Respectus Philologicus
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Lithuanian Place Names with the Stem “totor-”
Full text linkLithuania’s Tatars are amongst the oldest national minorities in the country. Culturally and ethnically different from the dominant majority of Lithuania’s population, this group have preserved their distinct customs, traditions, national and religious identity. Lithuania’s Tatar minority continues to be the subject of diverse academic studies, focusing on various aspects such as the status of this community in the 19th century (Bairašauskaitė, 1996), the oldest Tatar manuscripts (Miškinienė, 2001), the Tatar history and culture (Jakubauskas et al., 2009), female Tatar anthroponyms in 16–17th century Lithuania (Čirūnaitė, 2021). This research aims to analyse the structure and territorial spread of toponyms with the stem totor-, confirming the areas members of this community have inhabited in the past or continue to inhabit today. The structural analysis of toponyms with the stem totor- revealed the dominance of secondary place names derived from the ethnonym totorius (Tatar), personal name Totorius or another place name with the same stem. The most significant number of Tatars have historically inhabited the southern (south-eastern and south-western) and the northern parts of Lithuania
Postrzeganie przestrzeni w opowiadaniach beskidzkich Andrzeja Stasiuka
Full text linkPolish writer Andrzej Stasiuk is a representative of the generation born around 1960. The Low Beskids region serves as the backdrop for several collections of his stories, including Opowieści galicyjskie, Dukla and Zima. In this context, the role of the narrator, as conceived by Stasiuk, is of particular significance. This article explores how the narrator perceives the terrain. Philological analysis has shown that the author focuses on describing transformations that occurred in the area in the 1990s in ordinary people’s lives, but also on the regional nature. The presented backwoods are viewed in opposition to industrial centres, and the standstill in this area is in opposition to an active lifestyle in the external world, majestic mountains to human valleys, severe nature to civilisation, and the present time to the past. The narrator’s role is twofold: he reports on the protagonists’ actions while concurrently offering personal reflections. The author’s primary focus is on the concept of place and, more specifically, on the perception of place. The physical space is integral to the formation of nature and characters; however, the mental space is particularly salient insofar as it refers to the narrator’s mode of perceiving reality.Polski pisarz Andrzej Stasiuk należy do pokolenia urodzonego około 1960 roku. Obszar Beskidu Niskiego stanowi scenerię kilku jego tomów opowiadań: Opowieści galicyjskich, Dukli, Zimy. Niniejszy artykuł dokonuje analizy sposobu przedstawiania w nich przyrody i otoczenia bohaterów. W tym kontekście istotną rolę odgrywa wykreowany przez Stasiuka narrator, który opisuje okolicę. Przeprowadzona analiza filologiczna wykazuje, że w opowiadaniach pisarz skupia się na przedstawieniu przemian, jakie zaszły na tym terenie w latach 90. XX wieku w życiu jego mieszkańców, ale również interesuje się regionalną przyrodą. Przedstawiana prowincja jest postrzegana w opozycji do centrum, z kolei charakteryzująca ją stagnacja – do ruchliwości trybu życia świata zewnętrznego, majestatyczne wzniesienia górskie – do dolin zamieszkiwanych przez ludzi, surowa natura – do cywilizacji, chwila obecna – do czasów minionych. Narrator przedstawia losy postaci, lecz uzupełnia fabułę skojarzeniami rodzącymi się w trakcie jego wędrówki po okolicy, gdyż zastanawia się nad sposobami postrzegania przestrzeni. W jego rozważaniach istotna jest zarówno przestrzeń fizyczna, jak i przestrzeń mentalna
War Discourse in Bohdan Tomenchuk’s Poetry: language and memory
Full text linkThe article analyses the war narrative of the contemporary Ukrainian poet Bohdan Tomenchuk. The object of the analysis is more than three hundred works from the author’s latest collection, each of which contains a war motif. The analysis is based on the works of memory by Maurice Halbwachs, Paul Ricoeur, Friedrich Nietzsche, Michael Basseler, and Dorothee Birke. The methods used are “memory studies” (at the intersection of history and psychology) with an emphasis on the sociological aspect of memory, as well as the hermeneutic method with attention to cognition mediated in symbols. This article aims to explore how B. Tomenchuk records the war through the material and spiritual dimensions. In Bohdan Tomenchuk’s poetry, the material side of war often has a national colour. Weapons (sword, sabre) are correlated with the ancient epochs of Ukrainian history, and elements of protection (body armour) are correlated with national clothing (embroidery). Instead, the spiritual side of the war appeals to the universal experience of war as a wound (shrapnel in the body or torn off pieces, PTSD and mental distress). Ontologically, both physical and mental wounds appear as a symbol of a world fragmented by war, in which the fate of a person and a nation becomes a test of the ability to survive. From the point of view of linguistic representation, we can speak of a minimal number of tropes (similes and metaphors), but symbolization and polysemy in the poet’s works are powerful
The Highlights of the Annual Students and Young Scholars Conference on Translation “TELL ME MORE 2025”
Full text linkThe international conference for young scholars on translation TELL ME MORE was held for the third consecutive year at Vilnius University, Kaunas Faculty on May 7th, 2025. This annual event brought together students and emerging scholars from various Lithuanian and European universities for an intensive day of scholarly exchange and insightful discussions. Providing a platform for exploring various facets of translation and fostering interdisciplinary research, the conference received diverse submissions. The topics included: audiovisual translation and accessibility; literary translation; localisation and technical translation; multimodal and AI-related translation research; intersemiotic translation and adaptation. A particular emphasis was placed on accessibility, highlighted by a guest speaker from Lithuanian Audiosensory Library. The paper critically reviews four parallel conference sessions, providing key insights into the presented studies
ChatGPT in Foreign Language Acquisition: a close ally or a distant concept for Macedonian university students?
Full text linkChatGPT has instigated a tectonic change in foreign language acquisition. The latest research shows that language learners use it to enhance their major language skills and boost their critical thinking, research activities, and exam preparation. Consequently, ChatGPT has significantly impacted all levels of education, particularly the tertiary level. This paper aims to showcase how Macedonian university students fare in employing ChatGPT for foreign language acquisition. The study examines whether they are sufficiently familiar with this chatbot and to what extent they use it in various language-learning contexts. It also explores students’ attitudes toward this novel tool for improving their language abilities. Insights are drawn from qualitative and quantitative analyses of data gathered via a tailor-made survey, which targeted Macedonian university students, the majority of whom took a foreign language course during the academic year 2023/2024. Even though only 180 university students from several higher education institutions in the RN Macedonia showed interest in the study, the findings reveal mixed student perceptions of ChatGPT’s effectiveness, with some recognising its benefits for writing, translation, grammar, and research, while others expressing scepticism, particularly regarding its role in generating high-quality writing ideas, improving speaking skills, and fostering critical thinking, and creativity
Machine vs. Human Translation of Stylistic Neologisms in English Language Chick Lit into Ukrainian
Full text linkStylistic neologisms (SN), new words crafted to achieve pragmatic effects, pose significant challenges for translators, particularly between typologically distant languages like English and Ukrainian. With advances in machine translation (MT), evaluating its handling of SNs – especially vs. human translation (HT) – is crucial. Despite growing research on HT vs MT of neologisms, studies focusing on English > Ukrainian translation remain absent, leaving a critical research gap. This study addresses this gap by analysing how HT and MT rendered SNs formed through various morphological patterns in English language chick (ELCL) into Ukrainian. The findings reveal that while HT demonstrated exceptional abilities to creatively render English language SNs into Ukrainian, MT lacked creative and cultural sensitivity. MT exhibited an error rate of over 80%, significantly higher than HT’s 14%, with the most frequent errors occurring with loss of connotative meaning and incorrect word formation. The lack of innovation and contextual awareness in MT outputs underscores the necessity for algorithmic advancements and post-editing strategies to improve the rendering of SNs in literary translation
Baltų literatūros recepcijai užsienyje skirta konferencija Greifsvaldo universitete
Full text linkOn 17 June 2025, an international scientific conference entitled “Small” Literatures in the Big World: Worldwide Reception of Latvian and Lithuanian Literature in Translation was held at the University of Greifswald, at which literary scholars and translators from five countries presented their papers. This was the second conference on translation theory and practice to be organised by the Department of Baltic Studies. The impetus for the conference was the growing attention to translations of Baltic literature into foreign languages, ranging from translation support programmes to awards for translators and translations from Lithuanian and Latvian abroad, which are comparable to the recognition of translated literature. The primary objective of the conference was to explore the role of translators, publishers, and readers in the process of dissemination and perception of translated Baltic fiction. The presentations were not limited to specific literary genre, time period or artistic value, and did not delve into the concept of “Small” literature, for which there is currently no universally accepted definition. The selection of the reception topic was also motivated by the perception that translations of Baltic literature, along with their nominations and awards, are associated with a broad dissemination and reception of Baltic literature
“Paper Theatre” by Milorad Pavić: mystifications with authorship and masonic symbols
Full text linkThe article discusses the main poetic aspects of the collection of short stories, Paper Theatre, by the Serbian writer Milorad Pavić. The author of the article examines autobiographical moments and substantiates that Pavić’s work can serve as an illustration of a productive synthesis of fiction and actual events. The dynamic form and implementation of the postmodern concept of the death of the author are considered with the help of multiplicity of authorship, which in turn caused a shift in emphasis to the text and an increase in the status of the reader, who plays a dominant role. Self-citation inherent in postmodernist prose is analysed and realised through the use of already-known fragments, images, heroes, and symbols. Based on the analysis of the stories in the collection Paper Theatre, the elements that echo the Freemasons’ secrets were identified for the first time. This attests to Pavic’s awareness of the ideas of royal art and his desire to “illustrate” Masonic symbolism, which may be the key to reading his works. Particular attention is focused on the story Blue Sweat, where paratextual elements with Masonic signs were discovered. It is concluded that Pavić counted on an exemplary reader who should have the ability to notice the secret symbols of the semantic labyrinth and become the author’s accomplice in intellectual pursuits
Online Headlines in Croatian and Lithuanian News Media
Full text linkThe headline is a salient element of the news story, whose aim is to summarise the story and attract attention to its full text. The internet and online news dissemination and consumption have strongly transformed journalistic discourse, including headlines, which have become longer, significantly more complex, and multifaceted in their aim to attract readers’ attention. This paper presents the results of a qualitative comparative study of online headlines published on Croatian and Lithuanian media outlets from a discourse-analytic perspective. The data was collected from four top-read online news outlets (jutarnji.hr, index.hr, lrytas.lt, delfi.lt) and qualitatively analysed bearing in mind linguistic and visual strategies used to frame the news story and attract readers’ attention. The analysis showed that similar clickbait and narrative strategies are consistently aggregated across semiotic modes in all four news outlets in both countries. Apart from minor context-specific distinctions, no substantial differences were noticed in the overall discourse of headlines in the Croatian and Lithuanian observed media outlets
Ecolinguistics as a Framework for Understanding the Role of Learners’ Identity and Agency in Foreign Language Acquisition
Full text linkThis paper proposes the application of ecolinguistics as a conceptual framework for understanding the role of learners’ identity and agency in foreign language acquisition. Rooted in the ecological view that language, identity, and learning environments are interconnected, the study uses theoretical synthesis and critical analysis to examine how learners negotiate meaning, reposition themselves socially, and construct dynamic identities within multilingual and globalised contexts. Integrating perspectives from language ecology as well as theories on identity and agency, the research highlights how learners’ investments, aspirations, and self-regulatory practices are shaped by sociocultural and institutional ecosystems. Adapting an ecolinguistic lens reveals foreign language acquisition as a socially mediated, transformative process in which learners exercise symbolic power, resist imposed roles, and co-construct linguistic and professional identities. The paper proposes an ecolinguistic model of foreign language acquisition, illustrated in a diagram, demonstrating how identity, agency, languaging, and ecological environments interact to shape foreign language acquisition