The Issue of German and Czech Equivalents in Naming Professions Using the Example of Prague Guild Trades and Bussinesses
Abstract
The submitted study deals with the issue of period terminology in the field of urban trades and businesses. When working with sources from the bilingual environment of Bohemian and Moravian cities, the appropriate and especially proper translation of the German terms for professions to the corresponding Czech equivalents is one of the basic demands placed on the editor or researcher.
A study of Prague guilds based on a rich resource base in both studied languages made it possible to find a whole range of terminologically difficult translations and, based on them, describe the basic issues of Czech and German equivalents for various professions. These include cases where the same German term was used to label two different professions in the past, or the opposite situation whereby the Czech terms do not reflect the existence of two or more German words.
In addition there are also groups of similar trades that are traditionally mixed up. Recent findings show that the conclusions made from a study of Prague guild professions are also applicable more broadly to other regions of the Czech lands.
Appended to the study is a German-Czech glossary of Prague trade and business names used.