From ‘Uitoduro’ to ‘Winti’: how place names change
Since they were founded centuries ago, place name have undergone constant change. Unsophisticated descriptions of the local landscape, or ownership, have morphed into abbreviations popular among the young. In Winterthur’s case, it has gone from ‘Uitoduro’ to ‘Winti’.
André Perler
André Perler is a dialectologist and historian and works at SRF as a dialect editor.
Website: Dini Mundart bei Radio SRF
Winterthur is a great example of how place names change. The second-largest city in the canton of Zurich has its origins in Roman times (vicus = small town) with the Vitudurum fort in what is now upper Winterthur. It was on an important route between Lake Geneva and Lake Constance. An analysis of the tree rings of excavated Roman wooden buildings date the settlement back to the first century.
Winterthur, the pasture gate
The Celtic *Uitódurō can be reconstructed from the Latinised Vitudurum. Uitódurō is composed of the Celtic uito, for pasture, possibly also a person’s name, and durōn for door or gate. Winterthur therefore means pasture gate, pasture yard, or a fence made of woven straw. It might also refer to uito's marketplace.
Celtic place names were Romanised
With the integration of what is now Switzerland into the Roman Empire at the start of modern times, and the swift change of everyday language from Celtic to Latin, Celtic place names were Romanised, so Salódŭrōn > Salodurum, Dūnon > Tunum, Eburodūnon > Eburodunum, Turīcon > Turicum.
New Celtic-Roman establishments
Much more common than purely Latin place names are Celtic-Latin hybrids, such as those ending in -ach(t): Bettlach, Alpnach, Küsnacht etc. The first part of the word in each case is a Latin personal name, the second a Celtic place name ending -akos, Latinised into ‑acum. These hybrid name reflect the linguistic circumstances in the Romanised Celtic society of the extended Alpine region.
Yet another change of language
That is how the Swiss German names that we know today evolved over the centuries. This change of language naturally did not happen in the Romance language parts of Switzerland, where local place names developed in the individual Romance dialects and languages.
What are the Winter and Thur in Winterthur?
In Winterthur’s case, there is evidence of the Alemannic form of Wintarduro from as long ago as 856, when the Vitu part of the name, which was no longer understood, became replaced in popular usage by the Alemannic wintar (Winter). Later still, the second part of the name was changed to Thur, like the river Thur, which does not actually flow through Winterthur.
Other examples of place names that have changed in popular usage are Weinfelden (which does not refer to the German for wine, but to the Alemannic personal name of Wino) and Herzogenbuchsee/ Münchenbuchsee (whose names have nothing to do with any book (Buch) or lake (See), but originate instead from the Latin *ad buxa, for ‘by the boxtrees’).
Youth short and casual forms
It’s possible that these shorter forms arose in usage among young people, and later became established in casual use. In Swiss German the diminutive -i form found in descriptors such as Badanstalt > Badi (lido), Gymnasium > Gymi (high school) probably became adopted for place names.
Other place names are given the diminutive form without the -i ending, usually by being reduced to the first two syllables (Wünnewil > Wüne, Neuchâtel > Neuch). Wit is also in evidence, with Wollishofen becoming the more creative Wollyhood, and Emmenbrücke also borrowing from the American to become Emmebronx .
Local place names will continue to change for as long as language is spoken in Switzerland.
