This paper focuses on the toponyms (place names, field names) and the linguistic landscape in the Czech borderlands in the Jeseník region. Based on a combination of qualitative approaches (interviews with the locals) and quantitative ones (analysis of the toponyms in the linguistic landscape), the functions of German geographical names (and the German language in general) in this area are evaluated. The relationship of both local residents and local entrepreneurs to the German place and field names is also explored. The analysis reveals that the names of German origin are sometimes maintained and even revitalized. The revitalization of such names is influenced more by local entrepreneurs than by the local residents.
Due to the complicated history between Czechs and Germans, research on names (especially German names) has often been influenced by nationalism and - from the linguistic point of view - purism. Czech authors wanted to improve the Slavic origin of the German place names, thus we can find some false interpretations in their papers. However, more attention has arisen because of the Germanization of Slavic names, which was fixed as a part of the revision after the 1918. The revision after the 1945, when most of the names of the German origin were removed as a symbol of the Germans and German dominance, was more radical. At present, the perception of German place names is changing. As the result we can encounter the rehabilitation or revitalization of these names (especially in the case of non-standardized toponyms or chrematonyms).
This paper focuses on urbanonyms (street names) in the Czech borderland town of Jeseník in the context of 20th-century history. In the Middle Ages the town of Jeseník (part of the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic) was settled by Germans who became a majority of the population (thus most names were of German origin). This changed after 1945, when the Germans were expelled from the Czech borderlands and the town was resettled by Czechs from other regions, Slovaks, and returning émigrés. As a Czechoslovak town, Jeseník was part of the Eastern bloc until 1989. Street names are dependent on (political) developments in the society, therefore they were quite unstable and developed in a specific way in the Czech borderlands; in the post-1945 period this process involved Czechization and renaming. Currently just 16% of the original (pre-war) urbanonyms have been preserved (from the semantic point of view). This is especially due to the frequent use of street names for commemorative purposes during the post-1945 period; indeed, commemoration become the main motive for street naming. In the Czech borderlands, commemorative names (honouring important national figures) also appear on the outskirts of communities; this may be due to the fact that they are losing their commemorative function.
CS
Studie se zabývá urbanonymií (uličními názvy) pohraničního města Jeseník, a to na pozadí historického vývoje 20. století. Město Jeseník (Česká republika, Olomoucký kraj) bylo v době středověku osidlováno německým etnikem, které se stalo majoritou (většina jmen tedy byla německého původu). To se ovšem změnilo po roce 1945, kdy bylo německé obyvatelstvo odsunuto; Jeseník byl znovu osídlen Čechy z vnitrozemí, Slováky, reemigranty atd. Do roku 1989 byl Jeseník jako město Československa součástí východního bloku. Uliční názvy, které jsou závislé na (politickém) vývoji společnosti, proto byly v pohraničí nestabilní a měly – ve srovnání s vnitrozemím – svůj specifický vývoj (to se týká např. bohemizace po roce 1945 a přejmenování). Do současnosti se zachovalo pouze 16 % původních (předválečných) urbanonym (z hlediska motivační báze). Tento stav je především výsledkem častého užívání honorifikačního motivu v poválečné době. Honorifikace se stala hlavním motivem při pojmenování ulic. V pohraničí se honorifikační jména (oslavující významné národní osobnosti) objevují také na periferii, což může být dáno tím, že ztrácejí svou honorifikační funkci.
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