The Wendish Research Exchange - Hengst, Karlheinz: Zurba – A Previously Unnoticed Name for the Early Western Sorbian Area.

Lětopis Abstract 2016 2: Hengst, Karlheinz: Zurba – A Previously Unnoticed Name for the Early Western Sorbian Area.

This study is devoted to the regional name Zurba used in a royal charter of 1140 for the bishopric of Naumburg. This form Zurba, used in documents to describe the linguistic area of settlement of the Old Sorbs east of the river Saale, which also included the region around Naumburg, is here examined for the first time from a linguistic point of view. An analysis of the formation, etymology, style and later use of the name then follows. In this context, connections relating to its linguistic history as well as to the history of Sorbian settlements are highlighted. One result of this, seen in connection with, amongst others, the treatment of the regional name Strupenice in 1136 for a smaller territory to the east of Jena, is confirmation that the royal charter referred to a larger area, while the documents issued by bishops and margraves, and many others, refer to smaller areas of settlement. Moreover, the unconditional use of loan names of Slav origin by the German authorities is again emphasized. As regards the accuracy of the spelling of Slav proper names reference is made to the clearly remarkable linguistic competence of the notaries in the chanceries.