Middle Dutch language

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Middle Dutch
speaker no more
Linguistic
classification
Language codes
ISO 639-3

dumb

The Middle Dutch language (abbreviation Mnl. Or Mnld. ) Is the preliminary stage of the new Dutch language , as it was spoken between 1150 and 1500. It developed from the Old Dutch , in particular from the West Lower Franconian .

Middle Dutch is one of the Lower Franconian varieties in which the second sound shift was omitted. It was also part of the continental West Germanic or German dialect continuum .

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the term "Dietsch" was also used for a contemporary political effort, the so-called Greater Dutch Solution , which promoted the political union of the Netherlands with the Flanders region , the part of Belgium with a Dutch-speaking population .

Name of the language

Middle Dutch speakers mostly called their language dietsc or duutsc .

This term revived centuries later: Nationalist Dutch groups in the 19th century.

See also Dutch (name) .

swell

Non-literary texts

The earliest original Central Dutch documents date from the middle of the 13th century. There is a medium Dutch house rules of Gent he leper house, which is however not dated. It is believed that this text is from before 1250, as the Latin original is from 1236. A certificate from Boekhoute near Velzeke, however, provides certainty about age, because the date 1249 appears in the text itself.

Literary texts

The Maasland, i.e. Limburg and the Lower Rhine , is the cradle of Central Dutch literature. The fragments of Sente Servas , a legend about Saint Servatius , written by Heinrich von Veldeke, date from the late 12th and early 13th centuries . The chivalric novels Floyris ende Blantseflur (see Floire et Blancheflor ) and Aiol also date from this period .

In the 13th century, the Flemish Jacob van Maerlant dominated Central Dutch literature. He created a versatile literary work. This also included a reworking of the old French novel Roman de Renart for the animal pos Van den vos Reynaerde . See also Reineke Fuchs .

In the 13th century the focus of Central Dutch literature shifted to Brabant . In the 14th century, the mystic Jan van Ruusbroec exerted a significant influence on literature. Significant Central Dutch drama later emerged: Abele Spelen , Elckerlijc (see Jedermann ) and Marieken van Nieumeghen .

Differences to the old Dutch

Middle Dutch differs from Old Dutch, among other things, in the weakening of the secondary tone vowels , also known as vowel reduction . For example, vogala became vogele ("birds", in modern Dutch: vogels ). Although many more manuscripts and printed books appeared in Middle Dutch than in Old Dutch and this sets the limit in time, the difference between the two languages ​​is thus primarily defined in terms of language.

No standard language

Middle Dutch was not a standard language in the modern sense, but a number of closely related and presumably mutually understandable varieties. They were also closely related to the Middle Low German varieties of the Hanseatic cities neighboring to the east .

Dialects

The following dialects can be distinguished within Middle Dutch:

Lower Saxony language varieties were spoken in today's provinces of Gelderland , Overijssel and Drenthe as well as in parts of the province of Groningen . They were influenced by Middle Dutch as early as the Middle Ages.

Dialect basics of the literary language

The literary Middle Dutch of the 13th century is predominantly Flemish and Brabant , with Flemish influences being the strongest. This was due to the strong influence that the Flemish Jacob van Maerlant exerted on the literature of his time. See also Dutch literature of the Middle Ages . In the 14th century the linguistic basis of literary Middle Dutch shifted to Brabant. In the 15th century the leading role of the Brabantischen increased. This shift in the linguistic basis led to language mixing and the emergence of a language that could be used interregionally. The invention of printing led to further standardization, as printers wanted to make their books accessible to the broadest possible readership. The language of the prints between 1450 and 1540 ( incunabula and post incunabula ) is mainly Brabant or Brabant- Dutch .

Foreign influences on Middle Dutch

French influence

Middle Dutch borrowed many loan words from French at the time . See also Old French and Middle French . This was due to the following reasons:

  • There were intensive contacts between the nobility of the County of Flanders and the French nobility , and probably not in Middle Dutch but in French.
  • The monastic orders of the Cistercians and Premonstratensians founded many monasteries in the Dutch-speaking area. Since these orders were founded in France, they also contributed to the spread of French words.
  • Most of the Dutch-speaking area belonged to the Burgundian Netherlands . The language of the Burgundian dynasty, the Brussels court and the central state institutions was French.
  • In the field of art, the trouvères ( trobadors ) exerted a great influence, not only in the Dutch-speaking world.

However, the French influence on the Central Dutch vocabulary was not as great as on the Central English vocabulary.

Middle High German influence

The influence of the neighboring Middle High German language area on the Middle Dutch vocabulary stems primarily from Rhenish mysticism . The borrowed words have lost their religious and mystical meaning today. Examples: oorzaak "cause", wezen "essence", indruk "impression", neiging "inclination", werkelijk "really" (each in the modern Nine- Dutch spelling).

See also

Wiktionary: Middle Dutch  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Test Wikipedia in Middle Dutch

Web links

literature

  • Jacob Verdam : Middelnederlandsch handwoordenboek. 's-Gravenhage 1911; 2nd edition 1932; Reprint 1964; Supplement to this: JJ van der Voort van der Kleij, Leiden and Antwerp 1983.
  • Eelco Verwijs, Jacob Verdam: Middelnederlandsch woordenboek. I-XI, 's-Gravenhage 1885-1941.
  • Central Low German Concise Dictionary. Founded by Agathe Lasch and Conrad Borchling , ed. after Gerhard Cordes and Annemarie Hübner by Dieter Möhn and Ingrid Schröder. Hamburg 1928 ff., Neumünster 1956 ff.
  • A. van Loey: Middelnederlandse spraakkunst. I. Vormleer, II. Klankleer. 4th edition. Groningen / Antwerp 1965.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ p. 857, note 26 and more often . For the protagonist Oszwald see Stephan Laux : Flanders in the mirror of the “real folk history”. Robert Paul Oszwald 1883-1945 , in: Burkhard Dietz et al. (Ed.), Griff nach dem Westen, Vol. 1, Münster 2003, pp. 247–291; a proof is: Willem Johan Louis van Es: De ondergang van het Dietsch in Frankrijk na de Saksisch-Frankisch-Friesche nederzetting. Amsterdam 1940. Extended special print from: Niuwe gids. 55, 1940. Monumenta Germaniae Historica archive no. Cc 13800
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Herman Vekeman and Andreas Ecke, History of the Dutch Language , Bern 1993, ISBN 3-906750-37-X
  3. ↑ a b Guido Geerts, Voorlopers en variants van het Nederlands , 4de druk, Leuven 1979
  4. ↑ a b Adolphe van Loey, Middelnederlandse spraakkunst - I. Vormleer , derde, herziene uitgave, Groningen and Antwerp 1960