Volume 137, Issue 1

This paper is concerned with the loss of the partitive genitive (e. g. ein Glas Weines > ein Glas Wein ) in German, focusing on the early stage of the decline, i. e. the ENHG period, and on variation in present-day German (e. g. einem Glas gutem Wein vs. einem Glas guten Wein ). On the basis of data collected in a questionnaire study and in corpora (both contemporary and historic) it is proposed that formal properties of the inflectional suffixes involved are highly relevant for this language change phenomenon: Several observations concerning the diachronic and synchronic variation caused by the (incomplete) loss of the partitive genitive seem to be explicable by so-called ›signal strength‹, a concept which goes back to Köpcke (1993).

Abstract for part A The most detailed regulations of theft and robbery in the ›Lex Salica‹ concern the theft of piglets. The words listed in »Ergebnisse, a) Behandelte Glossenwörter« are explained in detail.

This article investigates historical conceptualizations of sanctity in medieval saints’ legends. Sanctity, in its textual representations, emerges from the interaction of traditional legendary narratives, their textual transmission, and varying models of imitability. The legend of St Oswald illustrates the versatility of the saint as persona imitabilis : While historical accounts describe Oswald as a missionary king and martyr, the ›Munich Oswald‹ links the motif of conversion by marriage to the narrative model of the bridal quest. Simultaneously, the feudal aspects of the bridal quest are questioned by references to sanctification by renunciation. This aporetical constitution of sanctity is retold and harmonized in the Berlin manuscript mgq 478. Most of the included narratives have been edited so that they lead to a happy ending. The ›Berlin Oswald‹ thus provides another new model of imitability, the socially acceptable saint, which allows for a better understanding of late medieval conceptualizations of sanctity as well as saints’ legends as a narrative genre.

The paper presents mystical rhyme verses preserved on page 153a–b of the manuscript Einsiedeln, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 278 from the 14 th century. The verses, which have never been discussed before, follow the preceding mystical poem ›Ein meister der seit vns das wesen blos‹ in terms of content. However, they are separated from the poem by two aphorisms in prose attributed to a master. In the following paper the newly found rhyme verses are edited and interpreted in the context of the poem ›Ein meister der seit vns das wesen blos‹ and the two aphorisms of the master.