Search results for "Old high German"
showing 3 items of 3 documents
Precious stones and ‘wondrous’ minerals in Old High German glosses
2018
This essay will focus on the names of precious stones and minerals which were known and praised for their extraordinary properties in Old High German glosses and glossaries. The research aims to shed light on the circulation of stone lore in medieval Germany, and the strategies employed by the glossators when approaching this peculiar lexical field. In a number of cases, the interpretamentum takes the form of an explanatory gloss, providing a short description of the stone, which can include details on its colour, shape and physical properties. The features of the glosses under examination will hopefully yield relevant data on the knowledge of the precious stones and their physical appearan…
The Names of the ‘Pearl’ in the Old High German Glosses and Glossaries
2019
The essay will provide a scrutiny of the words merigrioz and perala occurring in the Old High German glosses to render the Latin words for ‘pearl’, i.e. unio and margarita, with the purpose of mapping the distribution and the contexts of use of the OHG words. The analysis will contribute to trace the origin of the German word for ‘pearl’, starting from the earliest stage of the language and – from a perspective of language contact – which takes into account the Latin counterparts of these OHG glosses.