Lidové výklady českých příjmení

• Authors: Žaneta Dvořáková

Title variants

EN

Folk etymology and Czech surnames

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

This paper analyses 379 folk etymological interpretations and other 141 assumptions about the foreign origin of surnames, all received either by the radio programme On the Origin of Surnames, the Language Counselling Centre of the Czech Language Institute, or the information service Ask the Library. These inquiries were sent by the public along with requests for a confirmation of the suggested etymological interpretations of the surnames in question, or for an official (correct / scientific) explanation. The analysis shows that most often the folk etymology consists in erroneous decomposition of the name or in connecting the name with an incorrect original form, i.e. usually a familiar noun recognized in the name. The folk etymologies do not respect the word-forming structure of names. They also ignore the age and origin of the surname which they like to look for in foreign languages (especially in French, Polish, Hungarian), regardless of the origin of the family.

Keywords

CS

onomastika; příjmení; lidová etymologie

EN

onomastics; surnames; family names; folk etymology

Discipline

• PHILOLOGY_&_LINGUISTICS: PHILOLOGY & LINGUISTICS

• Publisher: Czech Ethnological Society
• Journal: Národopisný věstník
• Year: 2022
• Volume: 63
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 379-396
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Žaneta Dvořáková

• Acta onomastica, redakce, Ústav pro jazyk český AV ČR, v.v.i., Letenská 4, 118 51 Praha 1, Czech Republic