Riflessioni sui nomi di persona

Abstract

This study examines the personal names in Volume III/1 and Volume IV/4 of the source publication Codice diplomatico longobardo. It aims to discover a) the origins of personal names; b) their use in social classes; c) the language attitude of persons with Longobard names. The bearers of the names were grouped into four social classes: a) upper class, b) middle class, c) the class of clergymen, d) lower class.
(As found in royal diplomas, the use of Longobard names in their original forms were characteristic of members of the upper and the middle class. The /Spoleto/ ducal diplomas show a different case: from among the persons belonging to the upper and middle classes, 32 persons bear Longobard names in their original forms, in addition, 31 persons bear latinised Longobard names. This phenomenon is also reflected in their language attitude.) Names of Latin and Greek origins are mainly characteristic of the lower class, then at a lesser rate of the clergymen. Surprisingly, they can also be found more frequently among the names in ducal diplomas. The analysis of names and the language attitude of their bearers show a segment of a culturally and linguistically complex society. The members of the upper and middle classes in Northern Italy are characterized by a positive attitude to the Longobard language and probably by bilingualism, where the dominant language is Longobard. In the Duchy of Spoleto, the members of the middle class and partly those of the upper class were
probably bilingual yet but they tended to romanity. Whereas bilingualism is probable also among clergymen, the majority of the lower class are more likely to have been monolingual, using the spoken Late Latin.