This paper follows on from the analysis of an unpublished seventeenth-century glossary I presented at the 15th European Symposium on Language for Special Purposes – New Trends in Specialized Discourse –Bergamo, 2005. The glossary in question contains many Anglo-Saxon legal terms which are explained either in Latin, English or French according to the sources used by the compiler. The manuscript, marked as Harley 1129, belongs to the Harleian collection in the British Library. It is not autographed, but an analysis of the handwriting points to William Dugdale, who also compiled the Dictionarium Saxonico-Anglicum. The catalogue of the Harleian collection and Hamper’s Life and Correspondence of Sir William Dugdale confirm the authorship. Since this glossary is the mirror of both specialised and unspecialised legal terminology, I would like to propose an in-depth analysis of the Anglo-Saxon entries which are recorded either in their Germanic form (e.g. Adeling, Ciricsceat, Cuningham, Gavelkind, Mundbreche) or in a Latinate one (e.g. Lannemanni, Mundeburdum, Taini). A comparison between them and the Dictionarium Saxonico-Anglicum and other more or less contemporary dictionaries (Nowell, Joscelyn, D’Ewes and Somner) will be collated with a further reference to relevant authorities like Bowsorth-Toller’s Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Johnson’s Dictionary and the OED. What this analysis will show is how a first-class antiquarian of the seventeenth century used the tools he had at hand - investigated manuscript evidence, interpreted it and made comparisons to confirm authenticity. The recovery of legal lexicon of Germanic origin is an impressive sign of the antiquarian will to assert the linguistic past. The use of vernacular legal terms, even in the partly Latinised forms introduced in Latin versions of law-codes or other historical works, shows in fact that only native forms were deemed legally precise enough to convey what a particular Germanic practice meant. The lexical items Dugdale discusses are the expression of an English world which, as always, is a melting pot of languages and cultures
Tornaghi, P. (2011). Insights into the lexicon of law in William Dugdale's Glossary: Ms Harley 1129. In The Lexicology and Lexicography of Domain-Specific Languagea.
Insights into the lexicon of law in William Dugdale's Glossary: Ms Harley 1129
TORNAGHI, PAOLA
2011
Abstract
This paper follows on from the analysis of an unpublished seventeenth-century glossary I presented at the 15th European Symposium on Language for Special Purposes – New Trends in Specialized Discourse –Bergamo, 2005. The glossary in question contains many Anglo-Saxon legal terms which are explained either in Latin, English or French according to the sources used by the compiler. The manuscript, marked as Harley 1129, belongs to the Harleian collection in the British Library. It is not autographed, but an analysis of the handwriting points to William Dugdale, who also compiled the Dictionarium Saxonico-Anglicum. The catalogue of the Harleian collection and Hamper’s Life and Correspondence of Sir William Dugdale confirm the authorship. Since this glossary is the mirror of both specialised and unspecialised legal terminology, I would like to propose an in-depth analysis of the Anglo-Saxon entries which are recorded either in their Germanic form (e.g. Adeling, Ciricsceat, Cuningham, Gavelkind, Mundbreche) or in a Latinate one (e.g. Lannemanni, Mundeburdum, Taini). A comparison between them and the Dictionarium Saxonico-Anglicum and other more or less contemporary dictionaries (Nowell, Joscelyn, D’Ewes and Somner) will be collated with a further reference to relevant authorities like Bowsorth-Toller’s Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Johnson’s Dictionary and the OED. What this analysis will show is how a first-class antiquarian of the seventeenth century used the tools he had at hand - investigated manuscript evidence, interpreted it and made comparisons to confirm authenticity. The recovery of legal lexicon of Germanic origin is an impressive sign of the antiquarian will to assert the linguistic past. The use of vernacular legal terms, even in the partly Latinised forms introduced in Latin versions of law-codes or other historical works, shows in fact that only native forms were deemed legally precise enough to convey what a particular Germanic practice meant. The lexical items Dugdale discusses are the expression of an English world which, as always, is a melting pot of languages and cultures
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
