Editing Leipzig (section)

===Etymology===
The name ''Leipzig'' is commonly held to derive from ''lipa'', the common [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] designation for [[Tilia|linden trees]], making the city's name etymologically related to [[Lipetsk|Lipetsk, Russia]]. Based on medieval attestations like ''Lipzk'' (c. 1190), the original Slavic name of the city has been reconstructed as ''*Lipьsko'', which is also reflected in similar forms in neighbouring modern Slavic languages (Sorbian/Polish ''Lipsk'', Czech ''Lipsko''). This has, however, been questioned by more recent [[Onomastics|onomastic]] research based on the very oldest forms like ''Libzi'' (c. 1015).<ref>The very oldest written evidence (11th/12th c.) consistently shows forms like ''Libzi'' (first mention of Leipzig, 1015) whose ''-b-'' is difficult to reconcile with ''lipa''. Also, the ending ''-zi'' points to a plural personal name (roughly, "at the [X] people's place"), not the suffix ''-sko''. Karlheinz Hengst offered a Slavic root ''lib-'' as a possible source, which can mean "to waver, to sway, to wobble" (as in swampy ground?) or "thin, skinny, weak" (as in a thin piece of dry land?). Both roots, however, lack almost any attestation in other Slavic toponyms. Ultimately, it might be a pre-Slavic root (perhaps related to [[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] ''*leiH-'' "to pour, to flow, to drip", referring to the many streams around the city centre) that was enlarged with a Slavic suffix (''-ьcy'', ''-ica'' or the like). Even later, during early German colonization, the name seems to have been reinterpreted with the much more common ''lipa'' "linden tree", in accordance with the etymology commonly held today. Cf. Hengst, Karlheinz (2010). "Der Name Leipzig". In Eichler, Ernst; Walther, Hans (eds.). ''Alt-Leipzig und das Leipziger Land. Ein historisch-geographisches Namenbuch zur Frühzeit im Elster-Pleißen-Land im Rahmen der Sprach- und Siedlungsgeschichte. Leipzig: Universitätsverlag''. pp. 134–140; Walther, Hans (2010). "Leipzigs Name im Lichte seiner Frühüberlieferung". Ibid. pp. 129–133.</ref>