Sorbian Personal Names
The aim of this page is to provide information about the structure of Sorbian personal names and to discuss cataloging issues involving these names.
1. Structure of Sorbian Personal Names
For the majority of publications in one of the Sorbian languages, the authors use the Sorbian spelling of their name. Those usually differ from their legal name. If the OCLC database does not list both versions, it is recommended to check the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) to find the legal name of a person using a Sorbian name.
Traditionally, a married woman accepts the family name of the husband and drops her maiden name. The Sorbian spelling of surnames for married females ends mostly on –owa (e.g. Bjeńšowa, Delenkowa) or in same grammatical cases on –ina (Šołćina) or –yna (e.g. Domašcyna).
If a woman is not married, the endings of the surname –ec or –ic refers to an Upper Sorbian author, while –ojc or –ejc refers to a Lower Sorbian female (e.g., Čornakec, Šołćic, Witkojc)
There is no specific ending for the surnames of Sorbian males, married or unmarried.
There is one exception to the rule, when the plural form of family names changes to the genitive form. In publications, this is found rather seldom but can cause some confusion.[1] If a married couple or siblings publish and the surname is mentioned only once (e.g. in English: [authors:] Jan and Trudla Malink), the Sorbian publication would add the suffix –ec or –ic to the surname (e.g. Jan a Trudla Malinkec, Smolic bratřa).
If the given name and surname follow a preposition, for example in a statement of responsibility, the given names also adopt the genitive form.
Example:
… zestajene wot Jana a Trudle Malinkec
[transl: compiled by Jan and Trudla Malink]
Note that some Sorbian authors may opt out of using the Sorbian form of their name, even if they publish in the Sorbian language.
2. Establishing Authorized Forms of Sorbian Personal Names
If an author is not established yet in the Name Authority File, a record should be created. Choose the main access point on the basis of which is the more commonly used form. It is recommended to check the author’s website of the Domowina publishing house to see if the author has primarily published in one of the Sorbian languages or in German.
In some cases the main access point for the author needs to be constructed according to the Sorbian spelling because the author always used the Sorbian form (e.g. Mina Witkojc) in his or her publications. Establish the surname in inverted order (e.g. Witkojc, Mina) or surname or forename alone (e.g. Lenka). Record the German version of the name as a variant access point. If the German version of the name is chosen as the main access point, and no Sorbian form is found, do not attempt to create a variant access point for a Sorbian version of the author’s name.
If a female author uses one of the Sorbian endings on its surname (e.g.: -ec, -ic, -ojc, -ejc, -owa, -ina, -yna), include those in the authority record as found in the publication.
Record diacritical marks as they appear. Add them if certain that they are integral to the name but were omitted in the source. Add date of birth/death and/or other designations associated with the person as needed.
Examples (in MARC format):
100 1 Scholze, Lenka [name in German]
400 1 Šołćic, Leńka [name in Upper Sorbian]
100 1 Pohonč, Jan August, ‡d 1841-1909 [name in Upper Sorbian]
400 1 Pohontsch, Johann August, ‡d 1841-1909 [name in German]
As mentioned above in the section on Structure of Sorbian Personal Names, if a married couple or two or more siblings with the same surname publish together, the ending of the surname (and sometimes given names) change into the genitive form. If names in the genitive form are mentioned in the publication, create a separate authority file for each author mentioned, with the family name (and surname if needed) converted into the nominative form.
Example:
… zestajene wot Jana a Trudle Malinkec [transl: compiled by Jan and Trudla Malink]
Examples (in MARC format):
100 1 Mahling, Jan [name in German, nominative form]
400 1 Malink, Jan [name in Upper Sorbian, nominative form]
100 1 Malinkowa, Trudla [name in Upper Sorbian, nominative form, feminine ending]
[400 does not exist because this author publishes under her Sorbian name in all languages]
The same rule applies to publications in which the author’s name appears on the title page (or other preferred source of information) in the genitive (or other non-nominative) form. Also here the name of the author of these works needs to be converted into the nominative form, including the given name.
Example (in MARC format):
100 1 Bart-Ćišinski, Jakub, ǂd 1856-1909, ǂe author. [nominative form]
245 10 Zhromadźene spisy Jakuba Barta-Ćišinskeho /ǂc rjadowane wot Mikławša Krječmaŕa. [both names in this field are in genitive form]
700 1 Krječmaŕ, Mikławš, ǂe editor. [nominative form]
Please note that there might be a significant difference in the spelling of the same name in Sorbian and German when authors publish in both languages. The OCLC database might already contain a name in one language, but not in the other. If in doubt, check either the Sorbian Wikipedia page of the author, VIAF, or if established, the author’s website created by the Sorbian Domowina publishing house.
Example (in MARC format):
100 1 Schurmann, Peter
400 1 Šurman, Pětš, ǂd 1961-
Sorbian pseudonyms or compound surnames are treated according to existing RDA rules. There are a few Sorbian family names of individual authors that are a combination of a family name and a byname (e.g. Bart-Ćišinski, Jakub). In this example the byname Ćišinski is placed after the hyphen, but can be also found before the hyphen (e.g. Radyserb-Wjela, Jan). In each case variant forms need to be created.
[submitted by Milan Pohontsch, July 2023]