Hristina Deykova

90 Years Since the Birth of Prof. Dr. Todor Atanasov Todorov (1934–2012)

Citation:
Hristina Deykova. 90 Years Since the Birth of Prof. Dr. Todor Atanasov Todorov (1934–2012). Linguistique balkanique, LXIII (2024), 2, 83-86. ISSN 0324-1653

Hristo Saldzhiev

On the Etymology of the Old Bulgarian Lexeme сынъ and Middle Bulgarian Lexeme коула

Abstract: The present article addresses the etymology of the Old Bulgarian сынъ (synъ) ‘tower’, ‘stronghold’ and the Middle Bulgarian коула (kula) ‘tower’. Two different attempts at etymologizing сынъ (synъ) based on Turkic origins have been critically considered and refuted because of phonetic and semantic discrepancies. The word perhaps derives from the absolute state of the Aramaic *hson ‘tower’, ‘fortress’. The possible mediation of another language in the borrowing process has been discussed, too. The other word, коула (kula) ‘tower’, is used in all Balkan languages. The popular hypothesis of Turkish mediation in the borrowing of the Arabic qalla ‘peak’ has been challenged because the word was found in Byzantine and Middle Bulgarian records centuries before the first inscription of the Turkish kule in 1360. Moreover, unlike Byzantine Greek and Middle Bulgarian records of kula ‘tower’, the Turkish word was initially used in the sense of ‘peak’. Two possible hypotheses of a direct penetration of the word from Arabic into the Balkan languages have been suggested.

Keywords: Old Slavonic (Bulgarian); Byzantine Greek; Turkic languages; Semitic languages; tower; fortress; loanwords

Citation:
Hristo Saldzhiev. On the Etymology of the Old Bulgarian Lexeme сынъ and Middle Bulgarian Lexeme коула. Linguistique balkanique, LXIII (2024), 2, 87-96. ISSN 0324-1653

Oliviu Felecan

La memoire polonaise en onomastique roumaine

Polish Memory in Romanian Onomastics

Abstract: The presence of names from an ethnic minority or foreign personalities within a country’s public sphere is indicative of respect and appreciation for that population, as well as for the culture, literature, and scientific contributions made by its members. Employing a socio-onomastic perspective, this study explores the occurrences of Polish names in the Romanian public domain, focusing on cultural, scientific, religious, and military figures, among others. Regardless of their birthplace, field of activity, or specific connection to the Romanian people, Polish figures have enriched the broader cultural landscape and are commemorated throughout Romania. This occurs both in regions with significant ethnic minority populations and in areas with isolated instances. Street names, school names, hospitals, public institutions, companies, and non-governmental organizations invoke Polish anthroponyms and urbanonyms.

Keywords: commemorative names; socio-onomastics; Polish minority; hodonyms; urbanonymes

Citation:
Oliviu Felecan. La memoire polonaise en onomastique roumaine. Linguistique balkanique, LXIII (2024), 2, 97-110. ISSN 0324-1653

Corinna Leschber

Die Etymologie einiger rumänischer Fischnamen

The Etymology of Romanian Fish Names

Abstract: Southeast-European fish exploitation began in ancient times, probably in the Mesolithic, as evidenced by numerous ritual objects depicting fish. Later, it was a common subsistence strategy for the Neolithic population of the area. Zooarchaeological, archaeomythological, and historical linguistic data help analyze the etymologies of some Romanian fish names. Some can be linked etymologically to fish names in modern Slavic languages. In addition, some can be linked with fish names from the surrounding areas, or with old Common Slavic fish names. As for the inventory of these old Slavic fish names, a certain feature is prominent: the lack of Proto-Slavic names for saltwater fishes. This fact allows us to locate the ancient settling places of Proto-Slavic speakers distant from the shores of the saltwater sea, in a continentally area on the shores of rivers and lakes (Филин / Filin 1962: 117-118). The etymology of the designation *ryba ‘fish’ in Proto-Slavic is not easy to determine: several etymological attempts have been made, as shown in Blažek (2021). We aim here to shed some more light on the etymologies of Romanian fish names, which have a high level of phonetic variability, based on lexicographical data from (Antipa 1909, Коломиец / Kolomiec 1983, Vinja 1986 and Усачева / Usacheva 2003).

Keywords: Romanian language; Slavic languages; etymology; Proto-Slavic; subsistence strategy; fish names

Citation:
Corinna Leschber. Die Etymologie einiger rumänischer Fischnamen. Linguistique balkanique, LXIII (2024), 2, 111-123. ISSN 0324-1653

Ilie-Cătălin Grigore, Marius Oanță

Reminiscences of the Bulgarian-Paulician Past in the Cioplea Community: from Residual Culture to an Ethnic Revival Paradigm

Abstract: The community of Cioplea developed itself on two main cultural coordinates: a religious one, of Catholic expression, and an ethnic one, Paulician, which was also derived, in the latter instance, from a religious substrate. However, in its continuous identity development, a new factor emerged: the Bulgarian cultural heritage. For the 19th-century Cioplea villager who recently moved to Wallachia, the Bulgarian space represented a lost paradise, a nostalgia that was amplified in the case of this countryless population and religionless ecclesia, such as the Paulician one. By testing this hypothesis, the present study tries to quantify the influence of all these factors, while also taking into account what we might consider a true identity complex: although a genuine historical instinct of self-preservation prevented them from being assimilated into the host populations, stimulating specific differences from others, the Paulician micro-communities became fragmented and isolated from one another by this practice. In this sense, is no wonder that the villagers from Cioplea, although sharing common ancestors with the inhabitants of Popesti-Leordeni, have always claimed cultural differences from them in terms of dialect, customs, traditional clothing, etc. Even if recent studies have analysed the meaning of home for diaspora communities, is likely possible that those terms – diaspora and home – have a completely different meaning for Bulgarian Paulicians. Pointing out those moments in the historical timeline of people from Cioplea that led to the alteration and distancing of the cultural roots with which they came here could also indicate paradigms that they could follow to revive this community in accordance with the most intimate meaning of the word home.

Keywords: Catholic Bulgarian; Cioplea; ethnicity; identity; Paulicians

Citation:
Ilie-Cătălin Grigore, Marius Oanță. Reminiscences of the Bulgarian-Paulician Past in the Cioplea Community: from Residual Culture to an Ethnic Revival Paradigm. Linguistique balkanique, LXIII (2024), 2, 124-140. ISSN 0324-1653

Hristina Deykova

On the Turkish Origin of an Obsolete and Rare Bulgarian Word

Abstract: The object of analysis in this work is the origin of a rare Bulgarian word with emotional-evaluative semantics, which has been documented in writing from the late 19th century. Various phonetic, word-forming and semantic variants are found in the available sources: хългіз, хългізин, хілгізник, хългàзник, etc. The explanations of the word from S. Mladenov (1920) and A. Nichev (1979) are, in our opinion, unsatisfactory. The former points to a Slavic origin of the word, while the latter defines it as a Spanish word that entered Bulgarian through Judeo-Spanish. The article proposes a new etymological hypothesis, according to which the word is a loanword from the Turkish language. In contrast to the previous two etymological attempts, all formal variants are explained here, with the semantic diffuseness rooted in the peculiarities of the emotional or expressive vocabulary. The broad position of Turkisms in this layer of vocabulary in the Bulgarian language is also taken into account.

Keywords: etymology; Turkish borrowings in Bulgarian; emotional-evaluative vocabulary

Citation:
Hristina Deykova. On the Turkish Origin of an Obsolete and Rare Bulgarian Word. Linguistique balkanique, LXIII (2024), 2, 141-149. ISSN 0324-1653

Gerard Spaans

Ancient Greek Loanwords in Albanian: What Do We Know and What Remains to Be Done?

Abstract: Most of our knowledge about the Southern Balkans in Antiquity stems directly from Ancient Greek records, so our perspective on the historical situation in this area is highly Hellenistic. The ancestors of the Albanians must have lived among the Southern Balkan tribes, since their language seems to have borrowed some agricultural terminology from Ancient Greek. Studying these approximately 20-40 loanwords can yield a different perspective on the language contact scenario in question. This paper sums up the discussion of 19 suggested Ancient Greek borrowings in Albanian, and is meant as an aid and stimulus for further research into the matter.

Keywords: Ancient Greek; Albanian; Language contact; loanwords; Antiquity

Citation:
Gerard Spaans. Ancient Greek Loanwords in Albanian: What Do We Know and What Remains to Be Done?. Linguistique balkanique, LXIII (2024), 2, 150-163. ISSN 0324-1653

Boryan Yanev

Buchrezension: И. А. Седакова (отв. ред.), А. Б. Ипполитова (ред.). Balcano-Balto-Slavica и семиотика. (Материалы круглого стола или Balcanica, № 8). Москва: Институт славяноведения РАН, 2023.

Review: I. A. Sedakova (Ed.-in-Chief), A. B. Ippolitova (Ed.) (2023): Balcano-Balto-Slavica and Semiotics. (Centre of Linguocultural Research Balcanica. Proceedings of Round Tables, Vol. 8.). Moscow: Institute of Slavic Studies.

Citation:
Boryan Yanev. Buchrezension: И. А. Седакова (отв. ред.), А. Б. Ипполитова (ред.). Balcano-Balto-Slavica и семиотика. (Материалы круглого стола или Balcanica, № 8). Москва: Институт славяноведения РАН, 2023.. Linguistique balkanique, LXIII (2024), 2, 164-168. ISSN 0324-1653

Ivan Iliev

Buchrezension: Helmut W. Schaller, Sigrun Comati, Martin Henzelmann und Raiko Krauss (Eds.). Bulgarica, Band 5. München: Avm, 2023.

Citation:
Ivan Iliev. Buchrezension: Helmut W. Schaller, Sigrun Comati, Martin Henzelmann und Raiko Krauss (Eds.). Bulgarica, Band 5. München: Avm, 2023.. Linguistique balkanique, LXIII (2024), 2, 169-173. ISSN 0324-1653

Veronika Kelbecheva

Transfer and Adaptation: Languages and Cultures in Dialog (The Balkans from Late Antiquity to Early Modern Times). Chronicle of a Conference Conducted from 24th to 26th of January 2024 in Sofia.

Citation:
Veronika Kelbecheva. Transfer and Adaptation: Languages and Cultures in Dialog (The Balkans from Late Antiquity to Early Modern Times). Chronicle of a Conference Conducted from 24th to 26th of January 2024 in Sofia.. Linguistique balkanique, LXIII (2024), 2, 174-179. ISSN 0324-1653