ВОПРОСЫ ОНОМАСТИКИ | PROBLEMS OF ONOMASTICS

Yuri A. Dzitstsoity
South Ossetian State University
Tskhinval, Republic of South Ossetia

On the Etymology of the Ethnic Names Alan and Allon

Voprosy onomastiki, 2019, Volume 16, Issue 2, pp. 232–258 (in Russian)
DOI: 10.15826/vopr_onom.2019.16.2.024

Received 18 February 2019

Abstract: The article provides a critical analysis of the research by A. K. Alikberov and O. A. Mudrak, attempting to revise the traditional views on ethnic attribution of the early Alans by offering a new etymology of their ethnic name. In the author’s view, the researchers’ disregard of specialized studies in Iranian and Alan culture, as well as limited knowledge of historical phonetics and morphology of the Ossetian language, has led them to erroneous conclusions. Their argumentation is based solely on the data presented in V. I. Abayev’s dictionary. Meanwhile, the etymological relationship between the ethnonyms alan and allon (the latter frequently occurs in Ossetian folklore) is no longer a subject of scholarly debate, and so is the relation of these names to the ethnic name aria. Although these arguments have been omitted in the discussed article, the present paper considers them, as they provide criticisms that need to be commented on. Ultimately, it was found that the only aspect that has not been discussed yet in Iranian studies is the problem of single and geminated -l- in the forms of the ethnonym, to which the authors of the reviewed article drew particular attention. However, a thorough analysis of the relevant language and folklore data settles all controversial issues. The article gives due consideration to the alternative etymologies proposed by A. K. Alikberov and O. A. Mudrak. But as a result of this analysis, the author of the article concludes that the traditional etymology for the ethnic names alan and allon remains valid and true, and also determines the place of these names among the self-names of modern Ossetians.

Keywords: Iranian languages, Ossetian language, Alan language, etymology, mythology.

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