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Scientific Newsletter of Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Of particular notice is the poetic game, so variously presented in this section, and so typical one for the denotate - noisy waves, stormy, rising sea.

T a c t i l e c o d e is reflected by the following lexemes: a) etymology:

Old Icelandic brunnr 'source' literally 'Burning', cf. "brunnr m. 'Quell, brunnen', ...

nisl. fär. brunnur, nnorw. brunn, brynn, nschw. brunn, ndä. brønd. - ... got. brunna, ae. brunna, burna, afr. burna, as. ahd. brunno. - kelt. * borna in ON; wechsel r: n stämme beweisen gr. 'brunnen', lit. briáutis, arm. albuir (beide <* bhr ewr) 'sich vordrängen', russ. brujá 'strömung'. - Gehört zur selben wzl. wie brenna I 'brennen' [7, p. 144] und bed. eig. 'der sprudelnde' "[8, 61];

Old Icelandic hverr 'source', literally 'hot', cf. «hverr 1 m. 'kessel' (spät bezeugt), auch

'heisse quelle', ... nisl. hver. - Ae. ahd. hwer. - Ai. caru- 'kessel', air. coire 'kessel' » [8, p. 272];

b)composite -;

c)attributes:

smooth: aki... á ísi hálom (Háv. 90)"… to jump on the smooth ice";

wet: á sér hon ausaz aurgom forsi (Vsp. 27) "the river, she sees, is streaming with wet waterfall";

cool-and-cold: þat var um aukit ... // svalköldom sæ (Gðr. II 21; similarly Hdl. 38) " it (drink) was made strong... // by the cool-and-cold sea" *;

cold: vara sandr né sær né svalar unnir (Vsp. 3) "there was no sand, no sea, no cold waves"; þar svalar knego // unnir yfir glymia (Grm. 7) " there cold // the wave splash over it"; úrsvalar unnir léco (HH. II 13) "cold waves played";

heavy: Sá hon þar vaða þunga strauma // menn meinsvara oc morðvarga (Vsp. 39)

"There she saw people wading heavy streams // people having violated the oaths and murderers" *;

d) predicates:

to burn (brenna) – the sea (brim) to burn: ... brim ec veit at brenna scolo (Grm. 38) "... the sea must burn" *;

to boil: heilog vötn hlóa (Grm. 29) "the holy waters boil"; d) associations:

wave - cold: vara sandr né sær né svalar unnir (Vsp. 3) "there was no sand, no sea, no cold waves"; þar svalar knego // unnir yfir glymia (Grm. 7) "cold there // waves splash over it"; úrsvalar unnir léco (HH. II 13) "cold waves played."

Taking into account the tactile code, one can state that in the Eddic designations of water the two aspects are actualized: the idea of hot is reflected in the etymology and predicates, and cold – in the attributes and associations.

Based on the Eddic data one can draw some conclusions concerning the designations of water in terms of their perception in the epos. The video code is distinguished for its maximum frequency; its usage is expressed in a great number of examples practically for each parameter, cf.: etymology (3), attributes (6+ implicit antithesis), predicates (4), associations (4 + one implicit), and also in the presence of synonyms (cf. the two etymology of the sea as the rising, high one, attributes - high, steep, growing; predicates – to sparkle, to shine or the two Old Icelandic verbs with the meaning to fall) and the use of a wider range of the parts of speech (cf. association of the two nouns the sea - the mountains along with more typical couples – the noun + the verb and the noun + the adjective). Tactile code is not so widespread: it is represented by the two etymologies, the five attributes, the two predicates, and one association. It also has synonyms (cf. the etymology of the two names of the source as hot, attributes cool-and-cold and cold, the predicates to burn and to boil). The audio-code is very reduced: it contains only one attribute (noisy), one predicate (to beat), and one associa-

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tion (wave - beat). A comprehensive analysis allows us to estimate the frequency of using each parameter:

etymology (3 - video codes, 2 – audio-codes, 0 - tactile code),

composites (1 - video-code and audio-code, 0 - tactile code),

attributes (6 – video-codes, 5 - tactile codes, 1 – audio-code),

predicates (4 – video-codes, 2 - tactile codes, 1 – audio-code),

associations (5 – video-codes, 1 - tactile and audio-codes),

poetics (5 – audio-codes, 0 - tactile and video codes).

Some facts are clear, for example, the parameter poetics can be found by the definition only at the auditory perception, as we are dealing with sounds. The Eddic material makes it possible to build a scale of the perception of the designations of water based on the number of uses of the lexemes – video-code - tactile code – audio-code. It leads us to the nontrivial conclusions about the selective perception of the objects in the epos (cf., in particular, the lack of presenting taste feelings: the reasonably expected word-combination salt water is absent) and about the hypertrophied development of the tactile code as the maximum frequency of the video code does not need any substantiation, because the main source of the information about the outer world is a visual analyzer, through which a person gets up to 80% of the total volume of information), while the next most important source in obtaining the information is acoustic analyzer. In the epos - "The Elder Edda" - the specific role of the tactile code may be related with the peculiarities of the Old Icelandic mythopoetic model of the world, namely, with its tendency towards concreteness implemented by means of touch.

§ 3

A x i o l o g i c a l one interpreting the value of the object in the Eddic universum

To make a list of the mini-contexts of each designation of water in "The Elder Edda" and to interpret it in terms of the carrier of the m y t h o p o e t i c tradition, one should choose reliably verified criteria of their evaluation.

The concept receives a negative assessment within the Eddic model of the world in the following situations:

it is used when representing the non-existence (chaos);

it is used in the description of the eschatological catastrophe ("death of Gods");

it is accompanied by negative connotations explicitly expressed.

In the Eddic mythopoetic tradition a positive assessment can be used in the following cases:

the concept is the theonym;

it is mentioned in the cosmogonic myth - in the demiurgic act;

it is found in the context of the update of the universe after the eschatological crisis that reproduces the precedent of prime creation;

it is accompanied by positive connotations " [6].

Let`s sum up some conclusions of the axiological analysis of the Eddic nominations of water.

As for the semantics of the designations of water, one can state that a positive evaluation is given only to the names obtained by the objects in onomathetic act (cf. kennings of the sea in "The Alvis`s Speeches"), or sacral lokuci, for example, a source at the roots of the World Tree; an extremely negative evaluation occurs at the junction of two phenomena: anthropocentrism and myphopoetic thinking (cf. Old Icelandic íss 'ice', regn 'rain', iocull 'icicle' as the phenomena hostile to man, on the one hand, and the Old Icelandic Vað-gelmir 'ford noising`, hydronym, as the transition to another world, on the other hand).

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Scientific Newsletter of Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Thus, on the basis of the research carried out we can state that each member of the synonymous range has a certain semantic rating or rank2, due to its functioning in the corresponding mythological context regarded positively or negatively by the carrier of this model of the world. In other words, the world-outlook complex, in particular, the mythological ideas d e t e r m i n e, on the one hand, the choice of a specific word, and, on the other hand, give it the s t a t u s of the system of values adopted in accordance with this archaic group.

The anthropocentrism, i.e. the orientation to the logic of the objects designation by the carriers of the tradition themselves can be considered as a significant advantage of the proposed approach to the study of the semantics of the epic word; in other words, there appears a unique opportunity to look from within at the formation of the linguistic meaning, to see the "human" evaluation of the denotate.

Judging by the linguistic data, the image of water in its various hypostasises is perceived by the carrier of the Eddic tradition mainly as something hostile to man, alien to him, presenting a threat to him. Such an interpretation is quite understandable within the mythopoetic archaic model of the world, because it was associated with the l o w e r area of the universum, the other world. However, the interpretation of water as the prime-matter in the cosmogonic myth and a creative substance, from which the first man Ymir was created, promoted the formation of the ambivalence of this complex of notions followed by the separation of positive aspects having been the subject of deification.

In "The Elder Edda" the analysis of the synonyms belonging to the semantic field of water shows how closely intertwined the linguistic and extra-linguistic factors defining the semantic volume, correlation and peculiarities of the functioning of different names of water. Only a comprehensive approach that takes into account the specific character of the Eddic model of the world (animate - inanimate interpretation of the forces of nature), mythological contexts (cosmogony, a ritual, the reality) that are typical for one or other synonym and the stylistic areas of the literary texts appears to be effective.

Thus, the importance of anthropocentric approach in the study of the epic word is in the fact that it allows one to take into account the identity of the addressee, one of the participants in the communicative act, to recreate the process of his/her mental activity, to realize the author's intentions, to understand his/her interpretation and semantization of language units, i.e. to penetrate into the depths of constituting the concept of the archaic mythopoetic model of the world.

Bibliographic list

1.Alpatov V.M. Ob antropocentricheskom i sistemocentricheskom podhodah k jazyku

//Voprosy jazykoznanija, 1993, № 3.

2.Vorob'jova M.E. Juridicheskaja terminologija: sistemocentricheskij i antropocentricheskij podhody // Vestnik Kemerovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2013, № 2

(54), t. 1.

3.Gvozdeckaja N.Ju. Prolegomeny k tekstocentricheskomu opisaniju semantiki drevneanglijskogo pojeticheskogo slova // Philologica Scandinavica. Cbornik statej k 100letiju so dnja rozhdenija M.I. Steblin-Kamenskogo. SPb., 2003, 28-42.

4.Rahilina E.V. O konceptual'nom analize v leksikografii A. Vezhbickoj // E.V. Rahilina. Jazyk i kognitivnaja dejatel'nost'. M., 1989.

5.Smirnickaja O.A. Jazyk i stih drevnegermanskoj pojezii. M.,1994.

2 Confer: the theory of metric ranks in the works of O.A. Smirnitsky [5, p. 253-259], proving the possibility of predicting the appearance of one or other word, depending on its position in the verse.

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6.Toporova T.V. Opyt issledovanija dinamicheskih processov v semantike na materiale «Starshej» i «Mladshej Jeddy» // Vestnik MGPU. Serija «Filologija. Teorija jazy-ka. Jazykovoe obrazovanie». 2013, № 2 (12).

7.IEW = Pokorny 1959 - Pokorny J. Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Bern, München, 1959. Bd. I-II.

8.Vries 1977 - Vries J. de. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2. Aufl. Leiden, 1977.

Analyzed sources

1*. Edda. Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. Hrsg. von

Gustav Ne-ckel. I. Text. Vierte, umgearbeitete Auflage von Hans Kuhn. Heidelberg, 1962.

The translation of the text is quoted according to the following publications:

The Elder Edda. Old Icelandic Songs about Gods and Heroes. Translation by A.I. Korsun. The editing, the introductory article and comments are by M.I. Steblin-Kamensky. MoscowLeningrad, 1963.

Abbreviations

Names of Eddic songs

Alv. - Alvíssmál " Alvis`s Speeches ".

Akv. - Atlaqviða in grœnlenzca "Greenland Song about Utley". Ghv. - Guðrúnarhvöt «Inciting Gudrun".

Grm. - Grímnismál "Grímnir`s Speeches". Grp. - Grípisspá " Gripir`s Prophecy ".

Gðr. I - Guðrúnarqviða I "The First Song about Gudrun".

Gðr. II - Guðrúnarqviða önnor "The Second Song about Gudrun". Háv. - Hávamál "Speeches of the High ".

Hdl. - Hyndloljόð “The Song about Hyndle”.

HH. I - Helgaqviða Hundingsbana in fyrri - «The First Song about Helgi the Murderer of

Hunding".

HH. II - Helgaqviða Hundingsbana önnor «The second song about Helgi the murderer of

Hunding".

Rm. - Reginsmál "Regin`s Speeches". Sd. - Sigrdrífomál "Sigrdriv`s Speeches".

Sg. - Sigurðarqviða in scamma "The Brief Song about Sigurd". Vm. - Vafþrúðnismál "Vaftrudnir`s Speeches".

Vsp. - Völuspá "Vyolva`s Prophecy".

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Scientific Newsletter of Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

UDC 803.0:801.311(470+430)

Voronezh State University

of Architecture and Civil Engineering,

Doctor of Philology,

Professor, Head of the Foreign

Languages Department

Zinaida Yevgenjevna Fomina

e-mail: FominaSinaida@gmail.com

Z.Ye. Fomina

SLAVONIC TOPONYMY IN GERMANY IN LINGUOCULTUROLOGICAL

AND LINGUO-HISTORICAL ASPECTS

The article analyses the Slavonic toponymy based on the example of an extensive catalogue of Slavonic towns and cities, settlements, fortresses in the territory of Germany, that illustrates the most ancient contacts of the Germanic and Slavonic peoples. The internal form of the Slavonic toponyms is examined, their semantic –and-etymological analysis is performed, the types of Slavonictoponyms are defined by different criteria of their formation. Toponymic “naturems” and “culturems”, patronymic and possessive toponyms are determined, main models of the Slavonic toponymic word-formation are described, etc. The names of Slavonic settlements in Germanyare considered as the signs of the material and spiritual culture of the toponymic landscape of Germany. Historical premises if intercultural and interlinguisticinteraction of German and Russian people are considered. The study of the road map of Slavonic toponyms in the Germany territory and also their etymological, lexica, structural and other components allowed the author to reveal and to objectivize linguoculturological and linguohistorical data on serious and various contacts of Slavonic and Gernam peoples existing for many centuries.

Keywords: Contacts of Slavonic and German peoples (from the VI-th up to the XXI-th centuries), Slavonic toponymy in Germany, landscape of Slavonic towns and fortresses in Germany, word-formation, etymology, internal form, cultures circulation, road map of Slavonic toponyms in Germany, toponymic naturems, culturems, patronyms.

The study of toponymy is of significant importance in the context of its consideration from the standpoint of intercultural, interlinguistic and historical ethnoses interaction. The toponymic dictionary by V.A. Nikonov justly notes: “Toponymy evidences for defining ancient peoples settling are the most precious ones. According to linguistic belonging of names, the former boundaries of peoples settling and the ways of their migration are revealed” [1]. The study of toponyms from the linguistic diachronic point of view is also important as “toponyms give much to the history of language, retaining the features lost by the living speech long ago” [1].

Toponyms (especially hydronyms) retain archaisms and dialect words, they often date back to languages-substrata of the peoples having lived in the territory in the past, that allows people to use the languages for definition of borders of ethnic communities (for instance, the Slavonic peoples in Europe) [2].

__________________

© Fomina Z.Ye., 2016

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The study of geographical names (toponyms, horonyms, geonyms) may help the linguistic, historical and geographical cognition as Inge Bily justly notes. Toponyms often give information on the landscape state by the time of its naming and also on the people who inhabited the territory and founded the settlements and then left them [3]. As Inge Bily stresses, geographical names allow one to make conclusions on the states of living space being long ago, on the peculiarities of the creators of names themselves. “Onomastics is a valuable branch of science for a geographer, his/her science-helper. In particular, the branch of microtoponymy presents rich material for geography, on the basis of which it can reconstruct geo-and topographical realias disappeared long ago” [3]. Thus, geographical names contain information on the earlier spreading of viticulture and forest plantation, including other vegetation changes and also the information on the soil structure. Thus explains a particular place of geographical names in the linguoculturological researches [3, p. 151].

Of special interest is the study of the Slavonic toponymy in the territory of Germany, the significant part of which right up to the 13-th century was settled by the Slavonic people who left a great heritage of material culture (a large number of created settlements, towns, fortresses and so on, cultural artefacts (ceramics, etc.)). “It were the Slavonic people who defined the then landscape names at that time [4]”. Of the same great scientific interest is, undoubtedly, the examination of German toponymy in the Russia`s territory. However, the review of literature of German and Russian researches shows that the German toponymy in the Russia`s territory is the subject of a large number of both German and Russian authors. At the same time the study of the Slavonic toponyms in the German territory is represented not so widely. Basically, these problems are posed in the works of German researches that will be discussed further.

The examination of the road map of the Slavonic toponyms in the Germany`s territory and also of their etymological, lexical, structural and other components will allow us to reveal and to objectivize linguoculturological and linguo-historical data on deep and manysided contacts of the Slavonic and German peoples existing for centuries.

Striving for all-round, many-sided cognition of the sources of the interaction of the Russian and German ethnoses may be a pressing motivation for the study of Slavonic toponyms in Germany and, correspondingly, the German ones in Russia as it is the toponyms that mainly reflect the objective linguo-historical world picture.

As far as the study of the Slavonic toponymy in Germany is concerned, it is the toponymy “that may answer the question, what “type of man” is represented by the ancient Slavonic people, what priorities were relevant for them, how they understood the surrounding world, how they carried out their management and so on. All this information may be obtained from the Slavonic treasury of names. Here, onomastics may shed light […] on the historical depth” [5].

As we think, the task of studying the Slavonic toponymy is of the global character and expects its researches. The aim of the paper is to consider cultural-and historical premises substantiated the character and specific relations of German and Russian people, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to sum up and to analyze the Slavonic toponyms in the territory of today`s Germany, covering a significant part of the German toponymy, as a whole, in the linguocuturological and linguo-historical aspects.

The present paper will consider the relations of German and Russian people in the context of global historical events that pre-determined their indissoluble and many-sided ties and relations, beginning from the 6-th century. It is important to note that the interaction of German and Russian people was never one-sided, but all the time it was characterized by double-purposefulness, i.e. by permanent, movement there and back: from Germany to Russia → from Russia to Germany → from Germany to Russia and so on.

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Scientific Newsletter of Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

1. Germans and Slavs: Historical Cultures Circulation

Thus, as far as the most ancient contact of the Slavs and the Germans is concerned, according to the historical chronicles, the Slavonic tribes of Luzhichis, Lutichis, Bodrichis, Pomeranians, Ruians (Polabsk Slavs) settled the territory of the present-day Eastern, Northern and partly North-western Germany and also a part of Bavaria [6]. Hereinafter in the course of numerous conflicts with the German tribes, the Slavs were gradually assimilated and a greater part of them became the ancestors of the present-day Germans. According to the data of German researches, about 45% of the Germans have German and Celtic roots, and, by other data, minimum 20% up to 30% and more have the Slavonic roots [7]. From the abovesaid, it follows that the Germans have not only historical, social-and-political, economical, cultural, commercial ties, but also genetic ones with the Slavs that was reflected, on the one hand, on the formation of common characteristics of the Germans and the Russians, concerning their world vision, world perception, cultural values and, on the other hand, it motivated and caused their centuries-old interest in each other. Relationship between the Germans and the Russians remind us of eternal cultures circulation.

At the end of the 18-th century, in accordance with the manifesto of Catherine II (July

22, 1763 “On Permission to All Foreigners Coming to Russia …”), in particular, settlements on the Volga, the Caucasus, Central Russia, including the Voronezh Region, districts of Saint Petersburg (cf. Ingermanlandia), the Crimea, Bessarabia, etc. Since the 20-th century the Russian Germans come back to their historical Motherland where they are assimilated with the Russians. In the 21-st century the Germans build settlements in Russia (Lipetsk Region, Siberia, the Urals) to stay there forever. Deep historical roots of the Germans and the Russians are consolidated everywhere, not only in policy, culture, economical ties, but also in creating German-and-Russian families.

The process of mutual movement of the Germans and the Russians may be presented as the following geographical scheme:

the Slavs (in the territory of the present-day Germany) → interaction with the German tribes (since the end of the VI-th century up to the middle of the XIII – th century, A.D.);

settlements of the German colonists on the territory of Russia (the XVIII – XIX –th centuries);

returning the historical (Russian) Germans to Germany (the XX-th century);

resettlement of the ecologically oriented Germans into Russia (the XXI-th century).

As follows from the edition in many volumes “Slavonic Antiquities” (1953) by the

famous Czech scientist Lyubor Niderle, the first historical information about the Slavs on the Elbe River is the recording of Vibia Sekwester “De Fluminibus” (the VI-th century) where the author speaks about the Elbe River: «Albis Suevos a Cervetiis dividit». Cervetii means the name of the Serbian district (pagus) on the right bank of the Elbe River, between Magdeburg and Luzhnitsy, which is mentioned as the term Ciervisti, Zerbisti, Kirvisti, modern Tserbst in the latest official documents of Otton I, Otton II and Henrich II [8]. As Lyubor Niderle writes, at that period, namely in 782 there began a great attack of the Germans against the Slavs, this attack was of world significance. Having crossed the Elbe River the Slavs were a great danger for the Empire of Karl the Great. In order to create some order in the East, in 805 Karl the Great created the so-called limes Sorabiscus, that was to become the border for economical (commercial) ties of the Germans and the Slavs [8].

The Czech scientist claims that the boarder shows us how far y the beginning of the IX-th century the Slavs spread in their movement to the Elbe River and after the Elbe River and everything that was to the East from the Serbian and Saxon boarders was, undoubtedly, Slavonic in the IX-th century [8]. The land of the Polab Slavs covered no less than one third of the modern German state.

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In Lyubor Niderle`s opinion, the settlements belonging to the Slavs are influenced by the Slavonic Character of their names, the circular form of their settlements (the so-called

«okrouhlice», German Runddolf), being, as a rule, considered as Slavonic ones. “The existence of the Slavs is confirmed not only by a large number of villages having Slavonic layout, situated to the East of the Bamberg-Gaida-Naba line, but also by archeological data: being here everywhere up to Erfurt, Gota, Burglendenfeld on the Nab, Ansbach on the Resate and the Sltmul. Burial grounds and sites of ancient settlements are characterized by their Slavonic ceramics and by S-shaped temporal rings” [8].

The Czech scientist notes that behind Hamburg the Slavs crossed the Elbe River to the left bank to Luneburg, where, on the banks of the rivers Iesna (Ietsel) and Ilma (Ilmenau), the tribe of Drevan settled, whose remains resided here up to the XVIII-th century. The regions to the East of Zaale were also Slavonic ones [8].

The convincing historical facts on living of the Slavs and their culture spreading in the territory of modern Germany are also given in a number of Internet sources devoted to the theme of “Slavonic Germany”. The Germans compiled a peculiar catalogue of Slavonic towns and fortresses in the territory of Germany and placed it on the site http://slawenburgen.npage.de [9].

2. Catalogue of the Names of Slavonic Towns and Fortresses in the Territory of Germany as the Reflection of the Slavonic Material and Spiritual Culture

As is shown in Wikipedia “The Slavonic Germany” [10], the above site marks the coordination of places, shows the places of each town location by the program “Google Earth”, with German pedantry and scrupulosity. In particular, the Germans found and described the names of the Slavonic towns, situated in the FRG:

Berlin → 8 Slavonic towns and settlements;

Bradenburg → 166 Slavonic towns and settlements;

Meklenburg → 285 Slavonic towns and settlements;

Saxony → 125 Slavonic towns and settlements;

Schlezwig-Golstein → 38 Slavonic towns and settlements;

Saxony-Anhalt → 36 Slavonic towns and settlements;

Lower Saxony → 9 Slavonic towns and settlements;

Thuringia → 9 Slavonic towns and settlements;

Rostok, Schwerin, Strahlsund, towns on the island Rugen (23) and Uzedom are described.

In all: there are 703 Slavonic towns in the territory of Germany. Some descriptions are presented with illustrations – the reconstructions of the place that was here almost a thousand years ago” [10].

It is also characteristic that on the same site the German researches present the detailed descriptions of Slavonic fortresses in different regions of Germany and, their names, respectfully.

Studying and describing the remained ancient Slavonic fortresses, e.g. in the territory of Lower Saxony, German scientists single out 10 Slavonic fortresses and their names dating back to the 7-11 centuries A.D.:

1.The Slavonic fortress (the VII-th century): Hitzacker;

2.The Slavonic fortress(the VIII-th century): Oerenburg;

3.The Slavonic fortress (the VIII-th century): Clenze;

4.The Slavonic fortress (the VIII-th century): Meetschow I;

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Scientific Newsletter of Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

5.The Slavonic fortress (the VIII-IX-th centuries): Lüchow;

6.The Slavonic fortress (the IX-th century): Hollenstedt;

7.The Slavonic fortress (the IX-th century): Dannenberg;

8.The Slavonic fortress (the IX-X-th centuries): Brünkendorf/Höhbeck;

9.The Slavonic fortress (the IX-X-th centuries): Gartow;

10.The Slavonic fortress (950-1000): Meetschow II.

In German scientist`s opinion, the excavations testify that this typically Slavonic fortress (Meetschow II) of Tunov`s fortress-type was built in the period of 950 up to 1000 [11].

The given list of the Slavonic fortresses in the territory of Lower Saxony gives evidence that the fortresses are very ancient, they date back to the VII-th century and that is the most important they are preserved up to the present day.

Note that many towns of Germany and also famous fortresses were built and erected on the architectural-and-building and cultural basis of the immemorial Slavonic settlements. Over several centuries they were being completed, superstructured and rebuilt, were raising their height and the fortresses were fortified by Germanic builders (then by German builders), however, precisely, the ancient religious, cultural and military-and-defensive structures were the initial point, that is confirmed by a comprehensive research of German scientists themselves [11].

The German scientists` researches also included the study of the Slavonic tribes

(Slawenstämme), the Slavonic settlements on the islands of Rügen, the Slavonic settlements in the PlÖn region in Schleswig, the Slavonic settlements on the island Usedom (Insel Usedom) and so on [11].

Of great interest for the German scientists are all the activities of the Slavs, who founded towns and settlements in the territory of modern Germany, in particular, the places for the Slavs` commerce (Handelsplätze), the commercial settlement Ralswieck, as one of the largest places, earlier Slavonic ceramics (Frühslawische Keramik). The most significant battles of the Slavs are investigated (Bedeutende Schlachten bei den Slawen) and many others [11].

An important place is also given to the descriptions of the Slavonic museums in the open air (Freilichtmuseen), “that present reconstructed Slavonic fortresses, large settlements and villages of the VII-XII-th centuries. For example, the Slavonic fortress-castle with the village adjacent to it in the territory of the Obodrot settlement in Gross-Raden (Slawenburg-Raddusch) in Meklenburg-front Pomerania. Excavations revealed tens of large Slavonic settlements in the region, they began already after the Second World War and in the 70-s the Germans restored the Slavonic temple, dwellings, settlements” [6].

Language is the most reliable and effective barometer of cultural-and-historical ties of people, one of the main judges and witnesses of cultures interaction for centuries. It convincingly and objectively proves the ethnoses interrelation. So, many Slavonic traces found their reflection in the German language as the signs of the Slavonic literature and culture, which, as the literature review shows, have not been thoroughly investigated yet, as distinguished from the Slavonic toponyms in the territory of Germany.

3. Signs of the Slavonic Literature in Modern Germany

It should be said that if we do not take into consideration numerous works of German scientists, devoted to description and examination of the Slavonic toponyms in German linguoculture, that apriori are objective culturological and historical facts which should be noticed, then we may name only a small number of the works by German authors which consider the problems concerning the Slavonic lexicon. One of these works is the research

“Slavonic in the German Lexicon” by Klaus Muller [12]. This work gives, for example, the

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words of Slavonic origin, such as: border (Grenze), valley (Tal), steppe (Steppe), sabel (Säbel), pistol (Pistole), droshky (Droschke), mammoth (Mammut), sable (Zobel), curds (Quark), regiment (Pulk), ukase (Ukas), interpreter (Dolmetscher) and many others [12]. The words borrowed from the Slavonic languages can be found, to some extent, in the authoritative German dictionary Duden, which emphasizes that Slavonic words, such as cucumber (Gurke), border (Grenze), city (Berg), fence (Berg), mountain (Berg), vegetable garden (Garten), whip (Peitsche), mink (beast-Netz) and others were included in the German language [13]. However, as it was said above, the study of Slavisms is of a fragmentary character in the German language in contrast to the Slavonic toponyms.

So, let us consider the Slavonic toponymy in the territory of modern Germany.

4. Slavonic toponymy in Modern Germany as a Reflection of the Most Ancient Contacts of Germans and Slavs

A convincing proof of the most ancient contacts of Germans and Slavs is the Slavonic toponymy, widely presented in eastern, northern, and partly in northwestern Germany and also in Bavaria. In the territory of the present day Germany among numerous toponyms of the Slavonic origin of special significance are astionyms (names of the cities), horonyms (the proper noun of any territory, region, district), oikonyms (the names of the settled places), komonyms (the names of rural settlements) and others [1].

A preliminary review of the literature devoted to the study of Slavonic onomastics in Germany, including Austria, visually demonstrated a great heritage of Slavonic toponyms, which are not only the names of numerous cities, settlements, fortresses, nature realias (rivers, mountains, lakes, forests and so on), also proper names but they simultaneously are the signs of ancient Slavonic material and spiritual culture. It is not by accident that among the Slavonic toponyms themselves one distinguishes toponyms–naturems and toponyms– culturems that will be discussed below.

In Germany the Slavonic toponymic heritage became the subject of comprehensive researches as far back as the XIX-XX-th centuries. They are also continued in the XXI-st century. In this connection we may cite, for example, the fundamental works by Paul Bronisch, 1902, Bruno Schier, 1961, Ernst Eichler, 1987; 1988; 1993; 2006; 2009, Inge Bily, 1996; 2000; 2003(a); 2003(b); 2004, Siegfried Köiner, 1993, Johannes Hutter, 2014, and many others.

In Germany the researches of the Slavonic toponymy are made on a large scale and in details. The study includes the names of a great number of regions of Germany (federative lands), where the nominal landscape is characterized by the Slavonic toponymic culture

(Saxony, Centrak Germany, the territory between Zaale and Niess, Goldstein, Lubeck, Altenburg, Bavaria, eastern Prussia, Potsdam, Zantoh, Rostok, Shtettin, etc.)

In our opinion, fundamental (in many volumes) works by German authors are largely pioneer (innovative) and are of undoubted scientific interest for future examinations. As they are little-known in Russia, they need to be translated into Russian and should be at the centre of attention of Russian researchers (see the details [14]).

It should be noted that the interpretations of etymological content of the Slavonic toponyms proposed by different German authors coincide, as a whole, and they demonstrate peculiar unity of views that proves the objectivity of the researches carried out. They are united by the fact that none of the German scientist deny the Slavonic origin of the toponyms analyzed by them, which are exclusively significant for Germans because it is a question of the largest and famous cities and regions of Germany having Slavonic names. In some cases there are several versions for explanation of one or other Slavonic toponyms. The cited historical interpretations made by different German researchers do not contradict,

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