This paper is a response to an article in the journal Acta Linguistica Lithuanica 62–63 (2011), whose author argues partially quite unscientifically. This paper will show the deficiencies of knowledge the other article’s author betrays as far as historical-comparative linguistics in general and Indo-European linguistics especially are concerned. As a conclusion it must be stated that all the results the other author has achieved in the field of ‘Old European Hydronymy’ by using research methods outdated for decades will have to be reevaluated applying to them modern Indo-European linguistics. Only after this task will have been accomplished, one will be able to tell which of that author‘s works and results will be safe for further use.

No description available.

A proper name is a vocabulary element of a particular language which also belongs to a respective onymic subsystem, thereby acquiring a binary character. Proper names are formed (as a secondary plan of a language) with the background of appellative vocabulary. However, in their formation and use in communication, not only are the rules of the appellative language code applied but also the rules specific to proper names. Two opposing but interrelated tendencies are typical of the position of proper names – a continuous interaction of proper names with other vocabulary and the whole language system and, simultaneously, a continuous polarisation of the category of proper names in relation to appellatives. The interaction of proper names with other vocabulary relates to the ongoing processes of onymisation (appellative % proprium) and apellativisation (proprium % appellative) with the openness of onymy (the social, historical, cultural as well as the political dimensions of proper names present a wide range of possibilities for, e. g. the adoption of exonyms) but, above all, it relates to the social needs of ordinary communication. The polarisation of proper names in relation to appellatives is, hence, conditioned by the special character of onymic nomination. From this binary interrelationship of proper names follows the binary status of the category nomen proprium, i. e. linguistic status and onomastic status. In the analysis of proper names and from the methodological standpoint in onomastics, I consider this to be fundamental. That is why, after the older characterisation of onomastics, I have extended the definition of the linguistic status of proper names as defined by Kuryłowicz (La position linguistique du nom propre, 1956) to linguistic and onomastic status (Blanár 1976, 1977 ). These terms will be discussed later.

Wir wollen an dieser Stelle in Thesenform Prinzipien des toponymischen Vergleichs zwischen Böhmen und Sachsen darlegen, um Anregungen für künftige komparative Forschungen zu geben.

In this article the author recommends a hierarchically structured data base, called MemoMaster, as a mighty tool to replace traditional card indexes in the preparatory stage of onomastic research. Referring to Karlheinz Hengst’s exemplary monograph on place names in the South-West of Saxony, he demonstrates how MemoMaster enables the scholar to store and structure information in folders, subfolders, and “memos“ to be utilized in a manuscript later on. His explanation is supported by two screenshots.

In 2009 the oldest documents concerning the place Greiz in Eastern Thuringia were published by a historian. This article now provides a linguistic approach to that publication and its interpretation of the mentioned area in Medieval times. The results may be considered as a contribution to a book of reference for place names of Eastern Thuringia. In this respect some questions have been asked, e. g. whether the region along the river Weiße Elster between the places Weida and Plauen had really been an unsettled area until the 12th century. There is hard evidence that the historian’s assumptions are wrong because of the obvious Slavonic names of settlements in this area dating from the 8th until the 10th centuries. Based on a document from 1209 – respectively its copy from 1510 – as well as on a document from 1225 several facts are discussed in detail with consequences for toponymy and history of settlement with the help of historical linguistics. Thus it becomes evident that it is necessary to exchange ideas and to communicate for representatives of history as well as linguistics. At the same time it is obvious that the publication of documents and their analysis by historians will always be very helpful for linguistic exploitation. As a result the prospective edition of a historical dictionary of place names in Thuringia or of Eastern Thuringia respectively has been asserted as dependent on the continuous co-operation between historians and linguists.

The article continues to discuss the origins and the history of the Saxon place name Leipzig. Several questions are under scrutiny. Starting out from recent research which gives the oldest historical evidence of the place name Leipzig as Lib-, it deals with certain new doubts regarding explanations that try to date the origins of the place name in pre-monolingual times. The question whether one can assume an original Slavonic form to the Slavonic root *lib- is dealt with in detail. The results of this discourse are: Today’s research cannot give a satisfactory explanation that the primary place name is derived from Slavonic. Furthermore, the hypothesis of an existing pre-monolingual form is newly evaluated. In this regard also the formerly existing geographical setting of the area around Leipzig is considered as the deciding motive in naming the place.

Das "Etymologische Wörterbuch der geographischen Namen Schlesiens" (Słownik etymologiczny nazw geograficznych Śląska) gehört zu den vier großen wissenschaftlichen Projekten im Bereich Namenkunde und Dialektologie, die Schlesien betreffen und von großer Bedeutung sind. Zu den anderen Vorhaben gehören: Słownik nazwisk śląskich [Wörterbuch der schlesischen Familiennamen; Bde. 1–2: A–K. Wrocław 1967–73], Atlas językowy Śląska [Schlesischer Sprachatlas von Alfred Zaręba. Bde. 1– 8. Katowice 1967– 80] und Słownik gwar śląskich [Wörterbuch der schlesischen Dialekte. Hg. von Bogusław Wyderka. Bde. 1–10. Opole 2000 – 08]. Von den erwähnten Abhandlungen wurde nur der „Sprachatlas Schlesien“ als Ganzes veröffentlicht. Vom „Wörterbuch der schlesischen Familiennamen“ sind lediglich zwei Bände (einschließlich Buchstabe K) erschienen. Am „Lexikon der geographischen Namen Schlesiens“ und am „Wörterbuch der schlesischen Dialekte“ wird weiter gearbeitet, und hoffentlich werden wir in absehbarer Zeit den Abschluss dieser Projekte sehen. Wie zu ersehen ist, könnte Schlesien als einzige Region unter den slawischen Ländern eine volle namenkundliche und dialektologische Dokumentation vorweisen. Die Beendigung dieser grundlegenden Werke wird eine wichtige Forschungsetappe abschließen, deren Ziel es ist, die umfangreichen Quellenbestände dieser Region zugänglich zu machen. In meinem Referat möchte ich sowohl die Genese, die methodologischen und theoretischen Grundlagen des Wörterbuches „Geographische Namen Schlesiens“ als auch seine Perzeption in den polnischen und internationalen wissenschaftlichen Kreisen darstellen.

Die intensive Ortsnamenforschung der vergangenen 50 Jahre hat dazu geführt, dass auch der Name Leipzigs heute in einem etwas veränderten Licht gegenüber den Darlegungen in Band 8 der Schriftenreihe „Deutsch- Slawische Forschungen zur Namenkunde und Siedlungsgeschichte“ von 1960 erscheint. Insbesondere ergaben sich neue Aspekte durch die Sprachkontaktforschung / Kontaktonomastik seit den 1980er Jahren. So bleibt zwar die Deutung des Namens Leipzig – alt *Lipsk(o) – zu dem aso. Appellativ lipa ,Linde‘ unangefochten, doch handelt es sich bei den diesbezüglichen Namenbelegen offensichtlich um die hochmittelalterliche Umdeutung eines älteren Vorgängernamens mit einer anderen Grundlage. Die genauere Überprüfung der Gesamtüberlieferung führte dazu, die abweichenden Erstbelege bei Thietmar von Merseburg und den frühesten anderen Bezeugungen in Urkunden und Annalen kritischer zu bewerten.

In an extensive article the well-known philologist Heinz Schuster-Šewc presented his views concerning our “Book of Place Names in Oberlausitz” (Upper Lusatia). He attempted to refute a substantial number of place name meanings and suggested new explanations. In some instances his interpretations were preferable to earlier explanations; however, in far more cases his arguments were not conclusive, so that the current explanations can still be considered valid.