Volodymyr/Vladimir

[Simon Franklin]

Yes, the chronicles reflect East Slavonic 'Volod-'. For completeness, 
however, if we're referring to sources, we should also note that the 
inscriptions on the prince's own coins - the only authentic sources which 
survive from his own time - use the South Slavonic/Church Slavonic 'vlad-' 
form. The former happens to be equivalent to modern Ukrainian, the latter 
to modern Russian; but, while such analogies may be politically sensitive, 
they are not historically significant. The forms of names have no relevance 
to substantive questions of continuity and discontinuity between early Rus 
and any modern states or peoples.

Simon Franklin

--On 7 December 2008 15:48:07 -0500 "Robert A. Rothstein" 
<rar at SLAVIC.UMASS.EDU> wrote:

>     The Poles have a handy adjective, staroruski, essentially "Old East
> Slavic," used for example to refer to what Westerners tend to call "Old
> Russian Literature" (such as the literature of Kievan Rus'). Around
> Harvard people seem to have adopted the adjective "Rusian" in the same
> function. Both are politically correct in a very narrow sense. Correct,
> in that both those whose descendants would become Ukrainians and those
> whose descendants would become Russians probably referred to the Kievan
> ruler (if they were aware of him) as Volodimir or Volodymyr, later to
> become Ukrainian Volodymyr and (after the so-called Second South Slavic
> Influence) Russian Vladimir. And political, in the sense that the
> terminology might help, as the singer Theodore Bikel says in his English
> version of "Sten'ka Razin" "to prevent disputes and quarrels."
>     (On rereading the above, I noticed that I twice used the form
> "Kievan." I hereby authorize those who wish to to read that as "Kyivan"
> to do so. I've successfully made the transition in my own usage from
> Lvov/Lwów/Lemberg/Leopolis to Lviv, but I still find "Kyiv" too far
> removed from English phonotactics to be comfortable with it.)
>
> Bob Rothstein
>
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Professor Simon Franklin
Clare College
Cambridge
CB2 1TL

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