Wiederspiegelung der Wende im deutschen Wortschatz – am Beispiel der Personenbezeichnungen
Reflection of the Wende in the German vocabulary – Using the Example of Personal Names

Summary/Abstract: In this paper, the personal names which came into use during the period of change (Wende) in Germany were analyzed. In the theoretical part, the historical background of this period was discussed. In addition, the term Wende was explained here, as well as its origin and the values that this word conveyed. The aim of the empirical part was to determine which new personal terms emerged during or just before this period and to which semantic domains they can be assigned, what character they have and whether these words still appear in today’s usage. It was also analyzed whether any semantic changes occurred in certain words. In order to answer the research questions, a corpus-based analysis was carried out, which proved that the new personal names of the Wende refer to the place of origin, representatives of the old GDR system, mentality, political and social role, or political behaviour, cultural life and departure. It follows from the analysis that most of the studied words evoke negative connotations and are present in today’s usage, with the majority of them referring to the Wende period. Moreover, the study showed that some words changed their meaning during and after the Wende.

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