Re: [tied] Re: Kastamonitu

----- Original Message -----
From: "george knysh" <gknysh@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2002 1:35 AM
Subject: Re: [tied] Re: Kastamonitu


> *****GK: That is to say of "Vlachernai" (as it
> originally appears in Byzantine Greek). It's the name
> of a hill and district initially. ...*****

I know. Blachernae is the commonly used Latinisation thereof. Actually, the Greek _spelling_ was <blakHernai>; in post-Classical Greek any <b> in this position came to be pronounced [v], also in native Greek words like <blaspHe:mía> [vlasfimía] (the Old Greek pronunciation was [blaspHE:mía]). Hence also the spelling <blakH-> for [vlax-]. In modern Greek, an initial [b] in loanwords has to be spelt <mp>, as in <mpásket> [básket] 'basket(ball)' or <mploúza> [bluza] 'blouse'. If the name Blachernae is sufficiently old, the initial was originally [bl-] rather than [vl-].

> *****GK: .... What is
> the relevant particle here: -farn? as in Pharnak?
> *****

Iranian farna- is a dialectal reflex of <xWarna-> 'glory, royal charisma', especially in Median or Median-influenced names.


> P.S. Your point about the metathesis of liquids in So.
> Sl. seems to rule out "Vlachernai" having anything to
> do with Vlakhs. It is firmly attested at least from
> the mid-5th century. I take it that a metathesis in
> Greek (Vlach- from Valch-) is impossible?
>

Not impossible, perhaps, but too ad hoc to be credible. Remember that despite the phonetic similarity there is no Byzantine tradition linking Blachernae with the Blachi (Vlachs).

Piotr