Graphemes <I-, J->, <i, j> and their typesetters in the first book by Simonas Daukantas: Prasmą Łotinû Kałbos (Grammar of Latin 1837) Cover Image

Pirmosios Simono Daukanto knygos Prasma lotynų kalbos (1837) raidės <I‑ , J‑>, <i‑, j‑> ir jų rinkėjai
Graphemes <I-, J->, <i, j> and their typesetters in the first book by Simonas Daukantas: Prasmą Łotinû Kałbos (Grammar of Latin 1837)

Author(s): Giedrius Subačius
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Lithuanian Literature, 19th Century
Published by: Lietuvių Kalbos Institutas
Keywords: Grammar of Latin; Simonas Daukantas; graphemes; Apsirikimai;

Summary/Abstract: The first book by Simonas Daukantas, PRASMĄ ŁOTINÛ KAŁBOS (Grammar of Latin), was published by St Petersburg publisher Christian Hintze in 1837 (in Lithuanian). Daukantas did not use the grapheme <I> in any of his Lithuanian manuscripts, only <J>. At that time, it was assumed that while setting the text, the typesetters would expand the single <J> grapheme into two—<I> and <J>. The tactics they applied in setting (interpreting) the grapheme <J> in Daukantas’s manuscript for Lithuanian words divides the text of the Grammar of Latin into four segments: (1) <J‑> (Jwardes) pp. 1–20; (2) <I‑ > (Iwardes) pp. 21–87; (3) <J‑> (Judum) pp. 88–94; (4) <I‑ > (Iungînes), and <J‑> (Jungînę) pp. 95–126(117). Judging by the three different styles of rendering and transforming <J‑>, there might have been at least three different typesetters involved in this work. Moreover, the typesetters not only rendered and transformed the capital <J‑> into two other capital letters, sometimes they also substituted <J‑> for the lowercase letters <i‑ or j‑>. The first and the third typesetter most probably exploited analogous tactics: the first typesetter in the first segment possibly both stayed with Daukantas’s <J‑> and transformed it into the lower case letter <j‑> (jems; he set neither <I‑ > nor <i‑>); the third typesetter in the fourth segment possibly split Daukantas’s <J‑> into <I‑ > and <J‑> interchangeably and likewise into <i‑> (iems) and <j‑> (jèms).

  • Issue Year: 2019
  • Issue No: 21
  • Page Range: 193-208
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Lithuanian