--- tarasovass <
S.Tarasovas@...> wrote:
> --- In cybalist@..., george knysh <gknysh@...>
> wrote:
> > > (Sergei)An (alternative) Old Russian name of
> Dnieper
> > was
> > > probably _So,vodU_.
> > > A NE Iranian calque or an inherited PIE pattern?
> >
> > *****GK: That's quite interesting. What's your
> source
> > for this probable alternative name?******
> >
>
> Before I recall the source and check it up, here's a
> tentative
> answer: _Samvaton_ (or so?) is mentioned by
> Porphyrogenetes (?) as
> the name of a fortress on a bank of the Dnieper.
*****GK: Porphyrogenitus' "Samvatas" is indeed taken
to be the name of one of the forts which existed in
the area of Kyiv in the mid-10th c. Whether it was
actually the fort which developed into the city (the
area where the palace of Olha and Ihor was located c.
950) or another fort (there were others which were
abandoned by the late 10th c.) is not quite clear. But
I have never seen the name interpreted as a hydronym.
Usually one sees this as a Turkic appellative due to
the initial "sam-" (as in Samkerch=Tmutorokan), the
suggestion being that it was either a Khazar or
Pecheneg name for the fort in question.== As for a
river (I am working from memory here) I do remember
that there was an attempt to link this "Samvatas" to
the unlocalized "Sambation" of Jewish folklore. As far
as I know, however, the only alternative name of the
Dnipro would be "Slavutych". Let us know when you
find your source.*******
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