Lexical Glosses in Cambridge, University Library, Kk. 3.18

Abstract

Cambridge, University Library, Kk.3.18, the latest extant copy of the Old English Bede, is a remarkably reader-oriented manuscript. Consistently punctuated, rubricated, and furnished with the list of chapter headings, chapter numbers, and continuous running titles, it is easy to read and navigate. Complementing these signposts are lexical interlinear glosses. Many of them are dialectally unmarked variants of Anglian and obsolete/obsolescent vocabulary as well as nonce formations. Another subset consists of the alternatives to the words that were probably familiar to the late Anglo-Saxon audience. These additions enhance the translation similarly to the multiple psalter glosses. The third group corrects copying errors by supplying a reading found in other manuscripts. On the whole, these glosses offer an apparatus that facilitates a better understanding of Bede’s Latin composition and its Old English translation. In addition, they provide invaluable information about the development of the Early English lexicon and the scribes’ active repertoire and linguistic preferences.