Gender-Wertung im Memelland des 19.-20. Jahrhunderts anhand der Forschungsergebnisse von alten Grabinschriften
ENThe paper deals with men and women’s tombstone epitaphs of the 19th and early 20th century in the cemeteries of Lithuania Minor and seeks to reveal the differences between gender-related inscriptions in linguistic terms. The study looks into the statements of relationships, the references to the activity during lifetime, and the comments on afterlife. Epithets, appositions, and diminutives that provide for the emotionality of the epitaph language bring out the differences in the attitudes towards gender. The principal focus in the epitaphs for both genders was placed on relationships. Women were mainly perceived as subordinate to their husbands. The majority of inscriptions reflecting the activity during the lifetime referred to men. There were several instances when the places or the causes of death were indicated, all of them related to World War 2. By considering the ethnic, historical, social, ethnolinguistics and cognitive linguistics aspects, the article reveals the differences between Germans and Lithuanians, the interaction between them, and cultural influences.
