Zum Wert von Interdisziplinarität bei Forschung zu Sprache und Geschichte. Dargestellt an Namenformen bei Thietmar von Merseburg

Abstract

On the Value of the Interdisciplinary Approach when Researching Language and History. Presented Using the Form of Names in the Work of Thietmar von Merseburg

Bishop Thietmar von Merseburg mentioned many times in his chronicle the name of a castle, Cziczani, the last time was with respect to the year 1018, in connection with the battles between Emperor Heinrich II and the Polish Regent, Bolesław Chrobry. The different texts are analysed linguistically and historically in this article, and the graphic differences are explained. Older attempts to link this Old Sorbian name for a fortification to a place name in Lusatia are examined critically. After a detailed consideration of grapheme-phoneme relations in the forms, which have been handed down, the linguistic- historical results are compared with previous archeological and historical findings. It becomes noticeable that an original settlement was fortified somewhat later, and, beAbstracts 123 cause of its geographical situation, was able to offer particular protection. This interdisciplinary study shows furthermore that the original Slavonic name was already abandoned in the Middle Ages and replaced by a German toponym.