The names of the months corresponding to December in the Gothic calendar – jiuleis, in the English calendar as described by Bede – Giuli, and in the Old Icelandic semester-reckoning (misseristal) calendar – Ýlir, are cognates. I suggest that this occurrence is not a coincidence. I propose that certain features found in those calendars raise the possibility they are descendants of the Jubilees calendar, as formulated in the pseudepigraphical books of 1 Enoch and Jubilees.

My "note" is closely related to David Landau''s paper on the names of the months linguistically corresponding to "December" (this volume). It considers the onomastic status of time phrases by investigating the concepts of time and space in their interrelation. The contribution supplies reasoning that proves the existence of time as a fourth spatial dimension. Therefore the general statement that reality exists in space and time must be qualified. If time is a fourth spatial dimension, then the month‘s name “December” can be compared with a place name like "Leipzig". I suggest that there is no dichotomy between describing "Leipzig" as an onym, but "December" as an appellative only. "Leipzig" and "December" enjoy a familiar onomastic partnership. / Meine "Anmerkung" bezieht sich auf David Landaus Artikel zu Monatsnamen, die sprachhistorisch mit "December" korrespondieren (in diesem Band). Sie erörtert den onomastischen Status von Zeitausdrücken, indem sie das Verhältnis von Zeit und Raum in ihrer Wechselbeziehung untersucht. Der Beitrag legt eine Beweisführung dar, die die Existenz von Zeit als vierte Dimension des Raumes versteht. Daher muss die allgemeine Feststellung, dass die Realität in Zeit und Raum existiert, präzisiert werden. Wenn Zeit eine vierte räumliche Dimension darstellt, dann ist der Monatsname "December" mit einem Ortsnamen wie "Leipzig" vergleichbar. Ich schlage daher vor, die Dichotomie zwischen der Beschreibung von „Leipzig“ als Onym, aber "December" nur als Appellativum, aufzuheben. So können sich "Leipzig" und "December" einer vertrauten onomastischen Partnerschaft erfreuen.

When entering the Carpathian Basin in the 9th century, the Hungarians found a decisively Slavic population on the territory, so toponyms were formed based on the already existing toponymic system. Hungarian toponymic research has been able to reconstruct toponyms from the period prior to the Hungarian conquest only very scarcely and ambiguously – as opposed to the names of larger rivers, which show strong continuity, going back to very early times. The toponyms of the Carpathian Basin, in connection with the formation of the settlement structures of Hungarians, can almost exclusively be documented from the period after the Hungarian conquest. However, the Carpathian Basin became a “meeting point of the peoples” in the centuries after the conquest in 896 and as such, numerous ethnics and languages could be found here: Slavic peoples and Germans settled in larger blocks, while smaller groups of Turkish people, such as Cumans and Pechenegs, and some Neo-Latin peoples (Walloons and later Rumanians) also contributed to the ethnic and linguistic diversity in the area. The layering of different peoples and languages influenced toponyms too, which also allows us to investigate language contacts of the time. This is the main concern of my paper, with special focus on the question of how these phenomena can be connected to issues of language prestige in the Middle Ages.

Research on theonyms constitutes the onomastic component within theolinguistics, the universal science dealing with the communication about the divine. It is demonstrated in detail that god (Greek theos, Latin deus, German Gott) is both a nomen appellativum (theolexeme) as well as a nomen proprium (theo-onym). With the help of a checklist it is illustrated in which linguistic fields characteristics of theonyms compared to other types of names can be observed and where further research is needed. For example, etymology can reveal the naming motive of the theonyms Zeus, Iupiter and of the theolexemes theos, deus, Slavonic bog und English god / German Gott.

In comparison with personal names toponyms have been rather neglected in studies on literary onomastics. Place names may seem less promising for onomastic research because authors tend to anchor their narratives in the actual world much more than characters. However, place names in literature fulfil important tasks: they mainly contribute to the fictional constitution of space. The question whether the actual counterparts of fictional place names are of any importance for the reader has been discussed very controversially. But place names may also help to create a certain mood or local colour. They even may indicate the passing of time. As all these phenomena are based on mental processes which take place in the reader’s brain this paper tries to study them with the help of actual cognitive science.

Anfang Juli 2012 haben wir auf dem Südfriedhof in Leipzig von Ernst Eichler fur immer Abschied nehmen müssen. Ganz in der Nähe von August Leskien und Wilhelm Streitberg hat er seine letzte Ruhestätte gefunden. Mit Ernst Eichler ist ein Genius der historischen Sprachforschung von uns gegangen. Fur den Wissenschaftsfächer von Akademie und Universität in Leipzig ist das ein grosser und schlimmer Verlust. Der Wissenschaftler Ernst Eichler hat zu seinen Lebzeiten viele Anerkennungen, Würdigungen und Auszeichnungen für sein bewundernswert breites Lebenswerk in der Sprachforschung erfahren. Seine Leistungen und Verdienste sind in Zeitschriften, Festschriften und Sammelbänden in ihrer Vorbildbedeutung dargestellt worden. Sie sind auch in unserer Fachzeitschrift zur Onomastik zuletzt zu seinem 80. Geburtstag in einer von mir gegebenen Würdigung nachlesbar. Es muss daher heute nichts wiederholt werden, was wohl den meisten in guter Erinnerung ist.

Am 12. März 2013 verstarb in Moskau im 84. Lebensjahr die international bekannte russische Sprachforscherin Aleksandra Vasiljevna Superanskaja. Über Jahrzehnte war sie die zentrale Persönlichkeit der russischen Onomastik.

Since the 1990s, scholars from the fields of history and language participating in the interdisciplinary project "Nomen et Gens" have studied early medieval personal names in Europe. Core of the Project is a database concerning the onomastics and prosopography of the continental European barbarian kingdoms during long late Antiquity ca. 300–800 AD. The data was collected in the context of a project funded by the DFG and is currently being evaluated and offered to the public. Currently, about 10.000 name records are available online at www.neg.uni-tuebingen.de. This paper introduces the project, the current state of work and the data base; it also discusses problems of interdisciplinary cooperation especially concerning the lemmatisation of personal names.]

Heretofore unknown and misinterpreted Sorbian surnames. In the first part of the article 38 previously unknown surnames found in archival sources in Upper Lusatia which were not taken into consideration earlier are explained. These include 1586 Tradell, Old Upper Sorbian *Tradula < *Stradula, to Proto-Slavic *stradati ‘to starve, suffer a shortage’, 1598 Twur, Old Upper Sorbian *Twoŕ < twoŕ , to Upper Sorbian tchor, Proto-Slavic *dъchorь ‘fitchew’, among others. They are also of special significance for the history of the Sorbian language. In the second part, upon critical perusal of the “Historical- etymological Dictionary” of “Studies of Sorbian Personal Names”, 104 names (1,3%) among the various 8.171 names listed, are rendered a new interpretation. These include for example 1568 Schorad, an old apotropaic name, 1422 Lemisch, an occupational nickname for the maker of plowshares. Several surnames are derived from place names, among them 1575 Zschygeran. In occasional instances a new interpretation resulted for the respective place name.

The article gives a review about the development of onomastics in Leipzig, beginning with first publications about Lithuanian personal names in 1909 by a famous representative of Slavonic linguistics. Further the survey shows the merits of Slavonic linguists for onomastics in scientific discourse with other philologists. Three different stages of its development since the Second World War are characterised specifically: the time of orientation in the new scientific area, the formation of an interdisciplinary group of researchers in 1953 and their regular national and international publications since 1956. This developmental period of Onomastic research was based on international co-operation and various projects, one of which is reflected by the increasing popularity of this journal as an internationally distributed and acclaimed paper. The main directions, questions, intentions, projects, and aims as well as the results in onomastics are described and illustrated in this article. A new period in Onomastic research began in 1990, which includes new perspectives and the creation of the academic subject "Onomastics" which is increasingly popular with students. And since then a new quality of public relation of onomastics on TV and other media can be noted.