Is "Berlin" Slavic?

[AHetzer]

Wayles Browne wrote:
>
> An anthropologist working in Germany has asked me about the origin of
> the name of Berlin.

snip

All place names in East Germany ending in -in (with stress on /i:/) are
supposed to be of Slavic origin. As to Berlin, the same holds true, but
the etymology is not quite clear, some people think it may derive from
berl- with the meaning 'palka' (stick, log).

Whereas some places of the region continue Slavic settlements, there is
no archeological evidence, that at the place of Berlin was a Slavic
dwelling site prior to German colonization. Cf. Joachim Herrmann (ed.)
Die Slawen in Deutschland. Ein Handbuch. Berlin (GDR): Akademie Verlag
1970, p. 367

Kind regards
AHetzer

--
PD Dr. Armin Hetzer
URL: http://www1.uni-bremen.de/~hetzer
Mailto: a_hetzer at yahoo.de; nikom at flashmail.com

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