About the place name Boderitz (Altenburger Land district)

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Abstract

This article proposes a new etymology for the place name Boderitz. The traditional account views the name as deriving from OSorb. *Podbreźe, onymised from OSorb. *pod(e)brez’e (< Early Common Slav. *podъ-berz-ьje) ‘the place near/below the birch grove’. However, this etymology seems unlikely since Slavic *-z- does not yield German /ʦ/. This article shows that the place name is more probably derived from Common Slav. *po-dъbr-ica > ‘Proto-Sorb.’/OUSorb. *po-debr-ica ‘the place near the ravine/valley’.