Re: [tied] Thracian place-names

george knysh wrote:

> *****GK: You're losing me here. This theory holds that
> the "Borysthenes" was the lower Dnipro and the "Apira"
> (or something like it) the upper Dnipro? This sounds
> complicated and highly implausible for a number of
> reasons.

That particular theory (Golab's, not mine) holds that "Borysthenes" was
originally the name of the estuarine part of the river, and something
like Danu-apira- referred to its course above the estuary (not just what
we would refer to as the upper Dnieper today). That isn't particularly
complicated or implausible. However, wait for my next posting on the
name -- I'll be back soon with some fresh ideas.

> For the upper Dnepr a Baltic root would seem
> more appropriate (perhaps something with the -slov-
> element, reflected in the much later literary Old
> Ukrainian "Slavutych"). And the Borysthenes itself is
> almost certainly a river+ river compound
> (Borys-thenes)

A plausible Iranian etymology is certainly possibkle here, with Boru-
being the Hellenised version of *vauru-/*voru- < *varu- < *wr.h1u-
'wide' (Av. vouru-), and -sthe:ne:s possibly of *sta:na- 'place, area,
room' (Av. sta:na-): the place where the river flows wide.

Piotr

> of which Dana- per/ Dana- pris is the
> much later metathesized variant (the analysis offered
> in Stryzhak, op. cit., pp.15-18, 28-30 appears
> conclusive). The Slavic "e", according to Bernstein,
> is already prefigured in Thracian "Danedebai" et
> sim.****