Namenkundliche Informationen (NI) (E-Journal)
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The oldest document on the Saxon Vogtland as a linguistic monument to early German-Slavic language contact in the Middle Ages
No full textThis article looks at the oldest document relating to the Vogtland in south-west Saxony as a historical and, above all, linguistically valuable document. The subject is the Dobna-Gau, which has been inhabited by Slavs since the 8th century. In 1122, the bishop of Naumburg consecrated the Gau church in Plauen. The extent of the area of the original parish was precisely delineated. All geographical names and persons mentioned in the original document are analysed linguistically here for the first time. The Vogtland was incorporated into the East Frankish Empire from 930 AD onwards. The Latin document text is therefore a source for German-Slavic language contact from the 10th to 12th centuries. It is revealing that for some onyms a linguistically plausible differentiation of borrowing becomes apparent. This applies in five instances to the 10th century, but otherwise mainly to the 11th century. All names were recorded in the correct orthography of the time. The notary must have understood the spoken Slavic idiom well. There are no writing errors. A list of phoneme-graphemerelations based on the evidence of Slavic names shows, for the first time, the particular significance of the document for language history in the 10th and 11th centuries. Also new is the proof that German clergymen or perhaps lay people as well must have lived in the Dobna district from the 10th century onwards. This is the only way to explain the 9th/10th century pronunciation of names by German speakers at the beginning of the 12th century. The document is thus analysed for the first time in this article as a source for the history, language and culture of the Vogtland from the 8th to the 12th centur
On the Determination of the Source Value of Forged Charters in Historical Toponomastics
No full textFrom the perspective of historical toponomastics and linguistics, there are multiple chronological layers in charters whose status is uncertain. Due to the circumstances of their origin and survival, however, the historical linguistic and onomastic source value of the names they contain do not necessarily correspond. We may determine the historical toponomastic source valueof charters most reliably on the basis of principles derived from historical studies and diplomatics. This includes, for example, the consideration of litigations of abbeys or the study of the formulas contained in charters. With the growing number of linguistics studies conducted on charters of uncertain status, it has become clear that we need to further specify how such charters are to be assessed from an historical toponomastics perspective. In this paper, I explore how we may establish the source value of particular toponyms from the perspective of historical onomastics using two forged charters of Saint Stephen (the charters of Pécsvárad and Bakonybél). The first part of this paper shows that, irrespective of a certain name having not been included in the original source of the forged charter, th places and names in question could otherwise already have existed as early as the 11th century. The second part of the paper demonstrates that the parts of charters whose chronological status is uncertain but have been deemed to originate in the 11th century (based largely on the principles of diplomatics and history), may also include names whose use is not proven for the founding period (the early 11th century)
Phantom roots and erroneous segmentation. Claims of “ancient” names in non-scholarly discourse: (Main Topic)
No full textNon-scholarly interpretations of names can be recognized as such by applying certain formal and content-related criteria. These structural criteria are presented here as examples in order to better categorize texts. Texts deemed to be “dubious” by scholarly standards can thus be analysed on a formal level without having to engage with what are often lengthy and convoluted arguments. The main characteristics of feigned scientific rigour are the arbitrary segmentation of names according to incomprehensible criteria and the interpretation of these segments by assigning them word roots of obscure or fanciful origin. In most cases, the author will undertake an overall interpretation of such a root cluster and establish relations between the roots. They will then seek to back up the correctness of the interpretation by embedding it in a natural or cultural context. Some recurring roots (phantom roots) in this literature are discussed in more detail. Name interpretations that are linked to a specific context and preclude alternative explanations are often found when nationalistic or religious concepts or fantastical interpretations of the world are to be substantiated. Such approaches have been in use for around 130 years in the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, in Germany and in Switzerland
Celtic (and Rhaetian?) personal names in the pre-Roman epigraphy of Switzerland: (Main Topic)
No full textThis article provides an overview of the current inventory of personal names attested to in vernacular inscriptions in Iron Age Switzerland, with a focus on the Cisalpine Celtic material. It discusses specifically the possible presence of Rhaetian linguistic elements in the Cisalpine Celtic onomastic record as well as putative differences between Lepontic and Gaulish personal name formation based on updated etymologies
Laubach und Lautitz. With a bow to the grand master of Saxon-Sorbian oikonomastics
No full textLaubach and Lautitz/Łuwoćicy are the names of two places in Saxonywhich, at first glance, suggest no relevant common features apart from being of Slavic origin. Taking a fresh look at them, however, it becomes clear that the oldest evidence for each of them conceals earlier development and that, moreover, one disruptive element in the evidential series (<Glaugkß> and <Lubossicz> respectively) contains a certain relationship to the oikonym Glaubitz that requires further specification in each case. It turns out, however, that – contrary to assumptions in recent research – a name form corresponding to this one is not the basic form of the oikonyms mentioned in the title of this paper. Indeed, the basic name form of Glaubitz has itself been subject to reconsideration. It has been necessary to clear up the fatal misunderstanding in an earlier attempt to interpret the origin of Laubach, which had prevented scholars from recognizing that the Old Sorbian Laubach is almost identical etymologically to the interesting Czech geonym Libouchec. The Upper Lusatian pair of names Lautitz (in German)/Łuwoćicy (in Upper Sorbian) is an example of the fact that the living New Sorbian name form may have preserved the fundamental features of the oldest form better than the German tradition does – provided the linguistic situation in the Sorbian village community had remained stable over the centuries. Reinterpreting the two names mentioned in the title, the author draws, rather than on more recent research, on the more convincing approaches of Gustav Hey (1893)
Onomastic settlement history of the province of Salzburg
No full textThis paper provides an overview of the settlement history of the state of Salzburg (Austria). The region of Salzburg has been shaped by various peoples over millennia, evidenced by the presence of Indo-European names associated with ancient European hydronymy, as well as Celtic, Romance, Slavic, and Bavarian names. The specific distribution of these names across different districts of Salzburg, the era of Germanization of foreign names, and notably the characteristic Bavarian linguistic patterns in various regions, afford concrete insights into the diverse settlement history of Salzburg. This history is influenced not only by the topographical context as an Alpin region but also by its role as a significant transportation hub for north-south routes across the main Alpine ridge. The ability to conduct a comprehensive historical analysis of settlement based on toponyms is primarily attributed to the HELSON project (Historical Etymological Lexicon of Salzburg Place Names), which now covers a substantial portion of the state. After Hörburger’s Salzburg Place Names Book, HELSON represents the first systematic endeavour, now organized alphabetically, to document all settlement names as well as numerous other names within the state in a comprehensive manner. Five out of the six Salzburg districts have already been investigated as part of the HELSON project, with only the district of Pongau still to undergo systematic onomastic analysis. This historical overview of settlement facilitates not only a general understanding of the distribution of various layers of names within the state but also predictions regarding the name materials to be expected in the Pongau region
Historical contact onomastics in Lower Rhaetia and the reconstruction of Old Romansh: (Main Topic)
No full textMy dissertation analyses the integration of Old Rhaeto-Romanic substrate toponyms into German. After the Roman conquest, Celtic and non-Celtic languages in Lower Rhaetia were replaced by Vulgar Latin, which was carried forward into modern Romansh. Germanic-Romance language contact began in the 5th century onwards, with only German remaining in the 15th century. Toponyms are one of the main sources for the language change. Sound changes can be determined and dated on the basis of historical evidence, which was done in an Excel matrix. Conversely, many toponyms have remained phonetically stable over the centuries despite their obscurity. By “undoing” the comparatively well-known German phonetic laws, aspects of the phonology of earlier stages of the Rhaeto-Romanic language can be reliably reconstructed using the toponyms. This article begins by outlining the historical and geographical confines of the area under investigation before presenting the research question and method. Two early Rhaeto-Romanic sound changes serve as examples of findings on Old Rhaeto-Romanic grammar. Selected examples are subsequently used to provide an overview of the integration processes that can be observed in substrate toponyms after Germanization. The article concludes by emphasizing the value of contact onomastics
On ‘Old European hydronymy’ – or what remains of it: (Main Topic)
No full textThe article deals with two topics. First, it addresses the presumed roots uridg. *en-/*on- ‘to flow’ and uridg. *(h1)leik- ‘bend’ as pure ghost roots, and the popular root uridg. *el/*ol- as a ‘semantic ghost root’ (it never has an appellative meaning ‘to flow’). Second, it examines the names Main, Isar, Rhine, Ruhr and their relatives, questioning whether they can actually serve as arguments in favour of an ‘Old European hydronymy’, given that they can be explained (in some cases exclusively) in terms of individual languages
On the toponymy of the civitas Helvetiorum. Archaeological investigations of names: (Main Topic)
No full textRecent archaeological research has made it possible to map out the settlement area of the Helvetii (in western Switzerland) by marking 14 late La Tène oppida [towns]. The oppida also appear on the map with their Celtic names. The range of names extends from Geneva along the River Aare via Solothurn to Rheinau. The list of names shown on the map is historically interesting insofar as Caesar, in the “Bellum Gallicum”, mentions that the Helvetii had burnt all (twelve) oppida and around 400 rural settlements and farmsteads before leaving their ancestral settlement area (though he does not mention any names). It is known that the Helvetii were forced back into their old homeland and Romanized after the battles of Bibracte and Alesia (58 and 52 BC). The question arises as to whether the Helvetian toponyms that have been handed down or reconstructed only from Roman times are the old Celtic names, having survived the period of emigration, or whether they were newly formed under pressure from the Roman administration, i.e. are ultimately Romanized names or “mixed names”. In order to settle this question, it is necessary to examine etymologically all the oppida and their names shown on the map and relate them to the archaeological findings, the latter is achieved by Andrea Francesco Lanzicher’s additions
The Victorids. Onomastic and linguistic-historical reflections on an early medieval genealogy of Raetia Prima: (Main Topic)
No full textFor almost three centuries (6th–8th century), the early medieval province of Raetia Prima was ruled in both secular and ecclesiastical terms by a dynasty known as the Victorids or Zaccones, after the names of its early members. The name world of the Victorids is predominantly Romanized, butthe attavus (‘end-of-line ancestor’) Zacco of the dynasty in particular has been explained as ‘Germanic’, and from this it has been concluded that Frankish actors had already penetrated the otherwise quite closed Roman-Latin world of Raetia from outside in the early 6th century. In this work, the distinctive Romanized names of the Victorid group are first analysed according to their origin and distribution. To a very large extent, the names are centred mainly in northern Italy and in the two Raetia. In addition, there are some characteristic and rare names that clearly dominate in Raetia. This provides a clear indication of the Alpine-Romanic location of the family. In a second approach, the study shows that both the name Tello (for a bishop and a comes) and Zacco, which appears several times, can be interpreted as pre-Germanic Romance. Zacco, which developed from the apostle’s name Giacco, Jac(c)o < Jacob, was particularly influenced by a phonetic development well attested in northern Italy and Alpine Romania, which is also documented early on in the chronicle of Pseudo-Fredegar, edited around 658/961 and based on Burgundian sources pointing to western Switzerland around Avenches, by the clear form Zacob instead of Jacob