engleski

Frequent Toponyms of the Croatian Adriatic Islands

The research has focused on the etymological analysis of the toponyms on the islands of the East Adriatic coast which tend to repeat themselves frequently. Besides the Slavic ones (i.e. Kamenišnjak < Cro. kamen (‘stone’), Lupeščina < Cro. lupež (‘thief’), Pišćenjak < Cro. pijesak (‘sand’)), many of the old Romanic toponyms dating from the pre-Croatian era and Early Christian period have been preserved (i.e. Sakarun < Lat. siccus ; Rina < Lat. arena ; Sabuša < Lat. sabulum ; Kluda < Lat. cludere ; Sutmiho < Lat. Sanctus Michaelis) as well as the ones from the Venetian reign in Dalmatia (i.e. Tufera < It. tufo ; Petrara < It. pietra). The names have been classified into three categories: the toponyms motivated by the characteristics of soil (i.e. Milna < PS *mělъ (‘mud’), Pečeno < Cro. pijesak (‘sand’), Saskinja < Lat. saxum (‘stone’)), the toponyms motivated by piracy (i.e. Stračinska < Saracen pirates, Gonoturska < Lat. portus innganatorum (‘the bay of thieves’), Tatinja < Cro. tat (‘thief’)) and hagionyms exhibiting a reflection of the Old Dalmatian adjective sanctus (i.e. Stomorska < Sancta Maria, Supokrač < Sanctus Pancratius, Sušćepan < Sanctus Stephanus) which can be exclusively found along the coast in the immediate vicinity of the sea. The authors also offer a new theory on the etymology of the name of the island of Čiovo

Slavic; Romance toponyms; Croatian islands; etymology

DOI: 10.2436/15.8040.01.131