The 'Epistula de observatione ciborum ad theudericum regem francorum', or in short ‘De observatione ciborum’, written by the Byzantine physician Anthimus, is a treatise from the early sixth century...Show moreThe 'Epistula de observatione ciborum ad theudericum regem francorum', or in short ‘De observatione ciborum’, written by the Byzantine physician Anthimus, is a treatise from the early sixth century, addressed to the Frankish king Theuderic. It concerns which foodstuffs do and do not fit a healthy lifestyle, and includes preparation methods for all food items that are discussed in the work. The tractate has long drawn scholars’ attention for its peculiar style and language. Written in a much more colloquial style than was usual, de observatione ciborum also contains a fairly large amount of non-Latin lexis. The aim of this thesis is to examine some of that lexis. Whilst Anthimus’ language has been researched and analysed in the past, this research focuses on the cooking terminology only. Moreover, it includes only words that appear to have been introduced into Latin relatively recently, possibly under the influence of the new peoples that had moved into the traditional Latin speaking area. Thus, it aims to sketch an image of the linguistic situation of the time and place in which Anthimus composed his epistula de observatione ciborum. The focus of the linguistic research is on the etymology and provenance of the included lemmata.Show less
