--- "Brian M. Scott" <
BMScott@...> wrote:
>
> Watkins derives <Dniester> from Scythian *da:nu
> nazdya
> 'nearer river, river in front' (*nazdya- 'nearer').
****GK: This is usually coupled with a similar
"all-Scythian" etymology for the Dnipro/Dnieper, as
"Danuapara" = the 'further' river. The problem here is
historical. We know of no Scythian groups for whom the
Dnister would have been 'nearer' and the Dnipro
'further' except those of the Dobrudja. But apart from
the fact that their Iranic speech is not firmly
attested (they could have been Thracian speakers)it is
difficult to understand why an appellation developed
by Transdanubians should have been adopted by
Cisdanubians. There is another problem. "Danaper" is
considered by most Ukrainian linguists to be the
equivalent of "Borusthenes", both being river+river
combinations, with a reversal (dan-/Then-)
(Borus/pris/per). The "Borus" element is considered
Thracian or Thrakoid. And the prevalence of -str-
river names around the Dnister (e.g. strypa, strvyazh,
stryvnyky, stronavka, strynja, stryj etc.) makes the
dan-+ -str- explanation very inviting. The idea is
that the upper Dnister was once called by a -str-
variant, and the lower Dnister (dominated by Iranic
populations)had a dan- name (though dan- is also a
Thracian root cf. sandanos).******
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