Kmetstvo

[Alemko Gluhak]

In Etimologic^eskij slovar' slavjanskih jazykov 13, ed. O.N. Trubac^ev,
Moskva 1987, the etymology *k7met7/*k7met6 ~ Lat. comes/comitis is given as
the most plausible etymology. Vatroslav Jagic' (Archif fuer sl. Phil.
XVIII, 1896) explained the Slavic form as connected with comitia "okrug" =
"district" (~ comes, comitis "companion"). Other etymologies are not
convincing, as Trubac^ev says. See also in other Slavic etymological
dictionaries: Vasmer, Skok, Bezlaj etc.

The word is Proto-Slavic (praslavenska, praslavjanskaja), but borrowed from
a Latin source. -- Some etymologies try to explain the word as a
contamination of the borrowing and an other Proto-Slavic word, connected
with *k7men6 "root" etc.

The word splitted its meaning -- in some languages the reflex means
"leader", "village mayor", "village judge", in some "free peasant", in some
"landless peasanet", in some "serf".

Alemko Gluhak
Zavod za lingvisticka istrazivanja
Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti
(Linguistic Research Institute
of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts)
Ante Kovacica 5
HR-10000 Zagreb
Hrvatska/Croatia
gluhak at hazu.hr
alemko.gluhak at infocentar.hr

> >Von: FRISON Philippe <Philippe.FRISON at coe.fr>
> >An: SEELANGS at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
> >Betreff: Kmetstvo
> >Datum: 1. prosinca 1998. 18:09

> >Does anybody know the etymological origin of the Bulgarian word
'kmetstvo'
> >which means 'mayor'?
> >It does not seem to come from an Slavic root.
> >Any help would be appreciated.
> >


> Von: Kjetil Ra Hauge <K.R.Hauge at easteur-orient.uio.no>
> An: SEELANGS at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
> Betreff: Re: Kmetstvo
> Datum: 1. prosinca 1998. 18:24
>
> There is well over a page of small print to read about the etymology of
> _kmet_ in _Balgarski etimologichen rechnik_ vol. 2, Sofia:BAN 1979. The
> authors suppose a Slavic origin but quote other theories (Greek,
> Slavic/Latin contamination) as well.
>
> --- Kjetil Ra Hauge