Maurits Gysseling

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Maurits Gysseling (

paleography. He was especially well known for his editions and studies of old texts relevant to the history of the Dutch language
, and also for his very detailed analyses of historical place-names and their probable origins.

Based upon the results of his study of place-names, Gysseling became one of the proponents of the "

Nordwestblok" idea that before the 2nd century BCE the language of Gallia Belgica was an Indo-European language that was neither Germanic nor Celtic. According to his conclusions, the northern Belgae
then became Germanic-speaking, and never had been fully Celtic-speaking, in the centuries before Rome conquered them.

Major published works include:

At his death his letters and archives were left to the Ghent University, where he had worked, and the Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde (Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature). Uncompleted works in these records include Het Antroponymisch Woordenboek van België, Nederland, Luxemburg, Noord-Frankrijk en West-Duitsland (tot 1226), the Toponymisch Woordenboek van Oost- en Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and a re-working of Julius Pokorny's Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch.

References

  • Lamarcq, Danny; Rogge, Marc (1996), De Taalgrens: Van de oude tot de nieuwe Belgen, Davidsfonds, page 175

External links