Colloqialisms in saint Augustine

(1)

32

J . H . BAXTER .

et Gilbertum abbatem Cadowensem de sturjonibus et crassis piscibu s qui capiuntur apud Divam . . . ad capiendos vero crassos pistes concessi t abbas Cadomensis ut abbas Fiscannensis tot naves habeat in societat e

eoalmannorum quot hactenus habuit et cum eadem consuetudine sicu t

monstrare poterit erga comtnunionem walmannorum, quod si ipsi

n'al-manni injuriam fecerint abbati Fiscannensi et hominibus suis de lice r e

abbas Cadomensis omnem eis justitiam faciet fideliter et sine retracta-tione .

IValmannus, wauntannus est évidemment le même mot que l ' anglai s

moderne w/caleman, a _{matelot baleinier} a . Les deux éléments qui le cor n posent (hn'ala, baleine, et mann, homme) sont communs aux langue s

germaniques t , et il est très probable que ce sont les envahisseurs scandi-naves qui l ' ont introduit en Nor mandie comme nombre de termes de n a vigation a .

En roman, walmann doit aboutir à gauman, mot qui n ' a pas été re-levé 3 . Rappelons qu ' un mot apparenté, dont la forme allemande es t

walross, a cheval marin n, _{a donné l ' ancien français}

galero

_{x étudié pa r} Ant . Thomas .

G . IItt11N4:t . .

COLLOQUIALISMS IN ST .

AUGUSTIN E

Sermonic literature has always been of particular value to the studen t of popular speech as well as to the student of popular customs . Man y passages of St . Augustine have been employed by writers on the Africa n Church or on Punic Christianity, customs and civilisation, but his bulky writings contain much which is of considerable interest and value to th e student of popular Latin . From his date, of course, Augustine lies a little outside the scope of this Bulletin and of the eventual Dictionary o f Medieval Latin, but it is worth while collecting a few ofhis colloquia l or slang expressions, both as a prelude to similar articles drawing upo n later preachers, and as a contribution to our knowledge of popula r speech . Not all the expressions quoted can be called slang ; I have inclu-ded proverbial and everyday phrases for completeness .

Serm . 4 . 6 et oculi carnis nostrae dicuntur lumina et unusquisqu e 1. F . Kluge, Etymol. Wörterb . der deutschen Sprache, au mot wal/isc/ .

2. Cf . Ch . de la Roncière, Histoire dc la marine française, _{t . 1 (Paris, 1899) ,} p . 114 .

3. Cf. notamment_{A . Romdahl,} _Glossaire _{du patois de Val de Saite (Linküping ,}

1881 g .

4. e Galeroz n, dans laFolie Tristan, Romania, _{t . XL (1911), p .} _{618 .} _{Cf . Meyer}

(2)

COLLOQUIALISMS IN S'r . AUGUSTINE .

3 3 iurat « per lumina mean (cf. In lo .

Eu .,

35 . 3 unusquisque ita iurat, tangens oculos suos, per lumina sua : « Sic uivant lumin a mean : usitata iuralio est) .

Serm . 5 . 3 uerba hominum reale dicentium : « Ergo te non

uin-dicas? Ergo remanebis indefensus, et non illi ostendis? O si mecu m habcrel! n

« \Wr o n ' t you get your own hack? . . . Won't you show him ? If he only

had

_me

to deal with! » ('flee emendation ustendes in easy and tempting, but the present can be justified . Cf . Serro . 32 . 26 nonne di -cit. : a Quis rnihi potest? aut « Vicinus isle, si mihi fecerit iniu-riam, non illi ostendo? ») .

Seem . 31 . 10 quomodo dici solet : a Aliquid boni est quod t e

suadet Deus . n

In Ps . 47 . 3 dc aliquibus hominibus solemus ita loqui : a Bonu s

horno est, sed mala lacera habet n ; id est, ipse quidem probitate praestat, sed maligni sunt qui ei coniuncti sunt .

(Cf. In Ps . 127 . 11 non enim sine causa et in sermone quotidian o dicimus de aliquo qui forte male agit ex malorum consiliis amicorum , de illo dicimus : a Mala lacera habet . n Quid est « mala latera ha

-bet n ? Mali illi inhaerent . )

In lo . /su . 70 . 2 uidistis unum, ilium uidistis .

Semi . 32 . 25 quomodo dicimus dc abundantibus : « Non habe t uhi ponat n ; « nescit quid iabea t

Sewn . 279 . 5 usum latinae locutionis aduertite : a Paulo post

ui-debo te n ; « paulum hic exspecta a . Id est : a Post modicum uideb o te a ; « modicum hic exspecta a . (Cf. Berm . 315 . 7 nos solemus si c

loqui : « Videbo te post paulum n ; id est, post modicum . )

S'erm . 299 . 6 quomodo dicimus in artibus : a modicum primuma ,

multis notate inferiorem, sed arte superiorem . a Fain-um primu m

arehitectum primum n : solemus ita loqui .

Moe . Manic/, . 1 . 31) Inulluu, est ad uos, ut dici adsolet .

Diseip . Chu' . 8 . f) quantum habehis, tantus iris . Frange lunam e t

fac fortunam . [sta susurrabis proximo tuo, quae non didicisti i n domo disciplinae, nec audisli hic .

J . H . B .

St . Andrews .

aUr.i . . DV CANGE . 4926-1927 .