This article argues that, despite the protestations to the contrary of William Camden (1551–1623), the antiquarian methods of his “Britannia” are indebted to the “Origines Antwerpianae” of Johannes Goropius Becanus (1519–73). Both Goropius and Camden posited the contemporary existence of an unchanged primeval language (Dutch for Goropius and Welsh for Camden) wherein etymologies could be used to trace the origins and migrations of ancient peoples. Even as humanist philology underscored the mutability of language, Goropius and Camden selectively ignored this mutability in order to have a basis other than myth or legend for reconstructing antiquity. Their efforts, however, created new myths about language and its ability to bridge present and distant past.

中文翻译：

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Johannes Goropius Becanus 的《起源安特卫普安特卫普》和威廉·卡姆登的《不列颠尼亚》中的词源学、古文物学和不变的语言

本文认为，尽管威廉·卡姆登（William Camden，1551-1623 年）提出了相反的抗议，但他的“不列颠尼亚”的古文物方法要归功于约翰内斯·戈罗皮乌斯·贝卡努斯（1519-73 年）的“安特卫普安特起源”。Goropius 和 Camden 都假定当代存在一种不变的原始语言（Goropius 为荷兰语，Camden 为威尔士语），其中词源可用于追踪古代民族的起源和迁移。即使人文主义语言学强调语言的可变性，戈罗皮乌斯和卡姆登也选择性地忽略了这种可变性，以便为重建古代提供神话或传说之外的基础。然而，他们的努力创造了关于语言及其连接现在和遥远过去的能力的新神话。