Selected names of Germanic origin in Polish oikonymy (reconnaissance)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the deanthroponymic oeconyms that can trace their origins to Germanic names: Herman, Henryk, Konrad, and Zygmunt. These are Christian names which have been known in Poland since the Middle Ages, and have been used in both their basic and variant forms with varying degrees of popularity over the centuries. Among the discussed toponyms are medieval names (mainly German – officially changed after 1945) that identify localities in Lower Silesia, the Opole region, Lubuskie, and Pomerania as well as oeconyms with more recent origins that refer to objects that are mostly located in the historical lands of the Kingdom of Poland (where planned colonization took place in the 19th century). The toponymic material is presented in chronological and geographical terms with references to the historical and cultural aspects. The structure of the oeconyms that are based on Germanic names was also taken into account. These toponyms were created mainly as a result of extended transonymization (word-formation and paradigmatic derivation).