Men's and women’s tombstone epitaphs in the Klaipeda Region cemeteries of the 19th and early 20th century: linguistic aspects

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Asmenvardžiai; Epitafijos; Leksika; Morfologija; Paminkliniai įrašai; Paminklų įrašai; Epitaphs; Morphology; Personal names; Tombstone inscriptions; Vocabulary.

ENThe linguistic expression of tombstone inscriptions in the Klaipėda Region in the 19th to the 20th centuries proved that a prototypical woman’s image was related to the following character traits: tenderness, emotionality, and sensitiveness, and the status, to woman-mother, woman-wife, or woman-sister /daughter. In the hymn passages for women on the front face, the motifs of hard life and pain frequently predominated. A stereotypical Lithuanian man’s image, related to emotional coldness, was revealed by the unproductivity of diminutive derivatives of the lexemes husband, father, and brother. Both the German and Lithuanian man’s prototype was associated with physical strength: that was revealed by the fight motif emphasized in the hymn passages. Man’s active social life was witnessed by the professions and activities recorded in the inscriptions. The syntactical constructions of the inscriptions (a possessive pronoun + an adjective / Past Participle + a noun) not so much named the qualities of the deceased, but rather expressed the emotional relationship of the family members with the deceased and revealed that family and close relationships between its members were a great value in the society of that time.Woman’s inequality with man was especially obvious in the inscriptions that recorded socio-economic information. The reason of the gender inequality was neither the Lutheran faith that predominated in the Klaipėda Region nor Germanisation. It was actually Christianity that would “raise” woman’s status to the divine level. Woman’s inequality with respect to man was reflected in the predominating view on woman in most of the European states in the 18th to the 20th centuries. The German and the Lithuanian inscriptions, in terms of gender interpretation, were similar (both nations emphasized the importance of family and its relationships both for man and woman); more distinct differences could be observed in the approach towards boys (the German language did not record the gender dominant and emphasized the aspect of boy-child), while the Lithuanian language demonstrated a predominating view on a boy as a prospective man. [Extract, p. 202-203]