On the place name Artern

The Thuringian place name Artern has so far found two explanations, one (pre-)Proto-Germanic and one German. The comparison of the two etymologies, which seem to have existed side-by-side for decades without the proponents of either suggestion really having taken notice of the other one, shows that the (pre)-Germanic solution firstly does not make sense per se, and secondly, even if it did, it appears unnecessary for methodological reasons since a consistent explanation exists at a more recent linguistic level, namely an inner-German one. The name goes back to the dative plural (in locative use) of Old High German *artā̆rum, -un, -on ‘(among) the plowmen, farmers, settlers’ to the hapax legomenon Old High German artā̆ri ‘plowman, farmer, settler’.The Thuringian place name Artern has so far found two explanations, one (pre-)Proto-Germanic and one German. The comparison of the two etymologies, which seem to have existed side-by-side for decades without the proponents of either suggestion really having taken notice of the other one, shows that the (pre)-Germanic solution firstly does not make sense per se, and secondly, even if it did, it appears unnecessary for methodological reasons since a consistent explanation exists at a more recent linguistic level, namely an inner-German one. The name goes back to the dative plural (in locative use) of Old High German *artā̆rum, -un, -on ‘(among) the plowmen, farmers, settlers’ to the hapax legomenon Old High German artā̆ri ‘plowman, farmer, settler’

Poetonomastic mastery: James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Pioneers

James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Pioneers, published in 1823, is the first of his Leatherstocking series. The plot takes place in the frontier village of Templeton in New York state in 1793. In this “descriptive tale”, Cooper depicts in detail the different social layers that could be found in a new settlement during the closing years of the eighteenth century: the founder and “king” of the village with his family and friends, the other, less cultivated settlers and domestic servants, one Afro-American slave and, last but not least, marginalized people like Natty Bumppo, the Leather-stocking, and the Mohican Chingachgook alias John Mohegan or Indian John. It is the aim of this paper to show that Cooper not only succeeded in bestowing fitting names to his characters, but also in showing how people use their names, either friendly and respectfully or jokingly and mockingly, not shying away from disfiguring them

From Alken to Utbremen: Names of towns, districts and streets in the city of Bremen

In the city of Bremen and its incorporated districts, place names today are a mixture of Low German and High German elements. This article focuses on this mélange and deals with the change in the toponymy of Bremen, a defined area in which multilingualism was a part of everyday life for a long time. After a period in which Low German was the predominate language, High German and Low German were both used. Today, however, High German predominates. This – at least – partial multilingualism is also reflected in the development of toponyms. The article investigates the toponymy of Bremen, with a focus on its multilingualism, documenting the city\u27s changing linguistic history.In the city of Bremen and its incorporated districts, place names today are a mixture of Low German and High German elements. This article focuses on this mélange and deals with the change in the toponymy of Bremen, a defined area in which multilingualism was a part of everyday life for a long time. After a period in which Low German was the predominate language, High German and Low German were both used. Today, however, High German predominates. This – at least – partial multilingualism is also reflected in the development of toponyms. The article investigates the toponymy of Bremen, with a focus on its multilingualism, documenting the city\u27s changing linguistic history

Naming Practices in Dominican Bateyes: Toponymy from Below

This study discusses toponomastic naming practices and the negotiation of place-identities in the Global South, in the example of so-called bateyes in the Dominican Republic, i.e. settlements with a historical connection to sugar cane production and transnational migration. Departing from multinymity as an empirical fact, we analyse the social dynamics of place-making through naming. In this context, we demonstrate that the speech act of naming bears significance for the perception of the material world and how societies imbue it with social relevance and value. Moreover, we demonstrate that the distinction between clas­sificatory nouns and names is more gradual than absolute. Having uncovered a wide range of relations between names (and classificatory nouns), we propose a model inspired by usage-based, cognitive linguistics to describe structural and semantic properties of names, as stored in a linguistic repertoire

The linguistic-historical significance of the field name variants in the Heppenheim Mark descriptions

Among the surviving early medieval boundary descriptions from the German-speaking area, descriptions that are preserved in two versions are relatively rare. These include the two descriptions of the Mark Heppenheim, in which the majority of the field names mentioned as boundary points are identical, even though some names have different spellings. Although interpretations of these names exist, there is no comprehensive study of the name variants. In this article, the field name variants from the Heppenheim descriptions are therefore first described linguistically with regard to their graphic, phonic, semantic and morphological characteristics, and then explained from a linguistic-historical perspective. Several possible explanations suggest themselves for the name variants, most of which can apply simultaneously: In some cases, it is purely written variation, but in most cases there are influences from more recent language stages and/or regional varieties. Latin-Romance interference is also possible, but uncertain. It is also noticeable that the first and older description contains more recent forms of the names, while the second, more recent description contains older forms.Among the surviving early medieval boundary descriptions from theGerman-speaking area, descriptions that are preserved in two versions are relativelyrare. These include the two descriptions of the Mark Heppenheim, in whichthe majority of the field names mentioned as boundary points are identical, eventhough some names have different spellings. Although interpretations of theseNamenkundliche Informationen 116 © 2024 is licensed under CC BY 4.0Flurnamenvarianten in den Heppenheimer Markbeschreibungen25names exist, there is no comprehensive study of the name variants. In this article,the field name variants from the Heppenheim descriptions are therefore first de-scribed linguistically with regard to their graphic, phonic, semantic and morpho-logical characteristics, and then explained from a linguistic-historical perspective.Several possible explanations suggest themselves for the name variants, most ofwhich can apply simultaneously: In some cases, it is purely written variation, butin most cases there are influences from more recent language stages and/or regio-nal varieties. Latin-Romance interference is also possible, but uncertain. It is alsonoticeable that the first and older description contains more recent forms of thenames, while the second, more recent description contains older forms

The Swiss surname portal familiennamen.ch

This article examines the possibilities for using the familiennamen.ch portal, which is hosted by the Swiss Idiotikon (the Swiss German dictionary). Based on features compiled by the dictionary editors for Swiss Radio SRF, it links various sources relevant to family name research in German-speaking Switzerland. As a dynamic portal, it can not only be used for academic research on surnames, but can also be used to answer questions from laypeople about their own surnames and provide references to non-anonymous historical sources

Socio-cognitive onomastics and mobility: Names for (groups of) people in Malacca and Macau

This article explores terms for individuals and groups, such as ethno­nyms, in a multilingual context shaped by mobility: the former Portuguese over­seas empire or Estado da Índia, particularly the harbour cities of Malacca and Macau. The focus lies on a historical analysis with a scope from the early 16th to mid-20th century. From the standpoint of Cognitive Linguistics, the analysis re­vealed a gradient transition between ethnonyms (and sometimes glottonyms) and class labels. Practices for naming a colonial Other rely on conventional lexemes applied metaphorically and metonymically to new social actors. Often, these practices are strategies of conscious distinction between one’s in-group and the out-group. Furthermore, perceptions of colonial Others encompass prejudices re­garding their language use, which affects one’s own language choice in cross-lingual interactions. The etymological analysis presented here emphasises the relevance of contextual life-worlds, as seemingly synonymous designations for people may entail disparate semantics.]This article explores terms for individuals and groups, such as ethno­nyms, in a multilingual context shaped by mobility: the former Portuguese over­seas empire or Estado da Índia, particularly the harbour cities of Malacca and Macau. The focus lies on a historical analysis with a scope from the early 16th to mid-20th century. From the standpoint of Cognitive Linguistics, the analysis re­vealed a gradient transition between ethnonyms (and sometimes glottonyms) and class labels. Practices for naming a colonial Other rely on conventional lexemes applied metaphorically and metonymically to new social actors. Often, these practices are strategies of conscious distinction between one’s in-group and the out-group. Furthermore, perceptions of colonial Others encompass prejudices re­garding their language use, which affects one’s own language choice in cross-lingual interactions. The etymological analysis presented here emphasises the relevance of contextual life-worlds, as seemingly synonymous designations for people may entail disparate semantics.

Names of prominent trees – case studies from the Francophone and Hispanophone language areas

This study explores a class of names which has been neglected in onomastic research so far: proper names for trees in French- and Spanish-speaking regions. The analysis is based on a corpus compiled using an online database of prominent trees, characterized by exceptional age, height, shape, or circumference. The aim is to investigate both the structural features of dendronyms and the motivations for naming. The results reveal that a significant number of these names are generic proper names such as Chêne des Sorcières (‘Witch’s Oak’). However, anthropomorphizations like El Abuelo (‘The Grandfather’) can also be observed. The naming motivations are diverse; in addition to intrinsic attributes such as the tree’s age or location, commemorative aspects can also play a central role (e. g. Chêne Napoléon ‘Napoleon Oak’)

The names on the silver plaque from Vrh gradu

In the little group of Venetic inscriptions in Western Slovenia the letter T should be read /d/ as in other Venetic inscriptions. A peculiarity of some of these inscriptions is an inverse <l>. Hence, the inscription of Vrh gradu should be read “Woduros Wollknos”. The first name could be explained with reference to Indo-European *wodr̥ ‘water’. The second name might be formed not with the Celtic suffix -(i)knos, but with -nos, and could then be explained with recourse to Indo-European *wolk- ‘moist’. This would be an fitting pair of names

A long overdue onomastic action on Old Sorbian *Pro- or Old Sorbs as threshold carvers?

In conflict with the fact that the Slavic morpheme *pro, while well established as both a preposition and a prefix in the near Czech language, does not exist at all in the two living Sorbian languages, there are seven instances for which the established research tradition without any reservation has assumed this prefixal morpheme to be a part of Old Sorbian oikonyms. These are the place names Prosigk, Preskeln, Proschitz, Prohlis, Profen, Proschim/Prožym and Rolika, which are situated between the rivers Saale and Neiße in eastern Germany, and which are documented in a compendium by Ernst Eichler. In this article, I make a suggestion for other (autosemantic) elements that could be assumed instead of the (synsemantic) morpheme in question, e.g. *prog ›threshold‹, which could explain up to four or five of the cases. There are two more general historical dialect processes (vowel contraction over /g/ and Meissen palatalisation) that support the etymological interpretation proposed. In this context, the article treats several other oikonyms of Old Sorbian origin, including the relationship between the German and Sorbian name Prietitz/Protecy. This paper also takes up the issue of a possible Czech influence on the Old Sorbian oikonymic landscape. As convincing or questionable some of the proposals might be in their details, they nonetheless represent an onomasiological action that has been long overdue. The conditions to raise the issue and/or to search for solutions seem to have existed for a long time already.In conflict with the fact that the Slavic morpheme *pro, while well established as both a preposition and a prefix in the near Czech language, does not exist at all in the two living Sorbian languages, there are seven instances for which the established research tradition without any reservation has assumed this prefixal morpheme to be a part of Old Sorbian oikonyms. These are the place names Prosigk, Preskeln, Proschitz, Prohlis, Profen, Proschim/Prožym and Rolika, which are situated between the rivers Saale and Neiße in eastern Germany, and which are documented in a compendium by Ernst Eichler. In this article, I make a suggestion for other (autosemantic) elements that could be assumed instead of the (synsemantic) morpheme in question, e.g. *prog ›threshold‹, which could explain up to four or five of the cases. There are two more general historical dialect processes (vowel contraction over /g/ and Meissen palatalisation) that support the etymological interpretation proposed. In this context, the article treats several other oikonyms of Old Sorbian origin, including the relationship between the German and Sorbian name Prietitz/Protecy. This paper also takes up the issue of a possible Czech influence on the Old Sorbian oikonymic landscape. As convincing or questionable some of the proposals might be in their details, they nonetheless represent an onomasiological action that has been long overdue. The conditions to raise the issue and/or to search for solutions seem to have existed for a long time already