Folia onomastica Croatica, No. 12/13, 2003.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
The Ethnogenesis of the Slavs in Light of Traditional Folk Zoonymy (Selected Problems)
Stefan Warchoł
; Instytut Filologii Słowiańskiej UMCS, Lublin, Polska
Sažetak
The purpose of this paper is to present the results achieved of my studies on the ethnogenesis of the Slavs in the light of contemporary folk zoonyms collected for many years from all the Slavonic areas on the basis of the specially developed Questionnaire and other publications on the subject. Currently, the appropriately classified material according to the species of domestic animals comprises a total of ca. 130,000 documentation files. What is of particular importance to the investigations of the ethnogenesis of the Slavs are the proper names of cows of the type (Pol.) Biała (: bĕlaja) and Białocha, also the names of oxen of the type Czarnuch, Krasoń, as well as the names of sheep, goats, horses, and dogs. The paper applies the method of linguistic retrospection (back-examination). The studies unequivocally show that the original cradle of the Slavs in its first stage should be connected, according to the data of relative chronology already during the period of 4th/5th to 3rd/2nd centuries BC, with the area between the central River Dnieper in the east, as far as the upper River Dniester and the Carpathians in the south, whereas in the west – as far as the Vistula and Pilica Rivers, and in the north – as far as the lower River Wieprz, the central River Bug and further along the River Pripyat. Taking into account only selected folk zoonyms that refer mainly to the most useful animals in the agricultural and shepherding economy of the early Slavs, i.e. cows and oxen, we tried to show that in the light of folk zoonymy the studies of Slavonic ethnogenesis corroborate the arguments and suggestions of those scholars (Indo-European and Slavonic specialists) who linked the original homeland of the Slavs with the aforementioned area and who see its very centre in the basin of the central River Dnieper and the upper River Don (Gołąb 1987: 71–80). In view of the still debatable or even controversial problem of the ethnogenesis of the Slavs, the present paper has intentionally included ample literature on the subject while the zoonymic material has been quoted in selection.
Ključne riječi
the ethnogenesis of the Slavs; onomastics; zoonyms; animal names
Hrčak ID:
23293
URI
Datum izdavanja:
28.3.2007.
Posjeta: 3.793 *