New Meanings of Old Sorbian Place and Tribe Names Cover Image
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Neue Deutungen altsorbischer Orts- und Stammesnamen
New Meanings of Old Sorbian Place and Tribe Names

Author(s): Walter Wenzel
Subject(s): Language studies, Language and Literature Studies, Western Slavic Languages
Published by: Domowina-Verlag GmbH / Ludowe nakładnistwo Domowina
Keywords: linguistics; onomastics; Old Sorbian; place and tribe names; etymology of names; name formation; meaning of names; Sprachwissenschaft; Onomastik; altsorbisch; Siedlungsgeschichte; Ortsname; Stammesnam

Summary/Abstract: There are still names in the Old Sorbian linguistic area, for which the explanations up until now have proved unsatisfactory. Amongst these are the six place names and two tribe names discussed in the article, some of which appeared in sources over a thousand years ago, for example Nessuci, Selpoli and Chozimi. They are very important for the study of the history of the Sorbian language, settlement and culture. Thus, the oldest evidence of the place name of Leuthen documents the earliest proof of the Lower Sorbian sound shift from e to o, cf. Old Lower Sorbian *Ľutoḿe sodło ‘site, settlement of L’utom’. The place name Pautzsch, Old Sorbian *Budč ‘settlement of Budk’ provides proof, together with many other examples, of the immigration of Old West Sorbian tribes from Bohemia and Moravia. The proper name contained in Nessuci, Old Sorbian *Nesudici ‘People of Nesud or Nesuda’, a defence name, gives us an insight into the beliefs of the Old Slavs. Their interpersonal relationships are illuminated by Mockzig, Old Sorbian *Mokrosuky, freely translated, ‘village of the sons of dogs’, an uncouth nickname.

  • Issue Year: 2020
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 77-84
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: German
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