„Lietuvių liaudies dainyno“ refrenų klasifikacija pagal jų susiformavimo būdą
Lithuanian Folk Songbook refrains classification based on their origin

Summary/Abstract: This article addresses the refrain, a part of the lexical system’s periphery that has been given very little investigation. For the purposes of this work, a refrain is the repetitive part of Lithuanian folk songs that has a hard-to-define meaning – or sometimes no meaning whatsoever – and often carries a linguistic expression that follows the rules of sound coupling and syllable formation of the Lithuanian language. Four groups of refrains from the Lithuanian Folk Songbook have been identified based on origin: 1) onomatopoeic refrains; 2) quasi-lexical refrains; 3) quasi-derivational refrains; 4) combinational refrains. The subject material is dominated by refrains that belong to the group of onomatopoeic refrains (90.4%). Quasi-lexical refrains are almost nine times fewer (8.5%). Quasi-derivational refrains with endings similar to the derivational formant are quite scarce (0.8%), and so are combinational refrains (0.3%).

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