Dutch/Example 9

ex 9 Het Schrijverke ~ Whirligig beetle Poetry of Gezelle Guido Gezelle (1830-1899) thumb|Guido Gezelle Guido Gezelle is seen as the greatest poet, author, translator and linguist of Flanders in the 19th century. He lived in a time when the Dutch language was under heavy pressure from French. This was the language of the elite of Belgium, a country that had claimed its independence from the Netherlands only in the year that Gezelle was born. The secession had been violent and protracted and had left many scars. There were many reasons for the split, some were religious: the south was solidly catholic, the north predominantly protestant, although its southern two provinces were not. Language had also played a role. Willem I the protestant king of the Netherlands had sought to impose Dutch as the national language. This was resented not only by the French speaking provinces of Wallonia but also the elite elsewhere, because they mostly spoke French. Guido himself grew up speaking a dialect of West-Flanders but acquired no less than 15 other languages in his life. His aim was to combine his dialect with the long tradition of Dutch literature of both north and south before him. For many in the Netherlands what he produced was far too Belgian, for many in Belgium it was far too Dutch... Guido was a catholic priest and did find support from catholic writers in the north like Joseph Alberdingk Thijm from Amsterdam. Only later did the appreciation for his work grow more widely on both sides of the border. In the following poem Guido demonstrates his love for language, nature and God all at once. It describes a small insect, the whirligig beetle (Gyrinus), that lives partly in the water and most visibly on top of it, where it whirls around as if endlessly writing something. In northern Dutch it is called een schrijvertje, a little scribe. This word is one of those diminutives that have developed their own meaning. In Gezelle's southern variety of the language all diminutives end in -ke(n), rather than -tje, so for him it was Het Schrijverke There are about a dozen species of Gyrinus in the Low Countries and we do not know for sure which one Gezelle was looking at. Himself he mentions Gyrinus natans, but that is the name of a species long extinct. He probably meant Gyrinus natator or maybe Gyrinus susbstriatus. Het schrijverke Study the text of this poem and then go see this video in which it is sung by the Flemish singer Will Ferdy. As you will see in the text Gezelle's language differs from northern usage on a number of points Diminutives end in -ke(n) He uses the pronoun gij and its verb forms: gij zijt (you are) gij waart (you were) and its possessive uw and some of its inflected forms like uwen. There are remnants of the double negation Middle Dutch had: Ik en weet niet. instead of Ik weet niet. Another Middle Dutch remnant is to put the adjective behind the noun: 't water klaar (the clear water) Some words have different forms or meanings: géren = gaarne (with pleasure); spegel = spiegel (mirror), bladtjes en blomkes = blaadjes en bloempjes (little leaves and flowers), zo(o) zeer (so rapidly, not: so terribly), wink(e)len (to make corners; in the north it means to shop..). There are some words simply not known in the north: kabotseken (little hood), kapoteken (little mantle) thumb|200px|Gyrinus natator. het schrijvertje O krinklende whirling winklende waterding, Met 't zwarte kabotseken aan aanhebben: to wear, Wat zien ik toch geren uw kopke little head flink Al schrijven op 't waterke gaan! Gij leeft en gij roert stir en gij loopt zoo snel, Al Even though zie 'k u noch neither arrem arrem: arm noch been; Gij wendt en gij weet uwen weg zoo wel, Al zie 'k u geen ooge oog: eye, geen één. Wat waart, of wat zijt, of wat zult gij zijn? Verklaar explain het en zeg het mij, toe! Wat zijt gij toch, blinkende shining, reflecting knopke fijn fine little knob, Dat nimmer never van schrijven zijt moe? Gij loopt over 't spegelend water klaar clear, En 't water niet méér en negation! verroert stirs Dan of het een gladdige windtje smooth little wind waar were: a past subjunctive, Dat stille silently over 't waterke voert carries, moves. O schrijverkes, schrijverkes zegt mij dan do tell me, - Met twintigen zijt gij en meer, En negation: en ... geen is er geen een die 't mij zeggen kan: - Wat schrijft en wat schrijft gij zoo zeer? Gij schrijft, en and 't en negation staat in het water niet, Gij schrijft, en 't is uit finished en 't is weg gone; Geen Christen en negation weet er wat dat bediedt beduidt: means: Och, schrijverke, zeg het mij, zeg! Zijn 't visserkes little fishermen daar ge van schrijven moet? Zijn 't kruidekes herbs daar ge van schrijft? Zijn 't keikes pebbles of bladtjes of blomkes zoet sweet, Of 't water, waarop dat ge drijft? Zijn 't vogelkes, kwietlende kwelend: warbling klachtgepiep klacht: complaint, gepiep: peeping, Of is 'et het blauwe gewelf firmament, Dat onder en boven u blinkt shines, zoo diep, Of is het u, schrijverken, zelf? En 't krinklende winklende waterding, Met 't zwarte kapoteken aan, Het stelde put itself, stood still en het rechtte straightened zijne oorkes flink, En 't bleef daar een stondeke moment staan: ‘Wij schrijven.’ zoo sprak het, ‘al krinklen af afschrijven: copy Het gene that which onze Meester Master, weleer in olden days, Ons makend en leerend teaching, te schrijven gaf, Eén lesse, niet min nochte meer; One lesson, no less neither more Wij schrijven, en kunt gij die lesse toch Niet lezen, en zijt gij zoo bot dull? Wij schrijven, herschrijven rewrite en schrijven nog write yet again, Den heiligen Name van God! the Holy Name of God’ Guido Gezelle, 1857 gaarne with pleasure flink sturdy, with gusto roeren to stir d arm arm h been leg h oog eye verklaren to explain d knop bud fijn fine nimmer never spiegelen to mirror klaar clear; ready verroeren to move, stir d wind wind voeren to lead d schrijver writer beduiden to mean, signify d visser fisher h kruid herb d kelk calyx, chalice kwelen to warble h gewelf firmament; vault stellen to pose, put, make stand rechten to right, erect d stonde hour, time hetgeen that which weleer of yore bot dull, unsharp herschrijven rewrite heilig holy thumb|200px|A group of schrijverkes Het Schrijverke O whirling zigzagging waterthing with the little black hood on, how do I delight to see your little head sturdily go write over the little water! You live and you stir and you run so fast Though I see neither arm nor leg on you You wend and you know your way so well even though I don't see an eye on you, not one. What wert and what art and what wilt thou be? Explain it, and tell me it, do! What are you really, shiny fine little speck who are never tired of writing? You run over the mirroring water clear, and the water does not stir more than if it were a smooth little breeze that silently passes over the water O little scribes do tell me with twenty you are and more What do you write and write so fast? You write and it does not stand in the water You write and it is off and it's gone No Christian knows what that means: Oh, scribe, do tell me, tell! Is it fishermen of which you must write? Is it herbs that you write about? Is it the pebbles, or leaves or little flowers sweet? Or the water upon which you float? Is it the birds, warbling piping complaint, Or is it the blue sky That shines below and an above you, so deep Or is it you, scriblet yourself? And the whirling zigzagging waterthing with its little black mantle on it stood up and straightened its little ears heftily And it remained standing there for a while: 'We copy' thus it spoke, 'while whirling that which our Master, of yore gave us to write while making and teaching us One lesson, no less and no more We write, and cannot you read that lesson and are you so dull? We write and rewrite and write yet again The Holy Name of God! Quizlet The vocabulary can be practiced at Quizlet (30 terms). Note that the vocabulary pertains to the forms in northern standard usage, not Gezelle's variety of Dutch. Some words like nimmer and stonde are poetic rather than colloquial. Progress made Cumulative term count Beginner level 1053 Les 9 27 Les 9A 81 Ex. 9 31 Total number of terms 1192