Neue Deutungen Oberlausitzer Ortsnamen

Abstract

New Interpretations of Upper Sorbian Place Names

While working on the Oberlausitzer Ortsnamenbuch (Upper Sorbian Book of Place Names), a work of popularscholarship, the author was able to present new explanations for a series of place names compared to earlier interpretations. But in view of the limited space in this work and the nature of the book, which is aimed at a wide readership, it was not possible to give detailed evidence for the reinterpretation of these names and to support this with comparative names from other Slav languages. As a result of progress made in German, international, and in particular Polish, onomastics, as well as in Sorbian anthroponomastics, 50 place names can be explained from a different point of view or their previous interpretations can be explained more precisely. Amongst them are Cannewitz, Cortnitz, Dehsa, Demitz, Denkwitz, Döschko, Gaußig, Kodersdorf, Mulkwitz, Oppach, Putzkau and Ratzen.