Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.10.2003, Page 357
Summary
355
vides a similar account of words from Old Saxon which occur in the
statutes.
In Section 5.2 there is a separate discussion of c. 35-40 words which
sometimes are regarded as loans from MLG but whose origin is so un-
certain (and sometimes definitely not MLG) that they must be account-
ed for independently of the rest. Etymological dictionaries classify a
number of words as loans from MLG even if they, because of their great
age in Icelandic, must rather be considered loans from Old Saxon; such
words are discussed thoroughly in Section 5.3, particularly 5.3.2.
Chapter 6 attempts to throw light on some formal distinctive charac-
teristics of the loanwords in question, mainly word formation with some
domestic and foreign affixes. Adaptation to Icelandic phonological and
inflectional structures is also briefly discussed.
Chapter 7 is the most extensive part of the work, comprising a sys-
tematic presentation of the words here considered to be loans from
MLG. The oldest example of each word is given, with its counterparts in
the other Nordic languages and in MLG, together with other examples
from Old Icelandic texts if such are to be found. Various questions and
problems regarding the words and their origin are discussed.
The systematic study only partly confirms the above-mentioned
working hypothesis, viz. that words from MLG reached Iceland earlier
than has been thought. Certainly, a number of words from MLG show
up already early in the fourteenth century and there are a few in charters
and other documents dated to the thirteenth century, but most of those
words are not fully representative of the actual influence of the language
spoken by the German Hansa merchants. The oldest examples are from
statutes of bishops and archbishops from about 1270 onwards. In inven-
tories MLG words begin to appear early in the fourteenth century. In
charters, letters, and other documents such words appear sporadically in
the early fourteenth century, but they do not become frequent until the
last decades of that century or even the fifteenth century. The MLG
words in the statutes are to a great extent ecclesiastical-religious (ab-
stract); in inventories they are to a great extent ecclesiastical-termino-
logical (concrete); in charters they are to a great extent secular (abstract
and concrete) and have much to do with administration, commerce, ne-
gotiation etc. The words almost always enter the word classes existing in
Icelandic, they are supplied with Icelandic inflectional endings, and un-
certainty as to which gender they take is very rare. New affixes are few