Enchiridion Vandalicum. Ein niedersorbisches Sprachdenkmal aus dem Jahre 1610 by AndreasTharaeusReview by: Gerald StoneThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 72, No. 1 (Jan., 1994), pp. 153-154Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4211445 .

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REVIEWS I53

of duals such as Sele Fara in Carinthia. To the examples of place-names formed from the univerbization of prepositional phrases which have lost their oblique case ending (p. I87) might be added Zagreb (in contrast to German Agram with its reflection of the original instrumental desinence), No example is given for Croatian sut from Romance santo, san (p. 2 I i); might I suggest Sucuraj (t + j > c 'St George' from the stokavian tip of cakavian Hvar. For the distribution of the suffix -bskb (p. 203), it is surprising that, except for some Soviet coinings, all the 'Russian' and 'Old Russian' examples provided by Rospond (Pinsk, Smolensk, Polock) are on Belorussian-speaking territory. On the other hand, according to Professor Rospond (p. 2I4), among the geographical terms limited to Ukrainian and Belorussian territory is izvor 'source'; however, this item is well represented in SCr and - what is more - is also attested in numerous place-names (cf. RjecnikJAZU, IV, PP. 349-50). More importantly, the derivation of Sloveine/Slavene from a water name (cf. IE *kleu, *klou 'flow') (P. 2 I I), while accepted in many quarters, is by no means the only possibility; in a work of this kind, the subject needs at least some amplification beyond the bald one-line statement.

As Harry Leeming has demonstrated, Professor Rospond has been poorly served by his publisher. Most notable is the inconsistency in the numbering of sections between fascicle 3 and its predecessors: while section V. 3. is properly completed with subsections g) and h), the very next section (p. I 74) is given as V. B. (there is no A!) with subsections now given in arabic numerals; apart from the numerous misprints e.g. Serb brbdo (p. I84), Truvacev (p. 235), I987 for I897 for the publication date of K. Jirecek's Das christliche Element in der topographischen NVomenklatur der Balkanlander (Vienna) (p. 22I), two lines (on p. I 84) are missing from my copy. The piecemeal publication and the careless editing may well reflect an attempt to off-set spiralling production costs, which put earlier publications by Carl Winter such as Shevelov's A Historical Phonology of the Ukrainian Language (Heidelberg, 1979) beyond the pockets of most scholars. Let us hope - especially in view of the vast erudition which has gone into its production - that when the book is available in its completed form many of the shortcomings will have been overcome. Department of Modern Languages GEORGE THOMAS

McMaster University

Tharaeus, Andreas. Enchiridion Vandalicum. Ein niedersorbisches Sprachdenkmal aus demjahre i6Io. Published with an introduction and commentary by Heinz Schuster-Sewc. Domowina, Bautzen, I990. 304 pp. No price available.

BEFORE German colonization in the Middle Ages the line where Sorbian met Lechitic (Polabian or Pomeranian) is believed to have run just south of the point where Berlin was later to stand. K6penick (now in south-east Berlin) was Lechitic. The Enchiridion Vandalicum ('Wendish handbook'), which Professor Schuster-Sewc now publishes in a scholarly edition, comes from Friedersdorf, about 20km south-east of K6penick, and is in Sorbian. Its author, Andreas Tharaeus, a contemporary of Shakespeare, studied theology at the Viadrina in Frankfurt an der Oder, where he first attended and later led

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I54 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW

the 'exercitationes linguae Vandalicae'. Before the end of the sixteenth century he had been appointed Lutheran pastor to the Sorbian parish of Friedersdorf and here he wrote his Enchiridion, which was printed in i6io in Frankfurt by Nickel Voltz. It is the second oldest Lower Sorbian printed book. Only Albin Moller's Hymnbook and Catechism (I 5 74) is older.

Tharaeus's book consists mainly of prayers, forms of worship, and guidance on how to conduct religious instruction, comfort the sick and edify retainers. It was intended for th.e use of laymen deputizing for clergymen in Sorbian parishes at a time when many parishioners were both illiterate and ignorant of German. The texts are by no means always strictly devotional. On the contrary, they are often distinguished by a blunt, earthy imagery which is strangelyjuxtaposed with the generally pious tone and bring to life the secular concerns of those to whom they were intended to be read. This is the case, for example, in the advice on how to choose a good wife and set up home.

Regarding the language of the Enchiridion, Tharaeus makes two contradic- tory statements. On the one hand, he says that he has been guided by his parishioners and has written in such a way as to be understood by them (p. 66). On the other, he describes his texts as having been translated into 'the Wendish language as it is habitually spoken in almost the whole of Lower Lusatia' (p. 65). Now if he really wrote in the language of his parishioners in Friedersdorf, we might reasonably expect his text to contain features symp- tomatic of the extreme northern location of his parish, bordering on Lechitic. In fact, however, his language differs surprisingly little from the variety that subsequently formed the basis of the Lower Sorbian literary language, i.e. the Cottbus dialect. Nevertheless, there is hardly any other evidence of the dialect spoken in this area, and there is thus little justification for doubting the indigenous nature of Tharaeus's record, especially as it does embody a few unusual elements, which may well be features of an extreme north-western Sorbian dialect. The question has been muddled by the fact that Tharaeus called himself 'Andreas Tharaeus Muscoviensis', indicating that he came from the area of Muzakow (Ger. Muskau), in the extreme east of Sorbian territory and (in the seventeenth century) close to Polish. There is a possibility that some of the oddities of his language came from his native region.

By the nineteenth century the only surviving copy of Tharaeus's book was in the Pannach Library attached to St Michael's Church in Bautzen, and here in I945 it was destroyed by fire. Fortunately, it later transpired that an exact copy in the original orthography, even including printer's errors, had been made by Arnost Muka with the intention of publishing it in a scholarly edition. Muka's intention has now been fulfilled by Professor Schuster-Sewc, who adheres strictly to the copy, but also provides a modern transcription. Only the twenty-two woodcuts which embellished the original appear to be lost beyond recall.

Hertford College GERALD STONE Oxford

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