Linguistic interaction consequences: based on studies of anthroponymy = Последствия взаимодействия языков: исследование на основе антропонимии

Abstract

Several cultures and languages have intertwined in the history of the contemporary Ne-man (a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russian Federation) region and its local population. It is a historical land of the Scalovians. Bilingualism played a crucial role in the assimilation of local population: the first stage of bilingualism, related to the influence of the Lithuanian language, took place in the XV-XVI centuries in the aforementioned territory, the second one (with the German language) continued until the XVIII century or even until the end of the XIX century. Historical anthroponyms evidence the impact of bilingualism on the naming situation of autochthons in the mentioned region. Neman land (ofherwi.se - Ragainė county) historical anthroponyms, inscribed in the surviving written sources of the XVIII-XIX centuries (books of christening. marriages, etc.), have extremely high variability of genders. Analysis of surname variations evidences superstratic impact of the German lan¬guage dialects and the Lithuanian language Samogitian dialect on the surnames of local population and a substratic impact of the Lithuanian language on German surnames. The results of the empirical material analysis show that the Germanizalion process of surnames in Ragainė county intensified in about 1870.