Ortografinė Simono Daukanto žemaitiško balsio [ẹ] raiška Istorijoje žemaitiškoje (1828–1834): <e, ę, i, y>
Orthographic renderings of Simonas Daukantas' Lowland sound [ẹ] in History of Lowlands (1828-1834): <e, ę, i, y>

Summary/Abstract: Simonas Daukantas’ (1793–1864) Lithuanian manuscript History of the Lowlands (ISTORYJE ƵEMAYTYSZKA; LLTIB : f. 1 – SD 2) of over a thousand pages was composed in Rīga (Latvia). Its orthography was of extreme diversity, one of the most diverse texts in the history of 19th-century Lithuanian. This article deals exclusively with the orthographic expression of Daukantas’ native dialectal sound [ẹ] (pronounced between [i] and [e]) of the Northwestern Lowlands. Daukantas marked the position of the sound [ẹ] by four main characters: <e, ę, i, y>. 2. The orthography of [ẹ] partially diverged in stems (roots) and in endings. In stems, mainly three graphemes <i, ę, y> competed (the fourth, <e>, occasionally occurred as well). In endings, the competition was among other three graphemes: <e, ę, y>. Thus, the letter <i> was mainly reserved for the stems, and the letter <e> for the endings (with rare exceptions). 3. In stems, three major orthographic turning points of the sound [ẹ] occurred: (1) <ę, y> → <i> about f. 15v–17v (partial); (2) <i> → <y> f. 32v; (3) <y> → <i> f. 419r. The turning points in endings are quite alike to those of the stems, even if they do not match exactly: (1) <ę, e> → <e> f. 13r–15r (partial); (2) <e> → <ę, y> f. 31r (partial); (3) <ę, e, y> → <ę, e> f. 421v. There are, however, significant differences in the two segments of the manuscript, where the letter <y> was used in endings instead of other graphemes in stems: (1) <y> intensification f. 31r– 43r and (2) <y> resuscitation f. 319r–421r.

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