Basic Lithuanian Language Guides (Genre Characteristics)

  • Rita Miliūnaitė
Keywords: standard language, standardization, usage guide, language advice, prescriptive linguistics


    The de-standardisation of standard European languages, which has gathered momentum over the last decade, has given an impetus for language researchers to start investigating this phenomenon just as it has provided a reason to take a new look at the history of standard languages and the specifics of their development. At the same time, it has sparked an interest in the standardisation process of standard languages and the codification of norms. The development of standard language is under a substantial amount of influence from language advice available to language users. The language practice publications (special vocabularies) that feature this advice on a systematic basis are known as language guides. The article deals with the genre characteristics of three basic Lithuanian language guides: Kalbos Patarėjas (1939), Kalbos Praktikos Patarimai (1976, 1985), and Kalbos Patarimai (2002–2013) that are described in their introductory parts. The article relies on comparable studies of language guides conducted abroad.