[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] "OE" or "O" or "E"

[Jerry Frank]

It has nothing to do with Polish or Russian, Sylvia.  Nor would it be some official that made the change for the family.  The family would most likely have adapted / adopted it themselves.

The Germanic "o" with umlaut is often written as "oe", even by some Germans, and often shortened, especially in English to "e".  The sound is not identical but close.  The change could have happened anytime, either back in German territory, during the migration east, or upon arrival in North America.  Some branches of the family may have changed it while others retained an original spelling.  My maternal family surname changed from Hamminger ("a" with umlaut) to Hemminger way back c.1550.

You will just have to watch for it as you go back through old records.


Jerry Frank




----- Original Message -----
From: merschel <merschel at ucla.edu>
Date: Monday, June 5, 2006 9:07 am
Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] "OE" or "O" or "E"

> Dearest SGGEE members,
> 
> I have a new problem.  I just found some of my 
> father's research from 1958!  He was confounded 
> by a possible name change in the family and none 
> of us are sure that it happened.  My grandfather 
> always said that the family name had always been 
> Merschel, but my father may have unearthed a 
> sound change that might have happened to the 
> family name in the early 19th century.  But, dad 
> was never sure and he's not around any longer. 
> My ggg-grandparents might have come from 
> Alsace-Lorraine or the Rhineland Palatinate with 
> the name of Moerschel or Mörschel.  Would this be 
> a common change in Polish?  Do they sound the 
> same?  I'm afraid I am not up to my history and I 
> do not know whether a German-, Polish-, or 
> Russian-speaking official would have changed the 
> vowel.
> 
> As always, your input is greatly appreciated.
> 
> My best to all of you,
> Sylvia Merschel
> 
> 
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