Folia onomastica Croatica, No. 28, 2019.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21857/yl4okf3849
The Etymology of the Name of the Island Iž
Maja Matasović
; Hrvatski studiji Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Ranko Matasović
orcid.org/0000-0001-7068-3036
; Razred za filologiju HAZU
Abstract
In this paper we review the early mentions of the name of the island Iž near
Zadar in Croatia. We also suggest that the Dalmato-Romance name of the island
was [Ẹdzu], from which the Croatian form Iž can be regularly derived. Furthermore,
we suggest that the Dalmato-Romance form was borrowed from the Greek
Aígeion (nēsíon) or Aigeíē (nẽsos), a ‘goat-island’. The development of the Greek
g to the Dalmato-Romance *dz and the Croatian ž can be traced to Gr. aigialós
‘beach’ > Croat. žȃl ‘beach’. The semantic motivation for deriving the name of
the island from the noun meaning ‘goat’ has parallels in other toponyms on the
Adriatic, including the name of the island Kozjak (from Croatian koza ‘goat’). In
the Middle Ages, as well as in more recent periods, the inhabitants of the coast
used to keep goats on the island of Iž, and this custom may have reflected in the
name of the island.
Keywords
etymology; toponymy; Iž; Greek loanwords; Dalmato-Romance
Hrčak ID:
229581
URI
Publication date:
11.12.2019.
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