Leipzig – ein altsorbischer Ortsname?

Abstract

The previous interpretations of the place name Leipzig, 1015 in urbe Libzi, as Old Sorbian *Liṕsk(o) ‘Lindenort’ (place of linden trees) and as the Germanic-Slavic compound name *Libьcь or *Libьsk(o) ‘place in an area of abundant fluvial water’ are found questionable by Bernd Koenitz and rightly so. His new explanation of the name as Old Sorbian *Lib́cě ‘settlement of the weaklings’ from the Proto-Slavic *libъ ‘weak, lean, sickly’ or as ‘settlement of the Lib́c family’ with the personal name Proto-Slavic *Libьcь is well founded. This interpretation is further supported by the Russian surnames Liba, Libov and others, additionally by the Czech place names Studce, Trubce, Chylec among others, which are more supportive of *Lib́cě ‘settlement of the weaklings’, as a nickname, rather than ‘settlement of the Lib́c´ family’.