Summary
The Royal Commission for Onomastics and Dialectology performs its scientific task under the high patronage of the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten and the Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique. It is the scientific aim of the Academy to study the onomastics (toponymy and anthroponymy) and the dialectology, especially in Belgium in both Germanic and Romance areas. The Commission therefore brings out scientific studies (Bulletin, Publications) about these disciplines. The Commission is also an advisory body; the government can always ask for its scientific advice.
Meetings
The statutory meetings took place in the Paleis der Academiën – Palais des Académies in Brussels (Hertogstraat 1, rue Ducale) on 30 January, 29 May and 23 october 2017. There were six section meetings: each time two of them on 25 January, 29 May and 24 October 2017. A plenary meeting was held on 30 January; and a meeting of the common board took place on 29 May and 23 October 2017.
Lectures held at the plenary meeting
Ann Marynissen, De Nederlandse familienamengeografie op nieuwe wegen
Lectures in the Flemish section
Magda Devos, Zeewoorden en maritieme toponiemen (opnieuw)
Luc De Grauwe, De Middelnederlandse opstandsbenaming Muerlemaye: een voorstel tot nieuwe etymologie
Karel Leenders, Namen in de polder. Drie elkaar opvolgende landschapstypen weerspiegeld in de namenvoorraad van de Noord-Brabantse Noordwesthoek
Lectures in the Walloon section
Jean Germain, Quand l’anthroponymiste se mue en généalogiste : expériences et découvertes
Pierre Van Nieuwenhuysen, Bataillons carrés, rues d’aveugles et autres noms d’impasses dans le Nord-Ouest de Bruxelles
Étienne Renard, Mansus : histoire d’un mot
Website
The Commission has its own regularly updated website that documents the Commission’s scientific and advisory proceedings as well as the individual scientific activities, publications and international contacts of its members.
External editorial board of peer reviewers
The members of the Royal Commission for Onomastics and Dialectology have decided to establish a new editorial board for the periodical of the organisation (Handelingen / Bulletin). This editorial board will consist of both the Commission’s members and the following eleven international experts, drawn from the various branches of science that are represented in the publications of the commission: Eva Buchi, Jean-Pierre Chambon, Georg Cornelissen, A.C.M. Goeman, Ludger Kremer, Wulf Müller, Bertie Neethling, Hermann Niebaum, Damaris Nübling, Jean-Louis Vaxelaire en Stefan Zimmer.
The members of the Commission and its external editorial board will jointly guarantee the international quality and safeguard the outstanding scientific content of the journal.
External Activities and Publications
The Bulletin LXXXIX (2017) counts 271 pages. It was exchanged for a number of periodicals and with scientific institutions. The publications acquired by purchase or exchange were stored in the library, which is located in the library of the Palais des Académies – Paleis der Academiën in Brussels (Hertogstraat 1, rue Ducale). 20 copies are placed at the disposal of researchers and students at the scientific centres of the Belgian universities.
Contents
Marie-Guy Boutier & Étienne Renard, Essai de détermination des noms de lieux d’une charte de Carloman (746/747) en faveur de l’abbaye de Stavelot-Malmedy. Approche historique, linguistique et philologique
Frans Debrabandere, Vlaamse etymologische correcties
Georges Declercq, De vroegste vermeldingen van de naam Brugge
Jan Goossens, De oorsprong van de Rijnlands-Limburgse tweetonigheid. Een analyse met bijzondere aandacht voor de korte klinkers voor obstruent. (Mit deutscher Kurzfassing).
Jean Loicq, À propos des noms de la Meuse et de la Mehaigne
Jean Loicq, Note complémentaire sur le problème du Sabis
Luc Van Durme, De ‘Romaanse enclave’ tussen Aalst en Brussel
Pierre Van Nieuwenhuysen, Bataillons carrés, rues d’Aveugles et autres noms d’impasses dans le nord-ouest de Bruxelles
Bram Vannieuwenhuyze, Ridderstraat, een enigmatische straatnaam
De Vlaamse waternamen. Verklarend en geïllustreerd woordenboek. Deel I en II
This dictionary offers a scientifically justified linguistic explanation of the names of about 8500 waterways. In the first part the hydronyms of the Brussels Capital Region and the eastern Flemish provinces are dealt with; it was presented in December 2016 in the Palace of Academies (Palais des Académies / Paleis der Academiën) in Brussels. The typoscript of the second part, describing the western provinces, has been delivered at the publisher in December 2017, and is to come out during the presentation in the Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature (Ghent) on Thursday, 1th March 2018
Bibliographic data
Paul Kempeneers, Karel Leenders, Vic Mennen & Bram Vannieuwenhuyse, De Vlaamse waternamen. Verklarend en geïllustreerd woordenboek. Deel I: De provincies Antwerpen, Limburg, Vlaams-Brabant en het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest. Werk 29 van de Koninklijke Commissie voor Toponymie en Dialectologie, Vlaamse afdeling. Uitgeverij Peeters, Leuven 2016, 426 p., 13 maps, 22 illustrations in colour. ISBN-number: 978-90-429-3343-9. Price: € 35.
Paul Kempeneers, Karel Leenders, Vic Mennen, Luc Van Durme, De Vlaamse waternamen. Verklarend en geïllustreerd woordenboek. Deel II: De provincies West-Vlaanderen en Oost-Vlaanderen. Werk 30 van de Vlaamse afdeling van de Koninklijke Commissie voor Toponymie & Dialectologie. Uitgeverij Peeters, Leuven 2018, 533 p., 16 maps, 26 illustrations in coulour. ISBN: 978-90-429-3556-3. Prix 35 EUR. Price: € 35 (2 Parts: € 65)
Number 13 of the series Tiré à part
Because of its merits with respect to content and the exceptional circumstances in which the article “Essai de détermination des noms de lieux d’une charte de Carloman (746/747) en faveur de l’abbaye de Stavelot-Malmedy. Approche historique, linguistique et philologique” came about, it was also published as Number 13 of the series Tiré à part of the Walloon section of the Royal Commission for Onomastics and Dialectology (ISBN: 978-90-429-3651-5).
The National Geographic Institute (NGI/ING) requested the Commission to cooperate in updating the publication of the Topographic Map, scale 1/25.000.
With regard to street and municipality names the Commission was consulted by numerous Belgian local authorities in 2017.
The Royal Commission for Onomastics and Dialectology has been represented by its members at several international scientific meetings, which allowed them to maintain contacts with their colleagues in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands, South-Africa, Spain and Switzerland.