Netherlandic language research

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Chapter Five
The 16th Century. Transition from Middle to New Netherlandic

The 16th century is a crucial period in the history of Netherlandic. As a result of political events, the economic and political centre moved from South to North. Within a very short time, Amsterdam developed from a provincial town into the foremost commercial city in Europe. The Brabant dialect, well on its way to becoming the basis of the standard language, had to cede its position to Hollandic, not, however, without leaving its traces in recieved New Netherlandic.

At the same time, partly because of these events, major changes in sound and form took place, some of which are to be found recorded in contemporary publications: in the 16th century, Renaissance ideas obtained a firm footing in the Netherlands, manifesting themselves in a growing interest in the national language, among other things. Grammatical treatises were written and, if used with discretion, they can yield valuable information about 16th century Netherlandic. Among the lexicographical works that were published, that by Kiliaan (see below) is of great value for the history of Netherlandic vocabulary.

Hitherto, this important period of transition has not been thoroughly studied. This is especially obvious in the field of lexicology: the excellent Mnl. Wb., discussed in Chapter II, contains but little 16th century material, and the great W.N.T. takes its sources, especially in the early volumes, chiefly from the time after 1600. Editions of 16th century texts, such as those prepared by pupils of de Vooys, are therefore of great significance. Many of them have explanatory notes, and in some the words explained are collected in a register, in such a way as to simplify the compilation of a dictionary of 16th century Netherlandic. The most important of these editions are as follows.

H.F. Grondijs, Een spul van sinnen van den siecke stadt (Borculo, 1917).

J.W. Muller and L. Scharpé, Spelen van Cornelis Everaert (Leyden, 1920); the second volume, which was to have contained a glossary, did not appear.

G.A. Brands, Tspel van de Cristenkercke (Utrecht, 1921).

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F.A. Stoett, Drie kluchten uit de zestiende eeuw (Zutfen, 1932).

B.H. Erné, Twee zestiende-eeuwse spelen van de hel (Groningen, 1934).

W. van Eeghem, Drie schandaleuse spelen (Antwerp, 1937). Handsome edition, but without glossary and grammatical notes.

M. de Jong, Drie zestiende-eeuwse esbatementen (Amsterdam, 1934).

E. Ellerbroek-Fortuin, Amsterdamse rederijkersspelen in de zestiende eeuw (Groningen-Batavia, 1937). No glossary or grammatical notes.

L.M. van Dis, Reformatorische rederijkersspelen uit de eerste helft van de zestiende eeuw (Haarlem, 1937).

N. van der Laan, Uit het archief der Pellicanisten: vier zestiendeeeuwse esbatementen (Leyden, 1938).

C. Kruyskamp, De refreinenbundel van Jan van Doesborch (2 vols, Leyden, 1940).

E.G.A. Galama, Twee zestiende-eeuwse spelen van de Verlooren Zoone door Robert Lawet (Utrecht-Nimeguen, 1941).

G. Degroote, Jan van den Dale, gekende werken (Antwerp, 1944).

H. Meijling, Esbatementen van de Rode Lelije te Brouwershaven (Groningen, 1946).

C. Kruyskamp, Dichten en spelen van Jan van den Berghe (The Hague, 1950).

G.J. Steenbergen, De bekeeringe Pauli (in the series Zwolse Drukken en Herdrukken, Zwolle, 1953).

A discussion of the grammatical aspects of the texts is to be found in most of these editions. L.M. van Dis and B.H. Erné edited De Spelen van Sinne vertoond op het Landjuweel te Gent van 12-13 Juni 1539, of which only Part I (Text) has appeared (Groningen-Batavia, 1939). Hardly any notes are provided by F. Lyna and W. van Eeghem in their edition of Jan van Stijevoorts Refereinenbundel (2 vols, Antwerp, n.d. [1929-30]), no notes at all by B. Becker, editor of Coornhert's Zedekunst dat is Wellevenskunste (Leyden, 1942), very few by P. van der Meulen in De comedies van Coornhert (Assen, 1945), but here we find a, mainly stylistic, chapter on ‘De taal van den comediedichter’. Van der Meulen also edited Het Roerspel en de Comedies van Coornhert (Leyden, 1955), with fairly extensive commentary. Coornhert's Dolinge van Ulysse, edited by Th. Weevers (Amsterdam, 1939) in the series Bibliotheek der Ne-

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derlandse Letteren, and transcribed, in accordance with the principles of that series, in modern orthography, has short notes at the foot of the page. There is not much difference of treatment in N. van der Laan's edition, for the same series, of Noordnederlandse Rederijkers-spelen (Amsterdam, 1941).

The handsome edition of Een Schoon Lièdekens-boeck genaamd Het Antwerpsch Liedboek van 1544 by W. Gs. Hellinga (The Hague, 1941) is designed for a wider public, and has brief but competent annotations.

Jan van der Noot's Het Bosken en het Theatre was edited by W.A.P. Smit (Amsterdam and Antwerp, 1953), with extensive footnotes (some comments on it by J.J. Mak in Ts. LXXV, 65 ff.). Smit also edited a lesser work of Van der Noot's, Epitalameon (oft Houwelyckx Sanck voor Otto van Vicht en Cornelia van Balen) for the series Zwolse Drukken en Herdrukken, with a remarkable Appendix on the ‘drukgeschiedenis’, the printing history of the text, by W. Gs. Hellinga.

Also worthy of mention is Het Geuzenliedboek (2 vols, Zutfen, 1924-25), by E.T. Kuiper, after his death seen through the press by P. Leendertz Jr. A good deal of interest has been paid to the ‘Geuzenlied’ Wilhelmus van Nassouwe, now the national anthem of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. J.B. Drewes devoted a separate study to it (Amsterdam, 1946), attempting a synchronic-stylistic interpretation. In the work, earlier studies are discussed.

The very few editions dating from before 1920 are not mentioned here, nor are some recent editions of farces and ‘esbatementen’ published in periodicals. They are enumerated in the excellently annotated edition of Vier excellente kluchten (in the series Klassieke Galerij) by J.J. Mak (Antwerp, 1950). A great contribution to our knowledge of 16th-century vocabulary is Mak's Rhetoricaal Glossarium (Assen, 1959). Several Lexicologische Kanttekeningen by the same author, published in instalments in recent numbers of the Ts., testify to his competence in this field.

Separate grammatical studies on 16th century Netherlandic are small in number, and therefore, three earlier publications deserve to be mentioned here, doctoral theses from the school of W.L. van Helten, namely A.E. Lubach, Over de verbuiging van het werkwoord in het Nederlandsch der zestiende eeuw (Groningen, 1891); I.B. Kolthoff, Het Substantief in het Nederlandsch der 16e eeuw

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(Groningen, 1894), and B. van Halteren, Het Pronomen in het Nederlandsch der zestiende Eeuw (Wildervanck, 1906). These books, very hard to obtain today, are based on scanty material, and little account is taken of dialectal and individual differences.

R. Verdeyen gave a preliminary survey of Marnix' usage in the memorial volume Marnix van Sinte Aldegonde (Brussels, 1939), 175 ff, mentioning what had been done and stressing the urgent need of further linguistic research into the works of this very productive author, whose literary, theological and political publications have given rise to a steadily growing output of literature. A discussion in accordance with the principles of Overdiep and van Es, of syntax and style in De zin in het Nederlands proza en de poëzie van Philips van Marnix, was brought out by W.A. Ornée (Zutfen, 1955). Marcel Govaert's La langue et le style de Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde dans son ‘Tableau des Differens de la Religion’ (Brussels, 1953) is only important with regard to Marnix as a writer of French.

M.J. De Vriendt-De Man, Bijdrage tot de kennis van het gebruik en de flexie van het werkwoord zullen in de 16e eeuw (Ghent, 1958), gives a survey of the forms of the auxiliary zullen in various texts.

Part II of L.C. Michels' Filologische Opstellen (Zwolle, 1958) contains much useful information on 16th (and 17th) century philology in the widest sense.

16th century lexicology

At the end of the 16th century appeared the excellent dictionary of Cornelis van Kiel. Van Kiel is perhaps better known as Kiliaan, from his assumed Latin name, Cornelius Kilianus Dufflaeus (from Duffel, a town between Antwerp and Brussels). Kiliaan's Etymologicum teutonicae linguae is nowadays most easily accessible in the edition by G. van Hasselt (Utrecht, 1777). An inhabitant of Antwerp, Kiliaan took the Brabant dialect as his basis, giving geographical indications for regional words. His work is on the whole conscientious and reliable, he carefully defines his meanings in Latin.

Since A. Kluyver published his Proeve eener kritiek op het woordenboek van Kiliaan (The Hague, 1884), some other critical studies have appeared. K. Fokkema tested De Friese woorden bij Kiliaan, Ts. LIV, 210 ff, and found at least half of them to be correct. L. Goemans wrote about the term ‘Lovaniense’ in Kiliaan, Album-Vercoullie

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(Brussels, 1927), 147 ff. C.G.N. de Vooys discussed the Duitse woorden in Kiliaan, V.M.V.A. 1943, 727 ff, and De ‘Hollandse’ woorden bij Kiliaan, Ts. LXIII, 265 ff; LXIV, 142 ff. The influence of Hadrianus Junius on Kiliaan, already pointed out by Kluyver, has been the subject of a detailed study by G. De Smet, see Handelingen van de Zuidnederlandse Maatschappij voor Taal- en Letterkunde en Geschiedenis VIII (1954), 1 ff; Ts. LXXIV, 44 ff; T. en Tongv. VIII, 1 ff; Album Edgard Blancquaert (Tongres, 1958), 197 ff.

One of Kiliaan's sources, the Naembouck by Joos Lambrecht, an inhabitant of Ghent (Ghent, 1562), has been re-edited by R. Verdeyen (Liege and Paris, 1945). In chapters VII and VIII we find an interesting discussion of Kiliaan's relation to this and other sources, and also of the value of his indications ‘fland.’ (Flemish) and ‘vetus’. References are also found to older studies on this subject, such as L.C. Michels' Kiliaen en Pelgrom, for T.T.L. XXVIII, 215 ff, reprinted in Michels' Filologische Opstellen II, 87 ff.

Another important contribution to the study of ‘lexicography and humanism’ is Verdeyen's paper on Petrus Dasypodius and Antonius Schorus, V.M.V.A. 1939, 967 ff. Plantijn's Thesaurus theutonicae linguae (Antwerp, 1573), a dictionary with French and Latin equivalents, has not the interest for the modern investigator as Kiliaan's Etymologicum. Kiliaan, who was employed in Plantijn's printing-office, contributed to Plantijn's book. R. Verdeyen deals with its relation to the Naembouck in the introduction to his above-mentioned edition.

The Teuthonista of Duytschlender by Gert van der Schueren (Cologne, 1477) belongs to the last period of Middle Netherlandic; it is a dictionary of the Lower Rhineland dialect just outside the present border of the Netherlands. Part I gives the Latin translations of native words, Part II vice versa. The first part was re-edited in 1804, by C. Boonzajer and J.A. Clignett (Leyden); J. Verdam reorganized the whole work (Leyden, 1896), arranging the lemmata in alphabetical order, and trying to model them on western Middle Netherlandic. In doing this, Verdam aimed at serving lexicological purposes, but the practical advantages of his edition should not blind us to the drawbacks of his procedure for objective research. D.H.G. Bellaard wrote a monograph on Gert van der Schuren's Teuthonista of Duytschlender (Bois-le-Duc, 1904).

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16th century works on grammar

Under the influence of the Renaissance, several grammatical studies were written in the 16th century, aiming at a regulation of orthography and usage. In his Nederlandsche Spellijnghe (Ghent, 1550), Joos Lambrecht, mentioned earlier, takes the dialect of his native town as a basis. His book contains valuable observations on phonetics. The facsimile edition by J.F.J. Heremans and F. Van der Haeghen (Ghent, 1882) gave occasion to a discussion of it by J.W. Muller in the periodical Onze Volkstaal, III, 184 ff. There is also an article on the same subject by P. De Keyser in Revue Belge (1928), but I have not seen it.

In an article for Leuv. Bijdr. III, 167 ff, L. Goemans dealt with Antonius Sexagius' De orthographia linguae belgicae (Louvain, 1576).

The important Nederduitse Orthographie by Pontus Heuterus (Pontus de Heuiter, Antwerp, 1581) was the subject of an article by C.G.N. de Vooys, N.Tg. XI, 1 ff, reprinted in de Vooys' Verzamelde Taalkundige Opstellen I, 225 ff. There are supplementary remarks to this article by J. Heeren, N.Tg. XI, 144 ff.

The Twe-spraack van de Nederduitsche Letterkunst (Amsterdam, 1584), a work of great authority, was re-edited by K. Kooiman (Groningen, 1913) with an excellent introduction, in which older grammatical works were discussed, namely the Exercitium puerorum (1st edition, Antwerp, 1485); Erasmus' De recta latini graecique sermonis pronunciatione dialogus (Paris, 1528), usually referred to as the Pronunciatio; Den Schat der Duytscher Talen by Jan van der Werve (Brussels, 1552), who gives Netherlandic translations of foreign words; the Origines Antwerpianae by Johannes Goropius Becanus (Antwerp, 1569). The merits of the Twe-spraack were duly assessed by G. Kuiper in his inaugural address De waardeering van Spiegels Twe-spraack (Harderwijk, 1947); he is now preparing a new edition of the work in the series Trivium (see Ch. VI, 3).

In a series of articles, most of them published in the N.Tg., C.G.N. de Vooys has dealt with old grammars, especially those after 1600. In the introductory article ‘Uit de jeugd van onze spraakkunst’, some 16th century grammarians are also discussed. The contents of 16th century grammars, especially those of the Twe-spraack, have been made use of by several scholars, such as G.G. Kloeke, K. Heeroma, W. Gs. Hellinga, in their discussion of the diphthongization of

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î and û, further particulars of which will be found in Ch. XIII. L.P.H. Eijkman had a rather low opinion of the phonetical value of these works, see N.Tg. XVII, 225 ff, so had de Vooys and most of the other scholars just mentioned. W.J.H. Caron, in his noteworthy doctoral thesis Klank en teken bij Erasmus en onze oudste grammatici (Groningen-Batavia, 1947), contested this opinion, pointing out that Erasmus was not a stickler for spelling. Caron also, quite convincingly, defends van Heule against de Vooys' criticisms.

P.A. de Planque, in his doctoral thesis Valcooch's Regel der Duytsche Schoolmeesters (Groningen, 1926), gives a picture of 16th century school education, with remarks on Valcooch's usage, and he provides extensive explanatory notes and a glossary: A number of worth-while remarks about this edition were made by A.A. Verdenius, N.Tg. XXI, 239 ff, and L.C. Michels, T.T.L. XV, 170 ff (reprinted Filologische Opstellen II, 122 ff).

Many biographical and bibliographical data about 16th century grammarians and linguistic purists are to be found in L. Van den Branden's Het streven naar verheerlijking, zuivering en opbouw van het Nederlands in de 16e eeuw (Ghent, 1956).