are often known by very different names depending on the language in which they are expressed. This article provides an understanding of the linguistic and historical origin of this diversity and lists a number of correspondences for communes and lesser localities in the four departments of the former region:
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
,
Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
, and
Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
.
Exonyms and endonyms
In the context of toponyms, and with regard to the scope of this article,
exonyms and endonyms
An endonym (from Greek language, Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a Location, geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that p ...
are the differing external and internal names, respectively, used by different languages or cultures for a specific geographic place. For the people that speak German and live in Germany, for example, ''Deutschland'' is their endonym for that country. Conversely, ''Allemagne'' is the exonym in French, 'Germany' is the exonym in English, and so on.
The same idea can apply within a country too, between regions having vastly different linguistical and cultural histories. The emphasis in this article is on those toponyms that began as Gallo-Roman endonyms in some cases, but more often as endonyms following the
Germanic migrations
The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...
, and particularly what emerged from the
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
and
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
dynasties. Now, more than a millennium later, many of these toponyms have three different names—in
Lorraine Franconian
Lorraine Franconian (Lorraine Franconian: ''Plà tt'' or ''lottrìnger Plà tt''; french: francique lorrain or ''platt lorrain''; german: Lothringisch) is an ambiguous designation for dialects of West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch), ...
, French, and German—due to shifts in culture and language and changes in land possession.
Linquistical aspects of toponyms in Lorraine
The 'determinant-determined' of the Romano-Francs
The origin of
toponyms
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
, of which
exonyms
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, o ...
are a certain type, is sometimes controversial, especially in
where successive or simultaneous occupations by different peoples and changes in culture have often influenced toponymy more than elsewhere.
As in all regions marked by Germanic influence, adjectives or appellatives often precede nouns. Many toponyms are formed with the name of a local lord or land owner. In some cases, however, a particular topographical, religious, or historical aspect may have played a more important role, which is difficult to determine in
Gallo-Romance
The Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages includes in the narrowest sense the Langues d'oïl and Franco-Provençal. However, other definitions are far broader, variously encompassing the Occitano-Romance, Gallo-Italic, and Rhaeto-Romanc ...
formations in particular. While Gallic toponyms are often poorly clarified due to insufficient knowledge of the language, Romanesque toponyms often play the role of those older Celtic toponyms that have been redesigned in the Romanesque style.
The Ripuarian and
Salian
The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125).
After the death of the l ...
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
, and for some time also the
Alemanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes
*
*
*
on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
in eastern Lorraine, introduced Germanic toponyms. A patronymic practice of the Romano-Francs that developed from the
Merovingian Dynasty
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
was to merge Roman and Germanic habits. The Germanic rule of word composition from right to left (i.e. the decisive-determined order), largely governs the formation of Lorraine toponyms, both in Germanic and in Roman dialect.
For example, the Lorraine dialect places the adjective epithet before the noun it describes. A "white rupt" is a "white stream" (clear and transparent meaning). This is especially true for oronyms and toponyms in localities that make extensive use of local dialect. Gerardmer (''Giraumouè'') is the "Lake of Gerold", which can therefore be translated in the same order in German language: ''Geroldsee''. The use of ''Geroltzsee'' is attested locally as early as 1484.
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
(except
Avranchin
Avranchin is an area in Normandy, France corresponding to the territory of the Abrincatui, a tribe of Celts from whom the city of Avranches, the main town of the Avranchin, takes its name.
In 867, by the Treaty of Compiègne, Charles the Bald gav ...
),
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France.
Hi ...
Champagne-Ardenne
Champagne-Ardenne () is a former administrative region of France, located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium. Mostly corresponding to the historic province of Champagne, the region is known for its sparkling white wine of the ...
, so it is not surprising that this method of composition is present in Romanesque Lorraine.
In the west and south, the reverse order — determined-determinant — is more dominant. Thus, for example, names like ''Neufchâteau'', ''Neufchâtel'', ''Neuville'', and ''Neubourg du nord'' have opposite construction to ''Chateauneuf'', ''Castelnau'', ''Villeneuve'', and ''Bourgneuf'' further south. Even if a Lorrain does not feel completely at home in
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
because of the Flemish forms (''-kerque'', ''-em'', ''-hem'', ''-hout'', ''-brouck'', ''-berghe'', ''-dorp'') largely different from German forms, and even more so in Normandy with the Anglo-Norroese appellatives (''-crique-'', ''-ham'', ''-londe'', ''brique-'' ''hougue'' / ''hogue'', / '', they can easily feel a common practice (''-kirch'', ''-om'', ''-heim'', ''-holtz'', ''-bruck'', ''-berg'', ''-troff'' / ''-droff'').
In German-speaking Lorraine, the word ''dorf'' (for 'village') is often passed to ''troff'' by hardening from /''d''/ to /''t''/ and metathesis from /''r''/.
The toponyms in ''-angel'' (
Common Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...
''-ing'') are typically Lorrainian and correspond to a relatively recent decline in Germanic speaking in Lorraine. Elsewhere this form is exceptional except in
Luxembourgish
Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide.
As a standard form of th ...
Artois
Artois ( ; ; nl, Artesië; English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras (Dutch: ''Atrecht'') ...
, ''-inge'', ''-in'', ''-ain'', its correspondents, are also the expression of a decline in the Flemish language or at least a desire to make toponyms more
Gallicized
Francization (in American English, Canadian English, and Oxford English) or Francisation (in other British English), Frenchification, or Gallicization is the expansion of French language use—either through willful adoption or coercion—by mo ...
, from Ile-de-France to Walloon Belgium. The ''-court'' toponyms have been chronologically replaced by the ''-ville'' toponyms, of which Romanesque Lorraine is the second 'provider' after Normandy and before the exceptional area of
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
Alsatian dialect
Alsatian ( gsw-FR, Elsässisch, links=no or "Alsatian German"; Lorraine Franconian: ''Elsässerdeitsch''; french: Alsacien; german: Elsässisch or ) is the group of Alemannic German dialects spoken in most of Alsace, a formerly disputed regio ...
, the Lorraine dialect allows a cross-reading of the region's toponyms and makes it possible to establish a correspondence between the two families of languages present on Lorraine's territory. This is one of Lorraine's unique characteristics, its function as a language buffer region, or space between.
Historical aspects of toponyms in Lorraine
Definition of terms
The subject of terms is very sensitive. It is linked to recent history, therefore the definition of terms is important.
Since that which is Germanic cannot be 'Germanized', the term "Germanization" for the periods 1870-1918 and 1940-1945 should be understood as an adaptation of form or graphics to
standard German
Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...
as intended by the heads of state of the last German empires. The Anglo-Saxons speak here rather of 'prussification' to avoid confusion. Moreover, many Moselle toponyms, characteristic of the Franconian Lorraine dialect, also exist in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
or
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. For a Francophone, Merlebach is objectively no less Germanic than Merlenbach.
The phenomenon is not specific to Moselle, a large part of Germany, especially in the south, had to willingly adopt standard German names for their official signs, but on the ground, the inhabitants continued to designate their village in the local form. No one is expecting to see 'Stuegert' on a city sign instead of ''
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
'' today. Even today, an Alsatian and a Mosellan have their local form to designate their agglomeration. This also applies to village names in Lorraine dialect and beyond for all regions of France in local languages and dialects.
The difference is that Moselle suffered the arrival of 'prussification' as a denial of its specificity in view of the brutality of certain measures that followed the de facto annexation after the abandonment of the territories by the parliament meeting in Bordeaux in May 1871. This annexation was difficult to experience throughout the annexed Moselle because of the desire to 'prussify' Moselle by erasing its specificities. This was experienced as a constraint even in the Lorraine-Franco-speaking (Germanic) areas. It must also be said that part of the annexed Moselle known as
, has always been Romanesque, mainly Metzgau and Saulnois, except formerly the
Dieuze
Dieuze (; ) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
People
Dieuze was the birthplace of:
*Charles Hermite, mathematician
*Edmond François Valentin About, novelist, publicist and journalist
*Émile Friant, pain ...
region. Here, the Germanization of the toponym is an indisputable fact (Fresnes - Eschen). The locals were forced to change their names. This is why it must always be borne in mind that the phenomenon of "Germanization" does not cover the same thing depending on whether you start from an original Romanesque or historically Germanic toponym.
French and
Lorraine Franconian
Lorraine Franconian (Lorraine Franconian: ''Plà tt'' or ''lottrìnger Plà tt''; french: francique lorrain or ''platt lorrain''; german: Lothringisch) is an ambiguous designation for dialects of West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch), ...
In the south of the Pays de Nied, there are current toponyms using ''-court'' that were formerly ''-troff'' / ''-torff''. For example, Arraincourt from ''Armestroff'', Thicourt from ''Diederstroff'', Thonville from ''Oderstroff'', Hernicourt (in Herny) from ''Hermerstorf''.
At the time of the
Ernest de Bouteiller
Ernest de Bouteiller (10 February 1826, Paris – 26 May 1883) was a French historian and politician.
He studied at the École Polytechnique, and for several years served in the French military, receiving the rank of artillery captain in 1857. ...
,
Ernest de Bouteiller
Ernest de Bouteiller (10 February 1826, Paris – 26 May 1883) was a French historian and politician.
He studied at the École Polytechnique, and for several years served in the French military, receiving the rank of artillery captain in 1857. ...
was (fr) Mellecey alias (de) Metzingen
* Zommange was (fr) Semanges alias (de) Simingen
* Chemery-les-Deux was (fr) Clsmey alias (de) Schomberg
*
Les Étangs
Les Étangs (; german: Tennschen) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
See also
* Communes of the Moselle department
The following is a list of the 725 communes of the Moselle department of France.
...
was (de) Tenchen alias (fr) Lestanche
* Macker was (de) Machern alias (fr) Maizières
* Many was (de) Niderheim alias (fr) Magny
*
Morhange
Morhange (; german: Mörchingen; Lorraine Franconian ''Märchinge'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
See also
* Communes of the Moselle department
The following is a list of the 725 communes of ...
was (fr) Morhanges alias (de) Morchingen
* Ottonville was (de) Ottendorf alias (fr) Ottonville
* Roupeldange was (de) Rupplingen alias (fr) Ruppeldanges
*
Suisse
; rm, citad federala, links=no). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzon ...
was (fr) Xousse alias (de) Soultzen
* Varize was (fr) Warize alias (de) Weybelsskirchen
* Pontigny,See w:fr:Pontigny (Moselle), a locality (or hamlet) in the commune
since 1810 was (de) Nidbrücken alias (fr) Pont de Niet
These were certainly not the only spellings before or after 1594. The history for Pontigny, for example, a locality (or hamlet) in the commune
since 1810, is attested as:
* (de) ''Bruque'' 1339
* (de) ''Brücke'' 1485
* (de) ''Nydbrück'' alias (fr) ''Pont de Nied'' by the 16th century
* (de) ''Nidbrück'' and (fr) ''Pontnied'' in 1542
* (de) ''Nidbrücken'' alias (fr) ''Pont de Niet'' in 1594
* (de) ''Niedbruch'' in 1606
* (de) ''Niedbroug'' by the 17th century
* (fr) ''Pontigni'' 1756
* (fr) ''Poutigny'' 1793
* (de) ''Niedbrücken'' 1940-44
* (fr) ''Pontigny'' ever since
There were further name or spelling differences in the centuries prior, after localities were formed under the Frankish dynasties up to when first attestations are known.
The names of many communes in Moselle were Francized at the end of the
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
, in particular those having the suffix ''-engen'' or ''-ingen'', which was sometimes simplified into ''-ing'' or definitively replaced by the Romanesque form in ''-ing'' (e.g. ''-ingen'' was Romanized into ''-ingas'' and ''-inges'' since the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, hence ''-ang''). While in
Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsà ss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...
''-ingen'' was preserved. To a lesser extent, this suffix has also been Francized over the centuries in other forms, including ''-ang'', ''-in'', ''-court'', ''-gny'', and so forth.
The toponyms in German-speaking Moselle were often spelled ''-willer'' (sometimes ''-weiller'') in the '' Bulletins des lois'' and several dictionaries from the 19th century until 1870. This form subsequently disappeared in the 20th century, after the World Wars. While in Alsace, the ''-willers'' were preserved, although they were sometimes mentioned ''-viller'' and ''-viler'' in 1793–1801.(In French.) Ldh/EHESS/Cassini - Notices Communales.
Some municipalities had a
standard German
Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...
name between 1793 and 1802, such as
Folschviller
Folschviller (; german: FolschweilerCassini - Notice communale of Folschviller) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Localities of the commune: ''Aling'', ''Berfang Neuf'', ''Vieux Berfang''.
Populati ...
Berviller-en-Moselle
Berviller-en-Moselle (german: Berweiler) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
Population
See also
* Communes of the Moselle department
The following is a list of the 725 communes of the Moselle dep ...
Bisten-en-Lorraine
Bisten-en-Lorraine (, literally '' Bisten in Lorraine''; german: Bisten im Loch) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
Population
See also
* Communes of the Moselle department
The following is a list ...
(''Bisten im Loch'' 1793),
Château-Rouge
Château-Rouge (; Lorraine Franconian: ''Roudendroff''; german: Rothendorf) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Previous names: ''Château Rouge ou Rothdorf'' (1793), ''Rothdorff'' (1794-1795), ''Chât ...
(''Rothdorf'' 1793),
Mouterhouse
Mouterhouse (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Muterhüse'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France.
The village belongs to the Pays de Bitche and to the Northern Vosges Regional Nature Par ...
(''Mutterhausen'' 1801),
Soucht
Soucht (; German and Lorraine Franconian: ''Sucht'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France.
The village is part of the Pays de Bitche and to the Northern Vosges Regional Nature Park ...
(''Sucht'' 1801), Rodalbe (''Rodalben'' 1801), Merlebach (''Merlenbach'' 1801), Dalem (''Dalheim'' 1801), Altrippe (''Altrippen'' 1793).
The dictionaries of Henri Lepage on the Meurthe and Ernest de Bouteiller on the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
, written before 1871, prove that many municipalities still had an alias in German during the 19th century. For example,
Lorquin
Lorquin (; german: Lörchingen; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lëëschinge'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
See also
*Communes of the Moselle department
The following is a list of the 725 communes of ...
Chicourt
Chicourt (; german: Diexingen) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Geography
Chicourt lies in Saulnois, 34 kilometers northeast of Nancy, 32 kilometers southeast of Metz, and 26 kilometers southwest ...
Germanized as ''Diexingen'' (1915-1918) from the ''Diekesinga'' mention from 1121 and 1180 (''-inga'' being the primitive form of ''-ingen'').
All the toponyms in the department had been gradually Germanized in the German period of the Alsace-Lorraine. The place names of German-speaking Lorraine were first Germanized, adjectives (top, bottom...) were then translated, then the names of villages close to the
linguistic boundary of Moselle
The linguistic boundary in the French department of Moselle (Lorraine region) is a subset of the wider Romance-Germanic language border that stretches through Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy.
Localities
At the end of the nineteenth c ...
and the last ones, including all those of French-speaking Moselle, were Germanized on 2 September 1915 (e.g. Augny).
At the end of the First World War in 1918, these place names reverted to their pre-1870 version.
All toponyms are Germanised after the annexation of 1940, most of the time using their 1918 form or another more or less different one. They were re-Francized in 1945.
Roman / Germanic correspondences
Comparison of Lorrain appellatives
Toponymic correspondences with communes in Meuse
Toponymic correspondences with communes in Moselle
Toponyms from the reorganization of territory
The reorganization of territory is a common occurrence throughout history, thus an important consideration in toponymy. Counties and cantons can be broken apart. New communes can be formed by joining several localities together. And sometimes through these changes a given name can migrate to a different locality that where it was originally used. Records of such territorial changes are increasingly scarce with the centuries, thus territorial histories tend to obscure with time. Few attestations are available for the founding or change of territory through the late first millennium, but records gradually improve, and by the late second millennium, scholars like Cassini, Lepage, and Boutilleir have largely collated all the toponyms attested in charts concerning the history of
Austrasia
Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the F ...
into dictionaries and other tombs of reference.
Consider
Freyming-Merlebach
Freyming-Merlebach (; german: Freimingen-Merlenbach) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is part of the agglomeration of Saarbrücken and Forbach.Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsà ss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
National Convention
The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
German exonyms Below is a list of German language exonyms for formerly German places and other places in non-German-speaking areas of the world. Archaic names are in ''italics''.
Algeria
Belarus
Belgium
* List of German exonyms for places in Belgium
...
*
List of European exonyms {{Short description, none
Below is a list with links to further Wikipedia-pages containing lists of exonyms of various European languages for villages, towns, and cities in Europe.
* Albanian exonyms
* Basque exonyms
* Bulgarian exonyms
*Catalan ex ...
References
{{reflist
Exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...