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{{Short description|Oldest reconstructed stratum of European hydronymy}}
{{Short description|Oldest reconstructed stratum of European hydronymy}}
[[File:Old European hydronymic map for the root *al-, *alm- Krahe.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Old European hydronymic map for the root ''*al-'', ''*alm-'']]
[[File:Old European hydronymic map for the root *al-, *alm- Krahe.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Old European hydronymic map for the root ''*al-'', ''*alm-'']]
'''Old European''' ({{lang-de|Alteuropäisch}}) is the term used by [[Hans Krahe]] (1964) for the language of the oldest reconstructed stratum of European [[hydronymy]] (river names) in [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Western Europe]].<ref name=Krahe>Hans Krahe, ''Unsere ältesten Flussnamen'', Wiesbaden Edition Otto Harrassowiitz (1964)</ref><ref group="note">"Old European" in this sense is not to be confused with the term as used by [[Marija Gimbutas]] who applies it to non-Indo-European or pre-Indo-European [[Neolithic Europe]].</ref>
'''Old European''' ({{langx|de|Alteuropäisch}}) is the term used by [[Hans Krahe]] (1964) for the language of the oldest reconstructed stratum of European [[hydronymy]] (river names) in [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Western Europe]].<ref name=Krahe>Hans Krahe, ''Unsere ältesten Flussnamen'', Wiesbaden Edition Otto Harrassowiitz (1964)</ref><ref group="note">"Old European" in this sense is not to be confused with the term as used by [[Marija Gimbutas]] who applies it to non-Indo-European or pre-Indo-European [[Neolithic Europe]].</ref>


==Geography==
==Geography==
Line 11: Line 11:
[[File:Old European hydronymic map for the root *Sal-, *Salm-.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Old European hydronymic map for the root ''*Sal-'', ''*Salm-'']]
[[File:Old European hydronymic map for the root *Sal-, *Salm-.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Old European hydronymic map for the root ''*Sal-'', ''*Salm-'']]


Krahe continues in III A 5, "Geographic Area and age of the paleoeuropean hydronomy", that the overwhelming majority of river and stream names originate from words which in the historical single languages cannot be found or cannot be found any more.<ref name=Krahe />{{rp|77}} He uses mainly Indo-European roots to allow the river names in question to speak (rule 1) of which more than 10,000 are listed.
Krahe continues in III A 5, "Geographic Area and age of the paleoeuropean hydronomy", that the overwhelming majority of river and stream names originate from words that in the historical single languages cannot be found or cannot be found anymore.<ref name=Krahe />{{rp|77}} He uses mainly Indo-European roots to allow the river names in question to speak (rule 1), of which more than ten thousand are listed.


In III A 2, "Etymology and Semasiology of the paleoeuropean river names", Krahe states that the oldest strata are composed by prerequisites of nature and that the river names especially refer to the water itself (rule 2),<ref name=Krahe />{{rp|60}} and that words referring to humans and culture are newer. Both rules are important arguments for considering the old European hydronomy of southern France and the north of the Iberian Peninsula as a result of secondary implementation (A 1, number 3) due to a postulated immigration around 1300 BC.
In III A 2, "Etymology and Semasiology of the paleoeuropean river names", Krahe states that the oldest strata are composed by prerequisites of nature and that the river names especially refer to the water itself (rule 2),<ref name=Krahe />{{rp|60}} and that words referring to humans and culture are newer. Both rules are important arguments for considering the old European hydronomy of southern France and the north of the Iberian Peninsula as a result of secondary implementation (A 1, number 3) due to a postulated immigration about 1300 BC.


In "Morphology of Paleoeuropean river names" (III A 1, number 3) Krahe concentrates on suffixes (simples and multiples) and distinguishes eleven different ones in a table.<ref name=Krahe />{{rp|62–63}} He attributes geographical (Central European vs. South European or Eastern), functional (for example affluent) or temporal (before or after a change of consonants or vowels) functions to the suffixes of the river names (rule 3). For the temporal function he claims the existence of a system of [[phonetic change]]s (''Lautverschiebung''), however he does not include prefixes in his considerations.
In "Morphology of Paleoeuropean river names" (III A 1, number 3), Krahe concentrates on suffixes (simples and multiples) and distinguishes eleven different ones in a table.<ref name=Krahe />{{rp|62–63}} He attributes geographical (Central European vs. South European or Eastern), functional (for example affluent) or temporal (before or after a change of consonants or vowels) functions to the suffixes of the river names (rule 3). For the temporal function he claims the existence of a system of [[phonetic change]]s (''Lautverschiebung''), however he does not include prefixes in his considerations.


Krahe's concentration on Indo-European roots and the omission of prefixes had serious negative consequences, because ever later focus was placed on those more than 10,000 roots, sometimes on [[Old Irish]], but scarcely on [[Gaulish]] and other Celtic languages or [[Baltic languages]] and completely leaving out [[Basque language|Basque]]. Delamarre later included for example under Gaulish ''dubron'' only rivers with "B" (or similar) leaving out other names, which Krahe would have called ''Schwundstufe'', i. e. "[[zero grade]]", the form of a root characterized by the loss of a letter (basically a vowel), sometimes combined with the inversion of letters.
Krahe's concentration on Indo-European roots and the omission of prefixes had serious negative consequences, because later those more than ten thousand roots were emphasized, or sometimes those of [[Old Irish]], but scarcely of [[Gaulish]] and other Celtic languages or the [[Baltic languages]] and completely omitting [[Basque language|Basque]]. Delamarre later included, for example, under Gaulish ''dubron'' only rivers with "B" (or similar) omitting other names, which Krahe would have termed ''Schwundstufe''; i.e., "[[zero grade]]", the form of a root characterized by the loss of a letter (basically a vowel), sometimes combined with the inversion of letters.


Krahe ignored the impact of Moorish occupation in Spain, which led to frequent combinations of Arab "prefixes" (always at the beginning) on Celtic "suffixes" as seen in [[Guadiana]] (''guadi'' "river" + ''anas'' "bayous, muddy", as it appears in [[Ptolemy]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=Ptolemaios Handbuch der Geographie|editor1= Alfred Stückelberg |editor2=Gerd Grasshoff|publisher= Schwabe|location= Basel| ISBN=978-3-7965-2148-5 |page=169}}</ref> The tables "Comparison of old European hydronyms" show that, in contradiction to Krahe's opinion, hydronyms (and toponyms) can in some cases very well be explained even by modern Irish, Welsh, or French and certainly by Gaulish.
Krahe ignored the effect of the Moorish occupation in Spain, which resulted in frequent combinations of Arab "prefixes" (always at the beginning) on Celtic "suffixes" as seen in [[Guadiana]] (''guadi'' "river" + ''anas'' "bayous, muddy", as it appears in [[Ptolemy]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=Ptolemaios Handbuch der Geographie|editor1= Alfred Stückelberg |editor2=Gerd Grasshoff|publisher= Schwabe|location= Basel| isbn=978-3-7965-2148-5 |page=169}}</ref> The tables "Comparison of old European hydronyms" show that, in contradiction to Krahe's opinion, hydronyms (and toponyms) can in some cases very well be explained even by modern Irish, Welsh, or French and certainly by Gaulish.


==Krahe's influence on other scholars==
==Krahe's influence on other scholars==
Line 26: Line 26:
[[Marija Gimbutas]] (Lithuanian: Marija Gimbutienė) studied in [[University of Tübingen|Tübingen]], and received her doctorate of archeology in 1946 in the same department where Krahe lectured. Gimbutas developed the [[Kurgan]] [[Kurgan hypothesis|theory]].
[[Marija Gimbutas]] (Lithuanian: Marija Gimbutienė) studied in [[University of Tübingen|Tübingen]], and received her doctorate of archeology in 1946 in the same department where Krahe lectured. Gimbutas developed the [[Kurgan]] [[Kurgan hypothesis|theory]].


[[Jürgen Untermann]], a disciple of Krahe with dissertation 1954 in Tübingen was professor for [[Comparative Linguistics]] at the [[University of Cologne]]. He was an [[epigraphy|epigraphist]] and Indoeuropeanist.
[[Jürgen Untermann]], a disciple of Krahe, whose dissertation was written in 1954 in Tübingen was professor for [[comparative linguistics]] at the [[University of Cologne]]. He was an [[epigraphy|epigraphist]] and Indoeuropeanist.


[[Antonio Tovar]], with preliminary studies in Berlin, later professor of the [[University of Salamanca]], was professor for Comparative Linguistics in Tübingen from 1967 to 1979. Together with Manuel Agud and [[Koldo Mitxelena]] he prepared an unedited etymological dictionary of the [[Basque language]].
[[Antonio Tovar]], with preliminary studies in Berlin, later professor of the [[University of Salamanca]], was professor for Comparative Linguistics in Tübingen from 1967 to 1979. Together with Manuel Agud and [[Koldo Mitxelena]] he prepared an etymological dictionary of the [[Basque language]].


==Other authors==
==Other authors==
Other authors with a focus on or touching on the topic old European hydronomy are listed below.
Other authors concerned with old European hydronomy are listed below.


[[Xavier Delamarre]] is a French linguist whose standard work is ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'' (2nd revised and augmented edition Paris, 2003), with the subtitle "Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental". This is in fact the most comprehensive publication on [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] words. Slightly more than 800 terms appear in alphabetical order derived from Gaulish-Greek, Gaulish-Etruscan and Gaulish-Latin or solely Gaulish inscriptions, printed classical languages, coins and some terms of Celtic substrate in [[Occitania|Occitan]]. He presents all cases of appearance of toponyms and hydronyms in question, cites authors and roots, showing alternatives, and classifies, if necessary, as uncertain or questionable. He shows all river name examples with prefixes. For example, see "comparison of old hydronyms" adding "water", "clear", "hard stone", etc.
[[Xavier Delamarre]] is a French linguist whose standard work is {{lang|fr|Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental}} ('Dictionary of the Gaulish language: A linguistic approach to continental old Celtic'; 2nd edition, 2003). This is the most comprehensive publication on [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] words, with more than 800 terms in alphabetical order, derived from Gaulish–Greek, Gaulish–Etruscan, Gaulish–Latin, or solely Gaulish inscriptions, printed classical languages, coins, and some terms of Celtic substrate in [[Occitan language|Occitan]]. He presents all cases of appearance of toponyms and hydronyms in question, cites authors and roots, showing alternatives, and classifies, if necessary, as uncertain or questionable. He shows all river name examples with prefixes. For example, see "comparison of old hydronyms" adding "water", "clear", "hard stone", etc.


The German linguist [[Theo Vennemann]] suggested in 2003 that the language of the old European hydronyms was [[agglutinative language|agglutinative]] and [[Pre-Indo-European languages|Pre-Indo-European]].<ref>Theo Vennemann, Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna, ''Europa Vasconica, Europa Semitica'', published by Walter de Gruyter, 2003, {{ISBN|3-11-017054-X}}, 9783110170542.</ref> This theory has been criticised as being seriously flawed, and the more generally accepted view is that hydronyms are of [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] origin.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kitson|first=P.R.|title=British and European River Names|journal=Transactions of the Philological Society|date=November 1996|volume=94|issue=2|pages=73–118|doi=10.1111/j.1467-968X.1996.tb01178.x}}</ref>
The German linguist [[Theo Vennemann]] suggested in 2003 that the language of Old European hydronyms was [[Agglutinative language|agglutinative]] and [[Pre-Indo-European languages|Pre-Indo-European]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vennemann |first1=Theo |author-link=Theo Vennemann |last2=Aziz Hanna |first2=Patrizia Noel |title=Europa Vasconica, Europa Semitica |publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]] |date=2003 |isbn=9783110170542}}</ref> This theory has been criticised as being seriously flawed, and the opinion accepted more generally is that hydronyms are of [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] origin.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kitson |first=P. R. |title=British and European River Names |journal=[[Transactions of the Philological Society]] |date=November 1996 |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=73–118 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-968X.1996.tb01178.x}}</ref>


The Spanish philologist Francisco Villar Liébana argued in 1990 for the Old European preserved in river names and confined to the hydronymic substratum in the Iberian Peninsula as yet another Indo-European layer with no immediate relationship to the [[Lusitanian language]].<ref name=wodtkovillar>{{cite book|last=Wodtko|first=Dagmar S|title=Celtic from the West Chapter 11: The Problem of Lusitanian|year=2010|publisher=Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK|isbn=978-1-84217-410-4|pages=338}}</ref> However, the idea of "Old European" was criticized by Untermann in 1999 and De Hoz in 2001.<ref name=wodtkovillar/>
The Spanish [[Philology|philologist]] Francisco Villar Liébana argued in 1990 for Old European preserved in river names and confined to the hydronymic substratum in the Iberian Peninsula as yet another Indo-European layer with no immediate relationship to the [[Lusitanian language]].<ref name="wodtkovillar">{{cite book |last=Wodtko |first=Dagmar S. |title=Celtic from the West Chapter 11: The Problem of Lusitanian |year=2010 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-84217-410-4 |pages=338}}</ref> However, the idea of "Old European" was criticized by Untermann in 1999 and De Hoz in 2001.<ref name="wodtkovillar" /> Villar Liébana advocated the theories of Gimbutas against those of [[Colin Renfrew]]. In his work ''Indoeuropeos y No Indoeuropeos en la Hispania Prerromana'' ('Indo-Europeans and Non-Indo-Europeans in Pre-Roman Hispania') he presents a nine-root "series" and a few more collective "series", mainly of toponyms (Hispanic and non-Hispanic) but also including hydronyms.<ref name="lieb">{{cite book |first=Francisco |last=Villar Liébana |title=Indoeuropeos y No Indoeuropeos en la Hispania Perromana |year=2000 |publisher=[[Universidad de Salamanca]] |isbn=84-7800-968-X}}</ref> For example, in chapter IV B VII,<ref name="lieb" />{{rp|120}} Villar Liébana discusses hydronyms of the series ''uba'' starting <ref name="lieb" />{{rp|149}} with Maenuba (Pliny 3.8) = modern [[Vélez-Málaga|Vélez]]; and, with the same name, a tributary of the [[Baetis]] (Pliny 3.11) = [[Guadiamar]], [[Salduba]] (close to [[Málaga]]). He compares modern rivers names like Ubia, Ove, and Fonte dos Ovos with [[Danube]],<ref name="lieb" />{{rp|149}} Corduba (modern [[Córdoba, Andalusia]]), and others.<ref name="lieb" />{{rp|153}} Wherever ''uba'' appears, as in the rivers Saruba = modern [[Saar (river)]] (an affluent of the river [[Moselle (river)|Mosel]]), Fuente Sarobals (in [[Huesca]]), and Sarrubian (Huesca), he acknowledges only ''uba'' and not the root ''dan'' in Danubius (corresponding to Danube, [[Dnieper]], and [[Dniester]]) or the root ''sar'' in others, which are all Indo-European roots.
Villar Liébana is a supporter of Gimbutas against the theories of [[Colin Renfrew]]. In his work, ''Indoeuropeos y No Indoeuropeos en la Hispania Prerromana'' (''"Indo-Europeans and Non-Indo-Europeans in Pre-Roman Hispania"'') he presents a nine root "series" and a few more collective "series", mainly of toponyms (Hispanic and non-Hispanic) but also including hydronyms.<ref name=lieb>{{cite book|author=Francisco Villar Liébana|title=Indoeuropeos y No Indoeuropeos en la Hispania Perromana|year =2000|ISBN= 84-7800-968-X}}</ref>
For example, in chapter IV B VII<ref name=lieb/>{{rp|120}} Liébana discusses hydronyms of the series "uba" starting <ref name=lieb/>{{rp|149}} with Maenuba (Pliny 3.8) = modern [[Vélez-Málaga|Vélez]] and, with the same name, a tributary of the [[Baetis]] (Pliny 3.11) = [[Guadiamar]], [[Salduba]] (close to [[Málaga]]). He compares modern rivers like Ubia, Ove, Fonte dos Ovos with, amongst others, the [[Danube]],<ref name=lieb/>{{rp|149}} and with historical Corduba (actual [[Córdoba, Andalusia]]).<ref name=lieb/>{{rp|153}} Wherever "uba" appears, like in the rivers Saruba = actual [[Saar (river)]], an affluent of [[Moselle (river)|Mosel]], Spanish fuente Sarobals (Huesca), Sarrubian (Huesca), he acknowledges only "uba" and not the root "Dan" in Danubius (corresponding to [[Dnieper]] and [[Dniester]]) or the root "Sar" in others, which all are Indo-European roots.


==Examples==
==Examples==
Line 50: Line 47:
*Isar > [[Jizera (river)|Jizera]] (Czech Republic)
*Isar > [[Jizera (river)|Jizera]] (Czech Republic)
*Isar > [[River Aire|Aire]]<ref>R. W. Morris, Yorkshire through place names, David & Charles, 1982, p. 29.</ref> (Yorkshire)
*Isar > [[River Aire|Aire]]<ref>R. W. Morris, Yorkshire through place names, David & Charles, 1982, p. 29.</ref> (Yorkshire)

* Isar > [[Yser]]<ref>Wolfgang Linke, ''Der Ortsname Neuching: Eine sprachwissenschaftliche Deutung'', Books on Demand, 2011, p. 16. .</ref> (Belgium)
* Isar > [[Yser]]<ref>Wolfgang Linke, ''Der Ortsname Neuching: Eine sprachwissenschaftliche Deutung'', Books on Demand, 2011, p. 16. .</ref> (Belgium)
* Isar > [[Ieperlee|Ypres]], [[Ieperlee]] (Belgium) (Respectively in French and Dutch)
* Isar > [[Ieperlee|Ypres]], [[Ieperlee]] (Belgium) (Respectively in French and Dutch)

*Isar > [[Oude IJssel|Issel]] (Germany)
*Isar > [[Oude IJssel|Issel]] (Germany)
*Isar > [[IJssel]] (Netherlands) there are several (parts of) rivers in the Netherlands called IJssel (Yssel), one of which was called "Isala" during Roman times
*Isar > [[IJssel]] (Netherlands) there are several (parts of) rivers in the Netherlands called IJssel (Yssel), one of which was called "Isala" during Roman times
*Isar > [[Ézaro]] (Spain)
*Isar > [[Ézaro]] (Spain)
*Isar > [[Ésera]] (Spain)
*Isar > [[Ésera]] (Spain)
*Isar > [[Iseran]] (Savoy)
*Isar > [[Iseran]] (France)
*Isar > [[Esaro (Crotone)|Esaro]] (Italy)
*Isar > [[Esaro (Crotone)|Esaro]] (Italy)
*Isar-ko > [[Eisack]] (Italy)
*Isar-ko > [[Eisack]] (Italy)
Line 65: Line 60:
*Isar > [[Iza River|Iza]] (Romania)
*Isar > [[Iza River|Iza]] (Romania)


Also relevant might be [[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/ezero|''*ezero'']] (the Slavic word for lake), ''ežeras'' (the Lithuanian word for lake) and the [[Acheron]] river in Greece.
Also relevant might be [[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/ezero|''*ezero'']] (the Slavic word for lake), ''ežeras'' (the Lithuanian word for lake), and the [[Acheron]] river in Greece.


==See also==
==See also==
⚫
*[[Bell Beaker culture]]
⚫
*[[Germanic substrate hypothesis]]
*[[Pan-Illyrian theories]]
⚫
*[[Pre-Celtic]]
⚫
*[[Rigvedic rivers]]
*[[Tyrsenian languages]]
*[[Tyrsenian languages]]
⚫
*[[Rigvedic rivers]]
*[[Urnfield culture]]
*[[Urnfield culture]]
⚫
*[[Vasconic substrate hypothesis]]
⚫
*[[Beaker culture]]
⚫
*[[Germanic substrate hypothesis]]
⚫
*[[Pre-Celtic]]
⚫
*[[Vasconic substratum theory]]


==Notes==
==Notes==
Line 83: Line 79:


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* Lühr, Rosemarie. "Spatial cognition in landscape designations in the area of the Old European Hydronymy". In: ''Lexicographica'', vol. 37, no. 1, 2021, pp. 59-84. https://doi.org/10.1515/lex-2021-0005
* {{Cite journal |last=Lühr |first=Rosemarie |title=Spatial cognition in landscape designations in the area of the Old European Hydronymy |journal=Lexicographica |volume=37 |issue=1 |date=2021 |pages=59–84 |doi=10.1515/lex-2021-0005|s2cid=244134360 |url=http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/18452/24534 }}.
* [[Fred Woudhuizen|Woudhuizen, Fred C.]] "The Old Indo-European Layer in the Mediterranean as Represented by Hydronyms, Toponyms, and Ethnics". In: ''Journal of Indo-European Studies (JIES)''. Vol. 48/Numbers 1 & 2 (Spring/Summer 2020): 41-60.
* {{Cite journal |author-link=Fred Woudhuizen |last=Woudhuizen |first=Fred C. |title=The Old Indo-European Layer in the Mediterranean as Represented by Hydronyms, Toponyms, and Ethnics |journal=Journal of Indo-European Studies |volume=48 |issue=1–2 |date=2020|pages=41–60}}.


==External link==
==External links==
*[http://www.ortsnamen-in-hessen.de/index.php/hessische-ortsnamen/karten/2-uncategorised/4157-wasserwoerter-karte Wasserwoerter Karte Hessen] accessdate 6-11-14
*[http://www.ortsnamen-in-hessen.de/index.php/hessische-ortsnamen/karten/2-uncategorised/4157-wasserwoerter-karte Wasserwoerter Karte Hessen] accessdate 6-11-14


Latest revision as of 22:21, 26 October 2024

Old European hydronymic map for the root *al-, *alm-

Old European (German: Alteuropäisch) is the term used by Hans Krahe (1964) for the language of the oldest reconstructed stratum of European hydronymy (river names) in Central and Western Europe.[1][note 1]

Geography

[edit]

Krahe writes in A1, chapter III, "Introducing preface" Number 2[1]: 32  that the old European hydronomy extended from Scandinavia to South Italy, from Western Europe including the British Isles to the Baltic countries. Of the three Mediterranean peninsulas, Italy was most completely included, whilst the Balkan Peninsula was only scarcely covered. He writes that what he presents for hydronomy also applies to mountains and ranges of mountains, and continues with "Karpaten" and "Karawanken", certainly within the Slavic settlement area, omitting the Bavarian/Austrian "Karwendel" though.[1]: 12  This area is associated with the spread of the later "Western" Indo-European dialects, the Celtic, Italic, Germanic, Baltic, and Illyrian branches.[citation needed] Notably exempt is Greece.

Krahe located the geographical nucleus of this area as stretching from the Baltic across Western Poland and Germany to the Swiss plateau and the upper Danube north of the Alps, while he considered the Old European river names of southern France, Italy and Spain to be later imports, replacing "Aegean-Pelasgian" and Iberian substrates,[1]: 81  corresponding to Italic, Celtic and Illyrian "invasions" from about 1300 BC.

Origins of names

[edit]
Old European hydronymic map for the root *Sal-, *Salm-

Krahe continues in III A 5, "Geographic Area and age of the paleoeuropean hydronomy", that the overwhelming majority of river and stream names originate from words that in the historical single languages cannot be found or cannot be found anymore.[1]: 77  He uses mainly Indo-European roots to allow the river names in question to speak (rule 1), of which more than ten thousand are listed.

In III A 2, "Etymology and Semasiology of the paleoeuropean river names", Krahe states that the oldest strata are composed by prerequisites of nature and that the river names especially refer to the water itself (rule 2),[1]: 60  and that words referring to humans and culture are newer. Both rules are important arguments for considering the old European hydronomy of southern France and the north of the Iberian Peninsula as a result of secondary implementation (A 1, number 3) due to a postulated immigration about 1300 BC.

In "Morphology of Paleoeuropean river names" (III A 1, number 3), Krahe concentrates on suffixes (simples and multiples) and distinguishes eleven different ones in a table.[1]: 62–63  He attributes geographical (Central European vs. South European or Eastern), functional (for example affluent) or temporal (before or after a change of consonants or vowels) functions to the suffixes of the river names (rule 3). For the temporal function he claims the existence of a system of phonetic changes (Lautverschiebung), however he does not include prefixes in his considerations.

Krahe's concentration on Indo-European roots and the omission of prefixes had serious negative consequences, because later those more than ten thousand roots were emphasized, or sometimes those of Old Irish, but scarcely of Gaulish and other Celtic languages or the Baltic languages and completely omitting Basque. Delamarre later included, for example, under Gaulish dubron only rivers with "B" (or similar) omitting other names, which Krahe would have termed Schwundstufe; i.e., "zero grade", the form of a root characterized by the loss of a letter (basically a vowel), sometimes combined with the inversion of letters.

Krahe ignored the effect of the Moorish occupation in Spain, which resulted in frequent combinations of Arab "prefixes" (always at the beginning) on Celtic "suffixes" as seen in Guadiana (guadi "river" + anas "bayous, muddy", as it appears in Ptolemy).[2] The tables "Comparison of old European hydronyms" show that, in contradiction to Krahe's opinion, hydronyms (and toponyms) can in some cases very well be explained even by modern Irish, Welsh, or French and certainly by Gaulish.

Krahe's influence on other scholars

[edit]

Krahe has influenced archaeologists, linguists and particularly experts in Celtic languages:

Marija Gimbutas (Lithuanian: Marija Gimbutienė) studied in Tübingen, and received her doctorate of archeology in 1946 in the same department where Krahe lectured. Gimbutas developed the Kurgan theory.

Jürgen Untermann, a disciple of Krahe, whose dissertation was written in 1954 in Tübingen was professor for comparative linguistics at the University of Cologne. He was an epigraphist and Indoeuropeanist.

Antonio Tovar, with preliminary studies in Berlin, later professor of the University of Salamanca, was professor for Comparative Linguistics in Tübingen from 1967 to 1979. Together with Manuel Agud and Koldo Mitxelena he prepared an etymological dictionary of the Basque language.

Other authors

[edit]

Other authors concerned with old European hydronomy are listed below.

Xavier Delamarre is a French linguist whose standard work is Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental ('Dictionary of the Gaulish language: A linguistic approach to continental old Celtic'; 2nd edition, 2003). This is the most comprehensive publication on Gaulish words, with more than 800 terms in alphabetical order, derived from Gaulish–Greek, Gaulish–Etruscan, Gaulish–Latin, or solely Gaulish inscriptions, printed classical languages, coins, and some terms of Celtic substrate in Occitan. He presents all cases of appearance of toponyms and hydronyms in question, cites authors and roots, showing alternatives, and classifies, if necessary, as uncertain or questionable. He shows all river name examples with prefixes. For example, see "comparison of old hydronyms" adding "water", "clear", "hard stone", etc.

The German linguist Theo Vennemann suggested in 2003 that the language of Old European hydronyms was agglutinative and Pre-Indo-European.[3] This theory has been criticised as being seriously flawed, and the opinion accepted more generally is that hydronyms are of Indo-European origin.[4]

The Spanish philologist Francisco Villar Liébana argued in 1990 for Old European preserved in river names and confined to the hydronymic substratum in the Iberian Peninsula as yet another Indo-European layer with no immediate relationship to the Lusitanian language.[5] However, the idea of "Old European" was criticized by Untermann in 1999 and De Hoz in 2001.[5] Villar Liébana advocated the theories of Gimbutas against those of Colin Renfrew. In his work Indoeuropeos y No Indoeuropeos en la Hispania Prerromana ('Indo-Europeans and Non-Indo-Europeans in Pre-Roman Hispania') he presents a nine-root "series" and a few more collective "series", mainly of toponyms (Hispanic and non-Hispanic) but also including hydronyms.[6] For example, in chapter IV B VII,[6]: 120  Villar Liébana discusses hydronyms of the series uba starting [6]: 149  with Maenuba (Pliny 3.8) = modern Vélez; and, with the same name, a tributary of the Baetis (Pliny 3.11) = Guadiamar, Salduba (close to Málaga). He compares modern rivers names like Ubia, Ove, and Fonte dos Ovos with Danube,[6]: 149  Corduba (modern Córdoba, Andalusia), and others.[6]: 153  Wherever uba appears, as in the rivers Saruba = modern Saar (river) (an affluent of the river Mosel), Fuente Sarobals (in Huesca), and Sarrubian (Huesca), he acknowledges only uba and not the root dan in Danubius (corresponding to Danube, Dnieper, and Dniester) or the root sar in others, which are all Indo-European roots.

Examples

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An example is the old river name Isar:[7]

  • Isar > Isar (Bavaria)
  • Isar > Isère (France)
  • Isar > Oise[8] (France)
  • Isar > Yzeron (France)
  • Isar > Jizera (Czech Republic)
  • Isar > Aire[9] (Yorkshire)
  • Isar > Yser[10] (Belgium)
  • Isar > Ypres, Ieperlee (Belgium) (Respectively in French and Dutch)
  • Isar > Issel (Germany)
  • Isar > IJssel (Netherlands) there are several (parts of) rivers in the Netherlands called IJssel (Yssel), one of which was called "Isala" during Roman times
  • Isar > Ézaro (Spain)
  • Isar > Ésera (Spain)
  • Isar > Iseran (France)
  • Isar > Esaro (Italy)
  • Isar-ko > Eisack (Italy)
  • Isar-na > Isières[11] (Belgium)
  • Isar-ellum > Izarillo "little Izar" (Spain)
  • Isar > Iza (Romania)

Also relevant might be *ezero (the Slavic word for lake), ežeras (the Lithuanian word for lake), and the Acheron river in Greece.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Old European" in this sense is not to be confused with the term as used by Marija Gimbutas who applies it to non-Indo-European or pre-Indo-European Neolithic Europe.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Hans Krahe, Unsere ältesten Flussnamen, Wiesbaden Edition Otto Harrassowiitz (1964)
  2. ^ Alfred Stückelberg; Gerd Grasshoff (eds.). Ptolemaios Handbuch der Geographie. Basel: Schwabe. p. 169. ISBN 978-3-7965-2148-5.
  3. ^ Vennemann, Theo; Aziz Hanna, Patrizia Noel (2003). Europa Vasconica, Europa Semitica. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110170542.
  4. ^ Kitson, P. R. (November 1996). "British and European River Names". Transactions of the Philological Society. 94 (2): 73–118. doi:10.1111/j.1467-968X.1996.tb01178.x.
  5. ^ a b Wodtko, Dagmar S. (2010). Celtic from the West Chapter 11: The Problem of Lusitanian. Oxbow Books. p. 338. ISBN 978-1-84217-410-4.
  6. ^ a b c d e Villar Liébana, Francisco (2000). Indoeuropeos y No Indoeuropeos en la Hispania Perromana. Universidad de Salamanca. ISBN 84-7800-968-X.
  7. ^ Delamarre, Xavier. Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise. Paris, Ed. Errance, 2003.
  8. ^ Émile Lambert, Toponymie du département de l'Oise, Amiens, 1963 (Collection de la Société de linguistique picarde ; 1), p. 258.
  9. ^ R. W. Morris, Yorkshire through place names, David & Charles, 1982, p. 29.
  10. ^ Wolfgang Linke, Der Ortsname Neuching: Eine sprachwissenschaftliche Deutung, Books on Demand, 2011, p. 16. .
  11. ^ Jean-Jacques Jespers, Dictionnaire des noms de lieux en Wallonie et à Bruxelles, Ed. Lannoo, 2005, p. 344.

Further reading

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