On Sat, Sep 27, 2003, João Simões Lopes Filho wrote:
> What's the meaning of -egg in German toponyms, like Schwarzenegg (a Swiss
> town) ?
AFAIK, it's only a spelling peculiarity, -egg(-) for
-eck(-) "corner". Yes, it is a toponym + the German(ic)
suffix -er. Arnie could have had his name spelled
like this, Schwarzenecker as well.
There is a variant Schwarzegger too, without this
linking particle: -en-. By the same token, similar
composita behave the same way as far as this -en-
is included or omitted: Schwarzenacker - Schwarzacker,
Schwarzenbeck - Schwarzbeck, Schwarzenberg - Schwarzberg;
Hohenacker - Hohacker etc.
Other names with this Eck component (das Eck, die Ecke):
Honecker (-> Hoheneck + -er) & Honegger & Hohenecker
& Hohecker; Niederegger; Rumenigge; (Graf von) Kielmansegg
etc. (I'm not sure whether Gamillscheg is to be seen as
a Gamill'sch + eck.)
As for Schwarzeneck, as a toponym, name of streets and
as anthroponyms, have a look at the list made by Google:
http://schwarzeneck.notlong.com
> Joao SL
George