Reviews

Wort und Name im deutsch-slavischen Sprachkontakt: Ernst Eichler von seinen Schiilern und Freunden (Word and Name in German-Slavic Linguistic Contact: for Ernst Eichler by his Students and Friends). Ed. Karlheinz Hengst, et al. Bausteine zur slavischen Philologie und Kulturgeschichte: Reihe A, Slavistische Forschungen; N.F., Bd. 20. Cologne: B6hlau. 1997. Pp. 569. Illustrations. Friedheim Debus, Kleinere Schriften (Minor Writings). Ed. HansDiether Grohmann und Joachim Hartig. 2 vols. Pp. x + 855. Maps. Hildesheim: Georg Olms. 1997. Namenforschung und Namendidaktik (Name Research and Name Didactics). Ed. Kurt Franz and Albrecht Greule. Pp. 248. Illustrations. Hohengehren: Schneider. 1999.

While some of them focus on individual names or name elements, others discuss more general principles and theoretical issues, often in the . context of linguistic and/or cultural contact. For readers of Names, the following may be of special interest, as they transcend purely regional or even local concerns: Vibeke Dalberg's discussion of the questionable onymic status of ethnonyms, Volker Kohlheim's investigation of the properties of onymic systems, Stefan Sonderegger's thoughts on the definitional problem of proper names, Rosa Kohlheim's exploration of the motivation and significance of occupational bynames and surnames, and Wolfgang Dahmen's survey of toponymic evidence for the linguistic contact between Slavic and Romance. This is, of course, not to say that those contributions which have a more specific focus lack quality or appeal, and the honoree's own interests in a considerable range of name studies to which many of the articles. respond provide cohesion on more than a personal level, while at the same time allowing for variety and breadth.
The second long-established mode of honoring a distinguished and well-published scholar is the compilation of an anthology of his own writings, especially if these are scattered over a large number of-often widely differing-publications, such as periodicals, conference proceedings, festschriften, and designated handbooks or guides, sometimes difficult of access. In the case of FriedheIm Debus, this choice of mode is particularly welcome, as his published output over the last four decades or so has been considerable.
Of the two volumes of Klein~re Schriften, the first contains articles by Debus on linguistic matters, such as Middle High German, Luther's German, Dialect Studies, and Modern German, including some of the linguistic aspects of the two political Germanys. The second and more substantial volume is devoted to name studies and its more than 450 pages range from a consideration of theoretical or general topics such as the "Methodology of Name Interpretation," "Onomastics," "Aims, Methods and Perspectives of Socio-onomastics," "Methods and Problems of Sociologically Oriented Name Research" and "Sociolinguistics of Proper Names: Names and Society (Socio-onomastics)" to the interpretation of individual names, local and regional nomenclatures, and historical aspects of developments and changes in the use of names. In addition to a preoccupation with the social dimensions of name giving and name usage, Debus' twin research interests in language and name studies, and in their relationship to each other, are apparent throughout this volume. Many of the 23 articles here brought together were leading the way at their original publication and were opening up new avenues in onomastic research in German-speaking countries and sometimes even beyond, as in the Netherlands; it is to be hoped that this anthology will, somewhat belatedly, also draw attention to them in the English-speaking world. The extensive appendix demonstrates that the corpus of Debus' writings is not limited to the articles included in the festschrift, providing a more comprehensive picture of his authorship of books, contributions to larger compendia, reviews, and editorial activities-a golden harvest, indeed.
As participants in Icas XIX (Aberdeen 1996) will recall and as readers of the Acta of that congress will have noted, Gerhard Koss, in his plenary lecture, explored the use of names as a teaching tool in the classroom. It is therefore not surprising that the contributions to the volume honoring him on his 65th birthday focus, as the title indicates, on the relationship between name studies and name didactics. Although hypothetically such a circumscribed approach might imply more restricted perspectives on matters onomastic than the other two festschriften, in practice this turns out not to be the case, since the nineteen contributors have happily elected to interpret the unifying theme of the volume in a broad fashion. As a result we are treated to (among others) an account by Albrecht Greule and Michael Prinz on preparations for a digital name book as part of multimedia presentations in name studies and didactics, a proposal for the use of name studies as a means of increasing linguistic awareness (Beisbart), a report on a survey regarding the significance or content (Bedeutsamkeit) of first names (Franz, a review of the distribution of English first names in current European naming (R. Kohlheim), medieval by-names based on physical characteristics (Tiefenbach), an investigation of the role of, and potential necessity for, school names (Fuchshuber-Weiss) and an analysis of the importance of orthographic representations of names (C. Koss). Anybody reading these and the other articles anthologized in the Koss-festschrift cannot but be struck by the case for a more than ancillary role that the informed utilization of onomastic evidence can, and should, play in the teaching process. The honoree is himself an excellent example of someone who, in his double career as a teacher and as an academic, has successfully done justice.to such a desideratum.
It is, for those of us who value their work highly, a matter of great regret that three such prominent German name scholars should have reached birthdays generating volumes in their honor within such a short span of time, and we can only hope that their post-festschrift lives will still be rewarding and productive. In the meantime, the publications honoring their achievements are substantial additions to the inventory of important works devoted to the collection, analysis and interpretation of names in different contexts and for a large variety of purposes; thus the public recognition of their individual achievements has become our gain. This collection of articles dedicated to Kurt Zilliacus on the occasion of his seventieth birthday is at home in the conventions of the Nordic Countries in which the xenia is often a less than serious, sometimes even humorous gift to an honoree by his or her colleagues, students, and friends. This occasional light-heartedness does, however, not detract· from the scholarly value of most of the offerings, and the resulting cumulative effect of the papers is impressive. After all, the knowledge and wisdom of seventy onomasticians and dialectologists, even if expressed briefly and without much elaboration, amounts to a considerable corpus of scholarship, especially when it is presented within the framework of admiration of and gratitude to a respected scholar in the disciplines in question.
It is beyond the scope of any genuine review to' do justice to such a plethora of offerings. The best one can do is hint at the variety and richness of the kaleidoscopic range of topics on offer: Onomastic theory, Icelandic boat names, Danish pub names, Swedish house names, surnames, nicknames, forenames, literary onomastics, etc. In addition, several essays deal with linguistic matters, especially in connection with the Swedish language in Finland and its speakers. This is a smorgasbord of dishes-something for everybody and a welcome advertisement for the astonis~ing diversity of onomastic scholarship.
The paraphrased English translation of the Swedish title-'words-a little poetry and plain talk' -which the editor provides in her final summary of this collection says it all.

Works in Progress
There are currently several multi-volume onomastic publication projects in progress which will deserve full reviews once the last volume in each set has been published. However, since in most instances it will be some years before the sets are completed, it is useful to draw advance attention to the existence of these projects, especially since it is possible to purchase the volumes individually as they appear and since each of the publications is likely to become a standard work in its field. The nature and aim of the projects differ considerably, as do their geographical and cultural contexts. They are obviously the products of archival collections (institutional or personal) that have been brought together over many years and thus deserve to be known among name scholars. This is the most extensive and detailed publication on German personal names published so far. It stands out not only because of its comprehensive coverage but also because of its close attention to contemporary and historical references and variations. Vol. I covers the letters A-E, and Vol. II the letters F-K; they are to be followed by another two volumes. This comprehensive treatment of the place names of the Isle of Man will consist of seven volumes. It draws not only on the relevant documentary sources but also on recordings made from over 200 interviewees. It is organised geographically according to 'sheadings' (land divisions) and within these according to parishes. The only previous treatment of Manx place names is from the 1930s and is much more restricted in its scope. The author is the acknowledged expert on the subject. This series, which will ultimately consist of 21 volumes, is based upon the research and fieldwork undertaken in the Norwegian district (fylke) of 0stfold, from 1950 till his death, by Kare Hoel , late professor in the Institute for Name Research in the University of Oslo, and as part of an updated and substantially enlarged edition of Olaf Rygh's Norske Gaardnavne.

Bustadnavn i ((}stfold(Settlement
In general, each volume will be devoted to one of the old parishes of 0stfold, but in some instances the treatment of smaller parishes will be combined in one volume or the coverage of larger parishes will be split into two volumes. The volumes will be edited by various expert scholars in the present Section for Name Research in the Institute for Nordic Studies and Literary Research in the University of Oslo.

W.F.H. Nicolaisen University of Aberdeen, Scotland
Names and Naming Patterns in England 1538-1700. By Scott Smith-Bannister. Oxford. Clarendon P of Oxford U P. 1997. Pp. xiii-223. $68.00 Smith-Bannister has written a pioneering extensive and thorough examination of personal naming practices in early modern England. His time frame, partly dictated by the collections of the Cambridge Group for the History of Populations, assures him of many questions to answer regarding the effects of religious and secular .changes in an era of social and economic expansion and readjustment. He furthermore demonstrates a paradigm that can be applied to the giving of nam'es in the light of social conditions of any period. What were the names commonly given at the beginning of the period and, insofar as we can judge subjective choices, why? What were the reasons for any alteration of patterns over time in the naming of children, in using traditional religious and family names or departing from them? In short, how does naming practice reflect cultural sociodynamics?
We may be able to guess at some answers. For example, the freeing of the English from the grip of the Roman Catholic Church must have caused some shift from medieval patterns to Renaissance ones, the naming of children after parents rather than godparents perhaps, a new Protestant and Puritan tradition of seeking names from the Old Testament and less so (with some exceptions because of the nature o'f the saints involved) among the hagiographies of the Roman church, etc. Maybe some more interest in Welsh names because of the Tudors, or Scottish names because of the Stuarts. Maybe more variety in a more individualistic culture. The more we know of the culture-even in regard to the English emphasis on primogeniture and social strata (gentlemen, yeomen, artisans, husbandmen, laborers-all men, note), the sexist view that males not only carry on the surnames but are more important than females, the facts about infant death rates, and so on-the more we will know of naming, for onomastics is sociolinguistics.
Nevertheless, we need in the social sciences statistics to confirm our hypotheses with hard facts, and those are here and in abundance. After all the lists and charts and statistics, we understand much better the relationship of naming practices to alterations in family structure and the larger society. The sources here are many and the documentation is fulsome. The bibliography is extensive and excellent and runs from a popular paperback dealing with saints names to obscure but very useful tomes.
We are given the top 50 forenames in each decade in 40 English parishes from 1538 to 1700. John always heads the list for boys. Elizabeth moves up from second place in 1538-1549 to replace Joan and to top the lists in 1550-1650, at which time Mary pushes Elizabeth down into second place for 1650-1700. Elizabeth is the common spelling but we also find Elsabeth, Elysabeth, and of course Elisabeth. Jhon and Jonne are on occasion found for John and we do run into Watter for Walter and Yede for Edith. We note that names can be clues to the pronunciation of the time.
There are some nice anecdotes (a child intended to be an Ichabod in error made an Incombob at the font because Mama mumbled drunkenly), contemporary theories and regulations about naming, information on the beginning of the decline of naming after godparents and even after parents, the beginning of double forenames and surnames as forenames, the creation of double surnames, and more.
Smith-Bannister has produced the evidence to bring name giving beliefs more in line with the facts and he ends with "one comment" which is worth quoting in full: At the end of the period [1700] England may have witnessed one of the more significant events in the history of names and naming patterns. As the proportion of children named after someone else declined a possibility emerged: the possibility that the significance of the English personal name was beginning to change. No longer would it be bounded by the constraints imposed by name-sharing practices: personal names could become a matter of personal choice. (188) Leonard R.N. Ashley Brooklyn College (Emeritus)