Namenkundliche Informationen (NI) (E-Journal)
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Der Ortsname Merseburg und sein Geheimnis
Full text linkThe toponym Merseburg and its mystery. ‒ The article is focused on the history of the local name Merseburg, the name of a town at the river Saale in Eastern Germany. Because this river was a borderline between Germanic and Slavonic tribes the possibilities of Slavic origin are discussed and finally negated. The historical forms documented since more than thousand years allow the reconstruction of an already Germanic or Old Low German name *Marsiburg and later Mersiburg with the meaning ‘high and secure place’. This new proposal is founded on facts from the history of the German language and dialectology
Personenname und Recht
Full text linkUntil the 18th century the name of a natural person was not a legal issue in Germany. The determination of a person’s name – first and family name – was rather a matter of custom. According to Roman tradition which German law adopted generally it was allowed to change the name without any involvement of the State – no person was legally bound to his or her previous name. The article describes the development to a legal regulation of personal names by the State and describes the rules currently in force in Germany. It is shown that the first name of a child is determined by the (relatively) free choice of the parents, while the child himself is bound to the given name normally through all his life. A change of name is allowed only on the basis of an administrative decision of an authority which requires the person to show an important reason for the change of his or her name. The family name is also set by law. Traditionally, the name of the husband was transferred to the wife. This approach violated the principle of equal rights of men and women guaranteed by the German constitution of the 20th century. The article reports on legal reforms which introduced step-by-step a rather surprising freedom of choice for married couples in the determining their marital name
Namen und Recht in Großbritannien aus linguistischer Sicht
Full text linkI present the essentials of my thinking about names over the last 20 years, stimulated mainly from a historical linguistic point of view to think about the question of how expressions which are not names etymologically come to be used as names. The resultant theoretical approach, The Pragmatic Theory of Properhood (TPTP), is intended to be valid for names in all categories: place-names, personal names, business names, and so on. As regards the law, personal names and business names form the most interesting categories, but I draw most of my examples from the categories of names applying to persons. I set out what seem from the perspective of TPTP to be the most important linguistic questions about the nature of names that may have legal implications, and the answers to which may vary in different jurisdictions. These questions are framed with personal names in mind, but some may apply also in the case of businesses
Das Unionsrecht der Warennamen
Full text linkThe term distinctive signs refers to trademarks, geographical Indications and appellations of Origin, Domain and other Names. EU law only provides rules on trademarks and geographical indications. All other characteristics and distinctive signs are subject to the national legislation. European trademark law and harmonized national trademark law in principle permit the registration of any sign as a trademark. In particular, all kinds of words, including personal names have the general capacity to constitute a trademark. The protection afforded by registration is however dependent on whether the concrete sign shows distinctiveness to which products or services it relates and alludes to its business origins. General terms or descriptive terms do not always provide sufficient distinctiveness to a sign. The combined use however of those general terms with descriptive terms can indeed be registered because they constitute a distinguishable identity. Artistic terms contrarily are mostly advantageous. Upon registration of a certain sign the owner obtains an exclusive right and as proprietor is the only one permitted to use said sign for labelling his / her products or services with the terms provided at registration. Trademark law stipulates use of a sign not only in relation to its respective product / services but also in relation to similar products / services where there is a likelihood of confusion to the consumer. Famous trademarks are in addition protected from measures of image transfers. The owner of the trademark can take actions against both the actual usage of identical signs or signs which induse confusion, and / or to achieve removal of a violating sign which is itself registered as a trademark. It is still possible to use one’s own name in business operations although a third party has previously registered it as a trademark or as a part of a trademark, as long as it is only used within reasonable habits of trade so that the identity or similarity will not be misused to gain the reputation of said third party’s trademark. It is possible to use third party trademarks to for the purpose of identifying or referring to goods or services as those of the proprietor of that trade mark, in particular, where the use of that trade mark is necessary to indicate the intended purpose of a product or service, in particular as accessories or spare parts
HeidelbergCement AG - Vivacon - AG, Labetrunk für Magenleidende - Maaloxan: Unternehmens- und Markennamen zwischen Wirtschaft und Recht
Full text linkContrasting company names such as, e.g., HeidelbergCement AG or Vivacon AG and trademarked brand names for products and services such as, e.g., Labetrunk für Magenleidende (trademarked in 1894) or Maaloxan (a current name for a remedy against stomach complaints) is interesting from the perspective of law, economy and language. On the legal side, there are opposing requirements for the motivation of such names, i.e. for the possibility of inferring characteristics of the company or the product. For product names, motivation should be as low as possible. What would be ideal in this respect would be completely unmotivated, but maximally distinctive “labels” without any relation to other names or other existing words. Company names, in contrast, at least until the change in trade law in the year 1998, had to be strongly motivated with regard to the associates / owners / founders as well as to the object and location of the company. For economic reasons, however, companies prefer medium degrees of motivation for both names types, to a certain extent describing the company and its products positively or at least creating positive associations. The linguistic means available to the name creators for solving this problem are presented in a systematic way in this paper. The data basis is the Waarenzeichenblatt, later Warenzeichenblatt, today Markenblatt, in which since 1894 until the present all newly protected brand names are published. This historical material allows for investigating the use of the relevant linguistic means in brand names from the beginnings until the first decade of the 21st century. With the 21st century and the “Third Reich”, two epochs are in focus which clearly demonstrate the dependence of the linguistic form on extralinguistic factors deriving from the domains of law, politics, economy and societ
Personennamen und Recht in der Romania aus sprachwissenschaftlicher Sicht
Full text linkUsing examples taken from historical name inventories, focusing on Portugal and France, this paper delineates mechanisms of name-giving (or better naming) as a result of administrative practice without any legal basis. An analysis by social classes (middle and under classes, aristocracy, foundlings, among others) demonstrate significant differences
Personennamen und Recht in Russland (aus rechtswissenschaftlicher Sicht)
Full text linkThe investigation of the Russian name law shows that it has a marked continental European approach. Acquisition and name changes of a natural person are governed by strict regulations, nevertheless, the legislation grants a limited freedom of choice. Names for natural persons in Russia continue to fullfill important identification and individualization functions. A name gives linguistic recognition to a person, through which they are distinguished from other people. It makes the name-bearer clearly responsible, and socially and legally tangible. The identification function serves both the interests of the state and the general public. The legal name is entered into the register of births, upon the birth certificate and subsequent personal papers. Furthermore, the name is personally legally valid, so that it serves the individualization function for the name-bearer, who has an interest in being able to be so distinguished by name from others
Rezension zu Leopold Schütte, Wörter und Sachen aus Westfalen 800 bis 1800
Full text linkLeopold Schütte: Wörter und Sachen aus Westfalen 800 bis 1800. Zweite, überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage (Veröffentlichungen des Landesarchivs Nordrhein-Westfalen 52), Duisburg: Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen 2014, 813 S. – ISBN 978-3-932892-32-5, Preis: EUR 19,80 (DE)
Rezension zu Ferenc Vörös: Kleiner ungarischer Familiennamenatlas
No full textFerenc Vörös: Kleiner ungarischer Familiennamenatlas [Kis magyar családnévatlasz], Pozsony: Kalligram Kiadó 2014, 440 S. – ISBN: 978-80-8101806-0, Preis: HUF 3.700,00; EUR 12,00
Die Benennung der Welt
Full text linkHumans order their world by assigning names, that is, by means of “designation”. We name children, fellow humans, animals and plants according to our respective language. And we can just as easily extinguish a name if it strikes us as the appropriate thing to do. This is the also the task of philosophy: to grasp the world via the right “concepts”, a reduction of complexity through naming. To “grasp” the world also means to master it. In this respect, the assignment of names and titles as well as the strict connexion of a name with a bodily person (identity) is a characteristic means or instrument of domination tied to the modern state.