On Johann Theodor Berent’s “Ta Deewa kalpa Mahrtiņa Luttera Maſais Katkiẜmis” (1852)

Abstract

This article analyzes J. T. Berent’s catechism “Ta Deewa kalpa Mahrtiņa Luttera Maſais Katkiẜmis” (Riga, 1852), which is intended to teach the life story of Jesus Christ and Christian doctrine at home, with the child reading and understanding the text together with their parents.

Many of Ernst Glück’s Bible quotations are used to explain the teachings of God, which, along with explanatory and knowledge-testing questions, reflect the tradition of describing God’s teachings from the 17th to the mid-19th century in Vidzeme, as well as Pastor Berent’s long experience in examining children, his faithful service to the state, and his life wisdom.

The language of the catechism reflects the Latvian Lutheran church language of the mid-19th century, shaped by German pastors. Therefore, there is a noticeable German influence. For example, the pronoun tas is often used with the meaning of the definite article, as in Kriſtus un tas Tehws un tas Gars irr weens ‘Christ and the Father and the Spirit are one’. Verbs are placed at the end of subordinate clauses, as in Kas waijadſigs eekẜch ſemmes, ka netrauzeti ẜawu maiſi warram pelniht un ehſt? ‘What is necessary here on earth so that we may earn and eat our bread without disturbance?’. The modifier often follows the modified word, such as in tas tehws, ko peeluhdſu, irr tas wiẜẜu waldigais radditais debbeẜs un ſemmes ‘the father, whom we worship, is the almighty creator of heaven and earth’.

Some other characteristic features of the language include frequent use of nouns ending in -šana (e.g., Deewa buhẜchana ‘God’s love’, isẜamiẜẜeẜchana ‘desperation’, kahrdinaẜchana ‘temptation’). Necessity is often expressed using the dative and an infinitive, as in Tapehz mums buhs bihtees preekẜch wiņņa duẜmibas ‘Therefore we should fear his wrath’. This kind of categorical expression is not only characteristic of expressing commandments but is often used in Berent’s own explanations as well.

The text contains some older Latvian forms, such as peektâ padeẜmitâ ‘fifteenth’, and the present tense second-person verb forms like dohdi ‘give’, paleezi ‘help’, ẜauzi ‘call’.

The Latvian language of the catechism includes an older layer of vocabulary that is no longer used today, such as atskaits ‘recitation of commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, etc. to a pastor’, ciekkārt ‘how often’, cikāds ‘how diverse’, miesa ‘human body’, pakūdināt ‘to encourage’, pamest ‘to forgive’.

The usage of certain words shows the influence of central Vidzeme dialects, such as katķismis (with an i inserted before the ending), and the declension of (i)i̯o-stem nouns in the dative following the o-stem pattern, like dat. sg. bausļam ‘commandment’, as well as the use of the preposition par to indicate time, as in par ziemu ‘during winter’, and the conjunction jeb in a disjunctive sense, as in zeltu jeb sudrabu ‘gold or silver’. It also reflects some dialect features of Courland, which had become established in the written language of the time, such as gahrds ‘delicious’ and zettortais [cetuortais] ‘fourth’.

Many inconsistencies in the use of grammatical forms of words indicate that the Latvian language was not yet fully standardized. At the same time, J. T. Berent’s catechism (1852) is a valuable source of Latvian cultural and linguistic history.