Slavs (ethnonym) explained

The Slavic ethnonym (and autonym), Slavs, is reconstructed in Proto-Slavic as *Slověninъ, plural Slověně. The earliest written references to the Slav ethnonym are in other languages.

Early mentions

Possibly the oldest mention of Slavs in almost historical form *Slověne is attested in Ptolemy's Geography (2nd century) as Σταυανοί (Stavanoi) and Σουοβηνοί (Souobenoi), both listed as Scythian tribes living near Alanians north of Scythia (first roughly between Volga and Ural Mountains, second between the Baltic Sea and Black Sea).^[1] Zbigniew Gołąb accepted Pavel Jozef Šafárik's opinion that Greeks inserted "τ" or "θ" for Slavic "sl-" (reconstructing Proto-Slavic *Slɔu̯ǣnæ), and "through the labialized articulation of the vowel /ɔ/ conditioned by the preceding /u̯/" in Proto-Slavic *Su̯ɔbǣnæ (*Svoběne).

Sporoi (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Σπόροι) or Spori was according to Eastern Roman/Byzantine scholar Procopius (500–560) the old name of the Antes and Sclaveni, two Early Slavic branches. Procopius stated that the Sclaveni and Antes spoke the same language, but he traced their common origin back to not the Veneti (as per Jordanes) but a people that he called Sporoi.^[2] He derived the name from Greek Greek, Modern (1453-);: σπείρω ("I scatter grain"), because "they populated the land with scattered settlements".^[3] He described their society as democratic, and their language as barbaric.

The Roman bureaucrat Jordanes wrote about the Slavs in his work Getica (551): "although they derive from one nation, now they are known under three names, the Veneti, Antes and Sclaveni" (Latin: ab una stirpe exorti, tria nomina ediderunt, id est Veneti, Antes, Sclaveni); that is, the West Slavs, East Slavs, and South Slavs.^[4] He stated that the Veneti were the ancestors of the Sclaveni and the Antes, the two having used to be called Veneti but are now "chiefly" (though, by implication, not exclusively) called Sclaveni and Antes.^[5] Jordanes' Veneti and Procopius' Sporoi were used for the ethnogenetic legend of the Slavs, the ancestors of the Slavs (the subsequent ethnic group name).^[6]

Thus, the Slav ethnonym at first denoted the southern group of the early Slavs. That ethnonym is attested by Procopius in Byzantine Greek as Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Σκλάβοι (), Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Σκλαβηνοί (), Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Σκλαυηνοί (), Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Σθλαβηνοί (), or Σκλαβῖνοι (),^[7] while his contemporary Jordanes refers to the Sclaveni in Latin.^[8] In Ancient Greek there are no words with the root sl-, thus the original ethnonym was transformed into skl-, as that root was present (in sklērós, "hard").

Church Slavonic manuscripts

In East Church Slavonic manuscripts, the ethnonym is spelt Slověne (Russian: Словѣне), such as in the Primary Chronicle, Sofia First Chronicle, Novgorod First Chronicle and Novgorod Fourth Chronicle.^[9] In the source dating to 898 included in the Primary Chronicle, the term is used both for East Slavic tribes and more often for a people (in the Kievan Rus' society, alongside Varangians, Chuds and Kriviches).^[10]

Etymology

The origin of the Slavic autonym *Slověninъ is disputed.

• According to tradition of Slavs, the meaning of the word comes from the word "slava," which means "glory," thus implying that Slavic tribes have enjoyed or will enjoy glory.
• According to Roman Jakobson's opinion, modified by Oleg Trubachev (Трубачёв)^[11] and John P. Maher,^[12] the name is related to the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root seen in slovo ("word") and originally denoted "people who speak (the same language)", i.e. people who understand each other, in contrast to the Slavic word denoting "foreign people", namely němci, meaning "mumbling, murmuring people" (from Slavic *němъ "mumbling, mute"). The latter word may be the antecedent of the ethnonym for "Germans" or "Germanic peoples" in many later Slavic languages, e. g., Czech Němec, Slovak Nemec, Slovene Nemec, Belarusian, Russian and Bulgarian Немец, Serbian Немац, Croatian Nijemac, Polish Niemiec, Ukrainian Німець, etc.,^[13] but another theory states that rather these words are derived from the name of the Nemetes tribe,^{[14] [15]} which is derived from the Celtic root nemeto-.^{[16] [17]} The word slovo ("word") and the related slava ("glory, fame, praise") and Uncoded languages: slukh ("hearing") originate from the PIE root ("be spoken of, glory"), cognate with Ancient Greek Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κλέος ("fame"), whence comes the name Pericles, Latin ("be called"), as well as English .
• Another widely cited^{[18] [19]} view is expressed by Max Vasmer,^[20] who points out that the suffix Proto-Slavic *-ěninъ, *-aninъ otherwise seems to derive nouns only from toponyms; hence Vasmer assumes that this word, too, is derived from a toponym - probably a hydronym, comparable to various Slavic river names with the same apparent root such as Russian Слуя, Polish Sława, Sławica, Serbo-Croatian Славница, further related to Ancient Greek κλύζω 'lave', κλύζωει 'flow', κλύδων 'serf', Latin cluō 'to clean', cloāca 'sewer pipe'. According to this view, the connection to *slovo 'word' would be the result of a later folk etymology. It has been suggested that the word may be derived from a place named Slovo or a river named Slova;^[21] this, according to some, is implied by the suffix -enin. The Old East Slavic Slavuta for the Dnieper River was argued by Henrich Bartek (1907–1986) to be derived from slova and also the origin of Slověne.^[22]
• Based on an uncertain identification with the ethnonym souоbēnoí, which is mentioned in Ptolemy (2nd century AD), the name has been argued to be derived from Proto-Slavic adjective svobъ ("oneself", "one's own"; derivative svoboda > sloboda also meaning "freedom", "free settlement"), which derives from Indo-European *s(w)e/obh(o)- "a person or thing apart, separate", root *swobh "his/hers", meaning "all the members of an exogamic moiety > actual or potential affines/blood relatives". It can be interpreted as "a tribe of the free, of their own people". Names of many Germanic tribes derive from the same root, which was not an exonym but endonym. Name of sabini tribe also derive from root *swobʰ-. Eventually with dissimilation of svobъ > slobъ was secondarily associated with slovo "word".

Other proposals for the etymology of *Slověninъ propounded by some scholars have much less support. B. Philip Lozinski argues that the word *slava once had the meaning of "worshipper", in this context "practicer of a common Slavic religion"; from that evolved into an ethnonym.^[23] S. B. Bernstein speculated that it derives from a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European , cognate to Ancient Greek λαός (laós) "population, people", which itself has no commonly accepted etymology.^[24]

According to the widespread view known since 18th century, but unknown to most Slavs within their cultures, the English word slave, which arrived in modern language from Middle English sclave, from Old French esclave, from Late Middle High German sklave, from Medieval Latin sclāvus, from Late Latin Sclāvus, from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος [''Sklábos''], Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Έσκλαβήνος [''Ésklabḗnos''] and displaced native Old English þēow, derives from Byzantine loanword from a Slavic gen self-name Church Slavic; Old Slavonic; Church Slavonic; Old Bulgarian; Old Church Slavonic: *Slověninŭ - Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Σκλάβινοι [''Sklábinoi''], Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Έσκλαβηνοί [''Ésklabēnoí''], that came to mean 'prisoner of war Slave', 'slave' (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Σκλάβος, Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Έσκλαβήνος, Late Latin Latin: Sclāvus) in the 8th/9th century, because they often became captured and enslaved (see also Saqaliba).^{[25] [26] [27] [28] [29]} Similarly, the popular Italian-language (and international) salutation Ciao is also derived from that Slavic ethnonym.^{[30] [31]} However, this version is disputed since the 19th century.^{[32] [33]}

An alternative contemporary hypothesis states that Medieval Latin Latin: sclāvus via secondary form Latin: *scylāvus derives from Byzantine Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: σκυλάω [''skūláō'', ''skyláō''], Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: σκυλεύω [''skūleúō'', ''skyleúō''] - "to strip the enemy (killed in a battle)", "to make booty / extract spoils of war".^{[34] [35] [36] [37]} This version is criticised as well.^[38]

See also

• Sclaveni
• Sporoi
• Nemets, Niemcy

Further reading

• Bačić. Jakov. Slav: the Origin and Meaning of the Ethnonym. Slovene Studies. 9. 1. 1987. 33–42. 10.7152/ssj.v9i1.3678. free.
• Book: Kunstmann, Heinrich . Die Slaven. Ihr Name, ihre Wanderung nach Europa und die Anfänge der russischen Geschichte in historisch-onomastischer Sicht. 1996. Franz Steiner Verlag. 978-3-515-06816-1 .
• Лома. Александар. 2008.
  • Rěčь, *slovo, *besěda - етимологија и семантичка праисторија
  . Јужнословенски филолог. 64. 199–216.
• Łukaszewicz. Adam. De Sclavinis et sclavis…. Dialogues d'histoire ancienne. 1998. 24. 2. 129–135. 10.3406/dha.1998.2394. french.
• Maher. J. Peter. The Ethnonym of the Slavs – Common Slavic *slověne. The Journal of Indo-European Studies. 1974. 2. 143–155.
• Трубачев. Олег Николаевич. Ранние славянские этнонимы — свидетели миграции славян. The early Slavic ethnonyms — the evidence of the Slavic migrations. Вопросы языкознания. 6. 1974. 48–67.
• Uličný. Ferdinant. Etnonymy Sklávoi, Sclavi, Slovieni, Slováci, Slovania. 2012. Historický časopis. 60. 2. 301–330. 0018-2575.

Notes and References

1. Book: Belaj . Vitomir . Belaj . Juraj . Vitomir Belaj . 2018 . Around and below Divuša: The Traces of Perun's Mother Arrival into Our Lands . Zbornik Instituta za arheologiju / Serta Instituti Archaeologici, Vol. 10. Sacralization of Landscape and Sacred Places. Proceedings of the 3rd International Scientific Conference of Mediaeval Archaeology of the Institute of Archaeology . https://www.bib.irb.hr/988715 . Zagreb . Institute of Archaeology . 75–76 . 978-953-6064-36-6 . In 1980 Ivanov and Toporov dedicated an extensive paper to ancient Slavic ethnonyms, in which they mentioned Ptolemy's Souobene (Ivanov, Toporov 1980: 14-18). The Greeks did not tolerate in their language the initial consonant cluster sl-, σλ-, and they also did not clearly distinguish the sounds l and b, λ and β. Besides, their alphabet does not even have a letter corresponding to the Latin "v", so Greek writers used the letter beta: β, for the sound "v" which they heard in words of non-Greek origin. If we know that, then we may read the name that Ptolemy wrote in the form Σουοβηνοί13 as the Sloveni. Later they transformed the Slavic name into Σκλαβηνοι, which was then adopted by the Romans in the form Sclaveni, Sclavi. This form would then solidify due to popular etymology, which associated the name Sclaveni with the Latin word sclavus, "slave", which would result, for instance, in the Italian form Schiavoni..
2. Book: Paul M. Barford. The Early Slavs: Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe. 2001. Cornell University Press. 978-0-8014-3977-3. 36. 2016-11-10. 2017-02-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20170203052044/https://books.google.com/books?id=1Z9ItAtbJ5AC. live.
3. Book: Михайло Грушевський. Andrzej Poppe. Marta Skorupsky. Uliana M. Pasicznyk. Frank E. Sysyn. History of Ukraine-Rus': From prehistory to the eleventh century. 1997. Kiyc Cius. 978-1-895571-19-6. 57. 2016-11-10. 2019-12-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20191224070619/https://books.google.com/books?id=L_ENAQAAMAAJ. live.
4. Book: Frank A. Kmietowicz. Ancient Slavs. 1976. Worzalla Publishing Company. Jordanes left no doubt that the Antes were of Slavic origin, when he wrote: 'ab una stirpe exorti, tria nomina ediderunt, id est Veneti, Antes, Sclaveni' (although they derive from one nation, now they are known under three names, the Veneti, Antes and Sclaveni). The Veneti were the West Slavs, the Antes the East Slavs and the Sclaveni, the South or Balkan Slavs.. 2016-11-10. 2019-12-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20191228192125/https://books.google.com/books?id=amTxAAAAMAAJ. live.
5. Jordanes, Getica 5.
6. Kazansky. M. M.. 2014. Славяне и дунайские германцы в VI веке: свидетельства письменных источников и некоторые археологические данные. ББК. 63. 978-5-903454-91-4.
7. Procopius, History of the Wars, VII. 14. 22–30, VIII. 40. 5.
8. Jordanes, The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, V. 33.
9. Book: А.А. Шахматов. Разыскания о древнейших русских летописных сводах. Рипол Классик. 978-5-517-87978-3. 304–. 2018-03-05. 2020-06-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20200630190935/https://books.google.com/books?id=HY4IAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA304. live.
10. Book: Виктор Живов. Разыскания в области истории и предыстории русской культуры. 5 September 2017. ЛитРес. 978-5-457-50213-0. 180–. 5 March 2018. 15 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200715073221/https://books.google.com/books?id=3n8gAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA180. live.
11. Трубачев, Олег. Из исследований по праславянскому словообразованию: генезис модели на -ěninъ, -*janinъ. 1980. Стр. 1
12. P. Maher (Chicago). 1970. The Etymology of Common Slavic slověne 'Slavs'. In: Балканско езикознание. Linguistique balkanique. volume 16. Issue 2. 1970. Sofia. Pp. 31–36
13. Stephen Barbour and Cathie Carmichael (eds.), Language and Nationalism in Europe (2000), p. 193.
14. The Journal of Indo-European studies, vol. 2 (1974) .
15. Grzegorz Jagodziński, O przenoszeniu nazw ludów .
16. Xavier Delamarre (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise. Éditions Errance, p. 233.
17. John T. Koch (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, p. 1351.
18. Rejzek, Jiři. 2001. Český etymologický slovník. Leda. p.583
19. Анастасов, Васил и др. 2002. Български етимологичен речник. Том VI: Пускам - словар2.
20. Фасмер, Макс. Этимологический словарь русского языка. Перевод с немецкого и дополнения О. Н. Трубачева. М., 2 изд. 1-4. Плр 1986-1987. Славянин
21. Book: Татьяна Григорьевна Винокур. Древнерусский язык. 2004. Лабиринт. 978-5-87604-147-0. 37. . 2018-03-05. 2020-07-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20200713043952/https://books.google.com/books?id=R7blAAAAMAAJ. live.
22. Etudes slaves et est-européennes: Slavic and East-European studies, vol. 3 (1958), p. 107.
23. B. Philip Lozinski, "The Name 'Slav'", in: Essays in Russian History. A Collection Dedicated to George Vernadsky, edd. A. D. Ferguson and A. Levin. Archon Books, Hamden, Connecticut 1964, S. 19–32 (online text).
24. Bernstein 1961.
25. Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition 1989, s.v. slave
26. Web site: slave Origin and meaning of slave by Online Etymology Dictionary. www.etymonline.com. en. 2020-05-29. 2020-05-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20200526180934/https://www.etymonline.com/word/slave. live.
27. Jankowiak . Marek . What Does the Slave Trade in the Saqaliba Tell Us about Early Islamic Slavery? . International Journal of Middle East Studies . February 2017 . 49 . 1 . 169–172 . 10.1017/S0020743816001240 . free .
28. News: The international slave trade . Encyclopædia Britannica.
29. Web site: Company. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. The American Heritage Dictionary entry: slave. 2021-04-07. ahdictionary.com.
30. Book: Quaderni di semantica. 25–26. 49–52. 2004. Società editrice il Mulino. 214–215. In the case of the sequence Slav > sclavus > scia(v)o > ciao, however, there is no problem, because the etymology is absolutely reliable. 2018-01-29. 2020-07-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20200713043951/https://books.google.com/books?id=facoAQAAIAAJ. live.
31. Book: Folia Linguistica Historica: Acta Societatis Linguisticae Europaeae. 12. 1–2. 1992. Mouton. 110–118–. This is also the case for ciao and sciao, for the etymology of these words is the late Latin word sclavus, ultimately of Slavic origin, originally meaning "Slavic", and then "slave". As is known, most western European words that designate "slave" derive from the word sclavus: not only English slave, but also German Sklave, Dutch slaaf, Danish slave, Swedish slaaf, Welsh slaf, Breton sklav, French esclave, Spanish esclavo, Portuguese escravo, Albanian Skllaf, Modern Greek skla- vos, .... 2018-01-29. 2020-07-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20200708143720/https://books.google.com/books?id=zHBsAAAAIAAJ. live.
32. Book: Kluge, Friedrich . Friedrich Kluge

    . Friedrich Kluge . Etymologisches Wörterbuch Der Deutschen Sprache. 1899. Artikel Sklave . https://archive.org/details/etymologisches00klug/page/366/mode/2up . 6 . Strassburg . Trübner. 366.

33. Book: Fyodor Dostoevsky

    . Достоевский Ф.М. . Fyodor Dostoevsky . В. Г. Базанов и др., ИРЛИ . Полное собрание сочинений. В 30 томах . 23. Дневник писателя за 1876 год. Май-октябрь . 1981 . Самое последнее слово цивилизации . Ленинград . Наука. Ленингр. отд-ние . 63, 382.

34. Book: Korth, Georg . Georg Korth

    . Georg Korth . 1970 . Glotta, Zeitschrift fur Griechische und Lateinische Sprache . Zur Etymologie des Wortes 'Slavus' (Sklave) . Glotta . 48 . 1/2 . Göttingen . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (GmbH & Co. KG) . 145–153. 40266114 .

35. Book: Kluge, Friedrich . Friedrich Kluge

    . Friedrich Kluge . Elmar Seebold . Etymologisches Wörterbuch Der Deutschen Sprache. 1989. Artikel Sklave . https://archive.org/details/f.-kluge-etymologisches-worterbuch-der-deutschen-sprache-berlin-de-gruyter-1989/page/676/mode/2up . 22 . Berlin - New York . De Gruyter . 676 . 3-11-006800-1.

36. Book: Köbler, Gerhard . Gerhard Köbler

    . Gerhard Köbler . 1995 . https://archive.org/details/gerhard-kobler-deutsches-etymologisches-worterbuch-1995/page/370/mode/2up . Sklave . Deutsches Etymologisches Rechtswörterbuch . Tübingen . Mohr . 371 . 978-3-8252-1888-1.

37. Book: Scholten, Daniel . Daniel Scholten

    . Daniel Scholten . 2020 . Deutsch für Dichter und Denker: Unsere Muttersprache in neuem Licht . Sklave und Slawe . Bright Star Books . 978-3948287061.

38. Book: Ditten, Hans . Byzantinoslavica . ACADEMIA, de l’Academie Tchecoslovaque des Sciences et Lettres . 1972 . Prague . 33 . 183–184 . Kritik an G. KORTH.