Kalbų kontaktai ir lietuvių kalbos tradicija

The article analyses the impact of the increased contact of languages, especially with English, as one of the most important globalization factors, on the Lithuanian language and its lexis in particular. The author discusses the distinctive character of Lithuanian and other languages and raises the problem of the changed relationship of Lithuanian and other languages under conditions of globalization. In Lithuania English is viewed as a prestigious language, whereas the prestige of Lithuanian is declining. The Lithuanian language is changing as such. Thus the semantic changes in the lexis of Lithuanian are analysed. The main source of the data for the research of Lithuanian is public spoken language, usually on the Lithuanian radio and television, and written language, i.e. the language of periodicals. The research relies on recent observations of public use of the Lithuanian language in the past five years (2009-2014). The analysis is based on the empirical and analytical methods. The analysis of the data of public use of Lithuanian reveals that globalization and the intensified language contact have impact on Lithuanian and specifically on the use of its lexis; the distinctive character of the Lithuanian language is undermined. The impact of English on Lithuanian has increased and the prestige of Lithuanian is declining. New meanings, which are not characteristic of the language, are attributed to internationalisms and Lithuanian words based on the meanings of respective English words; the number of semantic loan-translations from English increases, the norms of Lithuanian are violated. The semantic system of Lithuanian is brought closer to English. All this leads to the conclusion that we should borrow from other languages only the aspects which enrich the Lithuanian language rather than impoverish it. There is a need to raise the prestige of Lithuanian and cherish the tradition and distinctive character of the Lithuanian language. Keywords: globalisation, internationalism, lexis, loanword, semantic change, semantic loan-translation, seme, zoomorphism. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.15823/zz.2014.017