Neue Deutungen altsorbischer Orts- und Stammesnamen

Abstract

New Meanings of Old Sorbian Place and Tribe Names

There are still names in the Old Sorbian linguistic area, for which the explanations up until now have proved unsatisfactory. Amongst these are the six place names and two tribe names discussed in the article, some of which appeared in sources over a thousand years ago, for example Nessuci, Selpoli and Chozimi. They are very important for the study of the history of the Sorbian language, settlement and culture. Thus, the oldest evidence of 158 Lětopis 67 (2020) 2 the place name of Leuthen documents the earliest proof of the Lower Sorbian sound shift from e to o, cf. Old Lower Sorbian *Ľutoḿe sodło ‘site, settlement of L’utom’. The place name Pautzsch, Old Sorbian *Budč ‘settlement of Budk’ provides proof, together with many other examples, of the immigration of Old West Sorbian tribes from Bohemia and Moravia. The proper name contained in Nessuci, Old Sorbian *Nesudici ‘People of Nesud or Nesuda’, a defence name, gives us an insight into the beliefs of the Old Slavs. Their interpersonal relationships are illuminated by Mockzig, Old Sorbian *Mokrosuky, freely translated, ‘village of the sons of dogs’, an uncouth nickname.