Piotr wrote(4 Dec. 23:14:09):
"Actually, if you want my opinion, the name Desna is
quite certainly Slavic.
****GK: Or Balto-Slavic? Why would you rule out
Baltic, given that there are so many Baltic hydronyms
in the area? Still, the Iranic origin option remains
appealing for reasons earlier outlined. Plus see
below.*****
(PG)Otherwise we would have *des^Ina or *dos^Ina
instead. Perhaps the Slavic name is is the semantic
calque of something older (and presumably similar),
but that will be hard to prove if the original form is
unattested.
*****GK: I suppose it's not conclusive proof, but
there are interesting examples of such hydronymic
"adaptations" in this geographic area. Thus (1)the r.
Asmon'ka [from Ir. "asman-" =stone] is also called
"Kamyana Osmon'ka" by the
locals.["kamin'"=stone](right tributary of the Svapa
which is itself a right tributary of the Seim)[BTW as
to this Svapa, my source ("Hydronyms of Ukraine..."
has this to say== "from Iran. "su-ap"(I omit the
marks)="good water" compare Avestan "hvapi" with
substitution s<h on Baltic ground." (2)The r. Seva
(Sava)[Iran. "sava" Osset. "sau" Avest. "syava"=
black], left of Nerusa, left of Desna is also called
"Chornivka" [=black]by the locals. There's a number of
similar examples. So the emergence of Slavic "Desna"
from some Iranic predecessor seems possible.******
(PG)After all, Desna (or at least its lower course)
can't be more than a few bowshots away from the
Proto-Slavic homeland.
*****GK: True, but the problem here is that it is
surrounded by old non-Slavic hydronyms (Baltic and
Iranic)and it is a major river. Nor does it have Old
Slavic companions. Plus the fact that the Dnipro/Dnepr
lies between it and the area where there are multiple
Old Slavic hydronyms. Accepting the current form as
Slavic is one thing but assuming that it was the
original form is a much more difficult matter. Judging
by evidence such as provided above the "renaming"
would probably have been of something meaning the same
thing as in Slavic: "of the right".*****
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