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The lexeme „Deisam” in the sense of ‘sourdough’ is part of the vocabulary our ancestors brought with them from the German speaking space. Here in Transylvania the word gained its own meanings along the centuries, which is evidenced in particular word constructions, with interesting semantic content. These form the basis of linguistic processes of mixture and compensation within the whole vernacular landscape, which are typical for a colonial dialect. Since Transylvanian Saxon is assigned to the Franconian dialects of the Middle Rhine, in my exposition I also make reference to the Rhenish and Palatine lexicons. Dialectical references taken from the two dictionaries are identified in the footnotes.
We start from the premise that the 240 Transylvanian-Saxon dialects in the Transylvanian-Saxon dictionary are treated according to scientific principles, while the Northern Transylvanian-Saxon dictionary documents the 48 Northern dialects. When reviewing the vocabulary of both dictionaries it could be noted that they complement each other with respect to vocabulary and meaning, especially as far as the “grammatical category of the verb” is concerned. Case in point is my research of the verbs meaning “to rummage for, to search, to dig” which I have grouped and analyzed according to specific criteria.
This article covers midwives as such and their designations in the Transylvanian-Saxon vernaculars in detail with emphasis on the early documentary evidence in the first half of the 16th century as well as from the 18th century. The lexemes correlate their respective categories of word formation and show descriptive series of synonyms depicting at the same time the composition of the Transylvanian-Saxon vocabulary. Comments on the etymology of the word formations as well as on the midwife‘s profession are also included. The terms are taken from the Transylvanian-Saxon Dictionary and the North Transylvanian Saxon Dictionary as well as the specialist literature on vernacular.
This article covers the verbs kopulieren (copulate) and kaufen (buy) with the meaning of, religious and legal marriage’ followed by the verb verändern (change) with the meaning of ,marry’, ,getting married’. The case examples show that certain meanings of a verb which have been retained in Transylvanian documentary sources and the Transylvanian-Saxon vernacular are indeed mentioned in High German, however, they are marked ,archaic’ (see the given meanings of the verbs kopulieren, originating from Latin and the given meanings of the verb verändern originating from Middle High German). On the other hand, when a certain meaning of a verb is not documented in High German any longer, Transylvanian document sources and the Transylvanian-Saxon vernacular can serve as documentation (see the verb kaufen which has retained the Middle High German meaning). The case examples are taken from the Transylvanian-Saxon Dictionary and the North-Transylvanian-Saxon Dictionary.
The article initially covers the historical information regarding two biblical saints „Saint Bartholomew“ and „John the Baptist“ and their birthdays. In vernacular documents from 1900 to 1980 inclusively, the Transylvanian-Saxon names „Bartholomew“ and „John“ were related to the respective saint. The vernacular documents show that their birthdays were playing a role in seasonal determination for peasant work as well as being used in descriptive country sayings, in idioms and in traditional customs. The case examples are taken from the TransylvanianSaxon Dictionary, the North Transylvanian Dictionary, as well as relevant specialist and vernacular literature.
The meaning of the verb „heischen“ occurs in standard German in special context only, especially in poetic language. In some Rhenish idioms of the German language space this lexeme is documented with the same meaning as in the Transylvanian Saxon idiom. Notable is the meaning “to woo”, “to ask for the bride’s hand” and idioms with a special wording that is specific to the Transylvanian-Saxon idiom only. This case study exemplifies how Transylvanian Saxon, removed from the German language space, is handling the linguistic thesaurus brought over centuries ago via emigration from the old country and how it adds its own meanings through a mixture and balance of language, a phenomenon specific to the colonial idioms.
There was always a close connection between human beings and plants, mammals and insects, but also birds, which enlivened yards and gardens, fields and forests with their flight, playfulness and their voices. Therefore it does not come as a surprise that some of our linguists and folklorists like the North-Transylvanian linguist Gustav Kisch and the South-Transylvanian linguist and folklorist Pauline Schullerus refer in some minor works to wellknown bird names as they appear in traditions, fairy tales, rhymes, idioms (sayings) and proverbs. But they never mention any owl species. This presentation provides the names of certain owl species as they appear in Transylvanian-Saxon and neighboring languages, as they were grouped by certain criteria according to their appearance. Descriptive idiomatic examples reflect their specific features and way of life.
Occasionally the Transylvanian Saxon thesaurus deals with terminology related to certain domains of agriculture. The following article deals with livestock enclosures, fencing erected in the fields for livestock, especially for sheep. The selected case samples are native terms with explanatory compounds, in addition there are terms borrowed mainly from Romanian, less so from Hungarian. The borrowings can mostly be assigned to sheep farming. This branch of agriculture was not familiar to the medieval immigrants, so they were not used to sheep farming. The breeding and herding of sheep was usually left to the Romanian population, the Saxons did not engage in it, even though they owned sheep. The Saxons were more inclined to cattle and pig farming. The terms are mainly extracted from the Transylvanian-Saxon Dictionary (SSWB), the Northern Transylvanian dictionary (NSSWB) as well as other specialized literature.
The Transylvanian-Saxon Dictionary (SSWB) documents the general thesaurus of the Transylvanian Saxons by means of meaningful idiomatic samples. In addition there are certified documents of Transylvanian sources of the German language from the mid 13th to mid 10th century, which are of relevance for the idiomatic influence upon the literary German written language in Transylvania or the history of the German language. From this point of view some lexemes are absorbed into the dictionary, which refer to established legal agreements and mandatory services pertaining to a specific time period. The case studies in the following article are documented sources, extracted from the SSWB and the Transylvanian vernacular literature.
The North Transylvanian linguist Friedrich Krauss has dealt with the Northern Transylvanian plant inventory in his work “Noesnerlaendish Plant Names” (1943) referring to the town of Bistritz and surroundings. The referenced popular names of the plants are rendered phonetically, the way the linguist heard (understood) them. I have selected 68 descriptive case samples of popular plantnames for my study and have grouped them according to certain criteria. These samples exemplify the fact that the cohabitation of Saxons, Romanians and Hungarians is reflected as well in the ethnographic plant naming phenomenon. They belong to the old Transylvanian vernacular names which the linguist and plantlover, Friedrich Krauss, has saved from oblivion.
