LL-L "Names" 2004.01.14 (03) [E]

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From: Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2004.01.13 (07) [D/E]


Ron wrote:
"What is the origin of the name "Serb(ia(n))"?"

If memory serves correctly, Noel Malcolm in his book Bosnia: a Short
History, Tim Judah in The Serbs and Marcus Tanner in Croatia: a Nation
Forged in War all reference linguists who derive "Serb" and "Croat" from the
same Iranian source, a grouping named something like the Choravati (memory
fails me here), apparently from an region of ancient Iran known as
Harahvatis.

Deriving "Serb" and "Croat" from the same word is possible, given the same
basic trio of consonants - S R P~B (Serb. 'Srpska', 'Srbi') and H R V
(Croat. 'Hrvatska', 'Hrvati') - which are known to be mutationally
interchangeable, as in the Celtic languages. Interestingly, prior to their
tandem migration to what was Pannonia, the Serbs and Croats dwelt a while in
Lusatia ('White Serbia' and 'White Croatia'), where the Sorbs ('Srbi') still
exist today, speaking a West Slavic language they call 'Serbscina'
(historically I think they themselves used to call it 'Lusatian').

Hope this helps; but I bet there are many others on the list more expert
than I!

Criostóir.

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Names

Críostóir (above):

> where the Sorbs ('Srbi') still exist today, speaking a West Slavic
language they call
> 'Serbscina' (historically I think they themselves used to call it
'Lusatian').

_Srb..._ is Serbian in Serbian.  The Sorbs call themselves _serbja_
(singular _serb_).  Unlike Czech, Slovac and the South Slavic languages,
they do not have any syllabic /r/.

It must have been a long time ago that they called themselves as an ethnic
name by their area _Łužyca_ (German _Lausitz_, English _Lusatia").  For the
sake of clarification they sometimes say "Lusatian Sorbs," especially in
names, such as in Upper Sorbian "Zwězk Łužyskych Serbow", Lower Sorbian
"Zwjazk Łužiskich Serbow" (Alliance of Lusatian Sorbs, German "Bund
Lausitzer Sorben").  I suppose the reason for the need for clarity is that
for a long time now they (at least those that still identify themselves as
Sorbs) have not been the dominant group in their area.  The area has not
only been under German rule but also under Czech rule, and an eastern
portion of it, namely a smallish region just east of the former Lusatian
capital Zhorjelc (German Görlitz, Polish Zgorcelec), is now under Polish
rule and has pretty lost its Lusatian identity, as far as I can tell.

Reinhard/Ron

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