Those who were translating the Bible with John Wycliffe used two words for “ant” in their translation of Proverbs 6:6. Why did they do this?
This is how the original Wycliffe Bible reads:
O! thou slowe man, go to the amte, either pissemyre, and biholde thou hise weies, and lerne thou wisdom. (Proverbs 6:6)
Quick answer:
- This is evidence that Middle English had dialects, and
- we may be talking about two types of ants.
As I work on the Wycliffe translation, I often refer to the Middle English Dictionary. It is a collection of English words found in documents written during the Middle Ages.
I found out that “amte” and “pissemyre” are both in the Middle English Dictionary
The Amte: an Old German word for “ant”
According to the Middle English Dictionary, “amte” (also “ampte”) comes from the Old High German “Ämeiza”. Which makes sense; in modern German, the word for “ant” is “Ameise.”
The Pisse-mire ant of Scandinavia and Holland
And as for the other word for ant “pisse-mire”, the Middle English Dictionary says that this word comes from two words: pisse (urine) and mire (ants).
Apparently, mire is the preferred word for ants in Old Nordic, Gothic (now extinct), Middle Dutch, Danish and Swedish. In fact, Google Translate gives us the following translations for “ant” into the modern equivalents of these languages:
- Norwegian: maur
- Dutch: mier
- Danish: myre
- Swedish: myra
Like English, languages change over time, but keep their foundations.
Some of Wycliffe’s audience would not have known what an “amte” is, because they call an ant a “pissemire”. Likewise, others would have wondered what a “pissemire” is, because they use the word “amte” to describe it.
Basically, the translators of the Wycliffe Bible made sure that their entire audience understood what animal we were talking about in Proverbs 6:6.
So now, all we have to do is to figure out one more piece of this puzzle…
Why does Wycliffe’s Bible call them “urine-ants”?
There are many different types of ants. You can know which ant you are dealing with by what attracts them. For example, sugar and glucose attracts sugar ants. These ants would also be attracted to urine in the bathroom, outhouse or field.
Certainly, those living in the Middle Ages must have noticed this as well!
Go to the animals, and learn from them
No matter what word they used for ants, the Lollards wanted to express the true meaning of the text: Wisdom calls us to go to the animals and learn all we can from them.
From a lion, we can learn to be courageous despite those who threaten us. (Proverbs 28:1)
From a lizard, we can learn how to be present among the important and powerful. (Proverbs 30:28)
And from the ant, we all learn to use every moment wisely. And, we are meant to enjoy working more than resting. Also, we can work together with friends to get the job done faster. (Proverbs 6:6)
Next time you see an ant-home, stop. What can you learn from them that you have never noticed before?
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