Re: [tied] Balkan?

The Greek did not "trade" <b> for <v/w> -- there was no jump at all. Greek beta was already pronounced [v] at the time (as it is today), so Gk. blakhoi = [vlaxi:], a perfectly faithful rendering of the South Slavic word *vlax- < *volx- from Germanic *walx- (with the normal southern metathesis of *-olC- > -laC-).

"Balk(an)" may not appear in the toponymy of Turkey, but it does in Turkic placenames of Central Asia. I know too little about Turkic to offer first-hand expertise, but I can do some more checking later. I have also considered an etymology based on Turkic *bAlk- 'shining, bright' (referring to the snow-capped summits).

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: x99lynx@...

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 6:16 AM

Subject: [tied] Balkan?

The <walha>, <valsk>, <walach>, etc., in OHG, ON, etc., as meaning Romance/Frankish/Italian (as opposed to <volcae> <welsh>, celtic/gallic) may have made its way over to Greek at some point. There it may have traded <b> for <v/w>. Which might explain variations like "Blaccorum", if I have that right. BTW, another Italian scholar of the same time as Callimaco , Antonio Bonfini (1427? - 1502), who lived in Hungary and argued for the Roman origin of Romanians, had no problem deriving the name <valachus> from Greek <ballo:> based on the theory that these folks were once skilled as archers and slingers. So the jump in spelling wasn't considered out of the question at that time. When did "walha/vlakh" first appeared in Greek and what forms did it take? Could any of those forms have been the scholarly source of the word <balkan>, obtained without any direct or indirect contact with Turkish?