At the Limits of the System: The Value of Psalm Subtranslations for the Study of Middle Low German Syntax

Normally, translated texts are avoided in research into the syntax of older stages of a language in order to avoid erroneous analyses of potential influences from the source language. However, autochthonous texts, too, sometimes raise doubts as to their representativeness for a given stage of the language. The current article aims to see how much independent Middle Low German syntax can be found in two different psalm translations. This serves to ascertain whether translated texts may be valuable in research on Middle Low German syntax after all, particularly as they may contain features that are underrepresented in other genres. It is shown that translated texts can indeed be used to cross-check statements about syntactic features of Middle Low German.