Anglo-Saxon Grammar Abriss der angelschsischen Grammatik by Eduard Sievers Review by: Frederick Klaeber Modern Language Notes,

Vol. 11, No. 6 (Jun., 1896), pp. 188-190 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2918871 . Accessed: 01/12/2013 01:58
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thus laid a solid founidation for furtherfruiitful research. His work-to quote Henry Sweet's words-' lhas indeed lighlted up the obscure and tortuous paths of Old Elnglishdialectology and linguistic clhronology in mucl the same way as Bopp's grammar lighted Lip the intricacies of Arian philology.' Sweet himself had pointed the way and done the pionieer work: to Sievers is due the consummationi of the labors forbringing Old Englislh grammar up to date. Works published or republished since I882 in which this great progress had not been sufficiently taken notice of (forexample, Theodor Mdller'sAngelsdchsisc/ze Grammnialik, ed. by Hilmer, I883, anld IK6rner's A1,-elZs,ic/sGRAMMIAR. ANGLO-SAXON ische La?hl- zzid Forinenze/zre, 2d ed. by Abriss der angelscichsischen Grainmalik, von Socin, I887), were in a measure antiquated Halle a.S.: Max NieEDUARD SIEVERS. fromthe very beginning. meyer, I895. The second edition of Sievers' grammar THERE has been no lack of new outline gram- (i886) received important additions, chiefly fromthe author's owln collectionis; and in this mars of Old English within the past fewyears. In this country alone three such books have form,both in thleoriginal German versionianid ouitin two years: in 1893 Hempl's in Professor Cook's Etnglishtranslationl,it has been brouight held its honored place for nearly ten years. Old-English Plhoniology; in 1894 Cook's FirsI Book in Old Englishi, and Bright's Ozillinzeof In the mealntime our knowledge has been Granmmar; each containing variously stupplementedin details, and in parAnglo-Saxon some new features of its own wlhichhlave re- ticular the intelligenit, systematic investigation of the different dialects hlas been carried commended it to the use of studenits. Sieon energetically by such scholars as Cosijn, vers' Abriss der angelsYichsischen Graininalik is anotlhervaltuable addition to the working Napier, Cook, Brown, Lindel6f, anid others. A comprehensive presentation of all the results library of the student of Old English, and one coming, as it of recent research (by himself and others) is that claims our close attenltioni, does, fromthe greatest authority on this sub- eagerly awaited from the pen of Professor Sievers. XVe regret to learn that no term can j ect. Sievers' Angelsdchksische Graininalik, first yet beset forthe completion of the third edipublished in I882, is a landmark in the history tion of his grammar. But, as a forerunnler to of Old English gramiiiars. It may be said to it, we welcome gladly the brief Abriss, whiclh introduce a third period, just as Hickes' Informs the second niumber in the series of slitzlionzes Gramnmalicce Anglo-saxonicce, ec 'Abrisse' published parallel with the 'SamimMceso gotlicce (i689) opened the first, and lung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer DiaRask's Anigelsaksisk SProgglere (i8I7) the seclekte.' ond period. It superannuated the long list of What strikes us first in glancing over this Old English grammars writtenin this century book, is the evidence it gives of the desire for more or less under the influence of Rask and simplification and more practical treatmenit Grimm; it was the first really trustwortlhy recognized by this time in the author's country. modern handbook for the study of the lan- In England the want of a simple, practical guage. By adhering to the sound basis of the grammar for begininershad been supplied by West-Saxon prose and discriminatingbetween the grammatical sketch in Sweet's Aungloearlier and later forms, Professor Sievers re- Saxon Reader, anidespecially in his admirable duced to order the perplexing mass of maAnglo-Saxon Primner issued (in I882) about six years after the first appearance of the terial recorded in previouLs grammars, and tence in vulgar American English and in the Irish dialect indicates. In the latter part of the eighteentlh century, however, this sound must have died out, as no orthographist of that period recognizes it, and the oi was fully restored in the words where (di) had been used for about a century, though not to the exclusion of the former. Sweet says it was the 'spelling which "caused the reaction againist the pronunciations (bail, paizan), etc." EDWIN W. Bowen. Colleege. Randol}5h-Macon 183

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y as the 'genmeinags.' equivalent of Early Reader;-for we may leave out of account Anglo-Saxon. Earle's Bookfor Ihe Beginnazerin West-Saxon ie frome after palatals (?8.2, ?9.2, It is also noteworthythat the grammatical in- ?I7, ?i8); anid he regulates the use of the troduction in the latest (seventh) edition of symbols ,b and a so as to employ in initial Sweet's Reader (I894) has been recast, obvi- position J, otherwise a (?37; cf. Gr.2, ?I99). ously with a view to facilitate its use, if not At the same time all the chief peculiarito simplify it. America has recently been ties of the other dialects and of the poetical well provided with practical handbooks by texts have been carefLillypointed out in the Hempl, Bright, and Cook. A Dutch scholar notes. Nor has chronology been neglected. has written one in German (Cosijn, KurzgeBesides mentioninlg occasionally special fea2d ed. fassle al/weslsdchsische Gramnmna/ik, tures of the oldest texts and clharacterizing Midi8931. Joseph Wright's Old High- Germnant, late forms as such, the full paradigm dle High-Germnaii, and Gothic Primiiers,and of the oldest forms of the conjugation has published between Sweet's Icelandic Primiier, been given, together with the standard Old i886 and I892, testifyto the same general ten- English forms. In a few cases the author's dency. terminology appears a little ambiguous; for The two avowed objects of Sievers' Abriss example, when he speaks of West-Saxon, are to serve as a basis for lectures on Old Anglian and 'the other dialects' (?88, n. i.; cf. Gr.2, ?37i, n.), or of 'some Anglian English grammar and to fuLrnishbeginners dialects' (?9, n. 4); certainly a brief introducwith the imlmediately needed grammatical help for the reading of texts. To meet the tory remark about the dialectal divisions formerof these objects, the comparative point would have been welcome. The arrangement of the material is deservof view hacls been made particularly prominenit,more so than in Sievers' larger 'Graming of unqualified praise. Part of the credit is mar.' The author has, indeed, refrained from no doubt (cf. the Preface) duie to Professor Braune, whose ' Abriss ' of the Old High-Gerreferences to Indo-European relatioins and has certainly done well in giving up the terms man Grammar has been the model for this o-, and d- declension in favor of a-, and v-de- work. A uniformplan runs throuLgh the book. clension respectively. But the relation of In the treatment of the vowels and of the conOld English to the other Teutonic dialects has sonants firstthe special rules affecting certain kept in view. In the sections been cotnstanitly groups of sounds (i-umlaut, breaking, contracon phonology the representation of the Teution,grammatical change,etc.) are set forth,and then the regular development of each sound is tonic souLnds in Gothic, Old Saxon and Old High-German has been mentioned. The West traced. The result is a marked simplification Germanic stage of the vowels has been omit- and clearness,as may be seen at a glance from the account of a, e, i, u (??8-io). Similarly, ted, but that of the consonants has been added decided improvement. As regards (?23),-a in the strong verbs, the deviations from the the inflections, we find, in addition to the simple paradigm forms that are caused by Gothic paradigms of the pronouns and fre- phonological peculiarities (for example, exquent illustrations from the Gothic as well as pansion byjo-suffix, grammatical change, conoccasional ones from the High-German, the traction) have been prefixed to the expositioni of the ablaut classes,-the best and most conparadigms of the (much neglected) Old Saxon given throughout parallel with those of the cise formulationwe know of. The account of Old English. the declensions is substantially unchanged, Practical considerations seem to have led though, of course, greatly abridged and simSievers to a remarkable change of principle. plified, sometimes by transposition (cf. ?45, n. Though he does not expressly state it, he has 2-Gr.2 ??280-290; ?5o-Gr.2 ?279). practically made the Late West-Saxon the In condensing the material Sievers has been basis in preference to the Early West-Saxon. eminiently successful. On fifty-six pages and Thus he gives y and vgas the 'gemeinags.' two tables containing the paradigms of the formof the i-umlaut of ea, eo and ea, eo; i, verbs, he has presented all that is essential in
189

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his I Grdlmmar.' Only in some exceptional instances it would seem that a word of explanation has been left out. We miss a remark about thepho/;e/icvalue of x, when used forhs cf. Hempl, Old-E;iglislz 38, n. 2; ?42C; Pkloizology, ??6o ii, 84, 90, 4 n.). That no mention has been made of the relative particle de (cf. ?82), that nothing has been said about the uLseof the stronigand the weak form of the adjective, and almost notlhing about the adverb (cf. ??68, n. 3; 7I, n. 3; 073), can hardly be charged as a fault against a book which excludes word-formation anid syntax. BuLtthis brings home to us again the urgent need of an adequate, up-to-date treatment of these important subjects. We have not yet a complete Old English Grammar. Of additions and changes in detail we may menltion the rule of the disappearance of medial w afterconsonanits in West Germanic (?26, n. 3); the designation of the rune for w as wy;z, no longer as zuen (?26, n. i; cf. Gr.2, the form *frzg,{jan as the prototype of ?I71); fri.giaiz (?9I, n. 8); the meaninlg 'einzeliz,' besides 'eizzig,' for the plural of anu-apparently as an explanation of d7ira ge/zvyi1c (?74). We are surprised to find mzutgoiz substittuted (?I04) isanz (lesezi) (,93, n. I; for magon (Gr.2, ?424); Gr.2, ?391, n. I: saymne/z) is ambiguous. Of misprints not mentioned in Auzg/ia, Beiblall or Engliscke Shadien xxii, 73 f., we Vi, 129 ff., have nloticed in ?24, n. i, i. Iinie: Germii.win ?I9, n. I, 3. lin1e: yw for: Germ. hw-yw; ?58 for: , 59. In summing up, we would say that Sievers has solved a difficultproblem most satisfactorily. He has not said much that is new, but he has put many things in a new way. We ventLureto predict anl extensive use of the book in Germany; anid it seems to us that also in this country it could very profitably be used with advanced classes. Those who work will make no miswith Sievers' Grammsoar, take in securing this Abriss besides. It is an excellent work of its kind, similar to Joseph Wright's Gothic Primer, and may be especially recommended to those who have worked through the latter book.
FREDERICK KLAEBER.

FRENCH L,ITERA TURE. Euggesie Grandel par Honor' de Balzac. Edited with introductioni and notes by EUJGENE BERGERON, Assistaint Professor in the University of Chicago. New York: Henry Holt & Co., Svo, pp. XXi, 280. 1895. With portrait. La Fro,ili?re par Jitles Clarelie. Edited, with an introduction and explaniatory notes in Einglislh, by CHARLES A. EGGERT, Plh.D., L. L. B., New York: William R. Jenkinis, i6 mrio., paper, pp. vii, 126. 1895. 25 centS. Selected Essays from Sainle-Beuve. With introductioni, bibliography and notes by JOHN R. EFFINGER, JR.,Instructorin Freniclh, University of Michigani. Bostoni: Ginn &
Co., Svo, pp. xii, IIS. 1895.

University of Minnesota.

attention has been called to Balzac in this coiuntry the past year. Of imutch dturing interest to English readers-who have not the Balzaciani Frenichunder control-lhas beenithe appearance of a new anid presumably superior translationiof the novelist, with introductionis by George Saintsbury. The edition is fromn the Macmillan house, is illustrated, and has, at presenitwriting,reaclhed its eighith vol]ume. It has given an opportuinity forrenewed study of the auLthor's aims anid methods, anid has allowed "aniother last word" to be said in criticism of his realism. Of niotless initerest to teachers and stuidenits of Frenich is the firstAmerican edition, in the originial, of the masterpiece in fiction that is conisidered by manlyto be Balzac's best work. EzuzAr/ie Granzdet, in an editioni issued by Hachette et Cie., has beeni used to some extent in this country, but was, I think, found insufficienit and incomplete. A very welcome addition to our material for teaching French literature is the full anid well prinitededition of Professor Berg-eron. It supplies a real need. The editor's preface of three pages addresses, to the student who is unaquainted witlh Balzac, some general suiggestions uipon the quality and nature of his theme. I have recently seen, in a short book-notice, this preface rated as "somewhat perfunctory." I think the criticism unjust; the fact, however, of such remarks being very general, may tend
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