[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] NELL-Schemionken, Nicol-as- East Prussia

[Sig Matt]

In reply to Otto's question re Ostpreussen Plattdeutsch.
Yes indeed, "die Ecke" (in German Hochdeutsch)
becomes "de Eck" in Ostpreussen Plattdeutsch.

Which leads to a question of my own.
Where does the term "Low German" originate?
With my 8 years of "German Volksschule", which I finished in 1944, and my
almost 
21 years of life in Germany, I had not heard that term used in Germany.
The terms "Hochdeutsch" and "Plattdeutsch" were in common usage. 
It is only in the last 10 years as an amateur family researcher, on this
side of the pond,
that the term repeatedly confronts me.
I'd love to hear an authoritative clarification on that.

Die term "Kruschken" in East Prussia brings back childhood memories.
The fruit trees in our backyard were yet too young to bear fruit. There
were however
a number of wild growing Kruschke trees about in a nearby valley by the
creek
and near the forest that the neighborhood boys sought out at certain
times of year.
And when caught at the right time they tasted good, were free and we kids
had ball.
A Kruschke is an un-grafted pear tree growing in the wild.
The fruit is somewhat smaller than a regular pear and juicy and sweet
when ripe.

Sig Matt


On Sun, 23 Apr 2006 23:04:30 -0400 Otto <otto at schienke.com> writes:
> Evening or morning on your end Nell,
> 
> I always have a bit of difficulty using Germanic or Slavic  
> distinctions when it comes to language parts. Language is ancient, 
> we  
> are the remnants of a genetic dust-storm, linguists within the last  
> 
> 500 years or so classified words, naming those groups. . . A 
> question  
> that always runs through my mind is "Does the horse know it is a 
> horse?"
> 
> You now mention East Prussia/Ost Preussen. . .
> That could change the meaning of the suffix. If the village name was 
>  
> "Schemion-ken", the surname spelled 'Schemion-eck'. with the suffix  
> 
> 'eck' could well be East Prussian dialect.  'Ecke' is High German 
> for  
> corner, 'eck' could well be a low-German form of ecke.
> 
> Individuals on this ListServ that hail from East Prussia may be able 
>  
> to verify this. Let's wait and see. Their input will be 
> appreciated.
> Further comment on both "Schemion" and "eck" will be appreciated.
> 
> nell stated>  "I have been told previously that the name is Slavic,  
> 
> probably Masurian and certainly means little or son of Simeon.  
> Until  
> I started this research I had never heard of Masuria but it does  
> appear that a lot of the Schemioneck families have lived in this 
> area  
> (previously in East Prussia, now Poland). Although I haven't been  
> able to confirm it, I think our ancestor came from Summowen, East  
> Prussia (now Summowo, Poland).  I have even found mention of a  
> village of Schemionken in the area."<
> =======================
> My maternal great grandfather's surname is "Langas" The 'as' suffix  
> 
> is Lithuanian (Lithuania ruled a large area of Poland at one time) 
> It  
> indicates 'from the family of Lang'. I also have a "Louisa" in the  
> 
> family.  My paternal grandmother is Louisa Blank.
> 
> Your Nicolas, Nicolis is the Lithuanian way of writing the German  
> surname "Nickel'.
> 
> -Online translation applications work with a limited number of  
> present day language terms and leave things to be desired.
> 
> nell stated>  "I have a similar mystery with the other side of the  
> 
> family with the name of Nicklass.  Another name originally from the  
> 
> Greeks,then given to a saint, it seems to have so many variations -  
> 
> Nickels, Nicles, Nicolas, Nicolaus, Niclas, Nicholls...  There seem  
> 
> to be very few Nicklass families around now.  I know the vagaries of 
>  
> automatic page translations on the web but does anyone have any idea 
>  
> why Haus Nicklass (a hotel/restaurant mear Nurnberg) would translate 
>  
> as Hotel Pitchlet?"<
> "
> 
> . . .  Otto
> 
>                       " The Zen moment..." wk. of March 5, 2006
>                       ________________________________
>                          "Remove what isn't... What is remains."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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