ALBRECHT GREULE University of Regensburg Research areas: text grammar, theology of language and sacred song, onomastics, historical syntax. DOI: doi.org/10.35321/all89-01

FROM ANTREITEN TO EISCHEN. FROM THE WORKSHOP OF THE MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN SYNTACTIC VERB DICTIONARY (MSVW)

From antréiten to eischen. From the workshop of the Middle High German syntactic verb dictionary (MSVW)

ANNOTATION

Considerations concerning the compilation of a Middle High German verb dictionary, an important part of historical German grammar, have been undertaken several times in an international context since approximately the year 2000. None of the approaches has so far led to a result. With the appearance of the Middle High German Dictionary (MWB) both in print and online since 2006, the MWB has been used since 2018 to continuously compile entries for the Middle High German syntactic verb dictionary (MSVW). The article presents the method according to which dictionary articles are compiled and provides, in advance, the dictionary entries for the Middle High German verbs ænigen, antreiten, arzātieren, backen, bären, dringen, eischen.

KEYWORDS: Historical syntax, Middle High German, valency, lexicography, semantic change.

ANNOTATION

Considerations for the writing of a Middle High German valence dictionary, an important part of historical German grammar, have been made several times since about

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the year 2000 in an international context. So far, all approaches have not led to any results. With the publication of the Middle High German Dictionary (MWB) both in print and on the Internet since 2006, the MWB will be used to continuously write entries for the Middle High German Syntactic Verb Dictionary (MSVW) from 2018 onwards. The article presents the method by which dictionary articles are written, and brings as a preprint the dictionary entries for the verbs mhd. ænigen, antreiten, arzâten, backen, bâren, dringen, eischen.

KEYWORDS: historical syntax, Middle High German, valence, lexicography, change of meaning.

1. PRELIMINARY WORK FOR THE MSVW

Considerations concerning the compilation of a Middle High German syntactic verb dictionary (MSVW), also partly under the title “Middle High German Verb Valency Dictionary,” have been undertaken several times in an international context since approximately the year 2000. None of the approaches has so far led to a lexicographically significant result. Whereas, until the appearance of the “Syntactic Verb Dictionary of the Old High German Texts of the 9th Century” (Greule 1999), historical valency research had focused on Old High German on the one hand and Early New High German on the other (Korhonen 1978), calls for a Middle High German valency dictionary became increasingly frequent. Moreover, it became clear that the description of verb valency in its specific form at the historical stages of German, not least that of Middle High German, would constitute an essential part of historical grammar at the interface of syntax and lexicon. The genuine place for describing verb valency is the description of the structures of the simple sentence, or the typology of sentence patterns or sentence plans (Greule 2005: 51–54, cf. also Schmid 2017: 185–201).

The research task consisted, and still consists, in extracting the valency potential of the Verbs concealed in Middle High German texts through a description of the syntactic environments of each verb, describing it systematically, and making it accessible and available in a (Middle High German) valency dictionary. A Middle High German valency dictionary would moreover be an essential contribution to the history of language development and semantic change and could constitute an important intermediate step toward a diachronic valency dictionary. In addition, it would be conceived as an aid within medieval studies, because such a reference work would support concrete textual work and interpretation

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of the Middle High German texts from a linguistic perspective (Greule, Braunn 2010: 71).

Support for concrete textual work would also be ensured by the fact that the Middle High German valency dictionary, like its Old High German counterpart, would be text-based. In all previous attempts, corpus-based sentence analysis was practiced as the method. In contrast to the method applied in compiling the Syntactic Verb Dictionary of the Old High German Texts of the 9th Century (Greule 1999), namely the step-by-step evaluation of printed text editions through the extraction and segmentation of attested sentences and their syntactic analysis (cf. Greule, Korhonen 2021: 149f.), the researchers working on Middle High German valency relied on the “Bochum Corpus” (Greule 2003: 418; Greule, Lénard 2004: 25–31). The Bochum Corpus is a selection corpus incorporating only manuscripts (no editions) of Middle High German verse, prose, and documentary texts. It is stored on electronic data carriers; a lemma list made it possible to retrieve the attestations of a verb mechanically. However, the co-text belonging to the predicate (the sentence) still had to be extracted from and interpreted in the encoded texts (Greule 2006).

2. VALENCY ANALYSES BASED ON THE ONLINE MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN DICTIONARY

With the appearance of the Middle High German Dictionary (MWB) in print (Volume 1, 2006, ²2013), the source situation for compiling the MSVW changed once again and dramatically. “The Middle High German Dictionary (MWB) is a period dictionary of early medieval (High) German (1050–1350). It covers the vocabulary and word usage of the entire spectrum of German-language texts transmitted from this period. [...] For the vocabulary described, the MWB offers not only grammatical information and explanations of meaning, but, as a dictionary of interpreted quotations, also presents the actual usage of the language in detail.” (Quoted from the flyer of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz, 2017). The series is scheduled to be completed in five volumes in 2025. In parallel with the printed edition, the MWB is also made available online at www.mhdwb-online.de. Currently, all Middle High German lemmata from a to kachez can be accessed (1.8.2023).

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The use of the MWB online and of the attested sentences assembled there under a verb lemma was preceded by a case study testing the extent to which historical dictionaries, especially the “German Dictionary by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm” (DWB), can be used at all as sources for historical valency research (Csiky, Greule 2008). This question is also the focus of the collected volume that initiated the international project of a Historical Syntactic Verb Dictionary (Greule, Korhonen 2016), in which Michael Prinz (2016) expresses fundamental support for digital repositories of attestations as sources for an MSVW and skepticism toward dictionaries as sources for an MSVW. However, the case study of a valency analysis of Middle High German brüeten based on the MWB online (Greule 2018) reveals certain technical advantages of using the digital lexicon: the attested sentences linked to their sources and the semantic preliminary classification of the attestations; even grammatical-semantic information such as “genitive of the person,” among others, can be used as initial indications of the type of aktants.

The first exemplary use of the MWB online is connected with the plans for a “Historical Syntactic Dictionary” (HSVW) (Greule, Korhonen 2016; 2021: 156f., 190–192) and implements the specifications of the model designed for preparing an online Historical Syntactic Verb Dictionary (cf. Burghardt, Reimann 2016). For compiling a Middle High German syntactic verb dictionary, which, like the MWB, is to be available both in print and online, annotation and derivation of “Generic Paraphrases,” as demonstrated using the example of Middle High German brüeten (Greule 2018: 69–72), is not necessary. Overall, the aim is to make it possible to compile an article for the MSVW rapidly and directly on a PC from the materials made available by the MWB online (see Chapter 3 below).

3. THE MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN SYNTACTIC VERB DICTIONARY (MSVW): BRIEF PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND METHOD

As a period dictionary, the Middle High German syntactic verb dictionary (MSVW) continues the “Syntactic Verb Dictionary of the Old High German Texts of the 9th Century” (Greule 1999)—with the difference that the MSVW is compiled on a different textual basis. It is conceived as a compendium to the MWB, that is, the semantic and syntactic information available online in the MWB

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for a verb X are digitally excerpted and interpreted according to valency theory, generalized with abbreviations, and summarized in a dictionary article.

The interpretation of the sentence constituents occurring with verb X (traditionally, in valency theory: complements, abbreviated E) is carried out by the editor in two directions—analogous to the procedure described in detail (Greule 2018: 69–72), but without digital storage:

1) semantically, proceeding from the meaning of the verb, as a semantic role/deep case; 2) morphologically, according to case.

This structure is called the Verb-Aktant Configuration (VAK).

Example: according to the MWB online, Middle High German ænigen/enigen means to free someone/oneself from someone/something; to rid oneself of something. This results in classifying the predicate as an “activity,” and a complement (E) in the role of the “bearer of the activity/Agens” must be present. The attested sentences available in the MWB online show that the Agens appears in the form of a noun in the nominative. This is written formulaically as follows:

E Agens (liberator/the one who frees) → Sn

Abbreviations such as Sn, Sg, Sd, Sa = noun (in the nominative, genitive, dative, accusative) go back to Helbig, Schenkel (1973: 97–99). The symbol S includes differently constituted substitutes functioning as complements/aktants that are attested in the corpus, e.g. noun phrase, prepositional phrase, pronoun, adverb, or (subordinate) clause. The naming of aktant roles largely follows the description of semantic roles by Peter von Polenz (2008: 167–172).

The description of meaning and the attested sentences in the MWB online further show that Middle High German ænigen/enigen, functioning as predicate, is surrounded by two further sentence constituents (E): a) a constituent denoting the one burdened by something, and b) a constituent denoting what is burdensome, e.g. in the complete sentence (biblical): Jesus (= Agens) frees those weary and burdened (= Patiens) from their burden (= Object). This yields two further complements with the formulas:

E Patiens (burdened person) → Sa (noun in the accusative) E Object (the burden) → Sg (noun in the genitive).

In summary, the following article is formulated from the data in the MWB online:

ænigen / enigen

to free someone/oneself from someone/something; to rid oneself of something

P Activity (free)

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E Agens (liberator, e.g. human, angel) → Sn E Patiens (burdened person, e.g. human) → Sa (also reflexive) E Object (the burden) → Sg

Examples: a) and frees them Mychaelen / with his underlings, / whom the angel frees / who are Satan’s servants. HeslApk – b) and if you do not wish to free yourself from it [...], then the honorable electors shall impose this upon you under threat of the ban and excommunication. PrBerth.

The example sentences are selected from the set of attested sentences in the MWB online in order to illustrate maximal valency. They are copied into the article together with the MWB source references (in the form of sigla). Information unimportant for describing the VAK, e.g. information on the morphology of the verb, is not repeated in the MSVW because it is available in the MWB and can be consulted or accessed there.

Comment: Only one sememe is assigned to the verb ænigen / enigen. It is monosemous and has a three-valued VAK, i.e. as a predicate the verb is “surrounded” by three aktants in all attested sentences. Special feature: the role Patiens → Sa is also occupied reflexively.

4. POLYSEMOUS MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN VERBS WITH THREE SEMEMES

Unlike Middle High German ænigen/einigen, most Middle High German verbs are polysemous, i.e. they have at least two sememes overall. The sememes are already distinguished in the MWB online and are adopted from there into the article (with corrections where appropriate).

4.1. antre iten

to arrange something, put it in order, prepare something for someone

Sememe 1

P Activity (arrange) E Agens (the one arranging) → Sn E affected Object (the thing arranged) → Sa (optional)

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Examples: a) the three realms love and honor you [...], / [...], / which you arrange and prepare, narrow and broad, as you wish. Himmerl 2,7 – b) from the beginning of this world our Lord was preparing, when he created the poor human being. Spec 148,31.

Sememe 2

P Activity (put in order)

E Agens (the one who puts in order) → Sn

E effected Object (the thing put in order) → Sa

E affected Object (what is used to put it in order) → pS (p = from)

Example: he put two trousers on a lady, / they were arranged / with gold and with beryls. Rol 3320. 2723.

Sememe 3

P Activity (prepare, assign)

E Agens (a prepares) → Sn

E effected Object (what is prepared) → Sa

E Addressee (the one for whom b is prepared) → Sd

Example: the consolation that you, Lord, have ordered and prepared [quod parasti] for all this world (Konr(Sch) 28,15).

Comment: It is not unproblematic to classify the verb antreiten as a polysemous verb, as in the MWB, merely because the three sememes belong to an etymologically unified verb—in contrast to bâren (see below, 6). The polysemy of antreiten would have to be demonstrated semantically, and homonymy rejected on this basis.

4.2. eischen / heischen

Sememe 1

to request, demand, want something (from someone)

P Activity (request, demand, want)

E Agens (requester/demander) → Sn

E Addressee (person from whom something is requested/demanded) → Sd / pS / Sa / Sg (p = ane + Akk / from)

E Object (the thing requested, demanded) → Sa / Inf / NS_das

Examples: a) he asks us for money. SM: UvS 35: 5,2 – b) faith [...] God must demand from me. Gen 2409.

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Sememe 2 (to ask for something) P Activity (asking about) E Agent (questioner) → Sn E Object (that which is asked about) → pS / Adv / NS_ob (p = about)

Examples: a) Chrysostomus Johannes asks about it and inquires about it. JvFrst 9522 – b) Pilate [...] asked whether our Lord / was a Galilean. JvFrst 6467.

Sememe 3 (in legal language) to ask someone, summon, subpoena P Activity (ask, call upon, summon) E Agens (the one calling upon) → Sn E Addressee (the one called upon) → Sa E Goal (what one is called upon to do) → Inf / Adv / pS (p = to)

Examples: a) the king of Portugal [...] summoned the prince of Brabant. RvEWJh 8455 – b) he asked the wretched young boy / to come to him there / with manly courage. GTroj 8993.

Comment: Apart from some morphological peculiarities (prothetic h and the strong preterite (h)iesch alongside eischete), the “very differentiated legal object domain” (as the MWB puts it) of this verb, summarized here as Sememe 3, deserves attention.

5. POLYSEMOUS MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN VERB WITH FOUR SEMEMES

dringen

Sememe 1 ‘to press or strive somewhere’, ûf someone ~ ‘to attack someone’ P Activity (press, strive, attack) E Agens (the one(s) pressing) → Sn E Source/Path/Goal → NSunz / daz / pS / Adv (p = unz / through / ingēn / in / umb / zuo / nach / ûz)

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Examples: a) Vlixes [stepped onto the ship’s side / and struck and] pressed forward, until he sprang onto the city Herb 4395; b) [who serves without thanks, where he should not, / is rarely well rewarded] who thus pressed forward in vain [strives], / so that he might at least sing one song / […] / [he was and is the wise person’s mockery] jüngl 129; c) through his skin right to the bone the many thorns pressed WernhM 9338; d) his anger pressed out of his heart Herb 2022.

Sememe 2

to pressure, harass someone, (haeher ~ to harass with higher demands)

P Activity (pressure, harass) E Agens (the one exerting pressure) → Sn E Patiens (the one pressured) → Sa

Examples: a) (passive) [it happened thus] Jesus was pressed by the crowd on the way EvBerl 106,3; b) [which should suffice for us therewith, and] [that we] should not press them further with any lawsuit UrkCorp (WMU) 1831.7.

Sememe 3

to push someone out of something, refl. to push, jostle one’s way P Activity (push out) E Agens (the one(s) pushing) → Sn E Patiens (the one(s) pushed) → Sa/Refl. E Source/Path → pS / ADV (p = out of/from/through)

Examples: a) the this manifold sweetness of earthly things does not drive you away from him Mechth 6: 5,10; b) he wants the ringing of his sword to pierce my heart HeidinII_1722; c) (reflexive) whether you force your way through the people Parz 647,10. 637,10.

Sememe 4

to press, squeeze something P Activity (press, squeeze) E Agens → Sn E Patiens → Sa E Source/Goal → (pS) (p = in/from-to)

Example: the threefold God pressed his form into human growth Mügeln 11,2.

Comment: The special meanings ‘to translate something,’ e.g. [the book] was pressed by him / out of the Greek tongue / into Latin writing (LBarl 8), and ‘to weave, braid something’ (< to press together while weaving/braiding), e.g. all her locks entirely / were already

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pressed together GTroj 8833, as well as the phraseological expression to pressure someone further ‘to harass with higher demands’, e.g. so that this should suffice for us, and [that we] should not pressure them further with any lawsuit UrkCorp (WMU) 1831,7.

6. HOMONYMOUS MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN VERBS

6.1. bâren

^¹bâren / bæren

to lay someone on a bier, to place someone on a bier

P Activity (lay)

E Agens (the one laying out) → Sn

E Patiens (what is laid out, e.g. corpses) → Sa

E Place/location (where the one to be laid out is placed) → pS (p = ûf, in)

(optional)

Example: in a coffin one ^bærin saw / both bodies. RvEWh 1968; RoI 7620; En 6797; Wh 462,29.

Comment: In all three attestations, bâren is embedded in an infinitive construction: the emperor ordered them to be laid out; ordered them to be laid out; one saw them being laid out.

^²bâren

to comport oneself, behave

P State (behave)

E State-bearer (the behaving person) → Sn

E Manner (how someone behaves, e.g. politely, virtuously) → Adv

Example: he gained a beautiful daughter, a child at twelve years; the child could also behave well / and quite properly and virtuously. Hawich 4503.

Comment: Despite the etymologically established homonymy as well, a single lemma and numbered sublemmas per sememe are posited. The categorization of ²bâren as a “state verb” is problematic.

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6.2. to treat medically / to provide medical care

^¹arzātīen, arzedīen

to treat someone medically, heal

P Activity (treat medically) E Agens (the one who treats medically, physician) → Sn E Patiens (the one who is treated medically) → Sa

Example: they had prayed over him and treated him, since they clearly saw that he was badly injured in his body. ^Lanc 192,37. – Synonym: arzen, arzenen.

^²arzātīen, arzedīen

(in a religious context) to proclaim salvation and redemption to someone

P Activity (proclaim salvation) E Agens (the one proclaiming salvation) → Sn E Addressee (the one to whom salvation is proclaimed) → Sa/Sd

Examples: a) we have proclaimed salvation to Babylon, and it has not been healed. ^Cranc Jer 51,9 – b) this grain can heal the soul. ^MarlbRh 5,1. – Synonym: arzen, arzenen.

Comment: Although the two lemmata arzātīen / arzedīen are etymologically identical, two articles are posited because of the clear semantic distance and the different contexts of use.

7. PROBLEM CASE BACKEN / BACHEN

The problem that arises when the article for Middle High German backen / bachen is to be formulated in the MSVW occurs generally in the treatment of the Dativus commodi (benefactive dative). In valency grammar, the benefactive dative (abbreviated bD) is counted as a “free case” not among the complements, but among the “(free) adjuncts.” In the search for a maximum of attestations for Middle High German backen / bachen, Prinz (2016: 35–44) demonstrates that the bD is quantitatively underrepresented in the MWB and the standard lexicographical resources. A markedly different picture—in favor of the occurrence of the bD—emerges when, as Prinz does, the maximum of attestations is increased with the help of

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digital repositories of attestations. The question arises whether this finding should be incorporated into the MSVW and whether the benefactive dative should generally be counted as an E. Given the significance for construction grammar of the sentence pattern: Agens – Recipient (dative) – Patiens, which is also represented by Middle High German backen / bachen when the bD is included in the sentence pattern (cf. Greule, Korhonen 2021: 131f.), a corresponding sememe is listed in the article appendix.

backen / bachen

Sememe 1

‘to bake, bake through something’ – ‘to dry something’ – ‘to fry, roast something’

P Activity (bake, dry, fry, roast)

E Agens (the baker) → Sn

E ‘effected Object’ (edible substance) → (Sa) (optional)

E Place → (pS), (p = in) (optional)

Examples: a) [legez [eine Teigtasche] in siedenz smaltz vnd] bakez hard BvgSp 27; b) ‘etw. dry’: ouch machstu in der svnnen backin allirleyge frucht Pelzb 134,13; c) ‘to roast, toast sth.’: backe in [den Hecht] vf eime hülzinen roste [vnd brat in gar schone] BvgSp 17.

Sememe 2

(by heating) become firm

P Process (becoming firm)

E Process bearer (dough) → Sn

E Location (oven) → (pS), (p = in) (optional)

Example: [take a pumpkin and boil it in a dough and throw it into an oven until] the dough has baked; [then take the juice that runs out of the pumpkin and give it to him to drink] Barth 152,22.

Appendix: Sememe 3 (with benefactive dative)

bake something for someone

P Activity (baking)

E Agent (baker) → Sn

E Addressee (for whom it is baked) → Sd

E Effected object (bread) → Sa (optional)

Example: They really have to bake us the bread Berthold v. Regensburg (from Prinz 2016: 43).

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Comment: The three sememes listed in the MWB under the lemma backen / bachen (bake sth., bake through, dry sth. and roast, toast sth.) are combined into one sememe in the MSVW, given that in all three cases they involve producing edible पदार्थ by heating.

8. SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK

The examples of articles quoted above “from the workshop,” which are being prepared for the MSVB, are results of the first MSVW project phase. In accordance with the progress of the MWB online, it records the sememe structure and the VAK of the simple (non-derived or compound) Middle High German verbs attested more than once in the MWB text archive. The processing of verbs beginning with a has been completed; the processing of verbs beginning with b is under way. A second project phase is intended to cover derived or compound verbs. The publication can most simply be issued as a “work in progress” on a platform and, after completion of the first project phase, also as a printed book.

Already while composing the MSVW articles, indications for evaluating the data repeatedly emerge, tempting one to incorporate suggestions for analysis directly into the dictionary, for example comparisons with verbs attested in Old High German. In the interest of rapid processing, such cross-references extending beyond Middle High German are omitted. The MSVW is primarily a syntactic compendium to the MWB; it is intended to provide the material basis for a compilation of sentence patterns in Middle High German grammar and, not least, to support the Middle High German section of the HSVW, on the basis of which a history of the (meaning change) of New High German verbs can be written (Greule, Korhonen 2021: 184–187).

LITERATURE

Burghardt Manuel, Reimann Sandra 2016: Possibilities for the electronic processing and use of a historical syntactic verb dictionary of German. – Historical Syntactic Verb Dictionary, ed. by A. Greule, J. Korhonen, Finnische Beiträge zur Germanistik, 34, Frankfurt am Main et al.: Peter Lang Edition, 301–322.

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Csiky Nandor, Greule Albrecht 2008: Dictionaries as sources for historical valency research using the verb verzeihen. – Historical Syntax and Semantics from Old High German to New High German. Festschrift for Yvon Desportes on his 60th birthday, ed. by M. Lefèvre, F. Simmler, Berlin: Weidler Buchverlag, 371–377.

Greule Albrecht 1999: Syntactic Verb Dictionary for the Old High German Texts of the 9th Century, Regensburger Beiträge zur deutschen Sprachund Literaturwissenschaft, Reihe B: Untersuchungen, 73, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH.

Greule Albrecht 2003: Preliminary considerations for a Middle High German verb dictionary. – Magister et amicus. Festschrift for Kurt Gärtner on his 65th birthday, ed. by V. Bok, F. Shaw, Vienna: Praesens Verlag, 415–423.

Greule Albrecht 2005: The Middle High German Syntactic Verb Dictionary. – Sentence – Text – Cultural Contrast. Festschrift for Marja-Leena Piitulainen on her 60th birthday, ed. by E. Reuter, T. Sorvali, Finnische Beiträge zur Germanistik, 13, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH, 51–61.

Greule Albrecht 2006: On the syntax of Middle High German zwiveln. – “Of Myths and Mär en”. Medieval Cultural History Reflected in a Scholar’s Biography. Festschrift for Otf rid Ehrismann on his 65th birthday, ed. by G. Marci-Boehncke, J. Riecke, Hildesheim, Zurich, New York: Georg Olms Verlag, 441–450.

Greule Albrecht, Braun Christian 2010: Status and tasks of historical valency research. – Perspectives on Research into the History of Germanic Linguistics, ed. by H. U. Schmid, Jahrbuch für germanistische Sprachgeschichte, 1, Berlin, New York: De Gruyter, 64–75.

Greule Albrecht, Korhonen Jarmo, eds., 2016: Historical Syntactic Verb Dictionary. Contributions on Valency and Construction Grammar, Finnische Beiträge zur Germanistik, 34, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern Brussels, New York, Oxford, Vienna: Peter Lang Edition.

Greule Albrecht, Korhonen Jarmo 2021: Historical Valency. An Introduction to the Study of German Linguistic History on a Valency-Theoretical Basis, Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG.

Greule Albrecht, Lénárd Tibor 2004: A Middle High German verb valency dictionary based on the “Bochum Corpus.” – Studia Germanica Universitatis Vesprimiensis 8, 23–45.

Helbig Gerhard, Schenkel Wolfgang 1973: Dictionary of the Valency and Distribution of German Verbs, Leipzig: VEB Bibliographisches Institut.

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Korhonen Jarmo 1978: Studies on Dependency, Valency, and Sentence Model 2: Investigation Based on a Luther Text, Europäische Hochschulschriften, 271, Bern, Frankfurt am Main, Las Vegas: Peter Lang.

MWB – Middle High German Dictionary. Commissioned by the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz and the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, ed. by K. Gärtner, K. Grubmüller, K. Stackmann. 5 vols., vol. 1 (a – ēvrouwe). Stuttgart: S. Hirzel Verlag, 2013.

Polenz Peter von 2008: German Sentence Semantics, 3rd ed., Berlin, New York: De Gruyter.

Prinz Michael 2016: Dictionaries and digital evidence repositories as sources for a historical syntactic verb dictionary. The example of the benefactive dative with MHG bachen. – Historical Syntactic Verb Dictionary, ed. by A. Greule, J. Korhonen, Finnische Beiträge zur Germanistik, 34, Frankfurt am Main et al.: Peter Lang Edition, 17–53.

Schmid Hans U. 2017: Introduction to the History of the German Language 3, revised and updated ed., Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler Verlag.

ONLINE DICTIONARIES

MWB – Middle High German Dictionary. Access: http://www.mhdwb-online.de/.

From antreiten to eischen. From the workshop of the Middle High German Syntactic Verb Dictionary (MSVW)

SUMMARY

The article cites cases taken from the Middle High German Syntactic Verb Dictionary (MSVW), which is still in preparation. Following the procedure for compiling the electronic Middle High German Dictionary (MWB), it presents the sememe structure and the arrangement of actants of simple (non-derived and non-compound) verbs attested more than once in the latter dictionary’s archive.

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ALBRECHT GREULE

The verbs beginning with A have already been described; work on verbs beginning with B is still under way. The second project phase is intended to analyze derived and compound verbs. As work on the dictionary continues, it has been decided to publish the project material electronically and, once this work is complete, to publish a book.

While preparing the dictionary articles, evaluating the data became a necessity, as did applying insights and stimuli directly in the dictionary, for example by comparing them with Old High German verbs. Generally, in systematically describing the data, these multidirectional relationships extending beyond the limits of Middle High German are omitted. First and foremost, the dictionary being prepared is a syntactic compendium of the aforementioned electronic dictionary. Its purpose is to provide the essential body of material needed to compile the field of sentence structure in Middle High German grammar and only then, by contributing to the section covering the Middle High German period in the Historical Syntactic Verb Dictionary (German HSWV), to make room for a history of the changes in the (meaning) of New High German verbs (Greule, Korhonen 2021: 184–187).

Received 28 August 2023.

ALBRECHT GREULE University of Regensburg, Institute of German Studies, D-93040 Regensburg [email protected]

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Acta Linguistica LXXXIX