Moritz Schönfeld (9 February 1880 – 4 October 1958) was a Dutch linguist who specialized in

Germanic linguistics Germanic philology is the philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, with the discovery of literary tex ...

. Mortiz Schönfeld was the author of several reference works on

Germanic name Germanic languages, Germanic given names are traditionally wikt:dithematic, dithematic; that is, they are formed from two elements, by joining a prefix and a suffix. For example, Ethelred II of England, King Æþelred's name was derived from ', f ...

s and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

etymology which have been highly influential and are still in use today.

Biography

Moritz Schönfeld was born in Groningen, Netherlands on 9 February 1880. His father taught mathematics and physics at the municipal gymnasium in Groningen. Schönfeld began his studies at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...

in 1898, where he gained a PhD on

Dutch literature Dutch language literature () comprises all writings of literary merit written through the ages in the Dutch language, a language which currently has around 23 million native speakers. Dutch-language literature is the product of the Netherlands, Be ...

in 1904. Schönfeld taught

and geography in Meppel from 1905 to 1908, in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

from 1908 to 1913, and at the municipal gymnasium in Hilversum until his retirement in 1945. At Hilversum, Schönfeld was the acting deputy principal for many years. Combined with his teaching duties, Schönfeld was a prominent scholar and editor. He was elected a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1930.

Research

Schönfeld specialized in the study of Germanic

personal names A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known, ...

, and ethnonyms. His 1906 doctoral thesis on this subject was published in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

with the title ''Wörterbuch der altgermanischen Personen- und Völkernamen nach der Überlieferung des Klassischen Altertums bearbeitet'' (1911). It has remained the standard reference work on the subject up to the present day. From 1917 to 1930, Schönfeld was contributed to a number of articles in the ''Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft'', published by

Georg Wissowa Georg Otto August Wissowa (17 June 1859 – 11 May 1931) was a German classical philologist born in Neudorf, near Breslau. Education and career Wissowa studied classical philology under August Reifferscheid at the University of Bresla ...

. In 1921, Schönfeld published the first edition of his ''Historiese grammatika van het Nederlands. Schets van de klank- en vormleer''. It has since been published in more than eight revised editions, and remains the standard reference work on Dutch grammar. Towards the end of his life, Schönfeld published ''Veldnamen in Nederland'' (1949) and ''Nederlandse waternamen'' (1955), both are important reference works on Dutch etymology. Schönfeld contributed a large number of articles to the ''Nomina geographica neerlandica'', of which he served as an editor for many years.

Selected works

* ''Wörterbuch der altgermanischen Personen- und Völkernamen nach der Überlieferung des klassischen Altertums'', 1911 * ''Historische grammatica van het Nederlands'' (1921) * ''Veldnamen in Nederland'', 1949 * ''Nederlandse waternamen'', (1955)

References

Sources

* 1880 births 1958 deaths 20th-century Dutch non-fiction writers Dutch people of German descent Dutch school administrators Etymologists Linguists from the Netherlands Linguists of Germanic languages Germanic studies scholars Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Groningen (city) Toponymists University of Groningen alumni 20th-century linguists {{Netherlands-linguist-stub

Biography

Research

Selected works

See also

References

Sources