė̀ žõdžio
- 'All exchanged glances, but nobody said even a word'.
Tačiau is more limited to formal discourse, whereas bèt is common in every day conversation. There are also such complex conjunctions as õ vìs dėltõ 'but still', õ vìs tíek, bèt vìs tíek 'but even so', õ tačiau 'but however':
- Niẽkas nesitikė́jo, kàd jìs gãli laimė́ti šiàs varžýbas, õ vìs dėltõ jám pavỹko
- 'Nobody expected that he could win this competition, but he succeeded'.
The conjunction beĩ 'and' can unite two closely related words or phrases. Sometimes preference is given to beĩ to avoid repetition of ir̃:
- Objèktas lietùvių kalbojè dažniáusiai réiškiamas galininkù ir̃ kilmininkù, rečiaũ naudininkù beĩ į́nagininku
- 'In Lithuanian the object is usually expressed by the accusative or the genitive case, more rarely by the instrumental or the dative case'.
Beĩ is especially popular in contemporary journalistic and scientific style.
The subordinating conjunctions kàd 'that', jóg 'that', kadángi 'because, for', nès 'because', jéi(gu) 'if', nórs 'although', nórs ir̃ 'though, even if', kàd ir̃ 'although', etc. express the relation of subordination between clauses:
- Tìk bókštas pasilìko, nórs jõ taip_jaũ nebereikė́jo 'Only the tower remained, although that was also no longer necessary'.
- Kàd ir̃ labaĩ norė́tum, negáutum 'Even if you would like (it) a lot you would not get (it)'.
- Jéi(gu) visì ateĩtų, gãli neužtèkti viẽtos 'If everybody came there would not be enough space (for all)'.
The archaic idañt 'in order (that)' is used rarely. Kadángi 'because' is limited to formal discourse (preference is given to nès). Generally it is found as the first word of a sentence:
- Kadángi šì informãcija bùvo gautà per̃ vėlaĩ, jì nebùs isspáusdinta rýtdienos laĩkrastyje
- Šì informãcija nebùs išspáusdinta rýtdienos laĩkraštyje, nès jì gautà per̃ vėlaĩ
- Since this information was received too late, it will not be published in tomorrow's newspaper'.
The subordinating conjunction kàd is polyfunctional. It may subordinate different types of subordinate clauses:
- Bèt bókštas ir̃ šiañdien dár nežìno, kàd jìs nebereikalìngas 'But the tower even today doesn't realize that it is no longer necessary'.
- Šiañdien jõ plyšiúotos síenos nè tám, kàd lietùviai, čià pasislė̃pę, šáudytų sàvo strėlėmìs į̃ neàtmušamus príešus 'Today its fissured walls are not there for Lithuanians, who, hidden here, could shoot their arrows at unstoppable enemies'.
- suklýdau dė̃l tõ, kàd suabejójau savimì 'I made a mistake because I entertained doubts about myself'.
Jóg is mostly used as a synonym of kàd:
- Paprašiaũ, kàd jìs visíems primiñtų, jóg (kàd) reĩkia pasiim̃ti maĩsto
- 'I asked him to remind everybody about taking some food'.
Pronouns and adverbs are also used to connect clauses, e.g.:
- Baĩsūs bùvo kitì naikìnimo lãgeriai, kur̃, bū́davo, àtveža kãlinį ir̃ tuojaũ nužùdo 'The other extermination camps, where they brought in a prisoner and immediately killed (him), were atrocious, too'.
- Dabar̃ niẽkas negãli tiksliaĩ pasakýti, ką̃ galvójo mū́sų próteviai gárbindami ą́žuolus 'Today nobody can tell exactly what our ancestors were thinking about while worshiping oaks'.
30.2 The Particles
A great number of various particles are used in Lithuanian. They give modal or emotional emphasis to other words, or word groups, or clauses. Some of them have several meanings, e.g., tìk limits, singles out, or intensifies the meaning of a word:
- Ìš šiõs kebliõs padėtiẽs išsisùkti pavỹko tìk Sìmui 'Only Simas succeeded in getting out of this embarrassing situation'.
- Àš tìk truputė̃lį pamąstýsiu ir̃ apsisprę́siu 'I will think only a little bit and will decide'.
- Tìk pamėgìnk vė̃l teñ nueĩti! 'Just you try to go there again!'
With respect to their structure, particles may be simple (e.g., jaũ 'already', dár 'yet', vė̃l 'again'), compound (e.g., konè 'almost', ar̃gi 'really', nebeñt 'if only'), or complex (e.g., kad_ir̃ 'even', ar_nè 'isn't it', víen_tik 'just only').
A number of particles have the same form as conjunctions (e.g., kàd 'that', ir̃ 'and'), adverbs (e.g., čià 'here', taĩp 'thus, so') or pronouns (e.g., sáu, kuõ 'what'):
- Õ jì visái niẽko sáu 'She is not so bad'.
- Katė̃ kàd šõks añt jõ 'The cat suddenly jumped on him'.
The negative and the interrogative particles were discussed in Lesson 2 and Lesson 3.
The most popular specifying and limiting particles are bevéik 'almost', per̃ 'too', võs 'hardly', dár 'yet', jaũ 'already', nèt 'even', vė̃l 'again', pàt 'right', tìk 'only' etc., e.g.:
- Õ trečiàsis galimùmas tuõ metù jám bùvo dár tìk pradė́jęs aiškė́ti 'But at that moment the third possibility just began to become clear'.
- Šiañdien jaũ niẽkam nebereĩkia tõ bókšto sargýbos 'Today nobody needs the protection of that tower any more'.
- Tìk bókštas pasilìko, nórs jõ taip_jaũ nebereikė́jo 'Only the tower remained, although that was also unnecessary'.
Comparative particles lýg 'like, as if', tar̃si, tarýtum, tar̃si 'as if, as though' express comparison and doubt at the same time, e.g.:
- Õ taĩ gir̃disi lýg kàd sẽnis švepliótų 'But it sounds like a lisping old man'.
- Jám tar̃si atsivė́rė ãkys 'It seemed as if his eyes opened'.
There are two optative particles tegù(l) and tè 'let', e.g.:
- Tegù visùs jùs lỹdi sėkmė̃ 'May success accompany all of you'.
- Tegùl jìs pasãko, kõ ìš tikrų̃jų nóri 'Let him say what he really wants'.
Emphatic particles gì, jùk, ir are used to emphasize a word or clause, e.g.:
- Bèt mẽs gì niẽko nežinójome 'But we still knew nothing'.
- Jùk taĩ ir̃ bè žõdžių áišku 'But that is clear without words'.
- Ir̃ jū̃s čià ẽsat įveltì 'Even you are involved here'.
