[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] -ow of Slavian origin

[Günther Böhm]

Bronwyn Klimach schrieb:

> I was under the impression that the -ow ending (pronounced as in the town
>Prenzlau which appears as Prenzlow on some old maps)  was of Slav origin.
>Am I mistaken?
>Otto, can you tell me please, when were Berliners adding -ow to their
>surnames?
>Bron.
>
Hi Bron,
no you are right, the -ow suffixe indicates the male genitive plural of 
the family or tribe name of the original owners or inhabitants. I never 
saw an artificial German -ow suffixe in Berlin (grew up in the nearby 
town of Brandenburg, studied in Berlin). The masses of -ow in the 
Brandenburg province are definitely of Slavian origin. Villages in the 
vicinity of Brandenburg are Mötzow, Butzow, Bagow, Roskow, Möthlow, 
Brielow, Bochow, Krielow, Glindow, Plessow, Petzow, Geltow etc. The -ow 
suffixe was partially changed into the german -au but definitely by 
mistake since -au indicates a wet area in a river valley or plain (in 
Slavian -awa).

Guenther