assimilation to their Romance environment is reflected in the increasing 
number of hybrid names within the Langobardic territories of Italy. The 
degree of acculturation is evident both in the phonology and the morphology 
as well as the semantics of the names. 
There are several phonetic-phonological phenomena, which reflect the 
degree of the Langobards’ acculturation and assimilation showing the extent 
of Germanic-Romance interference. One of these is the grapho-phonetic re¬ 
presentation - in particular the preservation or transformation - of Germ, /w/ 
in Langobardic anthroponyms until 774. Germ, /w/ is usually preserved both 
in lexis and in personal names. However, it can also undergo a process of 
Romanization, from which the form <gu> can result. In addition, Germ, /w/ 
can be found in various other forms depending on its position within a word, 
e.g. when it is the initial sound in the second part of compound names, it tends 
to acquire vocalic quality. A sound inquiry into the grapho-phonetic represen¬ 
tation of the half-vowel /w/, which takes into account the diatopic distribution 
and the chronology of the respective sources, is likely to yield a more diffe¬ 
rentiated assessment of this phenomenon. The following study thus examines 
the various spellings of Germ, /w/ in relation to its different positions - initial 
position or initial sound in the second part of compound names. Further 
criteria are the chronology of the sources and their geographical distribution. 
The study is mainly based on the records contained in the Codice Diplomatico 
Longobardo. 
445