mersiowsky - 7-28-2015 at 01:38 PM
When you have a k at the end of a Wendish last name, it is called a diminutive suffix, so originally if you had a Dad called Hantsch, his junior would
be Hantschk (little Hantsch). (Gunter Schaarschmidt)
To determine the origin of a Wendish name, take the k off of the end and listen to the way it sounds, not necessarily spelled; ie, Michalk becomes
Michael, Noack become Noah, Symmank become Simon, Jurk becomes Juri (George), Lorentschk becomes Lawrence, Zieschank becomes Christian, etc.
From Gunter Schaarschmidt, a link to a document, written in German, containing a lot of information about Wendish, as used in Northern Germany, in addition to the use of German and Latin.
Thank you, Gunter!