Abrogans
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Abrogans'', also ''German Abrogans'' or ''Codex Abrogans'' (St Gall, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 911), is a
Middle Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...
glossary A glossary (from grc, γλῶσσα, ''glossa''; language, speech, wording) also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Traditionally, a gl ...
, whose preserved copy in the Abbey Library of St Gall is regarded as the oldest preserved book in the German language. Dating from the 8th century , the glossary contains approximately 3,670 Old High German words in over 14,600 examples and is therefore a valuable source for the knowledge of the oldest Upper German language. It was named by German researchers after its first entry: ''abrogans = dheomodi'' ( Modern German: ''demütig'' = modest, humble). On several occasions the South Tyrolean bishop
Arbeo of Freising Arbeo (also Aribo or Arbo) of Freising (723 or earlier near Meran – 4 May 784) was an early medieval author and Bishop of Freising from 764. Arbeo probably was a scion of the Huosi noble dynasty in the stem duchy of Bavaria. He may have be ...
(† 783 or 784) or the Benedictine monk Kero are named as authors.


General Information

The German Abrogans is a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
-
Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...
thesaurus A thesaurus (plural ''thesauri'' or ''thesauruses'') or synonym dictionary is a reference work for finding synonyms and sometimes antonyms of words. They are often used by writers to help find the best word to express an idea: Synonym dictionar ...
, which was not, however, produced from a collection of Latin-Old High German translations, but structured on a pure Latin, alphabetically sorted thesaurus. This Latin-Latin glossary, the Latin Abrogans, was probably compiled in Italy (possibly in the important southern Italian monastery
Vivarium A vivarium (Latin, literally for "place of life"; plural: ''vivaria'' or ''vivariums'') is an area, usually enclosed, for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research. Water-based vivaria may have open tops providing they a ...
) of numerous older late-antiquity and early medieval glossaries. Thus arose a dictionary in which rare expressions, above all from biblical Latin, were explained. The dictionary was likely finally translated into German in the second half of the 8th century in the old Bavarian bishopric Freising, which came under control of the bishop Arbeo (he was bishop here from 764 to 783). At the same time both the Latin key word and its Latin reproduction were entered with the Old High German equivalents. For example: This arrangement often led to poor translations around the middle of the 8th century, for example translations in which parts of speech were erroneously exchanged. Nevertheless, the Abrogans offers tremendous material for
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...
, which still today is not yet completely analyzed. It includes about 700 words that do not appear in any other Old High German texts.


Tradition

No specimens from the time of origin of the glossary in the 8th century have been saved. Only three younger Alemannic copies of the Bavarian document are preserved. The best, albeit mangled handwriting is the direct copy of the
archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...
that was made around 810 in Murbach for
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
(Baesecke) or in
Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the ...
under Bishop
Baturich Baturich (died 847), also spelled Baturic or Baturicus, was the abbot of Saint Emmeram's and bishop of Regensburg from 817 until his death. Life Baturich studied under Hraban Maur at the abbey of Fulda. He became abbot and bishop simultaneously ...
(
Bernhard Bischoff Bernhard Bischoff (20 December 1906 – 17 September 1991) was a German historian, paleographer, and philologist; he was born in Altendorf (administrative division of Altenburg, Thuringia), and he died in Munich. Biography He was the son of Em ...
). (Paris, Bibl. Nat., cod. lat. 7640, f. 124r-132v).


Literature

* Bernhard Bischoff (Publisher.): ''Die „Abrogans“-Handschrift der Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen. Das älteste deutsche Buch''. Zollikofer, St. Gallen 1977. (German) # ''Faksimile''. # ''Kommentar und Transkription.'' * Jochen Splett: ''Abrogans deutsch''. In: Verfasserlexikon. Band 1. 1978. Sp. 12–15. (German) * Jochen Splett: ''Abrogans-Studien. Kommentar zum ältesten deutschen Wörterbuch''. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1976, , (Zugleich: Münster, Univ., Habilitations-Schrift, 1972). (German)


External links


Abrogans im Handschriftencensus
(German)
''Digital-Faksimile der Abrogans-Handschrift''
(Cod. Sang. 911) in der digitalen Stiftsbibliothek St. Galle
''Codices Electronici Sangallenses (CESG)''
(German)


References


''Codex Abrogans''
A transcription of the Codex Abrogans (Latin and German) equests a username & password
''Digital facsimile of the Codex Abrogans''
(Cod. Sang. 911) in the Digital Abbey Library of St. Galle
''Codices Electronici Sangallenses (CESG)''
{{Authority control 8th-century manuscripts Glossaries Old High German literature Earliest known manuscripts by language Manuscripts of the Abbey library of Saint Gall Medieval documents German-language encyclopedias Medieval European encyclopedias 8th-century Latin books Latin dictionaries