Stanislovo Moravskio lietuvių kalba: 1850-1852
The Lithuanian of Stanislovas Moravskis: 1850-1852

Summary/Abstract: Stanislovas Moravskis (Stanisùaw Morawski, 1802-1853) was the well-known author of Vilnius' memoirs (Several Years from My Young Days in Vilnius, 1818-1825). He wrote predominantly in Polish, but in the rough draft of his "Pieúni" ("Songs"), ca. 1850-1852 (preserved in the Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences in Vilnius: f. 165 - 404) Moravskis wrote some Lithuanian texts, phrases, and words (151 Lith. words with a total of 269 occurrences). Moravskis was curious about the meaning and the form of the Lith. words Anksti, Dobiùas and its derivative dobieùelis, Palidnikas, Ratiela. He knew well how to use the velar (nonpalatal) consonant [l] before the e type vocalism (Ùeki 'lëkë; flew'), etc. It might seem that Moravskis had mastered certain characteristics of the Lithuanian language better than a novice. On the other hand, Moravskis was unable to hear the exact phonetics of the words anam, eþeraitis, mergelë, nabagëlis, nedëlia, nematau, Nemunas, penki, subata; he could not identify exactly the ending -o (gen. sg. and praes. 3); he did not clearly differentiate between the diphthong [ie] and the vowels [ë], [e], or between the diphthong [uo] and the vowel [o] (he wrote <o>); he did not perceive precisely the unstressed diphthong [au] (sometimes he wrote it as <ou>) and there are some inaccuracies in his translations from Lithuanian into Polish. These characteristics of Moravskis's texts could suggest the opposite view that Moravskis was far from being a specialist in Lithuanian.

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