Baltic Online

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 Lebedys has emphasized that, without Jõnas Bretkunas, 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 Metai '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 Rezà published it 38 years after its author's death. He was the first to call this work Metai '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, Plauciunas. 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, Pliauciunas beats his wife and children, saddles up his one-eared nag and rides off to Karaliáucius 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., klydinedams 'wandering around', miegódams 'sleeping', vaitódams 'groaning', pamatýdams 'seeing', zioplinedams 'gaping', sokinedams 'dancing', snypsdams 'snorting', replinedams '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., Plauciuns, pavitóts 'having been given food and drink', miegódams 'sleeping', vaitódams 'groaning', etc. Infinitives are also shortened: sienáut(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.., naktyj 'in the night'.

In the text given here Slavisms are encountered, e.g., pavitóts 'having been given food and drink', glupas 'stupid, silly', nesvíetiskai 'not of this world, inhuman, beyond ordinary measure', dyvas 'wonder', nedele 'week', potám 'then'. Most common are the conjunctions kàd 'that, when', bèt 'but', ir 'and', bei 'and'. Frequent in this excerpt are adverbs (paskiaus 'afterwards, then', prastai 'poorly', taip 'also', namõn 'home', daug 'many, much', konè 'almost', etc.) and prepositions (pàs 'at', ant 'on', sù 'with', per 'through', ìs 'from, out of', i 'into', põ 'under, after', etc). In addition the adverb irgi 'and even', characteristic of the literature of Lithuania Minor, is also used.

The excerpt is taken from the book Kristijonas Donelaitis. Metai ir pasakecios. Vilnius: Baltu lanku leidyba, 2000, translated by William Schmalstieg.

Tàs nenáudelis Plauciuns, pàs Kãspara pérnai
Talkojè pavitóts, taip baisiai bùvo pririjes,
Kàd jìs nãktyj, ant tamsiu lauku klydinedams,
Bùde nauja sù dalgiù suketu prapùlde
Irgi namõn isausus jau vos võs parsibãste.

• tàs -- pronoun; nominative singular masculine of <tàs, tà> this, that -- that
• nenáudelis -- noun; nominative singular masculine of <nenáudelis, nenáudele> good-for-nothing -- good-for-nothing
• Plauciuns -- noun; nominative singular masculine of <Plauciuns> Plauciunas -- Plauciunas
• pàs -- preposition; <pàs> at, to -- at
• Kãspara -- noun; accusative singular masculine of <Kãsparas> Kasparas -- Kasparas' (place)
• pérnai -- adverb; <pérnai> last year -- last year
• talkojè -- noun; locative singular feminine 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
• taip -- adverb; <taip> so, therefore -- so
• baisiai -- adverb; <baisiai> awfully -- much
• bùvo -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <buti, yrà, bùvo> be -- had
• pririjes -- verb; nominative singular masculine of preterit participle active of <prirýti, priryja, prirìjo> drink -- drunk
• kàd -- conjunction; <kàd> that -- that
• jìs -- pronoun; nominative singular masculine <jìs, jì> he, she, it -- he
• nãktyj -- noun; locative singular feminine <naktìs> night -- at night
• ant -- preposition; <ant> in, on -- around
• tamsiu -- adjective; genitive plural masculine of <tamsùs, tamsì> dark -- dark
• lauku -- noun; genitive singular masculine of <laukas> field -- the fields
• klydinedams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <klydineti, klydineja, klydinejo> wander -- wandering
• bùde -- noun; accusative singular feminine of <bùde> whetstone -- the whetstone
• nauja -- adjective; accusative singular feminine of <naujas, naujà> new -- new
• sù -- preposition; <sù> with -- with
• dalgiù -- noun; instrumental singular masculine of <dalgis> scythe -- the scythe
• suketu -- adjective; instrumental singular masculine of <suketas, suketa> chipped -- chipped
• prapùlde -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <prapùldyti, prapùldo, prapùlde> lose -- lost
• irgi -- adverb; <irgi> and even -- and even
• namõn -- adverb; <namõn> home -- home
• isausus -- verb; preterit gerund(ive) of <isausti, isausta, isauso> break of dawn -- at the break of dawn
• jau -- adverb; <jau> already, just -- just
• vos võs -- adverb; <vos võs> barely -- barely
• parsibãste -- verb; 3rd person preterit reflexive of <parsibastýti, parsibãsto, parsibãste> wander -- (he) wandered

Taip jisai paskui, per diena vìsa miegódams,
Pàmestu ryku laukè ieskót neminejo,
Ìk põ meto vel sienáut jau pùtpela sauke.

• taip -- adverb; <taip> so, therefore -- so that
• jisai -- definite pronoun; nominative singular masculine of <jìs, jì> he, she, it -- he
• paskui -- adverb; <paskui> afterwards -- afterwards
• per -- preposition; <per> through -- through
• diena -- noun; accusative singular feminine of <dienà> day -- the day
• vìsa -- pronoun; accusative singular feminine of <vìsas, visà> all -- whole
• miegódams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <miegóti, miega, miegójo> sleep -- sleeping
• pàmestu -- verb; genitive plural masculine of preterit participle passive of <pamèsti, pàmeta, pàmete> loose -- lost
• ryku -- noun; genitive plural masculine of <rykas> tool -- the tools
• laukè -- noun; locative singular masculine of <laukas> field -- in the field
• ieskót -- verb; infinitive of <ieskóti, íesko, ieskójo> look for -- to look for
• neminejo -- negative particle; <ne> not + verb; 3rd person preterit of <mineti, mìni, minejo> remember -- (he) didn't remember
• ìk -- conjunction; <ìk> until -- until
• põ -- preposition; <põ> after, over, on -- after
• meto -- noun; genitive singular masculine of <metai> year -- a year
• vel -- adverb; <vel> again -- again
• sienáut -- verb; infinitive of <sienáuti, sienáuja, sienãvo> make hay -- to make hay
• jau -- adverb; <jau> already, just -- already
• pùtpela -- noun; nominative singular feminine of <pùtpela> quail -- the quail
• sauke -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <saukti, saukia, sauke> call -- called (him)

Stai Plauciuns sàvo dalgio bei bùdes pasigedo
Ir vaitódams vìs ir sen, ir ten beginejo;
Ìk paskiaus, ìs pãpykio berzìni pagãves,
Pãcia sù glupais vaikais konè nùmuse smirdas.

• stai -- particle; <stai> here -- so now
• Plauciuns -- noun; nominative singular masculine of <Plauciuns> Plauciunas -- Plauciunas
• sàvo -- pronoun; genitive of <sàvo> he, she -- his
• dalgio -- noun; genitive singular masculine of <dalgis> scythe -- scythe
• bei -- conjunction; <bei> and -- and
• bùdes -- noun; genitive singular feminine of <bùde> whetstone -- whetstone
• pasigedo -- verb; 3rd person preterit reflexive of <pasigèsti, pasigenda, pasigedo> miss -- missed
• ir -- conjunction; <ir> and -- and
• vaitódams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <vaitóti, vaitója,vaitójo> moan, groan -- groaning
• vìs -- adverb; <vìs> still -- ...
• ir -- conjunction; <ir> and -- ...
• sen -- adverb; <sen> hither -- hither
• ir -- conjunction; <ir> and -- and
• ten -- adverb; <ten> there, thither -- thither
• beginejo -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <begineti, begineja, beginejo> run about -- ran
• ìk -- conjunction; <ìk> until -- until
• paskiaus -- adverb; <paskiaus> then, after that -- finally
• ìs -- preposition; <ìs> from -- from
• pãpykio -- noun; genitive singular masculine of <pãpykis> anger -- anger
• berzìni -- noun; accusative singular masculine of <berzìnis> birch stick -- a birch stick
• pagãves -- verb; nominative singular masculine of preterit participle active of <pagáuti, pagáuna, pagãvo> grab up -- grabbing up
• pãcia -- noun; accusative singular feminine of <patì> wife -- (his) wife
• sù -- preposition; <sù> with -- and
• glupais -- adjective; instrumental plural masculine of <glupas> stupid -- stupid
• vaikais -- noun; instrumental plural masculine of <vaikas> child -- (their) children
• konè -- adverb; <konè> almost -- almost
• nùmuse -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <numùsti, nùmusa, nùmuse> kill -- killed
• smirdas -- noun; nominative singular masculine of <smirdas> stinking fellow -- the stinking fellow

Taip potám jisai, nesvíetiskai prisidukes
Ir vienausi kuinpalaiki prastai pazebójes,
I Karaliáuciu dalgi pirkt tiesióg nukeliãvo.

• taip -- adverb; <taip> so, therefore -- so
• potám -- adverb; <potám> then, after that -- then
• jisai -- definite pronoun; nominative singular masculine of <jìs, jì> he, she, it -- he
• nesvíetiskai -- adverb; <nesvietiskai> inhuman, not of this world -- unholy
• prisidukes -- verb; nominative singular masculine of preterit participle active reflexive of <prisidukti, prisiduksta, prisiduko> rage, raise a row -- in a fit of rage
• ir -- conjunction; <ir> and -- ...
• vienausi -- adjective; accusative singular masculine of <vienausis, vienause> one-eared -- one-eared
• kuinpalaiki -- noun; accusative singular masculine of <kuinpalaikis> old nag -- the old nag
• prastai -- adverb; <prastai> badly -- somehow
• pazebójes -- verb; nominative singular masculine of preterit participle active of <pazebóti, pazebója, pazebójo> bridle -- having bridled
• i -- preposition; <i> at, for, in, to -- for
• Karaliáuciu -- noun; accusative singular masculine of <Karaliáucius> Karaliauc^ius -- Karaliauc^ius
• dalgi -- noun; accusative singular masculine of <dalgis> scythe -- a scythe
• pirkt -- verb; infinitive of <pirkti, perka, pirko> buy -- to buy
• tiesióg -- adverb; <tiesióg> directly -- directly
• nukeliãvo -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <nukeliáuti, nukeliáuja, nukeliãvo> travel -- set off

Õ vei ten, dyvu visókiu daug pamatýdams
Ir zioplinedams vìs bei buriskai sokinedams,
Bùde sù naujù dalgiù nusipirkt uzsimirso;
Bèt ir kuinpalaiki taip jau pàs Mìka prageres,
Pescias põ dvieju nedeliu võs parsibãste,
Ir sàvo píeva prìdergta (tìkt geda sakýti)
Snypsdams ir replinedams vìs sù piáutuvu kirto.

• õ -- conjunction; <õ> and, but -- but
• vei -- particle; <vei> look -- ...
• ten -- adverb; <ten> there, thither -- there
• dyvu -- noun; genitive plural masculine of <dyvas> miracle, wonder -- wonders
• visókiu -- pronoun; genitive plural masculine of <visóks, visókia> all -- marvelous
• daug -- adverb; <daug> many, much -- many
• pamatýdams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <pamatýti, pamãto, pamãte> see -- seeing
• ir -- conjunction; <ir> and -- ...
• zioplinedams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <zioplineti, zioplineja, zioplinejo> gape -- gaping
• vìs -- adverb; <vìs> still -- still
• bei -- conjunction; <bei> and -- and
• buriskai -- adverb; <buriskai> like a peasant -- like a peasant
• sokinedams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <sokineti, sokineja, sokinejo> dance, skip -- dancing
• bùde -- noun; accusative singular feminine of <bùde> whetstone -- a whetstone
• sù -- preposition; <sù> with -- and
• naujù -- adjective; instrumental singular masculine of <naujas, naujà> new -- new
• dalgiù -- noun; instrumental singular masculine of <dalgis> scythe -- a scythe
• nusipirkt -- verb; infinitive reflexive of <nusipirkti, nusìperka, nusipirko> buy -- to buy
• uzsimirso -- verb; 3rd person preterit reflexive of <uzsimirsti, uzsimirsta, uzsimirso> forget -- (he) forgot
• bèt -- conjunction; <bèt> but -- but
• ir -- particle; <ir> and -- ...
• kuinpalaiki -- noun; accusative singular masculine of <kuinpalaikis> old nag -- the old nag
• taip jau -- adverb; <taip jau> also -- ...
• pàs -- preposition; <pàs> at, to -- at
• Mìka -- noun; accusative singular masculine of <Mìkas> Mikas -- Mikas' (place)
• prageres -- verb; nominative singular masculine of preterit participle active of <pragérti, pràgeria, pragere> drink up -- having drunk up
• pescias -- adjective; nominative singular masculine of <pescias, pescià> on foot -- on foot
• põ -- preposition; <põ> after, over, on -- after
• dvieju -- number; genitive feminine of <dù, dvì> two -- two
• nedeliu -- noun; genitive plural feminine of <nedelia> week -- weeks
• võs -- particle; <võs> barely, hardly -- ...
• parsibãste -- verb; 3rd person preterit reflexive of <parsibastýti, parsibãsto, parsibãste> wander -- (he) wandered (home)
• ir -- conjunction; <ir> and -- and
• sàvo -- pronoun; genitive of <sàvo> he, she -- his
• píeva -- noun; accusative singular feminine of <píeva> meadow -- field
• prìdergta -- verb; accusative singular feminine of preterit participle passive of <pridérgti, pridérgia, pridérge> befoul -- befouled
• tìkt -- particle; <tìkt> only -- only
• geda -- noun; nominative singular masculine of <geda> shameful -- (it is) shameful
• sakýti -- verb; infinitive of <sakýti, sãko, sãke> say -- to say (it)
• snypsdams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <snypsti, snypscia, snypste> snort -- snorting
• ir -- conjunction; <ir> and -- and
• replinedams -- verb; singular masculine of half participle of <replineti, replineja, replinejo> crawl -- crawling
• vìs -- adverb; <vìs> still -- over and over
• sù -- preposition; <sù> with -- with
• piáutuvu -- noun; instrumental singular masculine of <piáutuvas> sickle -- a sickle
• kirto -- verb; 3rd person preterit of <kirsti, kerta, kirto> cut -- harvested

Lesson Text

Tàs nenáudelis Plauciuns, pàs Kãspara pérnai
Talkojè pavitóts, taip baisiai bùvo pririjes,
Kàd jìs nãktyj, ant tamsiu lauku klydinedams,
Bùde nauja sù dalgiù suketu prapùlde
Irgi namõn isausus jau vos võs parsibãste.
Taip jisai paskui, per diena vìsa miegódams,
Pàmestu ryku laukè ieskót neminejo,
Ìk põ meto vel sienáut jau pùtpela sauke.
Stai Plauciuns sàvo dalgio bei bùdes pasigedo
Ir vaitódams vìs ir sen, ir ten beginejo;
Ìk paskiaus, ìs pãpykio berzìni pagãves,
Pãcia sù glupais vaikais konè nùmuse smirdas.
Taip potám jisai, nesvíetiskai prisidukes
Ir vienausi kuinpalaiki prastai pazebójes,
I Karaliáuciu dalgi pirkt tiesióg nukeliãvo.
Õ vei ten, dyvu visókiu daug pamatýdams
Ir zioplinedams vìs bei buriskai sokinedams,
Bùde sù naujù dalgiù nusipirkt uzsimirso;
Bèt ir kuinpalaiki taip jau pàs Mìka prageres,
Pescias põ dvieju nedeliu võs parsibãste,
Ir sàvo píeva prìdergta (tìkt geda sakýti)
Snypsdams ir replinedams vìs sù piáutuvu kirto.

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 rugsciai pàzvelge i manè 'My colleague glanced at me acidly'.
• Keliõne bùvo neiprastai sunkì 'The trip was unusually difficult'.
• Dazniáusiai visì darbai uzgriuva tuõ paciù metù 'Most often all the jobs occur at the same time'.

Some qualitative adverbs can be used as predicatives, e.g.:

• Mán labai blogai
• 'I feel extremely bad'.

It should be noted that some words function either as adverbs or as prepositions, e.g.:

• Atsistók salià 'Stand close'.
• Atsistók salià manes '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:

Before the suffix -iai, the consonants t and d are replaced by c and dz:

Adverbs formed by adding the suffix -yn denote a change into the condition denoted by the root adjective, e.g.:

A number of adverbs are adverbialized case forms of nouns, e.g.:

The instrumental endings -(i)ui, -mis and -ais have developed into adverbial suffixes, e.g.:

• véltui 'in vain'; pakeliui 'on the way, the same way';
• paskubomìs 'in a hurry'; apgraibomìs 'gropingly';
• retsykiais 'now and then'; dáiktais 'in places'.

The postpositional locative forms (the illative and the allative) are also used as adverbs, e.g.: salin 'away, off', virsun 'up', vakaróp 'towards evening', velnióp 'to hell'. The adverbs namie 'at home', artì 'near (by)', tolì 'far (away)' retain the archaic locative case form.

Numerous prepositional phrases have acquired adverbial meaning: is karto 'at once', bè gãlo 'extremely, on end' (lit. without end'), põ senóvei 'as of old, still', i valiàs 'sufficiently'. Some of them lost case endings and developed into prefixed adverbs, e.g.: iskart (cf: ìs karto) 'at once', pernãkt (cf: per nãkti) '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'; vienaip 'in one way, in one manner'; antraip 'in another way, in a contrary manner'; treciaip 'in a third way, in a third manner'.

The adverbs kur 'where', kaip 'how', kíek 'how much, how many', kadà 'when', cià 'here', ten 'there', visadà 'always', kitaip 'otherwise', etc. are related to pronouns. Their suffixes -(i)ur, -d(à) and -(i)ai~p can be used to form other adverbs, e.g., niekadà 'never', svetur 'in a strange land (place)', vienur 'in one place', savaip 'in one's way', etc.

Some adverbs have developed from word groups, e.g., anãkart 'that time', kasdien 'every day', siemet 'this year'.

Words formed from verbs with the suffix -te, -tinai are traditionally considered to be non-finite verbal forms. They are called budinys 'second infinitive'. However, in the newest Lithuanian grammars these forms are classed as adverbs, e.g.,

They are used with the verbs of the same root for emphasis. The suffix -tinai is rare; tè is used instead, e.g.:

• Cià zmõgu nukankìndavo, ciulptè isciulpdavo jõ sveikãta, jõ jegàs. 'Here (they) used to torture a person, sucking (lit. sucking used to suck) dry his health, his energy'.
• Astà skristè iskrìdo 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.:

The comparative and superlative forms of adverbs coincide with those of the respective neuter adjectives, cf: grazù '(it is) nice', graziau 'nicer', graziáusia 'the nicest'.

Adverbs can be divided into a few semantic types (adverbs of manner, place, time, cause, etc.), e.g.:

• Isklausýk manè ramiai 'Listen to me calmly'.
• Aplinkui bùvo tùscia 'It was empty all around'.
• Rudenióp orai atsãla '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.,

taise '(he) was repairing': pataise '(he) repaired, (he) has repaired'; výkde '(he) was accomplishing': ivýkde '(he) accomplished', (he) has accomplished'; pùvo '(it) was rotting': supùvo '(it) rotted, (it) has rotted'; nese 'he was carrying': àtnese 'he carried, he has carried'.

The following example illustrates the difference between the imperfective and the resultative perfective:

• Tevas ilgai taise kavõs aparãta, bèt nesutaise
• '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 -ineti makes such verbs imperfective again or perhaps neutral in regard to aspect:

• àtnese: atnesinejo 'he carried' (repeatedly);
• nurãse: nurasinejo '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', sáuti 'to shoot', sukteleti 'to utter a cry', zvìlgtereti '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., Siáureje Lietuvà susisiekia sù Lãtvija 'In the North Lithuania borders on Latvia'. The possibility of performing an action, e.g., Màno tevas jau vel paeina 'My father is able to walk again'. The historical present, e.g., Põ treciojo Zecpospolìtos padalìjimo (1795) Rùsija prisijùngia didèsniaja Lietuvõs dãli 'After the third partition of the Commonwealth (1795) Russia annexes (i.e. annexed) the greater part of Lithuania'. The future, e.g., Tuõj pàt vaziúoju ir parsìvezu ji 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.:

• Zmogùs mìrsta (imperfective) 'A man is dying'.
• Pérnai mìre sesuõ (perfective) 'Sister died last year'.
• Vaikai mirs jusu 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.:

The suffixed verbs are usually imperfective (except -el(e)ti, -er(e)ti), cf: tráukti 'to pull': tráukyti 'to pull' (repeatedly); sùkti 'to twist': sukióti 'to twist' (repeatedly)'; rekti 'to shout': rekauti 'to shout' (repeatedly); mèsti 'to throw': metyti 'to throw, to fling' (repeatedly).

Some prefixed forms are neutral with respect to aspect. Their aspect depends on the context, e.g.:

• Jìs tìk zvìlgterejo mán i véida ir iskart manè prisìmine '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.:

• Mes nè karta esam skrìde siõs óro lìnijos lektùvais (imperfective) 'We have flown with the planes of this airline many times'.
• Kai draudìmas skrìsti i Bòstona bùvo àtsauktas, mes jau bùvome isskrìde i Filadelfija (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 ansai prótevis nugrióve 'This ancestor destroyed all the unnecessary awkward walls'.
• Vãkar jìs ìssiunte sàvo atsistatýdinimo prãsyma 'Yesterday he sent the application for his resignation'.
• Vaikai daznai bìjo tamsõs 'Children often are afraid of darkness'.
• Kai kurie zmónes visuomèt dziaugiasi kitu zmoniu nesekmemìs 'Some people always rejoice at the misfortune of other people'.

There are some verbs that can be used as transitives or intransitives, e.g.:

• Às dár gerai girdziù 'I still hear well'.
• Às pìrma karta girdziù siã daina 'I am hearing this song for the first time'.
• Pyrãgas jau kepa 'The cake is already baking.'
• Renatà visuomèt kepa pyrãga 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):

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 buti 'to be'. There are as many tenses in the passive voice as there are tenses in the conjugation of the verb buti. 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:

Examples:

• Mes esam kvieciamì i sàvo kolègos naujõs knygos pristãtyma 'We are being invited to the presentation of the new book of my colleague'.
• Ketùri zmónes bùvo suzeistì per avãrija Kuciu nãkti '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:

Examples:

• Musu idejos nebùvo sùprastos 'Our ideas were not understood'.
• Rytõj às busiu prezidento 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 buti 'to be' are combined with the appropriate passive participle:

Examples:

• Tù taip pàt butum kvieciamas i tàs vestuvès, jéi butum ju gimináitis 'You also would be (being) invited to that wedding if you had been their relative'.
• Vaikas butu apziuretas tuõj pàt, jéigu gýdytojas neturetu sunkiu ligóniu '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 buti 'to be' and the appropriate passive participle:

One can form the passive forms with the compound tenses of buti, e.g., às esù bùves apkalbetas 'I have been slandered'; tù butum bùves ìskviestas 'you would have been (being) called out'; mes esam bùve skriaudziamì 'we have been harmed', etc.

Examples:

• Irenà nè karta yrà bùvusi apkalbeta sàvo artimiáusiu draugu 'Irena more than once has been slandered by her closest friends'.
• Mes butume bùve apgautì, jei tu nebutum musu laikù ispejes 'We would have been deceived if you had not warned us in time'.

The passive infinitive is formed with the infinitive of the verb buti 'to be' and the appropriate passive participle in the dative case, e.g.:

• Mán nepatìko buti isnaudójamam 'I did not like to be exploited'.
• Buti apgautám sùkciu -- mãzas 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 pardave si nãma 'The neighbors sold this house'
• Kaimýnai yrà pardãve si nãma 'The neighbors have sold this house'.
• Sìs nãmas yrà kaimýnu 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.:

• Taves láukia draugai 'Friends are waiting for you'.
• Tù esì laukiamà draugu 'You are awaited by friends'.
• Polìcininkas isãke jíems sustóti 'The policeman ordered them to stop'.
• Jie bùvo isakýti 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 isakýta 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.:

• Sìs nãmas yrà kaimýnu pardúota
• 'This house is sold by the neighbors'.

The neuter participles are mostly used with the pronouns unmarked for gender (e.g., kazkàs 'somebody' 'something'; vìskas 'everything') and adverbs or other words (e.g., daug 'many, much'; mazai 'few, little'; tukstantis 'thousand') with the genitive of quantity, e.g.:

• Kazkàs cià taisoma 'Something is being repaired here'.
• Isgélbeta bùvo tukstanciai zmoniu 'Thousands of people were saved'.

Intransitive verbs have passive forms only with the neuter participles, e.g.:

• Jìs bego siuõ siaurù takeliù 'He was running on this narrow path'.
• Jõ begta siuõ siaurù takeliù 'He must have run on this narrow path'.
• Cià stovejo màno nãmas 'My house stood here'.
• Cià màno nãmo stoveta '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.:

• Kiekvíena rùdeni mes sodìname medziùs sàvo sodè 'Every fall we plant trees in our garden'.
• Pamegìnk jám uzciáupti bùrna 'Try to shut his mouth'.

The accusative can express certain periods of time, such as the day of the week, the month, the season:

• Vãsara Lietuvojè daznì líetus 'In summer rain storms are frequent in Lithuania'.
• Líepa buna silciáusios dienos 'The warmest days are in June'.
• Penktãdieni pavelavau i tráukini 'On Friday I was late for the train.'

The accusative case may denote definite time, limited time, or duration of time:

• Pótvynis prasidejo nãkti 'The flood started at night'.
• Dvì saváites negalejau kójos is namu iskélti 'Two weeks I could not leave my home even for a short period' (lit. '...could not put my foot out of the house').
• Nesutarìmai tesesi visùs metùs 'Disagreements lasted the entire year'.

It is also used with kàs to denote 'each, every':

• Kàs vãlanda skambinau bróliui tikedamasis gáuti geru ziniu
• 'Every hour I called my brother hoping to get the good news'.

Many prepositions govern the accusative case. The most frequent are:

• Apie 'around, about, near, approximately, concerning': Papãsakok mán daugiau apie savè 'Tell me more about yourself'.
• Aplink 'around, by': Aplink manè susibure màno remejai 'My supporters gathered round me'.
• I 'in, into, to': Mes visì esam isipáinioje i si nemalõnu reikala 'We have all become involved in this unpleasant affair'.
• Per 'through, across', during, throughout': Linksmýbes tesesi per vìsa nãkti 'Merriment lasted the whole night'.
• Põ 'here and there, round about', in, on, over': Kiekvíenas uzsisãkem põ bùteli alaus 'We each ordered a bottle of beer apiece'. Rytais braidziodavau po rasóta zõle 'In the morning I used to walk about on the dewy grass'.
• Pries 'before, in the presence of, ago, against': Niekad neisiu pries sàvo sazine 'I will never go against my conscience'.
• Prõ 'by, past, through': Simonà praejo prõ sãli ne nepasisvéikinusi 'Simona passed by without even saying hello'.
• Ùz 'than, for, in return for': Nepyk ant jõ uz tã nekalta mela '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 ùz 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.:

• Zaisdamì fùtbola vaikai kãmuoliu patáike i lánga 'The children hit the window with the ball while playing football'.
• Neketinù vaziúoti automopbiliù, skrendù lektuvù '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:

• Zaisdamì fùtbola vaikai sù kãmuoliu patáike i lánga 'The children hit the window with the ball while playing football'.
• Neketinù vaziúoti sù automopbiliù, skrendù sù lektuvù '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 debeseliai
• '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 mes visuomèt zaidziam brìdza
• '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 dziaugiasi praejusiu metu pérgalemis 'The whole team rejoices at the victories of the last year'.
• Supykes pavadinau ji 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 virsti 'to turn into, to become', detis '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 dedasi 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 buti '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 tevas yrà architèktas, õ às busiu (tàpsiu) zurnalistù (zurnalìstas) '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 buti '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 buti '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 supazìndinti mùs sù sàvo tevais? 'Can you introduce us to your parents?'
• Põ 'under': Põ páltu jì vilkejo tìk plóna suknele 'She wore only a thin dress under the coat'.
• Sulìg 'up to, as far as': Sniego pripùste sulìg vartais 'There were drifts of snow up to the gate'.
• Ties 'opposite': Bìte sùko ratùs ties màno nósimi 'The bee was circling round opposite my nose'.

29.3. Locative

The locative case is used primarily to indicate location, e.g.:

• Apsigyvenome miesto centrè 'We stayed downtown'.
• Gulejau rugiu laukè ir ziurejau i dangu '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 pasidãrebaisiai kársta 'It got terribly hot at noon'.
• Visì tìkimes, kàd ateityjè bùs geriau '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., ir 'and', kàd 'that', ar 'or') and complex (e.g., õ vìs deltõ 'but still', võs tìk 'as soon as', kàd ir 'though').

The words ir 'and', õ 'and, but', bèt 'but', taciau 'but, nevertheless, however', ar 'or', ar ... ar 'either ... or', arbà 'or', arbà ... arbà 'either ... or', nei ... nei 'neither ... nor', bei 'and', etc. are coordinating conjunctions and can connect either clauses, phrases or single words:

• Taigi knygà prabyla lietùviskai, ir nè bèt_kaip, õ eiliúotai 'Thus the book speaks Lithuanian, and not any kind, but rhymed'.
• Zõdziai arbà nè vìska tepasãko, arbà per_daug pasãko ir atvesìna vìdu '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 tenai -- visì lýgus. Õ cià -- niekur nieko! Jokiõs prasmes! 'But there - - everyone is equal. And here - - nothing anywhere! No meaning!'
• Gimináiciai ketìno pavieseti dvì saváites, bèt (õ, taciau) isvyko tìk põ triju 'The relatives were going to stay with us two weeks, but (however) they left only after three weeks'.

Bèt may be replaced by taciau 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 susizvalge, bèt (taciau) niekas neìstare ne zõdzio
• 'All exchanged glances, but nobody said even a word'.

Taciau is more limited to formal discourse, whereas bèt is common in every day conversation. There are also such complex conjunctions as õ vìs deltõ 'but still', õ vìs tíek, bèt vìs tíek 'but even so', õ taciau 'but however':

• Niekas nesitikejo, kàd jìs gãli laimeti siàs varzýbas, õ vìs deltõ jám pavyko
• 'Nobody expected that he could win this competition, but he succeeded'.

The conjunction bei 'and' can unite two closely related words or phrases. Sometimes preference is given to bei to avoid repetition of ir:

• Objèktas lietùviu kalbojè dazniáusiai réiskiamas galininkù ir kilmininkù, reciau naudininkù bei inagininku
• 'In Lithuanian the object is usually expressed by the accusative or the genitive case, more rarely by the instrumental or the dative case'.

Bei 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 ir 'though, even if', kàd ir 'although', etc. express the relation of subordination between clauses:

• Tìk bókstas pasilìko, nórs jõ taip_jau nebereikejo 'Only the tower remained, although that was also no longer necessary'.
• Kàd ir labai noretum, negáutum 'Even if you would like (it) a lot you would not get (it)'.
• Jéi(gu) visì ateitu, gãli neuztèkti vietos 'If everybody came there would not be enough space (for all)'.

The archaic idant '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 sì informãcija bùvo gautà per velai, jì nebùs isspáusdinta rýtdienos laikrastyje
• Sì informãcija nebùs isspáusdinta rýtdienos laikrastyje, nès jì gautà per velai
• 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 bókstas ir siandien dár nezìno, kàd jìs nebereikalìngas 'But the tower even today doesn't realize that it is no longer necessary'.
• Siandien jõ plysiúotos síenos nè tám, kàd lietùviai, cià pasislepe, sáudytu sàvo strelemìs i neàtmusamus príesus 'Today its fissured walls are not there for Lithuanians, who, hidden here, could shoot their arrows at unstoppable enemies'.
• suklýdau del tõ, kàd suabejójau savimì 'I made a mistake because I entertained doubts about myself'.

Jóg is mostly used as a synonym of kàd:

• Paprasiau, kàd jìs visíems primintu, jóg (kàd) reikia pasiimti maisto
• 'I asked him to remind everybody about taking some food'.

Pronouns and adverbs are also used to connect clauses, e.g.:

• Baisus bùvo kitì naikìnimo lãgeriai, kur, budavo, àtveza kãlini ir tuojau nuzùdo 'The other extermination camps, where they brought in a prisoner and immediately killed (him), were atrocious, too'.
• Dabar niekas negãli tiksliai pasakýti, kã galvójo musu próteviai gárbindami azuolus '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:

• Ìs siõs kebliõs padeties issisùkti pavyko tìk Sìmui 'Only Simas succeeded in getting out of this embarrassing situation'.
• Às tìk truputeli pamastýsiu ir apsispresiu 'I will think only a little bit and will decide'.
• Tìk pamegìnk vel ten nueiti! 'Just you try to go there again!'

With respect to their structure, particles may be simple (e.g., jau 'already', dár 'yet', vel 'again'), compound (e.g., konè 'almost', argi 'really', nebent 'if only'), or complex (e.g., kad_ir 'even', ar_nè 'isn't it', víen_tik 'just only').

A number of particles have the same form as conjunctions (e.g.,