LTKalbos variantiškumo tyrimai apima daugelį teorinių ir praktinių aspektų: variantų tapatumo, jų klasifikacijos, funkcionavimo vartosenoje, tarpusavio konkurencijos, kalbos pokyčių, santykio su kalbos normomis bei kalbos planavimo ir kitus panašius klausimus. Ši knyga – 2009 m. išleistos monografijos „Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos vartosenos variantai“ tęsinys. Pirmajame darbe buvo pateikta vartosenos varianto sąvoka, nusakyti įvairiasluoksnės vartosenos, kaip variantų funkcionavimo terpės, požymiai, apibūdinti variacijų tipai, taip pat nužymėti atraminiai variantų klasifikacijos taškai. Šioje monografijoje variantiškumo tyrimai tęsiami jau ne bendrąja vartosenos aprėptimi, o remiantis konkrečiais kalbos reiškiniais: toliau plėtojama ir tikslinama jų klasifikacija, pateikiamas jos aprašas. taigi neišvengiamai esama sąsajų su pirmuoju darbu: prireikus grįžtama prie skelbtų teiginių ir jie toliau detalizuojami. Kai kuriuose skyriuose panaudotas kelių jau paskelbtų šios tematikos mano straipsnių tekstas, papildytas naujais duomenimis ir paveikslais. operuojama naujais, tik nuo 2010 m. rinktais viešosios vartosenos duomenimis. atsižvelgiama ir į naujausias variantiškumo teorijos plėtotes. XXi a. pradžioje kilusi trečioji sociolingvistikos tyrimų banga, kartu paskatinusi ir trečiąją standartizacijos (norminamosios kalbotyros) tyrimų bangą, į kalbos variantiškumą skatina žiūrėti ne tik kaip į socialinės įvairovės atspindį, bet ir kaip į kalbinės raiškos išteklius, naudojamus įvairioms socialinėms praktikoms – socialiniams vaidmenims, tapatybėms konstruoti. [...]. [Iš Pratarmės]
ENAs pointed out by David Crystal, language change is unpredictable: we can be aware of our linguistic past and record the change after it has already happened, but no one is able to predict our linguistic future (Crystal 1996: 15). Nevertheless, if we have language data from different periods and compare them, we may try to grasp at least the most general directions and trends in language change. Over the past decade, the lithuanian-speaking linguistic community demonstrated substantial changes in its linguistic attitudes and language ideologies; the variability of language usage is growing; the codification of standard language norms is being revised. The above changes encouraged to rethink the traditional concept of standard language, its relationship with other national language varieties and other languages in the framework of this monograph, which draws on the data of Standard lithuanian usage accumulated since 2010. Hypotheses are put forth as to why certain changes of language usage are taking place, what may influence the rise of certain tendencies, competitive relationships between variants, and the emergence of new phenomena. the investigation into language change rests on the proposition that there are two areas that conditionally underpin every living language: a rather stable language nucleus and a volatile, marginal area. The variable and new language phenomena (hereinafter – VnlP) constitute the unstable stratum of the standard language, which, in contrast to the nucleus, tends to be more responsive to external factors, i.e., life changes and needs of a linguistic community. The monograph gives a systemic approach towards the changeable stratum of contemporary Standard lithuanian usage.It systemizes the key phenomena of the changeable language stratum relating to standard language norms from two standard language development periods, i.e., the 2nd half of the 20th century and century. The sources of language recommendations from the earlier standard language development period and the inventory of phenomena provided by them are required as the point of departure in an effort to establish the trends, type and scope of the variable and newly emerging language phenomena in the contemporary usage of the early 21st century and to reveal the relationship between codified norms and contemporary usage. The monograph aims to answer two questions: 1) How to systemize something that is varied and subject to renewal? 2) What changes have been most conspicuous in the lithuanian language during roughly the past decade and how they occurred? The studies in the field of language variation encompass a wide array of theoretical and practical aspects: identity and classification of language variants, their functioning in language usage, mutual competition, language changes, relationship with language norms, language planning, etc. This book is a continuation of the monograph "Variants of Contemporary Lithuanian Language Usage" published in 2009. the earlier book introduced the concept of the variant of usage, described the features of multilayered usage as the medium for the functioning of variants, specified variation types, and drew the reference points for the classification of variants. In this monograph, the research of language variation is no longer based on the general scope of language usage but on specific language phenomena: their classification is further developed and updated; its description is provided.Hence, there are definitely certain links with the first monograph: whenever necessary, the author comes back to the previous statements, which are further detailed; nevertheless, new data on language usage (collected since 2010) are in use. Certain chapters make use of the text from the previous articles on this topic published by the author, which is expanded with new data and figures. the monograph draws on the latest developments in the theory of language variation. The third wave in sociolinguistic studies, which gathered pace at the outset of the 21st century (Eckert 2012: 93–98; Mclelland 2020: 109–124), also stirred up the third wave in standardization (prescriptive or, according to the lithuanian terminology, normative linguistics) research (Milroy, Milroy 2012: 4; Curzan 2014: 9; Poplack, Jarmasz et al. 2015: 13–55; Beal 2018: 1–30; Ayres-Bennett 2021: 44). It is an impetus to approach language variation not only as a reflection of social diversity but also as a resource of linguistic expression used in various social practices – in constructing social roles, identities. The monograph consists of the introduction and three chapters, which are subdivided into sections, subsections, and sub-subsections. It ends with the conclusions and references. The underlying idea of the monograph is to investigate the phenomenon of the changing contemporary standard language by moving from the most specific phenomena of language usage and their changes to more general aspects, i.e., the specific features of the dynamics of the standard language as a variety of the national language, in order to reveal the relationship and trends of these micro and macro changes. The Introduction describes the research object, aim and objectives, presents the main scientific concepts used in the research, and provides theoretical and methodological approaches. [...]. [From the publication]