Complex words in the early medieval Leges Barbarorum and their contribution to expanding the Old High German lexicon

Abstract

This article examines selected complex words (compounds, derivatives) taken from the early Leges barbarorum and illustrates how these words expanded the lexicon of Old High German. The examples are taken from the Upper German laws (Lex Baiuvariorum, Lex Alamannorum, Leges Langobardorum) which form a relatively homogeneous tradition. In the area of compounding, complex words unattested outside of the Leges tradition are examined which exhibit specific relations between their first and second elements. In the area of derivation, focus is placed in particular on lexemes resulting from a word formation process which is productive in the type of text examined but which is hardly seen elsewhere in Old High German and is no longer productive. The data presented in this article come from the LegIT database which has been studied since 2012 within the scope of a research project at the University of Bamberg.