[p. 291]

New Middle Netherlandic lexical data from ms. Archabbey Beuron No. 391)

Ms. Archabbey Beuron No. 39, a Late East Middle Netherlandic version of the Rule of St. Benedict (end of the fifteenth century, in all likelihood from Diepenveen by Deventer), has brought to light a number of words which are recorded neither in the Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, nor in the revised Middelnederlandsch handwoordenboek. These words appear here as they do in the text; only a few morphological forms, which might conceivably be ambiguous outside their syntactic context, have been cited in parentheses. I have identified each word's grammatical category, have supplied the meaning suggested by the Latin Rule, and have cited the folio, side (recto, verso), and column in which the word occurs.

 

BESLOTENHEIT feminine noun ‘claustra (monasterii)’ [7va]
BESMEKINGE, BESMEKYNGE feminine noun ‘blandimentum’ [4vb; 5rb]
DOOTSIECLIK(EN) adjective ‘morbidus’ [4ra]
GHEPROEFTHEIT feminine noun ‘probatio’ [3rb]
CLEDERHUUS neuter noun ‘vestiarium’ [29va; 31va]
COKER(S) masculine noun ‘coquinae hebdomadarius’ [22va]
LOUESALMEN masculine plural noun ‘laudes’ [14ra]
OLTACHTICH adjective ‘vetustus’ [29rb]
ONGHESATICHEIT feminine noun onghesaticheit of onstuericheit = improbitas [28ra]
ONTFRUCHTELIC adjective ‘metuendus’ [1rb]
ROEPICH adjective ‘clamosus’ [11vb]
STERCMAKINGHE feminine noun ‘reparatio’ [21vb]
VERBUNDINGHE feminine noun ‘sponsio’ [14rb]
VERDRACHSAMHEIT feminine noun ‘tolerantia’ [23ra]
[p. 292]
VERSACHTENISSE feminine noun ‘pavor’ [3ra]
WALLEUENDE(R) adjective ‘bene vivens’ [38vb]

 

To the above list may be added three special groups of words.

First, there are a number of words of Latin or Romance origin which have been vested with Netherlandic morphological and/or orthographic forms. No doubt many of these words do in fact occur elsewhere, but were not cited in the dictionaries because of too great a similarity to the Latin or Romance source.

 

APOCALISIS feminine noun ‘Apocalipsis’ (i.e., the book of the Bible) [13vb]
DISSIMILEREN transitive verb ‘dissimulare’ [5ra]
DONACIE feminine noun ‘donatio’ [32ra]
CAPITAEL neuter noun ‘capitale’ (i.e., ‘pillow’) [29vb]
CONMUNIE, CONMŮNIE feminine noun ‘communio’ (i.e., the sacrament) [22ra; 22rb; 33vb]
NOCTURNEN feminine plural noun ‘nocturnae’ [13ra (x2) and passim]
SCRUPELHEIT (-HEIDEN) feminine noun ‘scrupulositas’ [23ra]
SUSPICIOES adjective ‘suspiciosus’ [35ra]
TURBULENT adjective ‘turbulentus’ [19rb; 35ra]

 

In addition, there is a small group of words, unattested in the Middle Netherlandic dictionaries, whose cognates are nevertheless known to occur in Middle Low German. (I would, however, refer my reader to articles in the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal on the three words which appear here with asterisks.)

 

*DRIJSTELICK adverb ‘procaciter’ [5vb]
*KIJFACHTICHEIT femine noun ‘contentio’ [7rb]
KNECHTHEIT femine noun ‘servitus’ [4va]
*LACHLIK(E) adjective ‘risui aptus’ [7ra]
LERICH adjective ‘capax’ [4rb]

 

Finally, three words which are already attested lexical units appear in our text in a new category of grammatical usage: BETEMELIKE appears as an adverb ‘disposite’ [13rb]; AFHOLDEN (+ van)

[p. 293]

[27rb] and CONFORMIEREN [5rb] are used as reflexive verbs, quite conceivably under the influence of their respective Latin equivalents, se temperare (a) and se conformare.

 

Widener College

Philip E. Webber

Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.