Folia onomastica Croatica, No. 30, 2021.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.21857/90836c75ry
Contribution to the Consideration of the Etymology of the Settlement Name Žman on Dugi Otok Island
Srđan Škunca
Sažetak
In the medieval period documents from the 13th to the 15th century the name
of the settlement of Žman, located on Dugi Otok island, was often recorded as
Mežan. Exploring its etymology during the middle of the 20th century, Skok takes
the Latin adjective medianus as the basis from which the Slavic / Croatian population
derived the original form Mežan, or rather Mžan, as an appropriate form
for metathesis of the consonant group mž- into the contemporary settlement
name Žman.
This paper formulates and researches a hypothesis about the Slavic linguistic
basis for the settlement name Žman. The hypothesis is based on historical data
related to the economic and environmental characteristics of Žman settlement,
particularly to the phenomena of seasonal flooding of the most fertile and arable
land, unique on the Zadar islands, and that of dense fog appearing from the sea
side. These specific features of the new habitat were marked by the name Mežan,
derived from the Proto-Slavic noun *mьža, which is in most Slavic languages
used in the sense of ‘moisture; dew; rain; fog’.
Croatian toponymy, fully formed by the end of the High Middle Ages, testifies
to the Croatian inhabitants’ dominance in Žman economy and its living environment.
The Roman element, if present in the period of immigration, was too weak
to be influential in any way.
Ključne riječi
toponymy; etimology; settlement name; Žman; Dugi Otok
Hrčak ID:
267551
URI
Datum izdavanja:
17.12.2021.
Posjeta: 1.452 *