[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Nell "Schemion-eck" @ Simeon's castle?

[Otto]

Evening Nell,
Your mention of East Prussia changed my method of approaching the  
challenge of deconstructing your surname "Schemioneck".  There is an  
old saying I recall, "How does one eat an elephant?  One bite at a  
time."

Besides, my cousin Heinrich, who is buried in Australia would truly  
enjoy our discussion, considering his past interest in genealogy, and  
undoubtedly join in.       It would be neat to have an Australian  
SGGEE member.

Now that I know I am not dealing with Russian? or Ukrainian prefixes,  
suffixes, some vowels with one or two consonants thrown in for good  
measure, I will expand on the previous.   All is well though, this  
serves as an illustrative example of what I've heard Jerry Frank  
suggest over and over again on the SGGEE ListServ to individuals  
searching for relatives, "Please specify the location, the village  
name, villages in proximity, time period and events."  Each cluster  
has its unique history and mix of people and languages with their  
dialects peculiar to the group that become a serious tool in  
uncovering the trail of migration. Nothing exists in a microcosm.

A few details for you to work with: (Polish "Siemion" = Simeon.)
The following are all the same place- Siemionki, Siemonki,  
Schemionken, and Bergwalde - latitude 53°58' longitude 22°02'   126  
miles NNE of Warsaw/Warszawa/Warschau.

I waited for Warsaw Cousin to give answer to my request and he did  
reply:
 >"The names have no apparent 'meaning' (Frege's sense) in my Polish  
ears. It sounds like a typical name for a place - a village, not a  
city. Maybe linguists would say more... Who knows to the ground level  
all of the context we are living in?   :)  -Zbigniew"<
(Be mindful he has scholar level Polish, German, Latin, and soon  
English ears.)
(for ones asking, "What is Frege's sense?-see:  http:// 
plato.stanford.edu/entries/frege/
A map site URL Zbig referred to isolating (2) "Siemionki".
http://mapa.szukacz.pl/?m=Siemionki&zoom=3

The Posen location Siemionki was an estate. The East Prussian  
Siemionki "Schemionken" could well be one also.

Siemion-ki is a Polish Spelling - Schemion-ke(n) is a Platt spelling -
Siemionki = little Siemoin     Schemionken = the place -little  
Schemion  Schemion-ke(n) singular  Schemionken -the place
(the 'en' suffix common in Dutch and Platt - same as German 'chen'-  
Mäd'chen)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutive#Dutch_and_Low_Saxon
scroll down to Dutch and Low Saxon (the whole page is informative)

Was the estate or village of German, Dutch, Lithuanian, and do not  
exclude Swedish ethnicity?
Only further research will tell. RESEARCH "Simeon" in relationship to  
Lithuania-May be a Russian connection.

Your surname, "Schemioneck". (the Ostpreussische/East Prussian Platt  
definition remains in first place)
I already covered the Platt suffix approach, a one more colorful exists.
"Schemion (eck) could also be the German suffix 'eck', 'egg' = Burg,  
Schloss.  Befestige Anlage.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortsname

     Schemioneck = "Simeons Castle"
Your forefathers either worked there or lived there. (they are not  
signing their name as "Schemion") They may also only have lived in a  
corner "eck" of the village.
The remainder of research is up to you.
On the comment from Tina in Bavaria I state: Nicol(is) (as) ias) is  
not Santa Claus. It is a suffix. The records are without doubt from  
the Lithuanian domination period. Do not apply modern German language  
rules to a time period that may begin in the 1500's.
http://home.unilang.org/wiki3/index.php/Lithuanian_Grammar
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/lrc/eieol/litol-7-R.html

Today, if alive, John F. Kennedy would state, "Ich bin ein Google  
Fanatiker"

Richard O. Schienke
. . .  Otto

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