Old European hydronymy
The old European hydronymy is a network of water names in Central and Western Europe , which, according to a hypothesis by Hans Krahe, come from an Indo-European language that was spoken before the Germanic and Celtic languages spread in Europe.
This notion of “old Europe” is to be distinguished from the use of old Europe for pre-Indo-European language communities in south-east Europe, as shaped by Marija Gimbutas .
distribution
The old European water names occur in Central Europe, the Baltic States , southern Scandinavia , the British Isles , France , the Iberian Peninsula and Italy .
Structure of names
The old European names of waters consist of a root , one or (more rarely) two derivative suffixes ( affix ) and an ending.
The most common roots are * al- , * alb- , * drav- , * kar- , * sal- and * var- . As Ableitungssuffixe come * -l , -m * , n- * , -r * , -s * , * -st- , * k , * -w- and * -y before. The ending is north of the Alps mostly * -a , besides frequently in the Mediterranean countries * os .
Examples
- * Alba: e.g. B. Elbe
- * Alma: e.g. B. Alme , Alm
- * Isara: e.g. B. Isar , Iser , Isère
- * Sala: e.g. B. Saale , Saalach
It is based on an Indo-European root * u̯eis- "flow, dissolve" (cf. island table uisge / uisce "water"). However, there is disagreement as to whether this is an autochthonous Indo-European or pre-Indo-European root:
- Weser at Tacitus Visurgis, Germanic * Visuri
- Werra in Germany
- Wiesaz in Württemberg
- Vesdre in Belgium, tributary of the Ourthe, documented as Wesere in 915 and called Weser in East Belgium
- Vesonze in the Valais
- Wear from * Visuria, in Northern England
- Viešintà in Lithuania
- Venta in Lithuania (German Windau, Livonian Vǟnta, Polish Windawa)
- Vistula today Wisła "Weichsel", with several subforms Czarna Wisełka and Biała Wisełka, Wisłok and Wisłoka (occupied as Viscla), first mentioned by Pliny as Visculus sive Vistla and by Pomponius Mela as Visula
- Visa in Norway and Sweden
- Vézère (tributary of the Dordogne)
- La Vis in France
- Vesouze (tributary of the Meurthe)
- Visance in France, Dep. Orne
- Besançon in France (* Vesançon)
- Bisenzio in Etruria (* Visenzio)
- Besaya and Bisueña in Cantabria , Bisuyu in Asturias , Beseño , Beseña and Visuña in Galicia (Spain).
- maybe also names on white
Original hypotheses
Krahe suspected that the names come from an "old European" or "West Indo-European" language, which is the basis of the Celtic, Italian , Germanic and Baltic languages as well as the extinct Illyrian language .
The German linguist Wolfgang P. Schmid suspected that Krahe's “Old European” should be equated with the Indo-European basic language, which was therefore spoken in Central Europe. This is justified by the fact that the relevant languages did not show any noteworthy common innovations, the "old European" must therefore be the Urindo-European. This view is now outdated.
The German linguist Theo Vennemann suspects that the names of the waters are not Indo-European, but come from languages that are related to a Basque language group ( Vasconic hypothesis ). This hypothesis is scientifically controversial and is mostly rejected.
To date, there is no consensus about the age and origin of the names of the waters, as well as the names of the terrain; it is even doubted that they come from a single language family at all and it is assumed that the similarities could also be due to chance.
See also
literature
- Alfred Bammesberger, Theo Vennemann: Languages in Prehistoric Europe. Winter, Heidelberg 2003, ISBN 3-8253-1449-9 , pp. 319-332.
- Andrea Böhm: Problems of the interpretation of Central European place names. Herbert Utz Verlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-8316-0152-6 .
- Rudolf Gerber: The language. Books on Demand. Norderstedt 2007, ISBN 978-3-8334-7515-3 .
- Elisabeth Hamel: The Development of the Nations in Europe. Research in archeology, linguistics and genetics. Rottenbücher Verlag, Ebersberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-00-027516-6 , pp. 181-192, 429-439.
- Elisabeth Hamel, Theo Vennemann: Vaskonian was the original language of the continent. In: Spectrum of Science. German edition of Scientific American. Spektrumverlag, Heidelberg May 2002. ISSN 0170-2971 .
- Hans Krahe: Our oldest river names. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 1964, ISBN 3-447-00536-X .
- Dieter H. Steinbauer: Vasconic - Original Language of Europe? In: Günter Hauska (Ed.): Genes, languages and their evolution. Universitätsverlag, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-930480-46-8 .
- Jürgen Udolph (Ed.): Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica ?: Critical contributions to the question of the Basque and Semitic substratum in Europe. Baar-Verlag, 2012, ISBN 978-3-935536-06-6 .
- Theo Vennemann: On the question of pre-Indo-European substrates in Central and Western Europe. In: Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna, Theo Vennemann (ed.): Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica. (= Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs. Volume 138). de Gruyter, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-11-017054-X , pp. 517-590.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans Krahe: The structure of the old European hydronymy. (= Treatises of the humanities and social sciences class, academy of sciences and literature). Steiner, 1963.
- ↑ Xaverio Ballester: Hidronimia Paleoeuropea: una Aproximación Paleolítica. Pp. 25-39.
- ↑ Wolfgang P. Schmid: Old European and Indo-European. Treatises of the humanities and social sciences class, Academy of Sciences and Literature, Steiner, 1968.
- ^ Theo Vennemann, Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna: Europa Vasconica, Europa Semitica. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-11-017054-X .
- ↑ Jürgen Udolph (Ed.): Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica? Critical contributions to the question of the Basque and Semitic substratum in Europe. Baar-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-935536-06-6 .