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Maurits Gysseling ( Oudenburg , 7 September 1919 ? Ghent , 24 November 1997) was an influential Belgian researcher into historical linguistics and 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:

• Diplomata Belgica ante annum millesimum centesimum scripta (2 volumes) (1950)
• Toponymisch woordenboek van Belgie, Nederland, Luxemburg, Noord-Frankrijk en West-Duitsland (voor 1226) (2 volumes) (1960) (A dictionary of place names in Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg, North France, and West Germany (before 1226))
• Proeve van een Oudnederlandse grammatica (1964) (Attempt at an Old Dutch grammar)
• Hoofdlijnen in de evolutie van het Nederlandse vocalensysteem (1975)
• De Germaanse woorden in de Lex Salica (1976) (Germanic words in the Lex Salica )
• Noordwesteuropese persoonsnaambestanddelen (1982) (Components of northwest European personal names)
• Prehistorische waternamen (1983) (Prehistoric water names)
• Inventaris van het archief van Sint-Baafs en Bisdom Gent tot eind 1801 (5 delen) (1997-2000) (Inventory of the archive of Sint-Baafs and the Bishopric of Ghent until the end of 1801)

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 Belgie, 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 Worterbuch .

References [ edit ]

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

External links [ edit ]

• Toponymisch Woordenboek van Belgie, Nederland, Luxemburg, Noord-Frankrijk en West-Duitsland (voor 1226)
• Antroponymisch Woordenboek (online database)
• Engineering the Anthroponymical Lexicon of the Historical Low Countries: User-Assisted Data Extraction from Archival Sources Resulting in an Auto-Generated Online Collaborative Database