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Re: Origin of "Forkapa"
I did see a posting in roots.com from a "Frank Forkapa" in Germany looking for family history. He was told it might be related to the sebian name "Sarenkapa"
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There is a Serbo-Croat word, Saren (Šaren), which an online dictionary translates as "multicoloured". So "multicoloured cap"? If that were the meaning - emphasis on "IF" - then it would raise the possibility of the kapa in Forkapa meaning "cap". Then, how to explain FOR-?
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Could it be a pronunciation change to "For" instead of "Saren"
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It would be quite a stretch.
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I think I might have figured it out Jim. I was on a Serbian chat line and the people kept asking me why I spell my name wrong...It should be Vorkapa ; the V sounding as F as in "For".
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Aah!
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The online Serbo-Croat dictionaries recognise no word vorkapa or vor. There is also a Serbian surname, Vorkapic (Vorkapich), "son of Vorkapa"?
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Ya I heard that one also, which they said it was an old german name. I thought was a little strange. I had a post from the Serbian Geological Society stating very doubtful it was of german descent because a Forkapa is listed in [www.jasenovac-info.com]it is the victim list of Jewish and Serbian victims in Jasenovac.
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I've seen that name and it was a Serbian and Christian(?) forename. I think it would be a waste of time trying to identify it as a Jewish name. One man's opinion.
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Hi Jim,
Check this out and let me know waht you think.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Low_Franconian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Frisianhttp://www.koeblergerhard.de/germanistischewoerterbuecher/altfriesischeswoerterbuch/afries-F.pdfpage 34: for-kâp-ia* 10, afries., sw. V. (2): nhd. verkaufen; ne. sell (V.); ÜG.: lat. vÐndereL 2; Q.: W, R, E, Jur, L 2; E.: s. for- (1), kâp-ia; W.: nfries. forkeapjen, V.,verkaufen; L.: Hh 55a, Rh 1113afor-kâp-inge 1, afries., st. F. (æ): nhd. Verkauf; ne. sale; Hw.: vgl. mnd.vorkôpinge, mnl. vercopinge; Q.: AA 65 (1513); E.: s. for-kâp-ia, *-inge; L.: AA 65
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I have to say I'm dubious. Forkapia, Forkapinge certainly look similar, but we'd have to account for the presence of East Frisian vocabulary in the Balkans. Also as this is Old Frisian, and I believe South Slav surnames don't date back to the Middle Ages, there would be a chronological problem.
However, I've learned that ideas that are dismissed out of hand can come back and bite. There are German surnames in the Balkans, usually with adapted spellings, so - who knows?
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Hi Jim,
Some new info. I spoke to a guy on a web site in Latvia who used the word forkapa in a blog. I asked him what it meant and this was his reply:
I believe this word ("Forkap") comes more from Russian language, and it means that hook attached behind the car, where you can attach trailer or caravan to.
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I just noticed this while looking for an old posting. Sorry for the late reply.
My Russian dictionary doesn't have the word "forkap", and English to Russian doesn't yield such a word for "hook". I've been racking my brain to think of a word we normally use for that device, without any luck.
If this thread remains open I'll do a bit more scouting round the Slavic languages.
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I'm trying Jim....
I did speak to my Uncle and he had said my grandfathers, great or great great grandfather came from a town outside Paris.
Thanks for your help.
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I was not at all trying the Jewish path. At Jesenovac they murdered serbs, jews,roma and muslims for racial and religious reasons. I think what the person was stating is that it was not of German ancestery due to the fact a Forkapa was on the list of people who died.
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