ВОПРОСЫ ОНОМАСТИКИ | PROBLEMS OF ONOMASTICS

Richard Coates
University of the West of England
Bristol, UK

The Island Name Krk, Croatia, in its Mediterranean and European Context

Voprosy onomastiki, 2020, Volume 17, Issue 3, pp. 186–208 (in English)
DOI: 10.15826/vopr_onom.2020.17.3.039

Received on 31 January 2020

Abstract: Krk is one of the two largest islands in the Adriatic archipelago of Croatia, along with Cres. Its name has been discussed most recently by Dubravka Ivšić Majić (Voprosy Onomastiki 16.1, 2019) in the context of an analysis of the survival of the pre-Slavic names of islands presently in Croatia that are recorded in medieval sources, which is based in part on her doctoral dissertation. However, Krk has apparently never been discussed in the wider perspective that is attempted here. The purposes of this article are (1) to examine a moderately large range of similar names in or adjacent to the Mediterranean (understood broadly to include the Ægean, Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas), and (2) to try to form a view about the possible origin and significance of the name and its etymon, along with their possible relation to certain other names and lexical words in languages of the Mediterranean, notably Ancient Greek, and Insular Celtic. Particular attention is paid to the geology, geomorphology and cultural significances of the places bearing names of this type. It is tentatively concluded that the names originally referred to striking geological features invested with cultural significance because of some exceptional additional characteristic, such as the mysterious appearance or disappearance of pure water. Certainty is not possible about the language of original formulation, but the range of variation in the name-types and their apparent dialectology are considered. Greek is the medium of transmission for the majority of the names analysed. A brief footnote glance is taken at superficially comparable names and lexical items even further from the epicentre of the phenomena considered here.

Keywords: Krk, toponymy, etymology, geography, geology, rocks, caves, springs, Croatia, Greek-speaking lands in Antiquity.

References

Alessio, G. (1935–1936). La base preindoeuropea *KAR(R)A/GAR(R)A, ‘pietra’ [The pre-Indo-European root *KAR(R)A/GAR(R)A, ‘stone’]. Studi Etruschi, 9, 133–151, 10, 165–189.

Arko-Pijevac, M., Benac, Č., Kovačić, M., & Kirinčić, M. (2001). A Submarine Cave at the Island of Krk (North Adriatic Sea). Natura Croatica, 10(3), 163–184.

Beekes, R. S. P. (2003). Indo-European or Substrate? Φάτνη and κῆρυξ. In A. Bammesberger & Th. Vennemann (Eds.), Languages in Prehistoric Europe (pp. 109–115). Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter.

Beekes, R. S. P., van Beek, L. (Eds.). (2010). Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Vol. 1). Leiden; Boston: Brill.

Bell, G. L. (1906). Notes on a Journey through Cilicia and Lycaonia III. Revue archéologique, 8, 7–36.

Boisson, C. P. (1990). Notes méthodologiques sur les racines pré-indo-européennes en toponymie. Nouvelle revue d’onomastique, 15/16, 25–38.

Bomhard, A. R., & Kerns, J. C. (1994). The Nostratic Macrofamily: A Study in Distant Linguistic Relationship. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

Bonfante, G., & Bonfante, L. (2002). The Etruscan Language. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Brozović Rončević, D. (1998). Romansko-hrvatski dodiri u toponimiji istre i kvarnerskih otoka. [Romance-Croatian Contacts in the Toponymy of Istria and the Kvarner Islands]. Folia Onomastica Croatica, 7, 1–21.

CIL — Mommsen, T. Et al. (Eds.). (1862–). Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Berlin: De Gruyter. Retrieved from http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/drupal/?q=en/node/291

Coates, R. (2006). Maiden Castle, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Hārūn al-Rašīd. Nomina, 29, 5–60.

Dauzat, A. (1946). La Toponymie française. Paris: Payot.

Dauzat, A., & Rostaing, Ch. (1978). Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieu en France. Paris: Guénégaud.

Dawkins, R. M. (1933). The Place-Names of Later Greece. Transactions of the Philological Society, 32, 1–45.

de Vaan, M. (2008). Etymological Dictionary of Latin and other Italic Languages. Leiden; Boston, MA: Brill.

Ekwall, E. (1928). English River-Names. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Engels, D. (1985). The Length of Eratosthenes’ “Stade”. The American Journal of Philology, 106(3), 298–311. https://doi.org/10.2307/295030

Farbstein, R., Radić, D., Brajković, D. & Miracle, P. T. (2012). First Epigravettian Ceramic Figurines from Europe (Vela Spila, Croatia). PLoS ONE, 7(7): e41437. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0041437

Foss, C., Mitchell, S. & Reger, G., et al. (2012). Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Retrieved from https://pleiades.stoa.org

Frisk, Hj. (1991). Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (3rd ed., vols. 1–3). Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.

Holthausen, F. (1934). Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.

Ivšić, D. (2013). Predslavenski sloj u Hrvatskoj toponimiji [The Pre-Slavic Stratum in Croatian Toponymy] (Doctoral dissertation). University of Rijeka, Croatia.

Ivšić Majić, D. (2019a). The Medieval Attestations of Croatian Pre-Slavic Island Names. Voprosy onomastiki, 16(1), 121–139. https://doi.org/10.15826/vopr_onom.2019.16.1.007

Ivšić Majić, D. (2019b). O metodologiji istraživanja hrvatskih predslavenskih toponima [On the Methodology of Research into Pre-Slavic Croatian Toponyms]. Folia Onomastica Croatica, 28, 135–146. https://doi.org/10.21857/yk3jwhrnp9

James, A. G. (2014–2019). BLITON: Brittonic Language in the Old North. Retrieved from https://spns.org.uk/resources/bliton

Kitson, P. R. (1996). British and European River-Names. Transactions of the Philological Society, 94(2), 73–118.

Kitson, P. R. (1997). Reconstruction, Typology, and the “Original Homeland” of the Indo-Europeans. In J. Fisiak (Ed.), Linguistic Reconstruction and Typology (pp. 183–240). Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

Kranjc, A. (2001). About the name Kras (Karst) in Slovenia [reporting earlier work]. Paper to the 13th International Congress of Speleology, Brasilia. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8592/55c-92cec51f8a1ccde7ae3a5474e16b76...

Lambeck, K., Anzidei, M., Antonioli, F., Benini, A., & Esposito, A. (2004). Sea Level in Roman Time in the Central Mediterranean and Implications for Recent Change. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 224, 563–575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2004.05.031

Ligorio, O. (2015). Sh. Korčula [Serbo-Croatian Korčula]. Lucida intervalla, 44, 147–154.

Loma, A. (1999–2000). Serbisches und kroatisches Sprach gut bei Konstantin Porphyrogennetos. Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta, 38, 87–161.

Manenica, H. (2015). Urbanizacija između Raše i Krke u vrijeme ranog Principata [Urbanization between the Rivers Raša and Krka during the Early Principate] (Doctoral dissertation). University of Zagreb, Croatia.

Marković, M. (2001). Hrvatski gradovi na starim planovima i vedutama [Croatian Cities on Old Plans and Panoramas]. Zagreb: AGM.

Morhange, Chr., Laborel, J., & Hesnard, A. (2001). Changes of Relative Sea Level during the Past 5000 Years in the Ancient Harbour of Marseilles, Southern France. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 166(3/4), 319–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(00)00215-7

Morvan, M. (1996). À propos de Calpe, Ilumberri et les autres. Lapurdum, 1, 21–24. https://doi.org/10.4000/lapurdum.1853

Nègre, E. (1990). Toponymie générale de la France (Vol. 1). Geneva: Librairie Droz.

Nicolaisen, W. F. H. (1982). ‘Old European Names’ in Britain. Nomina, 6, 37–42.

Nouvel, A. (1978). Le pré-indo-européen Kar/Gar ‘pierre’ et Kar/Gar ‘plante, arbre’ ont-ilsune origine commune? Mélanges de philolologie romane offerts à Charles Camproux (Vol. 2, pp. 967–970). Montpellier: Université Paul Valéry, Centre d’Études Occitanes.

Padel, O. J. (1985). Cornish Place-Name Elements. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society.

Perkell, C. G. (1981). On the Corycian Farmer of Virgil’s Fourth Georgic. Transactions of the American Philological Association, 111, 167–177.

Perono Cacciafoco, F. (2008). La radice *kar-/*kal- e due toponimi liguri [The Root *kar-/*kal- and two Ligurian Toponyms]. Iter. Ricerche fonti e immagini per un territorio, 14(IV.2), 13–24.

Perono Cacciafoco, F. (2015). Continuity in European Toponomastics: The (Pre-)Indo-European *kar-/*kal- Root in the Pre-Latin Ligurian Toponymy. Analele Universitӑţii din Craiova, seria Ştiinţe filologice: Lingvisticӑ, 37(2), 121–138.

Pokorny, J. (1959). Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Bern: Francke.

Rendić-Miočević, D. (1989). Iliri i antički svijet [The Illyrians and the Ancient World]. Split: Književni krug.

Romer, F. E. (Ed. and transl.). (1998). Pomponius Mela’s Description of the World. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Rostaing, Ch. (1950). Essai sur la toponymie de la Provence. Paris: Éditions d’Artrey.

Skok, P. (1917). Studije iz ilirske toponomastike. O sufiksu t u ilirskom geografskom nazivlju [Studies in Illyrian Toponomastics. On the Suffix -t in Illyrian Geographical Terminology]. Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja BiH, 29, 117–143.

Skok, P. (1950). Slavenstvo i romanstvo na jadranskim otocima [Slavic and Romance in the Adriatic Islands]. Zagreb: Yugoslavian Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Skok, P. (1971–1974). Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika [Etymological Dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian Language] (Vols. 1–4). Zagreb: Yugoslavian Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Suić, M. (1981). Zadar u starom vijeku [Zadar in Antiquity]. Zadar: Filozofski fakultet.

Suić, M. (1996). Istočna jadranska obala u Pseudo-Skilakovu Periplu [The Eastern Adriatic Coast in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax]. In Odabrani radovi iz stare povijesti hrvatske: opera selecta [Selected Works on Croatian Ancient History] (pp. 191–261). Zadar: Ogranak Matice hrvatske.

Tovar [Llorente], A. (1977). Krahes alteuropäische Hydronymie und die westindogermanischen Sprachen. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.

Ventris, M., & Chadwick, J. (1956/1973). Documents in Mycenaean Greek. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Vittinghoff, F. (1977). Zur römischen Municipalisierung des lateinischen Donau-Balkan-raumes. Methodische Bemerkungen. In H. Temporini (Ed.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II (Principat), 6: Politische Geschichte (pp. 3–51). Berlin; New York: de Gruyter.

Walde, A. (1910). Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (2nd ed.). Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.

Walde, A., & Hofmann, J. B. (1982). Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (5th ed., Vols. 1–2). Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.

Watts, V. (2004). The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Zelić, D. (1991). Otok Krk u antičkim izvorima (Curicta insula apud antiquos auctores) [The Island of Krk in Ancient Sources]. Latina et Graeca, 38, 25–34.