Published: 2025-05-31

Some remarks on the functioning and interpretation of surnames of Daugavpils’ Poles with the suffix -ski/-ska (-skiĭ/-skaia) in the years 1945–1991

Michał Mordań

Abstract

The personal names of Poles in the far Eastern Borderlands is an issue relatively underexplored in onomastics. The anthroponymy of the inhabitants of Latgale developed in complicated historical, socio-political, and cultural-linguistics circumstances, so describing the functioning of onymic units, mainly from the perspective of determining their origin, requires special caution. These assumptions of an intra- and extra-linguistic nature became the starting point for the analysis of source material taken from Daugavpils’ house residents registration books from 1945–1991. With regard to place-based surnames with the suffix -ski/-ska (-skiĭ/-skaia) and its variants, the emphasis is put on the etymological aspect and the recorded linguistic forms. Apart from the typical difficulties associated with the interpretation of this type of surnames, other circumstances should also be taken under careful scrutiny when examining the Daugavpils’ material. These include: 1) equal consideration of place names (as potential etymons) from the entire area of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 2) establishing correlations between surnames and toponyms – phonetically similar, but with different linguistics features, caused by the influence of Polish, East Slavic languages, and the Northern Borderland dialect, 3) paying special attention to the alternation of forms resulting from the russification of surnames and the influence of local linguistic peculiarities and idiolectal factors.

Keywords:

linguistics, onomastics, anthroponymy, surnames, suffix -ski, Latgale, Daugavpils

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Citation rules

Mordań, M. (2025). Some remarks on the functioning and interpretation of surnames of Daugavpils’ Poles with the suffix -ski/-ska (-skiĭ/-skaia) in the years 1945–1991. Poradnik Językowy, 824(5), 62–75. Retrieved from https://www.journals.polon.uw.edu.pl/index.php/pj/article/view/1693

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