[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] NELL -Spelling Changes

[Otto]

Morning Nell,
I have cousins in AussieLand.

In the civil records the shift was from 'ck' (end of the 1700's) to 'k'.
The spelling was changed, not shortened.  'ck' combination is still  
popular in the English language.  e.g. I do not 'klik' on a  
hyperlink, I 'click' on it. (sound is the same)  Language can be  
likened to a living organism, new sounds born, old sounds dying.

On "Schemionek"
I find no German equivalent alternate of the name in SGGEE's list of  
alternate surnames.
It does not mean one does not exist. Perhaps someone on the SGGEE  
ListServ more fluent in the Polish language can give us insight to  
its meaning.  The prefix 'Sch' is Germanic and does not exist in the  
Polish language.  In Polish 'Sch' is written as "Sz'. The ending 'ek'  
could well be a suffix and if so what language... Polish 'ek' is a  
diminutive indicating little..  The name would be pronounced, as  
written, "Shemion'ek".

I will now disappoint you by stating, "There are no original names.  
There are no original spellings!"
There are no mistakes, just people attempting to sound out a name  
using characters in their alphabet to represent just the right sound  
imagined. (if their hearing was bad. . . or perhaps were nipping at  
Reiner's schnapps...)
Only older spellings, newer, or translated spellings exist.
Standardized languages are a detriment to language study and  
genealogical research.  Old sounds were information rich.

We use alphabet characters to represent sounds, hence the term  
phonetic characters.   Even a proper linking of alphabet characters  
peculiar to a language to represent the correct sounds does not  
guarantee it will be properly 'sounded out'. As often stated on this  
SGGEE site  "If it sounds like your surname, it probably is."  With  
the passing of time, even the sound changes. For example, 800 C.E.,   
vowel-shift in the English language. We form our palate and muscle  
structure for speech at a very young age while on our parents laps  
which has future  affect as to how we shape sounds. The German  
language as an example; listening to a speaker sound their 'ich' and  
'ach', also trilling or rolling the 'r', sounding out the umlauts,  
quickly indicate when the speaker learned the language.

On the 'ski' and 'sky' query:
Both are Slavic suffixes added to a surname. Indicating "from the  
estate of".  The 'ski' is more common to the Polish spelling of the  
sound and 'sky' is more common to the Russian/Ukrainian spelling of  
the sound.  Both sound out as 'skee'.

The suffix can be misleading because adding it to a surname  became  
popular after Napoleon and the end of the Feudal Structure, commoners  
now had a right to own their own property.  Now everyone could own  
his acre of paradise and the 'ski' suffix on the surname indicated  
it.  Earlier use of the suffix indicated estate owners or commoners  
from the particular estate.

On Apr 20, 2006, at 8:35 PM, Schemioneck, Nell wrote:

>  Otto

>   One
> point - you mentioned
> "Not only the 'c'substitution for 'k', also the 'k' for the 'ck'".
>
> Does this mean that 'ck' was probably the original spelling but was
> shortened to 'k'?
>
> We spell our name Schemioneck and there are still some families with
> this spelling in Germany but the majority of those in Germany today  
> are
> Schemionek.  I've been told (by someone with this spelling) that  
> their's
> is original and ours is a mistake (considering the shipping manifest
> spelled it Skemouck it's a wonder it's anything like the original!)
>
> In Poland today the name is Siemionek or Szemionek.  Can anyone  
> tell me
> how it would be pronounced in Poland?  We Aussies pronounce it Cher
> (like the singer/actress) muunick (like in Munich in Germany).
> Nell Schemioneck
. . .  Otto

                      " The Zen moment..." wk. of March 5, 2006
                      ________________________________
                         "Remove what isn't... What is remains."