Lie. apgėlai, ãpgėlės, apgėlos ir kt

ENThe ethnographic terms Lith. "apgėlai, apgėlės, apgėlos" 'a ritual visit to a woman that has given birth to a child, as well as the presents given and the refreshments offered on the occasion' (LKŽ I2 194), up to now have not been discussed anywhere from the viewpoint of word-formation and origin. These words seem to be, in the author's opinion, terms with various endings derived from the prefixed verb "apgėlti" (àpgelia, apgilė). Concerning their semantic motivation, they are to be explained first as "ritual celebration of the end of birth pain (gėla), as well as the presents given on the occasion" (cf. another related prefixal derivative atgėlos 'a several days' rest after child-birth' (= 'the recession, the end of the birth pain') (: atgélti, atgelė) and belong with the other terms of ritual celebrating the completion of something, terms, which are derived from prefixal verbs by means of endings, cf. "äpbangos" 'ritual feast celebrating the end of something', "äpminos" 'feast celebrating the completion of flax dressing', "äpkulos" 'feast celebrating the completion of the thrashing season', etc. The linking of "apgėlai", as well as other word-formative and morphological variants of this word to the verb "apgėlti" is also supported by the verbal noun "pagėlai" 'a humid, cold, bitter weather; freezing', also related to the verb "gelti", only derived from the prefixal verb "pagilti" (pagèlė) based on another meaning of the verb - 'to freeze (up to piercing pain)'. The article discusses the oldest written sources of the ethnographic terms in question. The content of the "apgėlai" custom is described on the basis of ethnographic data and written sources of the 17th and 18th cc, whereas the origins of the words "apgelai, apgėlės".The origins and word-formative properties of the main synonymous terms for the custom "radynos, patekylai, patekėlai, patekynos, patekai, palankynos" are discussed. The verb "apgėlėti (-ėja, -ėjo)" 'to visit a woman recently confined, and to bring presents to her' (LKŽ I2 194) represents, in the author's opinion, a desubstantival verb, formed with the suffix "-ėti" from the noun "apgelai" (or apgėlės, apgilos); from the viewpoint of word-formative motivation this secondary verb means 'to participate in the rite of apgelai', cf. also the desubstantival verbs "atlaiduoti" 'take part in "atlaidai" (: atlaidai 'a church festival of indulgence'), atmeiläuti 'take part in "ätmeilės" (: atmeilės 'a certain rite after marriage').