M. Petkevičiaus katekizmo (1598) absoliutieji sinonimai kitų XVI– XVII a. lietuvių kalbos raštų fone
Absolute Synonyms in the Catechism of Petkevičius in the Context of Other Lithuanian Writings of the 16th–17th Centuries

Summary/Abstract: This article focuses on the absolute synonyms (doublets) used in the Catechism of Merkelis Petkevičius of 1598 (CP), where one element is of foreign origin, whereas the other word is an indigenous one. The language of this Catechism is thought to be rather poor and its translation is regarded mainly as literary one. Therefore, an attempt is made to identify whether the absolute synonyms used in the Catechism constituted a typical part of lexis in the 16th–17th centuries and what could have determined the use of rarer doublets found in the CP only. In pursuit of this goal, all the pairs of systemic synonyms were picked out from the text and absolute synonyms were singled out from them afterwards. Then the Lithuanian text of CP was compared to the Polish source of translation. The meanings of the synonyms were looked up in the electronic Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, but they are first presented following the Catechism of Petkevičius.

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