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 Palais des Académies – Paleis der Academiën in Brussels (Hertogstraat 1, rue Ducale) on 31 January, 30 May, and 24 October 2011. There were six section meetings (each time two of them on 31 January, 30 May, and 24 October 2011), one plenary meeting was held on 31 January, and two meetings of the board took place on 31 May, and 25 October 2011.
Lectures held at the plenary meeting
Etienne RENARD, Présentation de la base de données du ‘Thesaurus diplomaticus (Brepols)’.
Paul KEMPENEERS, Toponymie van Langdorp
Lectures in the Flemish section
Ann MARYNISSEN, Oost-Nederlandse familienamen
Roxane VANDENBERGHE, De morfologie van de Nederlandse logische voegwoorden in historisch perspectief
Jan GOOSSENS, De problematiek Nederlands-Duits in de late middeleeuwen
Lectures in the Walloon section
Marie-Guy BOUTIER, Cerquemanage. Histoire d’un terme juridique du français septentrional
Esther BAIWIR, L’Atlas linguistique de la Wallonie. Un nouveau volume et quelques perspectives
Jean LOICQ, Naast, Quenast et le nom de la rivière Quenaste.
Bernard ROOBAERT, La dénomination de fortifications romaines en castra pendant l’Antiquité.
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
The Bulletin LXXXIII (2011) counts 313 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). Forty copies are placed at the disposal of researchers and students at the scientific centres of the Belgian universities.
Over 35 years sice the publication of his Bibliographie toponymique des communes de Wallonie jusqu’en 1975 (in collaboration with Régine Toussaint), a completely revised and updated edition was released by Jean GERMAIN, secretary of the Walloon division of the Royal Commission for Onomastics and Dialectology. This new bibliography, entitled Les études toponymiques et microtoponymiques en Wallonie. Bibliographie rétrospective (Toponymic and microtoponymic studies in Wallonia. Retrospective bibliography),was published in 2011 as Mémoire 25 of the Royal Commission for Toponymy & Dialectology. The bibliography consists of two large parts: the first is devoted to major place names, the second to minor names. The whole work is meant not only for onomasticians, but is also useful in various ways for historians and archaeologists interested in the Walloon domain.
Werk 28 of the Flemish division of the Royal Commission for Onomastics and Dialectology, De Vlaamse gemeentenamen. Verklarend woordenboek (Leuven 2010), produced by colleagues F. DEBRABANDERE, M. DEVOS, P. KEMPENEERS, V. MENNEN, H. RYCKEBOER & W. VAN OSTA in collaboration with the Flemish section of the CRTD, has been republished by Davidsfonds (Leuven) in a 10 000 pocket format run. The dictionary (331 pages) constitutes the first comprehensive overview of all 1230 municipality names in the Flemish Region and Brussels. It offers a scientifically justified etymological explanation, a listing of the oldest attestations and of the relevant reliable literature.
With regard to street names the Commission was consulted by numerous Belgian local authorities in 2011. The Commission further continued the linguistic adaptation of the geographical names of the ordnance survey maps published by the Nationaal Geografisch Instituut – Institut National Géographique.
The Royal Commission for Onomastics and Dialectology has been represented by his members on several international scientific meetings in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, (The Grand Duchy of) Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Rumania, Spain and Switzerland.