HONOR (GARBĖ) w języku i kulturze litewskiej

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Garbė; Konceptas; Honour; Concept.

ENHonour has long occupied an important place in the system of values of the Lithuanians. It has been investigated by sociologists, historians, psychologists and linguists. The concept has been written about and discussed in popular web portals and blogs, which are thus a good source of information about what honour means to contemporary Lithuanians and how the understanding of this concept is changing. The lexemes which are used to designate the concept of GARBĖ in the Lithuanian language include: garbė, šlovė, and liaupsė (glory, praise) – the first one inherited from Proto-Indo-European, the second – a borrowing, and the third – a dialectism. An analysis of the semantics of these words, their opposites and derivatives allows one to explore a fragment of the Lithuanian linguistic worldview, as it tells us a lot about the cultural and social identity of the speakers of the Lithuanian language. The present study, based on the analysis of texts, lexicographic sources, contemporary discourses and surveys completed by young respondents, shows that Lithuanians associate honour not only with a sense of their own dignity and responsibility, which manifests when an individual is positively evaluated for his actions, solid and selfless work, worthy behaviour, honest life, diligence, integrity, and dependability, but also with devotion to the homeland, serving the community and the welfare of other people. Lithuanians connect honour with patriotism and heroism. [From the publication]