Milde-Biese-Aland

Source-critical reflections on the names of a river system in the Altmark

Abstract

This article deals with problems related to the tradition of name evidences in written documents. Those written sources functioning as mediating medium for the variant types of the names, have a specific context of origin and tradition, which makes its use for the etymological derivation problematic. Taking the example of the written evidences cited in the German Book of Water Names edited by Albrecht Greule for the rivers Milde, Biese and Aland, the importance of a source-critical analysis for every single document used there shall be shown. The aim of the study is not only to provide new insights into the etymological derivation of the river names in the Altmark, but also to illustrate the importance of an interdisciplinary approach in onomatology.