Namnforum
- Datum: 22 november 2024, kl. 10.15–12.00
- Plats: Engelska parken, 16-1058
- Typ: Seminarium
- Föreläsare: Martina Heer, Universität Bern.
- Arrangör: Institutionen för nordiska språk
- Kontaktperson: Birger Mård
"Hanns Jm grund, ein sun Lienharts vff der Flů. Personal names and forms of naming in early modern estate registers from the Canton of Bern (Switzerland)". Det blir även en kort presentation av Familiennamenatlas der Deutschschweiz (Family name atlas of German-speaking Switzerland with perspectives on the Swiss Romance-language regions).
Abstract
The presentation deals with the use of personal names and the tradition of their written form in historical administrative documents of the 16th century from the area of today’s Canton of Bern (Switzerland). The study examines variation in the use of different naming forms, which were used to designate people who have to pay interest in official estate registers (so-called Urbar or Urbarbuch in German), and presents results from the investigation (cf. Heer 2024). In these estate registers, people’s names are listed in very different ways and according to different naming patterns:
- With single name elements such as the first name (e. g. Heinrich), the family name (e. g. Schnider ‘tailor’) or with their full name (germ. Gesamtname), a combination of the first and the family name (e. g. Heinrich Schnider);
- With indirect reference to a person (e. g. Anthoni Tossen tochter‚ Anthoni Toss‘s daughter‘);
- With variations and diverse forms of identification (e. g. Henslin Welchen genant Schwartzhans ‚Henslin Welchen called Schwartzhans‘, Ita ëgel vs. Itÿ die wittwen Uͤlÿ ëgels ‚Itÿ the widow of Uͤlÿ ëgel‘);
- With individual descriptors indicating kinship (e. g. Peter Knörj der eltter ‚Peter Knörj the older one‘), occupation (e. g. Uͤllÿ Kaderlÿ der wirt ‚Uͤllÿ Kaderlÿ the innkeeper‘) or geographical origin and residence (e. g. Hans Hug von Soloturn ‚Hans Hug from the city of Solothurn‘).
The study discusses variation in personal names and naming forms, exploring the questions as the which extralinguistic factors influenced these forms and variants and how name use marked social and economic affiliations.