The Wendish Research Exchange - Wenzel, Walter: The Upper Sorbian Surnames Ryćer and Rjek from the Perspective of Linguistic Geography

Lětopis Abstract 2015 1: Wenzel, Walter: The Upper Sorbian Surnames Ryćer and Rjek from the Perspective of Linguistic Geography

The present article was inspired by an investigation undertaken by H. Jenc into the origin and meaning of the Upper Sorbian words ryćer and rjek. The occurrence of ryćer and rjek in the function of surnames was not taken into consideration. In the case of rjek the author assumed that it was borrowed from Czech at the time of the Sorbian renaissance and that the surname Rjek was supposed to be based on a Sorbian version of the German surname Reck. We were able to trace the history of Ryćer and Rjek back into the 16th Century using the work “Studies of Sorbian Personal Names” to prove that the appellatives on which they were based were borrowed from German. The map included in the article shows that Ryćer and Rjek appear in two clearly delineated areas, which can be arranged into larger areas with anthroponomastic connections.