Siła wurstu brukuje białka i gbur? O niektórych wyrazach w XIX-wiecznych materiałach Georga Wenkera z obszaru Mazur, Warmii i Ostródzkiego
Siła wurstu brukuje białka i gbur? About some words in 19th-century materials by Georg Wenker from the area of Mazuria, Warmia and Ostróda

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is presenting a part of rich materials from 19th-century questionnaires of Georg Wenker, collected for the German Linguistic Atlas which are currently in archives in Marburg. The subject of the study is analysing the value of old sources for dialectology, linguistic geography which are not a result of direct field research but an effect of applying a correspondence method. The analysed materials come from schools located in East and West Prussia. The subject of my interest is 538 places from these lands which are currently within the territory of Poland and are located in Masurian, Warmian and Ostróda counties.The choice of discussed words was not accidental. The noun meaning „how much” is distinguished by polysemy, it is difficult to define its proper meaning even in certain surrounding. Names concerning ‘a host’ and ‘saussage’ indicate to what extent names that belong to the Polish vocabulary compete with the German lexis. Words which name ‘a woman’ make it easier to present co-existance of names typical for general Polish and exclusive for northern dialects. The analysis of appearance of the verb ‘need’ shows difficulties in possibility of showing certain words due to their little representation in particular questionnaires. The materials concerning geography of names on the basis of G. Wenker’s survey mentioned in the title of the article show linguistic situation of that time. Certainly the location which is presented on the maps enclosed with the article does not show representative distribution but undoubtedly signalises certain tendences on the territory of Ostróda, Masuria and Warmia. Even if the data from Wenker’s questionnaires are not fully authoritative they make it possible to notice lexical differentiation what is evidenced by later sources. Besides this 19th-century material provides unrepeatable, unique vocabulary collections embracing a significant part North Polish dialects which have changed radically due to geopolitical transformation.

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