engleski

Antiquarian vs. Poet: Paulus Ritter's (1652-1713) 'False' Etymologies

The paper explores the place names and the discourse regarding their etymologies in the Latin poem Plorantis Croatiae saecula duo, written and published in 1703 by the Croatian polymath Paulus Ritter (born in 1652 in the town of Senj, on the Adriatic coast, and died in Vienna in 1713). Although mostly accurate, the text is streaked with a considerable number of linguistically unplausible deductions and, in comparision with the other two analysed pieces – his Latin versified correspondence (9000 verses of epistolarum metricarum libri) and his Illyrian-Latin glossary – such etymologies come as a surprise. The aim of this presentation is to show that there is a good reason behind these "false" etymologies. Ritter sometimes puts the real etymology aside in order to achieve the aimed poetical effect, thus proving that, along with the antiquarian relevance of his endeavour, there is also a poetical dimension to it.

Paulus Ritter Vitezović, 17th Century literature, Plorantis Croatiae saecula duo, place names, etymology, poetic etymology

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