UvA

The recent discovery of a few snippets with Old Frisian words from the 12th century was a sensational surprise for the study of Old Frisian (Langbroek 2015). The 8 words are linguistically interpreted according to the inflectional categories of the parallel Latin glosses. This is in line with the wide spread custom in mediaeval interlineair glossing practices. This article argues that Langbroek’s linguistic interpretation, which turns lesa ‘to redeem’ into a subjunctive or imperative and herte ‘heart’ into a plural form, is linguistically not sustainable. It is postulated that all word forms, except for mi, reflect lemma base forms, i.e. infinitives or nominative singular forms. This may pose new questions about the character of these glosses and their application in the original context and use.