Place names among three languages: the Sorbian, German and Polish toponymy of eastern Lusatia
Place names among three languages: the Sorbian, German and Polish toponymy of eastern Lusatia

Summary/Abstract: At the eastern edge of Lower Lusatia, we find a mixture of three languages. Originally,it was an Old Sorbian settlement area, but after the conquest by the Ottonian rulersin the High Medieval Era it became a Sorbian-German language contact zone for centuries,as many other regions in Eastern Germany. However, in 1945, the situationchanged fundamentally, as all former German territories east of the Oder and Neißerivers became part of the Polish state, and a new Polish toponymy was created. Dealingwith toponymy in Eastern Lusatia, we find a complex situation: Sorbian nameswere Germanized, but German names were Sorabized, too, in the context of the re-birthof Sorbian culture in the 19th century. Finally, the new Polish names were not totallynew, but in many cases influenced by their Sorbian and German predecessors.

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