| Abstract [eng] |
This paper discusses the conception of the Lithuanian accent and tone set out in Friedrich Kurschat’s works, i.e. Laut- und Tonlehre der littauischen Sprache (1849; KB II) and Grammatik der littauischen Sprache (1876; KGr). Before investigating the specific sources, the Introduction (pages 6–13) presents Kurschat’s scientific and educational activities, merits to the Lithuanian language and accentology. In the research part of the paper (pages 14–78), using descriptive analytical, philological and comparative methods, the author searches for possible links between Kurschat’s conception and the previous statements of Lithuanian grammar books prepared in the Lithuania Minor (17th to 18th centuries) and relating to accent and accentuation. Also, the author seeks to answer whether this conception could have been influenced by the Western European linguistic thought that came to life in the second half of the 19th century and by the most famous research of phonetics and accentology carried out from the middle of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. To determine how Kurschat’s description of the Lithuanian accent and tone corresponds to the-then level of scientific thought, the comparative context has been invoked, i.e. historical overview of the Serbian and Croatian prosodic research in the 19th century, taking into account that the Serbian and Croatian languages are akin to the Lithuanian language in prosodic terms. The research allows drawing the following essential conclusions: • From a few comments in the 1843’s work, Kurschat switches to the systemic description of the Lithuanian accent and tone in KGr. • KB II is to be considered the first scientific description of the Lithuanian tones. In this work, the focus is on distinctive acoustic feature of tone, i. e. the opposition of the rise and fall of fundamental frequency, which is maintained in KGr, too. • There is no reason to raise an assumption of direct influence of the Western European scientific thought on Friedrich Kurschat. • Philipp Ruhig’s grammar book prepared in 1747 is considered to be one of the main starting points for the description of accent and tone set out in KB II. • Compared to the author of the first systemic description of the Serbian and Croatian tones, Kurschat could rely on half a number of the previous authors’ works. • Comparative context – historic overview of the prosodic research of the Serbian and Croatian languages and brief interpretation of these descriptions – may be one of the arguments that Kurschat’s conception of accent and tone kept up with the-then level of scientific thought and was distinguished by the accuracy and completeness of the acoustic properties of tone. • Famous linguists of the second half of the 19th century highly appreciated KB II and KGr; the latter were used investigating accentuation of the Baltic languages. |
