The Slavic district Besunzane in the light of toponymy. – With the help of Slavic place-names Hans Walther was first in localizing the tribal region of the Besunzane in the area of the Neiße river between Görlitz and Ostritz. Based on this research the present article presents the previous findings with the aid of typology and stratigraphy of place-names more precisely. The quality values of the soil are thereby also taken into consideration. On the accompanying map with older and more recent Slavic place-names the region of Besunzane appears as a ca. 8 kilometer wide strip along the Neiße river, almost throughout on land with soil quality values lying over 50 points. In the west it is sharply separated by a broad unpopulated zone from the tribal region of the Milzane. By evidence of place-names, the strips of land to the east of Besunzane were sparsely populated, if at all, likewise in the south. To the north of Görlitz there are solely more recent types of place-names.

A Small Slavonic Region called Nice? A reply to Walter Wenzel´s paper about “The provincia Nice”. – The present essay on the early-medieval settlement areas at the River Neiße/Nysa Łużycka in Lower Lusatia, deals with the issue of the provincia Nice, a name which appears among the toponyms of the region and has been the subject of a joined study together with Ernst Eichler. The only written evidence documenting Nice is the chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg. Its localization is unknown, and all attempts to localize it remained as yet unconvincing. The proposition of the aforementioned study is, that this name may be referring to the only known settlement area at the lower Neiße river which went by the name Selpuli, thus assuming that Nice was effectively a quasi- synonym for Selpuli. Walter Wenzel contradicted this and localized Nice in a smaller area around the present-day town of Forst. For his reconstruction he used place names, archaeological findings and personal names. In this article all of his arguments are revisited (parts 2–4) and, as a result it is found, that not all of them can be accounted for as indicative of an early medieval settlement. Therefore Wenzel’s theory yields no evidence which would invalidate the proposition that Nice geographically coincides with Selpuli. Finally (parts 5 and 6) this assumption is discussed in the context of settlement geography, including a short analysis about the use of the terms pagus and provincia in Thietmars chronicle.

In the legal systems of the Romanic legal family four major types of attribution of the child’s name may be distinguished: 1) obligatory transmission of father’s name; 2) choice between father’s or mother’s name; 3) obligatory transmission of father’s and mother’s name; 4) choice between father’s name, mother’s name or father’s and mother’s name. There is a strong tendency towards a more liberal approach. Therefore, the fourth type is gaining importance. In the Romanic legal systems marriage has no influence on the legal name of the spouses. They keep their own name during the marriage. But most legal systems accept that the spouses have the right to use each other’s name.

The article discusses the linguistic and pragmatic features of personal names in the Russian language that cause name-bearers to have problems with documents (name identity) and create conflict situation in the legal field. The main reason is the fact that a personal name in Russian has a large number of morphological and orthographic variants. Variant forms can occur with declension of Russian and foreign surnames, as well as through transliteration from Cyrillic to Latin. The article gives examples of unusual personal names that have emerged in the last decade and discusses their conformity / non-conformity with the norm. A conclusion is made regarding the expansion of boundaries of onomastic norm in the modern Russian language and the fruitfulness of interdisciplinary contacts between linguists and lawyers in dealing with conflict situations related to proper names.

The 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.

Als einer der Verantwortlichen für die Organisation verabschiedete Christian Lohse die Teilnehmer mit einem herzlichen Dank an die Referenten und einer Deutung des im Tagungsthema enthaltenen Namens Europa. Er übernahm sie aus der antiken Literatur zum Europa-Mythos.

Starting from the analysis of numerous similar place names, on the one hand, and, on the other, of a large volume of documentation on archaeological sites and local traditions, this study explains the name of the most important megalithic monument on the Iberian Peninsula, [Cueva de] Menga (Antequera, province of Malaga). The name is based on an anthroponym which denoted a mythical female creature, to whom the Castilian settlers that had arrived in the late Middle Ages attributed the construction of dolmens. This constitutes an onomastic mechanism based on popular traditions spread over large parts of the Iberian Peninsula, and even over large parts of Europe.

The article aims to give an overview over the author’s work on the oldest layers of toponyms and hydronyms in Central Europe (including a short detour to Italy). In the course of almost one decade some three dozen names were treated. More often than not, the scientific standards of modern Indo-European linguistics were applied for the first time in etymologizing these names. In some cases arguments for new etymologies could be brought forward, in many cases more precise etymologies could be offered – but in some cases it also had to be stated that the formerly given ‘one and only’ etymological solution had to be discarded of in favour of an array of (sometimes four, five or even more) viable solutions. But in spite of such (to some readers maybe discouraging) results, it should become clear that only this modern way of Indo-European linguistics will lead to results so reliable that further research can be based on them. In the second part of the paper several tables will give a compact overview comparing old solutions and new findings concerning a number of river-names.

East-Thuringian Magdala and Ma(g)del, but Maina and Moinwinida? Critical reflections on some geographical names and their history. ‒ The linguistic origin of the hydronym Magdel in connection with the toponyms Magdala and Madelungen is analyzed in this article, based on the historical forms from the 9th century. Various spellings from the Middle Ages will be discussed here. Special focus is also put on the question whether the name Maina can be connected with the only historical form Moinwinida. With the help of other geographical names in an important historical documentation there can be given a final answer as well as a proposal for identification of some up till now only once documented historical names in Thuringia. The resulting conclusions about those names with the element –winida are relevant for the complete Central German region around the year 1000.

Vacha, a small town and Faschau, a deserted site near Meiningen, are both situated in southwestern Thuringia, just 35 km apart. Some researchers of regional history occasionally held the opinion that the first official record of Vacha in c. 817 in a deed of donation might refer to this place Faschau, now deserted. The following study will interpret the deserted place name Faschau and elucidate that the deed of donation of 817 applies to what is now Vacha.