Александр К. Шапошников

Балканский языковой союз: краткий обзор проблем и новых решений [full text]

[The Balkan Sprachbund – a Brief Overview of Obstacles and New Solutions]

Abstract: In honor of the 60th anniversary of the distinguished Bulgarian Academic journal “Linguistique balkanique”, this article produces a short review of the theory concerning the Balkan sprachbund and shows new approaches to its principal concepts. A completely different composition of the Balkan language union is found, which includes, in addition to the “backbone ridge” (Eastern-Romanesque ↔ Slavic-Bulgarian bilingualism), several other important components: Turanian (East-Iranian), Gothic (East-Germanic), Ugric, and North-Western-Caucasian languages. The initial prestige language, “a window to the world”, was Old Bulgarian (VII – IX centuries), and from the final third of IX c. – the Old Church Slavonic version of Old Bulgarian. The Greek language was a conduit of the degrading Greco-Roman civilization to the zone of early statehood north of the Balkan Range. Specifically, this included writing systems and the literary language for translations of ideological literature (Old Church Slavonic and church sermons).

Keywords: areal linguistics, family of languages, union of languages, isoglosses of convergency, dyglossy, polyglossy, prestige language, etymology, proper names study

DOI: DOI: 10.7546/LB.SB.2018.02.01

Citation:
Александр К. Шапошников. Балканский языковой союз: краткий обзор проблем и новых решений [full text]. Linguistique balkanique, LVII (2018), 2, 102-135. ISSN 0324-1653, DOI DOI: 10.7546/LB.SB.2018.02.01

Slavka Keremidchieva

The Significance of Linguistic-Geographic Data

Abstract: It as an acknowledged fact that the real dissemination and frequent usage of a linguistic phenomenon, lexemes in particular, could be judged only when it is presented from a linguistic-geographic perspective over the corresponding linguistic continuum. For example, after the publication of the Bulgarian lexical materials in the Slavic Linguistic Atlas, it has become clear that the lexeme las-ic-a ‘weasel’, thought to be Slavic, is completely absent from Bulgarian dialects and has been displaced by at least 22 specific taboo names. On the other hand, if we just rely on Bulgarian materials published in SLA, we should expect one more lexeme to fall off the Slavic lexeme map – dětьljь// dętеljь//dętьlъ ‘woodpecker’ (Dendrocopos sp.), since it has not been registered in any of the 37 Bulgarian localities in the SLA network. However, materials from the Archive of the Bulgarian Dialect Dictionary confirm, that lexemes with a motivation sign root that is shared by all Slavic people – ‘a bird that hollows out a tree’, are present in many of our dialects: д’èтел, д’àтел, д’èтле, д’èтлич. Other similar cases illustrate the relative relevance of the linguistic field on the SLA maps, depending on the character and pertinence of the net of population centers, which is often unable to detect important linguistic facts. This is why, the necessary verification of national atlases (for Bulgarian dialects – the regional atlases and the four volumes of Atlas of Bulgarian Dialects, the General Volume where the network is far more intense – 2300 localities, as well as the national dictionaries and archives), is to be made before any conclusions are drawn on the distribution of Slavic or European lexemes over a given linguistic continuum.

Keywords: Slavic Linguistic Atlas, Bulgarian dialects, linguistic-geographic view

Citation:
Slavka Keremidchieva. The Significance of Linguistic-Geographic Data. Linguistique balkanique, LVII (2018), 2, 136-144. ISSN 0324-1653

Ana Kocheva

Structural Models in the Derivational Formation of Lexemes that Mean Rye in Different European Languages

Abstract: The words meaning rye in contemporary European languages represent the basic components of derivational phraseological units or onomasiological motifs in other related lexemes with the same root. This has given rise to several distinct and sustainable pan-European structural models. To a great extent, this situation characterizes the Bulgarian language as well. The above structural models available in Bulgarian are also functional in other European languages. Some of them are basic and others – non-basic, i.e. they may appear sporadically parallel to the basic models. When discussed below, priority is given to the basic structural models typifying a specific language or a group of European languages.

Keywords: rye, structural models, mutational, phraseological unit, onomasiological motif

Citation:
Ana Kocheva. Structural Models in the Derivational Formation of Lexemes that Mean Rye in Different European Languages. Linguistique balkanique, LVII (2018), 2, 145-149. ISSN 0324-1653

Svetlana Yanakieva

ἼΣΤΡΟΣ and the Palaeo-Balkan Linguistic Space

Abstract: The paper examines the dissemination of several geographic names from the same lexical stems in the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor and the Aegean basin, such as Ἴστρος/Histria, Ἄρισβος/ Ἀρίσβη, Ἴλιον/ Ἴλιος, Κεβρήνιοι/ Κεβρήν, Κρίσος/ Κρῖσα, Πέργαμος/ Πέργαμον etc. They are traditionally examined as Thracian in Thrace, pre-Greek in Greece and “indigenous” in Asia Minor. The geographic distribution of the names – from the Danube in Thrace in the north, to Crete in the south, and from Karia in Asia Minor in the east, to the Adriatic Sea in the west – leads to the conclusion that the common lexical stems in the toponymy are a sign of lexical proximity between the languages in the Palaeo-Balkan linguistic space: Thracian, pre-Greek (the so-called Pelasgian), Illyrian and some linguistic idioms in Western Asia Minor, with a probability that it could be due to something more than common Indo-European heritage.

Keywords: Balkans, Asia Minor, Aegeis, toponymy, lexical closeness

Citation:
Svetlana Yanakieva. ἼΣΤΡΟΣ and the Palaeo-Balkan Linguistic Space. Linguistique balkanique, LVII (2018), 2, 150-154. ISSN 0324-1653

Corinna Leschber

Balkanologie vs. Indologie: Untersuchung von Slangwörtern

[Balkanistics vs. Indology: the Etymologization of Slang Words]

Abstract: In the following essay, we trace the Romani origin and the Indo-Iranian etymology of some Balkan slang words (derived from the Romani roots čor- and mang-), focusing on the Romanian and the Bulgarian language. After looking into the derivational productivity and the semantic content of the slang words, we try to compare the results with the word-history, semantic content, derivational productivity and word-formation processes of their cognate words in the modern Indo-Aryan language Hindī.

Keywords: Etymology, Balkan linguistics, Indology, Romani language, Slang words, Romanian language, Bulgarian language

Citation:
Corinna Leschber. Balkanologie vs. Indologie: Untersuchung von Slangwörtern. Linguistique balkanique, LVII (2018), 2, 155-166. ISSN 0324-1653

Hristo Kyuchukov

On Regional Standardization of Romani in the Balkans

Abstract: The paper presents new ideas on the standardization of Romani, using different Vlax dialects as a base. In cases where it is not possible to take lexical items from these dialects, lexical items from other non-Vlax Romani dialects or Indian languages are suggested instead, and are subsequently adapted to the Romani language. Additionally, examples are given of how neologisms could be created from internationally known words by following the grammatical rules of Romani. The paper also suggests a regional standardization of Romani for the Balkan Peninsula countries.

Keywords: Romani, dialects, standardization, neologisms

Citation:
Hristo Kyuchukov. On Regional Standardization of Romani in the Balkans. Linguistique balkanique, LVII (2018), 2, 167-188. ISSN 0324-1653

Gergana Petkova

Serbian Personal Names Derived from a Roman Cognomen

Abstract: The research subject of the subsequent text is male and female Serbian personal names derived from a Roman cognomen. The objective of the article is to present a complete list of those names. They are divided into several major groups according to the speech section used as a basis for their derivation, particularly if the given name is derived from a noun, an adjective, a verb, etc. Conforming with the extralinguistic information on the canonization of the researched anthroponyms – i.e. if the name is only canonized by the Orthodox church, by the Catholic church, or by both, additional classification is given. The initial meaning of Serbian anthroponyms is mentioned when possible.

Keywords: Serbian personal names, Roman cognomen

Citation:
Gergana Petkova. Serbian Personal Names Derived from a Roman Cognomen. Linguistique balkanique, LVII (2018), 2, 189-199. ISSN 0324-1653

Hristo Saldzhiev

Calendar Terms from the Protobulgarian Calendar – Etymologization and Interpretation Challenges

Abstract: The article examines the initial components of the calendar terms in the Protobulgarian calendar. According to the traditional interpretation, all of them are animal designations for particular years. They are related to the Turkic animal calendar and originated from Turkic languages. However, a lot of linguistic discrepancies at the phonetic level call the traditional etymologizations into question. The article explores all of these divergences and suggests new etymologizations, attributing the origin of most terms to Middle Persian and Syriac. In consonance with the main thesis of article, the terms in question appear to be astrological/astronomic designations of stars and constellations. The linguistic analysis of the introductory parts of the calendar terms indicates that the so called “Protobulgarian calendar” was formed or completed after the migration of Protobulgarians south of the Danube, and was based on astrological observations whose logic is not completely clear but is apparently connected to the Middle Eastern traditions in this field. The calendar clearly originated at court – all sources containing dates in accordance with this calendar have a formal character, and none of the informal inscriptions and manuscripts from the 9th -11th century use this calendar. This explains the lack of any remnants in the regions beyond the First Bulgarian Empire, as well as its complete disappearance after the first decades of the 10th century.

Keywords: calendar terms, Syriac, Middle Persian, Protobulgarian

Citation:
Hristo Saldzhiev. Calendar Terms from the Protobulgarian Calendar – Etymologization and Interpretation Challenges. Linguistique balkanique, LVII (2018), 2, 200-214. ISSN 0324-1653

Татьяна Илиева

Синтаксико-семантические типы и лексико-семантические модели многокомпонентных слов в древнеболгарском и церковнославянском языках. Composita adjectiva

[Syntax-Semantic Types, Lexico-Semantic Models of Multi-Component Words in Old Bulgarian and Church Slavonic Composita Adjectiva]

Abstract: The proposed article examines the syntactic-semantic types and the lexico-semantic models of multi-component complex words from the category of adjectives and the deadjectival adverbs in Old Bulgarian and Church Slavonic. The study is effected on lexical material, excerpted from the main lexicography works in Old Bulgarian and Church Slavonic. The analysis departs from the theoretical premise that the structural significance of word order (as well as of any language unit that is semantically and formally dissected) is not a simple sum of lexical meanings of its constituent units, but of interactions founded on certain predicate relations. On the basis of this specific analysis, the author concludes that the variety of syntactic-semantic types and the lexico-semantic models of multi-component complex words reveals the rich word-forming capabilities of Old Bulgarian and Church-Slavonic, and their ability to adequately translate foreign language specimens in their own linguistic terms.

Keywords: Old Bulgarian and Church Slavonic language, historical lexicology, complex words

Citation:
Татьяна Илиева. Синтаксико-семантические типы и лексико-семантические модели многокомпонентных слов в древнеболгарском и церковнославянском языках. Composita adjectiva. Linguistique balkanique, LVII (2018), 2, 216-234. ISSN 0324-1653

Жарко Б. Велькович, Драгана Савин

Возможный фракийский гидроним на территории племени трибаллов – Бусур в Восточной Сербии

[Бусур (Busur) – a Possible Thracian Hydronym on the Territory of the Triballi Tribe in Eastern Serbia]

Abstract: The toponym and hydronym Busur is the name of a village 25 km south-west of Petrovac na Mlavi in eastern Serbia, and the name of a river south-west of Petrovac na Mlavi in eastern Serbia – a 27 km long left tributary of the Mlava river. The eponymous village is situated on the river’s bank. Given that in ancient times Petrovac na Mlavi and its surroundings were inhabited by the Thracian tribe Triballi, we believe that the river name Busur is of Thracian origin. This leads us to the presumed proto-Thracian form *Bruzásuras, which would consist of two Thracian words: bruzаs "fast", and suras „flow, river“, which form the compound name ‘fast-flowing current, fast-flowing river’, confirmed in Thracian onomastics as the personal name Bruzas (Greek Βρυζος) ‘approx. ‡Swift’ and the name of the fortress on the Haemus Mountains/Stara planina Suras (Greek Σουρας) after certain (adjacent) ‘flow, river’ with the name Suras, or, on the other side, in the Thracian name of the small town of Nea Malgara in the Greek part of Thracia *Surakella (Latin Syracella, Greek *Συρακελλη) meaning (?) water spring, river spring. This proto-Thracian form would have evolved via Thracian syncope (ejection) of the middle -а-, assimilation zs > ss and dissimilation r : r > ø : r into Thracian form *Bússuras, which would have been in Latin *Bússurus, from where the following might have come – Balkan Romance form *Búsur(u), Slavic *Бу̏суръ, Old Serbian *Бу̏сурь, and finally Serbian Бу̏сур.

Keywords: Busur, Petrovac na Mlavi, Serbia, toponyms, hydronyms, Thracian, Triballi

Citation:
Жарко Б. Велькович, Драгана Савин. Возможный фракийский гидроним на территории племени трибаллов – Бусур в Восточной Сербии. Linguistique balkanique, LVII (2018), 2, 235-238. ISSN 0324-1653

Ana Kocheva

Review: Макеj Кавка (2015): Македонистички дискурси (Jазик-Стил-Текст)

Citation:
Ana Kocheva. Review: Макеj Кавка (2015): Македонистички дискурси (Jазик-Стил-Текст). Linguistique balkanique, LVII (2018), 2, 239-243. ISSN 0324-1653