mersiowsky - 7-6-2018 at 02:00 PM
Lětopis Abstract 2018 1: Wenzel, Walter: The Tribal Name Besunzane in a New Light. With a Map
The tribal name Besunzane has repeatedly been the subject of academic investigation, the last example being an unpublished study by Bernd
Koenitz. He firstly brought into his reflections the form Phesnuzi, first registered in the Bavarian Geographer (around 850), but up to now
mostly overlooked, without however giving in our view a convincing evaluation of both pieces of evidence. We have made however the following
deductions: Old Sorb. *Běžunčane, the people of Běžunk‘, and Old Sorb. *Běžunci, the
Běžunks, the people of Běžunk'. The same formation structure is shown by the name of the neighboring tribe, the
Dziadoszanie in Lower Saxony, around 850 Dadosesani and Thadesi, Old Polish. *D́adošane and
*D́adoši, the people of D́adoš, the D́adošs‘. The name of the Milzane may have developed along the
same lines, Old Sorb. *Milčane alongside *Milci, the people of Milk, the Milks‘.