Thracian | |
---|---|
Region | Bulgaria, European Turkey, parts of Southern Serbia, parts of the region of Macedonia (including Paeonia), regions in Northern Greece, parts of Romania, parts of Bithynia in Anatolia. Probably also spoken in parts of Dardania. |
Extinct | 6th century AD[1] |
Indo-European
| |
Greek | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | txh |
txh | |
Glottolog | thra1250 |
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Indo-European topics |
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The Thracian language (/ˈθreɪʃən/) is an extinct and poorly attested language, spoken in ancient times in Southeast Europe by the Thracians. The linguistic affinities of the Thracian language are poorly understood, but it is generally agreed that it was an Indo-European language with satem features.
A contemporary, neighboring language, Dacian is usually regarded as closely related to Thracian. However, there is insufficient evidence with respect to either language to ascertain the nature of this relationship.
The point at which Thracian became extinct is a matter of dispute. However, it is generally accepted that Thracian was still in use in the 6th century AD: Antoninus of Piacenza wrote in 570 that there was a monastery in the Sinai, at which the monks spoke Greek, Latin, Syriac, Egyptian, and Bessian – a Thracian dialect.[2][3][4][5]
Other theories about Thracian remain controversial. A classification put forward by some linguists, such as Harvey Mayer, suggests that Thracian (and Dacian) belonged to the Baltic branch of Indo-European, or at least is closer to Baltic than any other Indo-European branch.[6] However, this theory has not achieved the status of a general consensus among linguists, and Mayer's work in that article is largely outdated, unfounded, or racist. These are among many competing hypotheses regarding the classification and fate of Thracian.[7]
The Thracian language or languages were spoken in what is now Bulgaria,[8][9] Romania, North Macedonia, Northern Greece, European Turkey and in parts of Bithynia (North-Western Asiatic Turkey).
Little is known for certain about the Thracian language, since no text has been satisfactorily deciphered. Some of the longer inscriptions may be Thracian in origin but they may simply reflect jumbles of names or magical formulas.[10]
Enough Thracian lexical items have survived to show that Thracian was a member of the Indo-European language family and that it was a satemized language by the time it is attested.
Besides the aforementioned inscriptions, Thracian may be attested through personal names, toponyms, hydronyms, phytonyms, divine names, etc. and by a small number of words cited in Ancient Greek texts as being specifically Thracian.[11][unreliable source?]
There are 23 words mentioned by ancient sources considered explicitly of Thracian origin and known meaning.[12][13] Of the words that are preserved in ancient glossaries, in particular by Hesychius, only three dozen can be considered "Thracian". However, Indo-European scholars have pointed out that "even the notion that what the ancients called "Thracian" was a single entity is unproven."[14] The table below lists potential cognates from Indo-European languages, but a number of them have not found general acceptance within Indo-European scholarship. Not all lexical items in Thracian are assumed to be from the Proto-Indo-European language, some non-IE lexical items in Thracian are to be expected.
Word | Meaning | Attested by | Cognates | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
ἄσα (asa) | colt’s foot (Bessi) | Dioskurides | Lit. dial. asỹs ‘horse-tail, Equisetum’, Latv. aši, ašas ‘horse-tail, sedge, rush’ | The etymology of both Baltic words is unclear and extra-Baltic cognates have yet to be established [15] |
βόλινθος (bólinthos) | aurochs, European bison | Aristotle | Proto-Slavic *volъ ("ox"). Per Beekes, Pre-Greek.[16] | See also Gk. βοῦς 'cow', but Latv. govs ' id ' both < PIE *gwṓws. Proto-Slavic *vòlъ has no extra-Slavic cognates. |
βρία (bría) | unfortified village | Hesychius, compare the Toponyms Πολτυμβρία, Σηλυ(μ)μβρία, and Βρέα in Thrace. | Compared to Greek ῥίον (ríon; "peak, foothills") and Tocharian A ri, B riye ("town") as if < *urih₁-. Alternatively, compare Proto-Celtic *brix- ("hill"). | Gk ῥίον has no clear etymology.[17] The Toch lemmata may be related.[18] |
βρίζα (bríza) | rye | Galen | Perhaps of Eastern origin, compare Greek ὄρυζα, Sanskrit vrīhí- ("rice"). | The 'rice' words in Gk and IIr are Wandelworts. The Gk word may be borrowed from an Eastern Iranian language.[19] |
βρυνχός (brynkhós) | kithara[20] | Compared with Slavic *bręčati "to ring". | The Proto-Slavic lemma is reconstructed based exclusively on Serbo-Croatian brecati 'twang, be insolent, etc.' and consequently may not even be reconstructable to its own proto-language as there are no external or internal comparanda. It may be onomatopoetic in nature. | |
βρῦτος (brŷtos) | beer of barley | many | Slavic "vriti" (to boil), Germanic *bruþa- ("broth"), Old Irish bruth ("glow"), Latin dē-frŭtum ("must boiled down").[20][a] | |
dinupula, si/nupyla | wild melon | Pseudoapuleus | Lithuanian šùnobuolas, lit. ("dog’s apple"), or with Slavic *dynja ("melon"). Per Vladimir Georgiev, derived from *kun-ābōlo- or *kun-ābulo- 'hound's apple'.[20] | Proto-Slavic *dyña (from earlier *kъdyña is most likely borrowed from Gk. κῠδώνῐον via Lat. cydōnia[22] |
γέντον (génton) | meat | Herodian., Suid., Hesych | Possibly descended from IE *gʷʰn̥tó- 'strike, kill', cf. Sanskrit hatá- ‘hit, killed’ | The adjective *gʷʰn̥tós in the zero-grade has an *-s in the nom.sg., whereas in Thracian the word ends in a nasal, which is a serious issue that requires morphological remodelling in Thracian for it to be posited as the starting point for Thracian γέντον. Furthermore, the e-grade vowel of the Thracian potential avatar remains to be explained as well if from an original PIE *gʷʰn̥tós. |
καλαμίνδαρ (kalamíndar) | plane-tree (Edoni) | Hesych. | ||
κη̃μος (kêmos) | a kind of fruit with follicle | Phot. Lex. | ||
κτίσται (ktístai) | Ctistae | Strabo | ||
midne (in a Latin inscription, thus not written with Gk alphabet) | village | inscription from Rome | Latvian mītne 'a place of stay', Avestan maēϑana- 'dwelling' | |
Πολτυμ(βρία) (poltym-bría) | board fence, a board tower | Old English speld 'wood, log' | The OE lemma is poorly understood and extra-Germanic cognates are few and far between. OE speld may have descended from a PIE root *(s)pley- which is poorly attested and does not seem to be a formal match to the Thracian term. | |
ῥομφαία (rhomphaía) | broadsword | Compared with Latin rumpō ("to rupture"),[20] Slavic: Russian разрубать, Polish rąbać ("to hack", "to chop", "to slash"), Polish rębajło ("eager swordsman"), Serbo-Croatian ’’rmpalija’’ ("bruiser") | The Slavic terms here must come from a medial *-bh-, whereas Lat. rumpō 'I break' must descend from a medial *-p-[23] and therefore those words aren't even cognate with each other, let alone with the Thracian term. | |
σκάλμη (skálmē) | knife, sword | Soph. y Pollux, Marcus Anton., Hesych., Phot. L | Albanian shkallmë ("sword"), Old Norse skolmr 'cleft' | The Albanian term is likely a secondary innovation. ON skolmr is unclear and has no extra-Germanic cognates;[24] it is unlikely to be related to the Thracian term. |
σκάρκη (skárkē) | a silver coin | Hesych., Phot. Lex. | ||
σπίνος (spínos) | 'a kind of stone, which blazes when water touches it' (i.e. 'lime') | Arist. | PIE *k̑witn̥os 'white, whitish', Greek τίτανος (Attic) and κίττανος (Doric) 'gypsum, chalk, lime'. Although from the same PIE root, Albanian shpâ(ni) 'lime, tartar' and Greek σπίνος 'lime' derive from a secondary origin as they were probably borrowed from Thracian due to phonetic reasons[25] |
|
τορέλλη (toréllē) | a refrain of lament mourn song | Hesych. | ||
ζαλμός (zalmós) | animal hide | Porphyr. | Per Georgiev, derived from *kolmo-s. Related to Gothic hilms, German Helm and Old Iranian sárman 'protection'.[20] | Thracian initial ζ- can either be related to PIE *ḱ (as in these 'cognates' and several below) or to *ǵh-/*gh- as in the following entry, but not both. |
ζειρά (zeira) | long robe worn by Arabs and Thracians | Hdt., Xen., Hesych. | Per Georgiev, related to Greek χείρ (kheir) and Phrygian ζειρ (zeir) 'hand'.[20] | See above. |
ζελᾶ (zelâ), also ζῆλα (zêla), ζηλᾱς (zelās) | wine | many | Compared with Greek χάλις (khális; "unblended wine") and κάλιθος (kálithos; "wine") | See above. |
ζετραία (zetraía) | pot | Pollux | Per Georgiev, related to Greek χύτρα (khútra) 'pot'.[20] | See above. |
zibythides | the noble, most holy one | Hesych. | Lith. žibùtė ("shining") |
The following are the longest inscriptions preserved. The remaining ones are mostly single words or names on vessels and other artifacts. No translation has been accepted by the larger Indo-European community of scholars.[26]
Only four Thracian inscriptions of any length have been found. The first is a gold ring found in 1912 in the village of Ezerovo (Plovdiv Province of Bulgaria); the ring was dated to the 5th century BC.[27] On the ring an inscription is found written in a Greek script and consisting of 8 lines, the eighth of which is located on the edge, the rim, of the rotating disk; it reads without any spaces between: ΡΟΛΙΣΤΕΝΕΑΣΝ / ΕΡΕΝΕΑΤΙΛ / ΤΕΑΝΗΣΚΟΑ / ΡΑΖΕΑΔΟΜ / ΕΑΝΤΙΛΕΖΥ / ΠΤΑΜΙΗΕ / ΡΑΖ // ΗΛΤΑ
Dimitar Dechev (Germanised as D. Detschew) separates the words as follows:[28][29]
ΡΟΛΙΣΤΕΝΕΑΣ
Rolisteneas
ΝΕΡΕΝΕΑ
Nerenea
ΤΙΛΤΕΑΝ
tiltean
ΗΣΚΟ
ēsko
ΑΡΑΖΕΑ
Arazea
ΔΟΜΕΑΝ
domean
ΤΙΛΕΖΥΠΤΑ
Tilezypta
ΜΙΗ
miē
ΕΡΑ
era
ΖΗΛΤΑ
zēlta
I am Rolisteneas, a descendant of Nereneas; Tilezypta, an Arazian woman, delivered me to the ground.
A second inscription, hitherto undeciphered, was found in 1965 near the village of KyolmenVarbitsa Municipality, dating to the sixth century BC. Written in a Greek alphabet variant, it is possibly a tomb stele inscription similar to the Phrygian ones; Peter A. Dimitrov's transcription thereof is:[30]
,i.e.
A third inscription is again on a ring, found in DuvanliiKaloyanovo Municipality, next to the left hand of a skeleton. It dates to the 5th century BC. The ring has the image of a horseman[33] with the inscription surrounding the image. It is only partly legible (16 out of the initial 21):
,ΗΥΖΙΗ
ēuziē
.....
.....
ΔΕΛΕ
dele
/
/
ΜΕΖΗΝΑΙ
mezēnai
The word mezenai is interpreted to mean 'Horseman', and a cognate to Illyrian Menzanas (as in "Juppiter/Jove Menzanas" 'Juppiter of the foals' or 'Juppiter on a horse');[34] Albanian mëz 'foal'; Romanian mînz 'colt, foal';[35][36] Latin mannus 'small horse, pony';[37][38] Gaulish manduos 'pony' (as in tribe name Viromandui[39] 'men who own ponies').[40][b]
Main article: Classification of Thracian |
The Thracian language in linguistic textbooks is usually treated either as its own branch of Indo-European, or is grouped with Dacian, together forming a Daco-Thracian branch of IE. Older textbooks often grouped it also with Illyrian or Phrygian. The belief that Thracian was close to Phrygian is no longer popular and has mostly been discarded.[42]
No definite evidence has yet been found that demonstrates that Thracian or Daco-Thracian belonged on the same branch as Albanian or Baltic or Balto-Slavic or Greco-Macedonian or Phrygian or any other IE branch. For this reason textbooks still treat Thracian as its own branch of Indo-European, or as a Daco-Thracian/Thraco-Dacian branch.
The generally accepted clades branched from the Proto-Indo-European language are, in alphabetical order, the Proto-Albanian language, Proto-Anatolian language, Proto-Armenian language, Proto-Balto-Slavic language, Proto-Celtic language, Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Greek language, Proto-Indo-Iranian language, Proto-Italic language, and the Proto-Tocharian language. Thracian, Dacian, Phrygian, Illyrian, Venetic, and Paeonian are fragmentarily attested and cannot be reliably categorized.
Much of the information in the following table is either outdated or entirely incorrect and can be contested by looking at a dictionary of any of the languages in question or any of the four major textbooks of Indo-European. Some of the biggest issues: Tocharian collapsed voiceless, voiced, and voices aspirates into voiceless stops;[43] Armenian doesn't have aspirated voiceless stops (but rather ejective);[44]; the anaptyctic vowels of Germanic,[45] Balto-Slavic,[46] and Italic[47] that developed from syllabic resonants are all different (but are shown as being the same because the table is badly constructed and -oR- does not equal -uR-); we know what happened with the dental clusters medially in Hittite and it's -zz-.[48] Furthermore, there are no data or attestations of Pelasgian whatsoever[49] and its inclusion in the table is confusing. Due to these major omissions and errors, this table is unlikely to be used as a datum for Thracian historical phonology.
Change | o > a | r > ir, ur (or) l > il, ul (ol) |
m > im, um (om) n > in, un (on) |
kʷ, gʷ, gʷʰ > k, g (k), g |
ḱ, ǵ, ǵʰ > s (p), z (d) |
p, t, k > pʰ, tʰ, kʰ |
b, d, g > p, t, k |
bʰ, dʰ, gʰ > b, d, g |
sr > str | tt, dt > st |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thracian | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
Dacian | + | + | + | + | + | - | - | + | + | - |
Balto-Slavic | + | + | + | + | + | - | - | + | -/+ | + |
Pelasgian | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | ? | ? |
Albanian | + | + | - | +/- | +/- | - | - | + | - | - |
Germanic | + | + | + | - | - | - | + | + | + | - |
Indo-Iranian | + | - | - | +/- | + | - | - | +/- | - | +/- |
Greek | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | + |
Phrygian | - | - | - | - | + | + | + | + | - | ? |
Armenian | - | - | - | - | + | + | + | - | - | ? |
Italic | - | + | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Celtic | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | + | - | - |
Hittite | + | - | - | - | - | - | + | + | ? | ? |
Tocharian | +/- | - | - | - | - | - | + | + | - | ? |
Proto-Indo-European | Dacian | Thracian | Phrygian |
---|---|---|---|
*o | a | a | o |
*e | ie | e | e |
*ew | e | eu | eu |
*aw | a | au | |
*r̥, *l̥ | ri | ur (or), ur (ol) | al |
*n̥, *m̥ | a | un | an |
*M | M | T | T |
*T | T | TA (aspirated) | TA |
*s | s | s | ∅ |
*sw | s | s | w |
*sr | str | str | br |
Note: Asterisk indicates reconstructed IE sound. M is a cover symbol for the row of voiced stops (mediae), T for unvoiced stops (tenues) and TA for aspirated stops (tenues aspiratae). ∅ indicates zero, a sound that has been lost. For the last 150 years, these sounds have been called voiceless, voiced, and voiced aspirates, and it is no longer believed by any Indo-Europeanists that there were voiceless aspirates in the proto-language and consequently this table is entirely out of date and functionally useless for the historical development of Thracian.
Indo-European | Dacian | Thracian |
---|---|---|
*b, *d, *g | b, d, g | p, t, k |
*p, *t, *k | p, t, k | ph, th, kh |
*ē | ä (a) | ē |
*e (after consonant) | ie | e |
*ai | a | ai |
*ei | e | ei |
*dt (*tt) | s | st |
Thraco-Dacian has been hypothesized as forming a branch of Indo-European along with Baltic,[52] but a Balto-Slavic linguistic unity is so overwhelmingly accepted by the Indo-European linguistic community that these hypotheses do not pass muster.
For a large proportion of the 300 Thracian geographic names there are cognates within the Baltic toponymy, most similarities between Thracian and Balto-Slavic personal and geographic names were found, especially Baltic. According to Duridinov the "most important impression make the geographic cognates of Baltic and Thracian" "the similarity of these parallels stretching frequently on the main element and the suffix simultaneously, which makes a strong impression". According to him there are occasional similarities between Slavic and Thracian because Slavic is related to Baltic, while almost no lexical similarities within Thracian and Phrygian were found.[53] This significant relatedness show close affinity and kinship of Thracian with Baltic. It should, however, be stressed that this is not how modern historical linguistics is performed, and that similar-looking words are not enough to demonstrate cognition. The principle of the regularity of sound change and regular sound correspondences is the only method of demonstrating cognation[54] and consequently the following table is not indicative of anything and should generally be disregarded.
The following table shows the cognate Thracian and Baltic place names,[12] some Polish and related Lechitic names from the transitional area of the ancient Veneti-Eneti along the Amber Road were added:[citation needed]
Thracian place | Lithuanian place | Latvian place | Old Prussian place | Polish / Lechitic place | cognates |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alaaiabria | Alajà | Lith. aléti ‘to be flooded’ | |||
Altos | Altis | ||||
Antisara | Sarija | Sarape | |||
Armonia | Armona, Armenà | Lith. armuõ, -eñs ‘a swamp, bog’, arma ‘the same’[citation needed] | |||
Armula | Armuliškis | Muły | lit. arma ‘mud’[citation needed], Pol. muł ‘mud’ | ||
Arpessas | Varpe, Varputỹs, Várpapievis | Warpen, Warpunen | Latv. vārpats ‘whirlpool’; Lith. varpýti (-pa, -pia) ‘to dig’[citation needed] | ||
Arsela | Arsen | Arsio, Arse | Ursynów | ||
Aspynthos | Latv. apse; Old-Pruss. abse; Lith. apušẽ[citation needed] | ||||
Atlas | Adula | ||||
Asamus | Comparable to Old Bulgarian Ošam; per Georgiev, identical to Asamum, a city in Dalmatia, and both from *ak(a)m(u) 'stone' or *ak(a)myo- 'stony'.[55] Old Iranian aśman- ‘stone’; Lit. ašmuo, ašmenys, | ||||
Vairos | Vaira | Lit. vairus ‘diverse’ | |||
Baktunion | Batkunu kaimas | ||||
Beres | Bẽrė, Bėrẽ, Bėr-upis, Bėrupė | Bēr-upe, Berēka | Bieruń, Beroun, Pěrno | Lit. bėras, Latv. bęrs ‘brown, swarthy’, | |
Bersamae | Berezina, Brest | ||||
Veleka | Velėkas | ||||
Bolba bria | Balvi, Bàlvis, Bolva | Lith. Bálvis 'a lake'; Old-Pruss. Balweniken | |||
Brenipara | |||||
Calsus | Kalsi, Kalsiņš, Kals-Strauts ‘dry stream’ | Kalisz | Latv. kalst, kaltēt ‘dry’, | ||
Chalastra | chałastra, hałastra | Lith. sravà ‘a stream’; Latv. strava ‘stream, torrent’, | |||
Daphabae | Lith. dãpas ‘a flood’; Old-Pruss. ape ‘river’[citation needed] | ||||
Dingion | Dingas, Dindze, Dingupite | Dinge | Dynów | Latv. dinga ‘a plant’ and ‘fertile place’[citation needed] | |
Dimae | Dūmė | Dūmis | Dumen | Dukla (Scythian settlement since 2nd millennium BCE) | Lit. dūmas ‘dark (for beef)’; Latv. dūms ‘dark-brown’[citation needed] |
Egerica | Vegerė | Vedzere | |||
Ereta | Veretà | ||||
Germe, Germai, Germenne, Germania | Cognate to Greek θερμός (thermós) 'warm, hot'.[56] | ||||
Gesia | Gesavà | Dzêsiens | Gesaw | Gąsiek, Rzeszów? | |
Ginula | Ginuļi | Ginulle | Goniądz | Latv. g'inis, g'inst ‘to spoil’, Pol. ginąć ‘to get lost, to perish’, compare Engl. gone[citation needed] | |
Armonia | Armona | Lit. armuo, -ens ‘quagmire’[citation needed] | |||
Iuras | Jūra, Jūrė, Jūrupis | Jura | Lit. and Latv. jūra ‘sea’[57] | ||
Kabyle | Kabile | Cabula | |||
Kallindia | Galindo, Galinden, Galynde | Golina, Goleniów, Gołdap, Gołańcz | Galindai, Lit. galas ‘end’[citation needed] | ||
Kapisturia | Kaplava | Kapas-gals | Kappegalin | Kopanica (multiple entries) | Latv. kãpa, kãpe ‘long mountainous strip, dune, slope’; Lith. kopà ‘sandy hill’, |
Kurpisos, Kourpissos | Kurpų kámas, Kurpulaukis | Kazūkurpe, Kurpesgrāvis, Kurpkalns | Kurpie | Lit. kurpti ‘to dig', | |
Kersula | Keršuliškių kaimas | Lit. keršulis ‘pigeon’ | |||
Knishava | Knisà | Knīsi, Knīši, Knīsukalns | Knyszyn | Lith. knìsti ‘to dig, to rummage’ | |
Kypsela | Kupšeliai | Kupšeļi | Kutno? | ||
Lingos | Lingė, Lingenai | Lingas, Lingi, Lingasdikis | Lingwar | Lędziny, Leżajsk, Legnica, | Lit. lengė 'valley’ |
Markellai | Markẽlis, Markelỹne | Marken | Marki (mesolithic settlement) | Lit. marka ‘pit’, merkti ‘dunk’ | |
Meldia | Meldė, Meldínis | Meldine, Meldini | Mildio, Mildie | Zhemait. Melьdəikvirshe, Melьdəinəi, Lith. meldà, méldas ‘marsh reed’; Latv. meldi ‘reed’ | |
Mygdonia | Mūkė | Mukas | Myszków, Myšno | Zhemait. river Muka, Mukja, | |
Ostophos | Uõstas, Ũstas | Uostupe, Ũostup | Ustup (part of Zakopane), Ústup, Puszczykowo | Lit. pušynas ‘spurs forest’, Pol. ostęp (regional: ustup) ‘wilderness’, ‘section set aside’, compare pustynia ‘desert’, pustkowie ‘wasteland’[citation needed] | |
Paisula | Paišeliai | Paissyn | Pasłęk, Pasym | Lit. paišai ‘soot’ | |
Palae | Palà | Połczyn-Zdrój, Pelpin, Pełczyce, Poltava | Lit. palios ‘swamp' | ||
Palnma | Palminỹs, Palmajos káimas | Paļmuota | Palmiry | Lit. palios ‘swamp' | |
Panion | Panewniki | Old-Pruss. pannean ‘swamp, quagmire’, | |||
Pannas | Panyen | Panewniki | Old Pruss. pannean ‘quagmire’, | ||
Pautalia | Paũtupis | Pauteļi, Pautupīte, Pautustrauts | Pauta, Pauten | Puck, Pułtusk, Puławy | Lith. putà, pl. pùtos ‘foam, froth’, putóti ‘to foam’; Latv. putas ‘foam’ |
Pizos | Pisa ęzęrs | Pissa, Pissen, Pisse, Pysekaym, Piselauk | Pyskowice | Latv. pīsa ‘swamp’ | |
Praizes Limne | Praustuvė | Praga | Lith. praũsti (prausiù, -siaũ) ‘to wash’, prausỹnės ‘washing’; Latv. prauslât ‘to spray, to sprinkle’, Pol. prać ‘to wash, to beat’ | ||
Pusinon | Pusyne, Pušinė, Pušyno káimasPušinė | Pszczyna | Lit. pušynas ‘spurs forest’, Zhemait. Pushina 'a stream', Pushine 'meadows', | ||
Pupensis vicus(village) | Pupių káimas, Pupinė | Pupa | Pupkaym, Paupayn | Latinized vicus for ‘village', Lit. and Latv. pupa 'beans', kaimas 'village'(cf. Bobov Dol) | |
Purdae | Porden, Purde | Zhemait. Purdjaknisə Popelьki | |||
Raimula | Raimoche | Lith. ráimas ‘motley, particoloured’ | |||
Rhakule | Rãkija, Rakavos káimas | Roklawken, Rocke | Raciąż, Racibórz | Lith. ràkti, rankù, rakiaũ ‘to dig out, unearth’; Latv. rakt, rùoku ‘to dig’, rakņât ‘to dig’ | |
Rhamae | Rãmis, Ramùne | Rāmava | Ramio, Rammenflys | Rumia (populated since 6th century BC) | Lit. ramus ‘quiet’ |
Rhodope Mountains | Rudupe | Rudawy, Rudawy, Rudohoří, Rudnik, Ruda Śląska, Rudno, Rudniki, Rudnia e.t.c. | Zhemait. Rudupja, Rudupə, Rudupi, Lith. rùdas ‘reddish, ruddy, dark yellow’, Lith. ùpė ‘river’, Pol. directly from ruda ‘ore, mineral’ | ||
Rhusion | Russe, Russien, Rusemoter | Lith. rūsỹs (and rúsas) ‘a pit for potatoes; cellar, basement’; Latv. rūsa ‘a pit’ | |||
Rumbodona | Rum̃ba, Rum̃ba, Rum̃b, Rum̃bas, Rumbai | Porąbka, Zaręby, Rębaczów e.t.c. | Latv. rum̃ba ‘waterfall, river rapids’; Lith. rum̃bas, rùmbas, rumbà ‘periphery’, Pol. rąbać ‘to chop, to hew, to fell, to cut down’ | ||
Sarte | Sar̃tė, Sartà | Sār̃te, Sārtupe | Zhemait. Sarta, Sarti, Lit. sartas ‘red (horse)’; Latv. sarts ‘ruddy’ | ||
Scretisca | Skretiškė | Zakręt | Lit. skretė ‘circle’, Pol. skręcić się ‘to twist, to turn’ + the suffix -się ‘-oneself’ | ||
Seietovia | Sietuvà, Siẽtuvas | Zhemait. Setuva, Lit. sietuva ‘whirlpool’ | |||
Sekina | Šėkinė | Siekierki, Sieczka | Lith. šėkas ‘recently mowed down grass, hay’; Latv. sêks ‘the same’, | ||
Serme | Sermas | ||||
Silta | Šiltupis | Siltie, Siltums, Siltine | Lit. šiltas ‘warm, nice’; Latv. sìlts ‘warm’ | ||
Skaptopara, Skalpenos, Skaplizo | Skalbupis, Skalbýnupis, Skalbstas, Skaptotai, Skaptùtis | Toporów | Lith. skãplis ‘a type of axe’; Lith. skaptúoti ‘to cut, to carve', | ||
Skarsa | Skarsin, Skarsaw | Skoczów | Lith. sker̃sas ‘transverse, oblique, slanting’, Sker̃sė, Sker̃s-upỹs, Sker̃sravi, | ||
Scombros | Lith. kumbrỹs, kum̃bris ‘hill, top of a mountain; small mountain’; Latv. kum̃bris ‘hump, hunch’ | ||||
Spindea | Spindžių káimas, Spindžiùs | Spindags | Lit. spindžius, spindis, 'clearing'; Latv. spindis ‘spark’ | ||
Stambai | Strũobas, Struõbas | Lit. stramblys ‘cob’; Old-Pruss. strambo ‘stubble-field’ | |||
Strauneilon | Strūnelė, Strūnà | Lit. sr(i)ūti ‘flow’ | |||
Strymon | Stryj, Strumień, Czerwony Strumień, Strumień Godowski e.t.c. | Lit. sraumuo ‘stream’, Pol. strumień ‘stream’ | |||
Strauos | Strėva | Strawa, Strawka (rivers) | Latv. strava, Lit. srava ‘course’, | ||
Suitula | Svite | Świecie | Lit. švitulys ‘light’, Pol. światło ‘light’, świecić ‘to light’, świt ‘dawn’, Świtula ‘the dawning one’ (feminine) | ||
Souras | Sūris, Sūrupė, Sūupis | Sure | Soła, Solina, Solinka, Wisła (Vysoła), (Wesoła) | Lit. sūras ‘salty’, Pol. direct from solь ‘salt’, (Wesoła may have a different etymology veselъ ‘merry’) | |
Succi | Šukis | Sukas, Sucis | Sucha (multiple entries) | Pol. suchy ‘dry’, susi (akin to Succi) is the masculine plural nominative form | |
Tarpodizos | Tárpija | Târpi, Tārpu pļava | Tarnów, , Tarnowola, Tarnowskie Góry, Tarnowo (multiple entries) | Lith. tárpas ‘an interstice’ and ‘a gap, a crack’; Zhemait. Tarpu kalьne, Tarpdovdəi | |
Tarporon | Poronin | Lith. tárpas ‘an interstice’, | |||
Tarpyllos | Terpìnė, Tárpija | ||||
Tirsai | Tirza | Tirskaymen | Lith. tir̃štis ‘density, thickness’ and ‘thicket, brush-wood’ | ||
Tranoupara | Tranỹs | Trani, Tranava | Lit. tranas ‘hornet’ | ||
Trauos | Traũšupis | Lith. traũšti ‘to break, to crumble’, traušus ‘brittle’; Latv. traušs, trausls ‘brittle, fragile’ | |||
Tynta | Tunti, Tunte | Thuntlawken | Lit. tumtas, tuntas ‘flock' | ||
Urda, Urdaus | Ùrdupis, Urdenà | Urdava | Zhemait. Urdishki; Lit. urdulys ‘mount stream’, virti ‘spring’ | ||
Veleka | Velėkas | Wielichowo (Pomerania), Wielichowo | Lith. velėkles ‘a place, used for washing’ | ||
Verzela | Vérža, Véržas | Lith. váržas ‘a basket for fish’; Latv. varza ‘dam’ | |||
Vevocasenus | Vàive | Woywe, Wewa, Waywe | Latin vicus | ||
Zburulus | Žiburių káimas | Lit. žiburỹs ‘a fire, a light, something burning; a torch’ | |||
Zilmissus | Žilmà, Žilmas | Latv. zelme ‘green grass or wheat’ | |||
Zyakozeron | Žvakùtė | Zvakūž | Lith. žvãkė ‘a light, a candle’ |
According to Skordelis, when Thracians were subjected by Alexander the Great they finally assimilated to Greek culture and became as Greek as Spartans and Athenians, although he considered the Thracian language as a form of Greek.[58] According to Crampton (1997) most Thracians were eventually Hellenized or Romanized, with the last remnants surviving in remote areas until the 5th century.[59] According to Marinov the Thracians were likely completely Romanized and Hellenized after the last contemporary references to them of the 6th century.[60]
Another author considers that the interior of Thrace have never been Romanized or Hellenized (Trever, 1939).[61] This was followed also by Slavonization. According to Weithmann (1978) when the Slavs migrated, they encountered only a very superficially Romanized Thracian and Dacian population, which had not strongly identified itself with Imperial Rome, while Greek and Roman populations (mostly soldiers, officials, merchants) abandoned the land or were killed.[62] Because Pulpudeva survived as Plovdiv in Slavic languages, not under Philippopolis, some authors suggest that Thracian was not completely obliterated in the 7th century.[63][64]