2015 №1 (18)
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Kamill P. Volsky Dvina is a Russian Name
Voprosy onomastiki (Problems of Onomastics), 2015, Issue 1 (18), pp. 197–202 (in Russian) Received 23 February 2014 Abstract: The note gives a brief review of the most known versions of the origin of the name Dvina and provides some arguments in favour of its Russian origin. The author offers two versions of the Russian origin of Dvina. The first one brings the name into correlation with the dialectal word dvina attested in Smolensk Region with the meaning ‘a lot, a great amount of something’. The second one, which the author considers more plausible, suggests an etymological link between the river name Dvina and the Russian numeral dva ‘two’. This second version is supported, firstly, by the physical geographic characteristics of the Northern Dvina River formed by the confluence of two other big rivers — the Sukhona and the Yug. Secondly, in the dialects of the Russian North there exists a common noun dvina designating different “double” objects: ‘twins’, ‘uterine brother’, ‘double distilled wine’. The appellative word dvina corresponds to the structural and word-formational rules of the Russian language and is present in the microtoponymy of the Russian North. The author does not rule out that the name of the Western Dvina may have originated from the old Russian word dvina since it may be a secondary name derived from Dvina, the name of the lake at the head of the Western Dvina River. Key words: Russian language, hydronymy, Northern Dvina, Western Dvina, etymology References Ageyeva, R. A. (1985). Proiskhozhdenie imen rek i ozer [The Origin of River and Lake Names]. Moscow: Nauka. Fasmer, M. (1996). Etimologicheskii slovar' russkogo iazyka [The Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language]. Saint Petersburg: Azbuka. Gerbershtein, S. (1908). Zapiski o Moskovitskikh delakh [Notes on Moscow Business]. Saint Petersburg: Izdanie A. S. Suvorina. Kazakova, N. A., & Serbina, K. N. (Eds.). (1982). Ustiuzhskie i Vologodskie letopisi XVI–XVIII vv. [Ustyug and Vologda Chronicles of the 16–18th Centuries]. Leningrad: Nauka. Larin, B. A. (1959). Russko-angliiskii slovar'-dnevnik Richarda Dzhemsa (1618–1619 gg.) [The Russian English Dictionary and Notes of Richard James (1618–1619)]. Leningrad: Izd-vo Leningr. un-ta. Matveyev, A. K. (1976). Dve Dviny [Two Dvinas]. Ural'skii sledopyt, 8, 46–48. Matveyev, A. K. (2001). Substratnaia toponimiia Russkogo Severa [The Substrate Toponymy of the Russian North]. (Vol. 1). Ekaterinburg: Izd-vo Ural. un-ta. Matveyev, A. K. (2006). Onomatologiia [Onomatology]. Moscow: Nauka. Popov, A. I. (1981). Sledy vremen minuvshikh [Traces of Past Times]. Leningrad: Nauka. Shilov, A. L. (1997). Areal'nye sviazi toponimii Zavoloch'ia i geograficheskaia terminologiia Zavolochskoi Chudi [Areal Links of Zavolochye Toponymy and Geographical Terminology of the Zavoloshka Chudes]. Voprosy jazykoznanija, 6, 3–21. Smolitskaya, G. P. (2002). Toponimicheskii slovar' Tsentral'noi Rossii [The Toponymic Dictionary of Central Russia]. Moscow: Armada-press. |
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