Words and Ideology to Be Downloaded from Article 46 in LCPJ

Metani, Idriz 2014: Words and Ideology To be downloaded from www.lcpj.pro Article 46 in LCPJ Words and Ideology Abstract After the almost thirty-year publication of the dictionary of Albanian language “Fjalori i Gjuhës Shqipe” (1954), the first explanative dictionary of Albanian language with whom the Albanian monolingual lexicography starts its way, the dictionary of current Albanian language “Fjalori i Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe” (1980) gets published, which is the biggest explanative dictionary for the Albanian language until then with 41000 words and 7000 idioms; a dictionary of the average type, but with immense semantic structures, almost like a big dictionary, based on a lexicological file-cabinet that includes about 4 million files. The present article, having as an object the lexis of this dictionary, intends to make public, after a deep analysis of words at their content level, mostly of those with an ideological and political semantics, the manners and the tools that have been used by the authors of the dictionary of current Albanian language for the ideology- coating of dictionary words based on the Marxist-Leninist ideology and the monist Albanian State pressure on the science of the Albanian Language. Introduction The ideology-coating of words or the modification of their content (Thomai, 1983: 78) by the subjective intervention of the political groups or by social groups in order to adopt it in conformity with their political convictions and viewpoints (Samara, 2008: 29) is an actual phenomenon in different historical phases of the development of the human society, but it becomes more conspicuous and common, especially when a certain political regime (totalitarian or autocratic) is established in a country. Such a thing happened in Albania from 1944 to 1990, when as a result of totalitarianism, the Marxist-Leninist ideology and its philosophy dominated the whole country’s life and managed to penetrate into every cell of Albanian society, making everything ideological, consequently even the linguistics and its particular branches like lexicography. We think that the most obvious © LCPJ Publishing 46 Volume 7/2, 2014 Metani, Idriz 2014: Words and Ideology To be downloaded from www.lcpj.pro evidence of the ideology-coating of Albanian linguistics in general and Albanian lexicography in particular is the dictionary of current Albanian language “Fjalori i Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe” (1980), composed by an experienced lexicography group (Klein, 2004: 17; Kostallari, 1955: 43), like Androkli Kostallari, Jani Thomai, Xhevat Lloshi, Mico Samara, Josif Kole, Palok Daka, Pavli Haxhillazi, Hajri Shehu, Ferdinand Leka, Emil Lafe, Kornelja Sima, Thanas Feka, Beatrice Keta, Agim Hidi, based on the fundamental principles (Kostallari, 1972: 3-80), and conceived by the editor- in-chief of this dictionary that “obliged” the group and other editors to find the appropriate lexical means in order to sparkle this important work of Albanian monolingual lexicography with a bit of Marxism-Leninism. Problems of research The dictionary of current Albanian language “Fjalori i Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe” (1980), like any other explanative Albanian dictionary, is a scientific lexicography work that, in spite of its faults, has managed, though, to make the most systematic and normative codification of the lexical, phraseological and semantic fundamental asset of current Albanian language, providing as well even the level of scientific insight and interpretation of Albanian lexical-semantic structures. Many articles have been written about this dictionary, highlighting different aspects of this work, but, as far as we know up to now, there is neither a complete nor a generalizing study yet that has made the political coating (politicalization) of this dictionary an object of discussion. Our paper, first, aims at analyzing the lexis of this dictionary in order to expose the subjective interventions made by its drafters to ideologically coat or politicalize the words and their content. Such an analysis is made focusing mainly on a number of words related to ideology field, thus making us think that it would be better to start with the definition that this dictionary has for the word “ideology” – a system of political, philosophical, judicial, aesthetic, moral and religious ideas and viewpoints that express the interests, the attitude and the requirements of a class, a social group, a party, a socio-political system as part and parcel of the superstructure, and that reflect, in the long run, economic relationships” (p. 709). Following this definition, it must be easier to understand the definitions of the following illustrative words: “agjitrop” – body or section that deals with the agitation Volume 7/2, 2014 47 © LCPJ Publishing Metani, Idriz 2014: Words and Ideology To be downloaded from www.lcpj.pro and propaganda at the Party’s Committee, mass organizations, etc. (p. 13), “Amerikan” – he that applies the policy and the aims of American imperialism (p. 28), “anarkosindikalizëm” – micro-bourgeois, opportunist and reactionary approach in the trade union movement aiming at applying the political and ideological methods and principles of anarchy in this movement (p. 32), “Anglez = Englishman” – he that applies the policy and the aims of English imperialism (p. 53), “armik2 = enemy2” – he who is against the interests of the working class, the Party, homeland, socialism and who fights or acts against them (p. 53), “arqiomarksist = archaeo-marxist” – a member of an anti-marxist organization, created in Greece in 1920, that has deviated Marxism-Leninism and that fought against the communist movement …(p. 54), “bolshevism” – the theory and practice of the proletarian revolutionary movement for the overthrow of capitalism through revolution and the transition into the communist society, compiled by V.I. Lenin based on the experience of the struggle of Russian and international working class, and which were further developed by J.V. Stalin (p. 163), “celulë2 = cell2” – basic organization of the communist Party of Albania during and after the National Liberation War (p. 216), etc. A part of our investigation have also been even words of other fields which contain ideological and political shades of meaning in their semantic structure, like “boulevard2” – something which suits the bad micro-bourgeois tastes, “fidanishte2 = nursery2” – social environment where youngsters are educated and prepared to continue with what the predecessors have done before (p. 857), “komunikatë2 = communiqué2” – leaflet regularly brought out by the bodies of Albanian Communist Party during National Liberation War (p. 857). And, the second aim of this paper is to expose the linguistic means that the authors of this dictionary have used in order to ideologically coat the meaning of words in the process of their definition. Methodology of research As an object of research in this article there are at least two semantic elements in the bosom of the semantic structure of words: a) the semantic component, present in the semantic microsystem of the lexis of the dictionary of current Albanian language “Fjalori i Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe” (1980), the function of which has nothing to do with the identification of the reality the word denotes, but with the subjective interventions of the dictionary compilers © LCPJ Publishing 48 Volume 7/2, 2014 Metani, Idriz 2014: Words and Ideology To be downloaded from www.lcpj.pro in order to ideologically coat the content of the words; b) the semantic unit or the lexical meaning that has found a niche in the semantic structure of the word especially to express the political/ideological attitude of the authors of the work we are analyzing. Follow the illustration: the word “stain” is neutral from the ideological viewpoint and as such it should be entered into the dictionary with its straightforward meanings that denote “a small patch of colour different from that of the basic color of the background surface” and “a spot not easily removed from a surface”. Nevertheless, in the semantic structure of this lexis there have been added two figurative meanings: “action or behavior that impinges on the honour and good name of a man”, e.g. political stain; a stained man (p. 1295), and “dangerous remnant or influence of a viewpoint, ideology or moral of the old society in the consciousness of the people of our socialist society”, e.g. the stain of the old world; the struggle against the foreign stains (p. 1295), which, as can be seen, have no relation to the objective content of the lexeme, but to the subjective attitude of the compilers. The study of these semantic elements, undoubtedly, requires an appropriate research method. As such, the conceptual or content analysis method gives the opportunity to penetrate into the depth of the lexical semantics of lexemes in order to find out the fundamental and minimal semantic constituents and see what they linguistically express: a true indicator of realis or a subjective attitude of the dictionary compilers to ideologically and politically intervene in the real content of lexemes. Results of research Based on the careful and thorough examination of the bulk of words in the dictionary infected by the phenomenon of political and ideological coating, we can say that there are at least two main linguistic means the authors of the Albanian Dictionary “Fjalori i Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe” (1980) have used in order to modify the content of words and to adopt this content mainly to the aims of the totalitarian politics and State: First, the examples or illustrations, as they are usually called in the practice of the composition of dictionaries. There are many examples, carefully picked up from the monist press and the communist propaganda of that time, that are present not only in the semantic structures of the words with Volume 7/2, 2014 49 © LCPJ Publishing Metani, Idriz 2014: Words and Ideology To be downloaded from www.lcpj.pro ideological/political content, but also in the words that do not have such a semantic in order to ‘sparkle’ the dictionary with a little bit of Marxist- Leninist ideology and politics.

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