Research on Prussian Proper Names: Baltic and European Context

Abstract

Research on Prussian Proper Names: Baltic and European Context The language of the Prussian land speaks about the autochthons of that land, the Old Prussians, about the historical processes of the origin, use and change of proper names, and about the development of the region. The newcomers of the Teutonic Order in the Prussian lands found a myriad of Prussian personal names of the inhabitants of those lands and the place names which were recorded by the scribes of the Order representing a strict chancellery structure. The principle of historical onomastics is, fi rst of all, to collect proper names recorded over centuries and to explain them. We should not disregard the fact that when explaining Prussian proper names, we can only refer to written sources, and they cannot be verifi ed by means of the present-day forms of pronunciation, because there are simply no such forms. Prussian toponyms and anthroponyms reached our days already infl uenced by the neighbouring languages, and we had to restore their authentic forms. Prussian proper names were germanized, polonized and also aff ected by the Lithuanian language. The research of historical onomastics pays special attention to the collection of material as such data are the major grounds for explaining the origin of proper names. The analysis of Prussian names of settlements requires a presentation of the context in which a specifi c proper name was mentioned. Prussian proper names constitute the part of Baltic proper names, which was the fi rst to draw the attention of researchers; two-fold changes occurred in the second half of the 20th century: fi rst, the collection and publication of the proper names of other Baltic languages increased; second, a number of Prussian proper names, not recorded by previous researchers of Prussian proper names, were found. Later, researchers found several hundred of new onyms of former East Prussia that were not included in scientifi c circulation. The abovementioned motives and the growing interest in the studies of the Prussian language as well as the careful attention of such linguists as Toporov, to Prussian proper names determined the revival of the research on Prussian proper names. The research chronology, which now covers the 16th-18th centuries as well, was also expanded. One of the contemporary functions of every branch of science is to enrich and activate other branches by its specifi c conclusions. In the case con cerned, the present paper can contribute to research of pre-history and regional history.