| Abstract [eng] |
The Lithuanian language develops everywhere where Lithuanians live, where their organisations are set up. The paper deals with various documents, statutes, reviews, memorandums, reports, resolutions, etc., correspondence between American Lithuanian Council (ALC) and other Lithuanian emigrant organisations active in the past or still nowadays kept in the Lithuanian World Archive (LWA), Chicago. The content of these documents shows how Lithuanian organisations evaluated Lithuania’s occupation and strive for independence. The words FREEDOM and INDEPENDENCE, often used together to emphasize their meaning, are the main linguistic means in these documents. Also verbs (e.g., to save, to struggle free, to fight), descriptive adjectives (e.g., light, bright), types of freedom (e.g., freedom of speech, religion, press, actions), words related to the activity of those organisations, semantically related nouns LIBERATION, ESCAPE, adjective FREE, INDEPENDENT, were widely used. The linguistic context strengthens the impression created by the word FREEDOM. An opposite situation is described by the words OCCUPATION, SLAVERY, OPPRESION. Collocations, emphatic words, verbal constructions (e.g., to save Lithuania, to set Lithuania free, to suffer under occupation, to seek support, to fight for freedom, the Red Terror) were used to denote reality in post-war Lithaunia. Words of different historical epochs were found in the titles of some documents as well as words that denote American lifestyle, US policy on freedom, the picture of a free country. The above mentioned linguistic means expand understanding of a formal style which is less standardised and emotional than a Lithuanian functional style. |
