[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] SKI-SKY-KE-

[Otto]

a few comments. . .

My forefathers used both the Prussian name "Schienke" and the Polish
alias "Stodulski".
The two names are not a translation or transliteration one of the other.
The surname Schienk-e or Schien-ke were used as early as the 1500's.
(in my records to date)  Both 'e' and 'ke' are diminutives implying
'little', similar in meaning to 'son of'.  "Ke" is the oldest form.  It
is not a German suffix, but a Prussian suffix. (Now an extinct
language) The suffix is also present in Germanic flat-land dialects.
The 'ke' suffix use traces back to the ancient Sanskrit language. 'Ke'
is not of Slavic origin as is readily offered as explanation at times.
The term "Slavic" may come off the tongue of a priest in identifying a
culture, (constructed after Krakow) a culture existing before the namer
of it,  a term only of modern usage.  Many contemporary terms are but
mental constructs of later periods, as attempts to give meaning to the
past by naming it and dismissing it.

A proper use of the suffix 'ke' can be demonstrated by using a surname
mentioned in an earlier E-letter.
The surname "Ganske".    'Gans' is the surname. A son of Gans would, in
the colloquial, be called Gans-ke, meaning 'little Gans'.
The suffix does more than identify a 'Germanic' name, it identifies
Prussian roots.

The forefathers alias, "Stodulski", came into use at the end of the
1700's, with the Third Partition of Poland and the coming of Napoleon
to fight his battles at Nasielsk and Pultusk. Use of it insured a
longer and healthy life.  It came into use again around 1860, with the
attempted overthrow of the Russian hold on Poland.  It again insured a
longer life.

The use of the 'ski' suffix is not a diminutive.  It indicates "from
the estate of".  The Russian spelling of the suffix 'sky' varied
because of transliteration, (into St. Cyril's alphabet with variance to
the Latin)  but meant exactly the same thing.


After the beginning of the 1800's; after Napoleon's breaking of the
remnants of feudal society, it became common among Poles to add 'ski'
to their surname for a bit of sizzle and flair, so common in fact, it
lost its original connotation or meaning.  It is difficult to use the
suffix today as an indication of past nobility without substantiating
it with pedigree.


...  Otto

                    " The Zen moment..." wk. of February 20, 2005-
                          ________________________________
            "Substance is elusive... most grasp the shadows."