Middle Dutch Heterogeneity In A Small Space Quick Review Old Low Franconian (Hebban olla voglas …) No Manifestations of the Second Consonant Shift Ingvæonisms Middle Dutch A collective name for dialects spoken and written in what is now the Netherlands and Flanders (N. Belgium) between 1150 - 1500 Middle Dutch is therefore a collection of dialects Vlaams (Flemish), Brabants, Hollands, Limburgs, and East Dutch Middle Dutch A Middle Dutch author by the name of Jacob van Maerlant described the situation like this: Men moet om de rime te soucken One must in order the rhimes to seek (out) misselike tonghe in bouken: various tongues in books: Duuts, Dietsch, Brabants, Vlaamsch, Zeeus, people’s language (x2), Brabants, Flemish, Zeeuws Walsch, Latijn, Grix ende Hebreeus. French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew General Features Middle Dutch retains the grammatical features of Germanic, but to a far lesser degree than Middle High or Middle Low German Morphology begins to break down quickly Word order becomes more important Prepositions become much more important Considerable foreign influence & variation Noun & Adjective Inflection Masculine Nouns ⇒ Neuter Nouns ⇒ Feminine Nouns ⇒ Personal Pronouns First & Second Person 1 sg. 1 pl. 2 sg. 2 pl.* Nom. ic wi du ghi Gen. mijns onser dijns uwer, uw Dat. mi ons di u Acc. mi ons di u *2nd Person Plural forms used for polite address in the 2nd Person Singular Personal Pronouns Third Person 3 sg. M 3 sg. N 3 Sg. F 3 Sg. Pl Nom. hi het si si Gen. sijns hets haer haer Dat. hem hem haer hem Acc. hem het haer hem Verb Classes Inf. Pret. Sg. Pret. Pl. Perf. 1 riden reet reden gereden “to ride” 2 gieten goot goten gegoten “to pour” stupen stoop stopen gestopen “to stoop” 3 vinden vant vonden gevonden “to find” werpen warp worpen geworpen “to throw” 4 nemen nam namen genomen “to take” 5 meten mat maten gemeten “to measure” 6 lachen loech loechen gelachen “to laugh” 7 laten liet lieten gelaten “to let” Basic Verb Conjugation “to turn “to turn Pres. around” “to take” Pret. around” “to take” 1 sg. ic kere ic neme 1 sg. ic keerde ic nam 2 sg. du keers du neems 2 sg. du keerdes du naems 3 sg. hi keert si neemt 3 sg. hi keerde si nam 1 pl. wi keren wi nemen 1 pl. wi keerden wi namen 2 pl. ghi keert ghi neemt 2 pl. ghi ghi naemt keerdet 3 pl. si keren si nemen 3 pl. si keerden si namen Perfect: ghekeert, ghenomen.