At 6:02:56 AM on Sunday, June 22, 2008, tgpedersen wrote:
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott"
> <BMScott@...> wrote:
[...]
>> Haven't looked into it seriously enough to have an
>> opinion.
> True to style.
Barring a lucky accident, there hadn't been enough time
since you brought it up for me to have looked into it very
seriously, at least by *my* standards.
[...]
> This what I get from Orbis Latinus
> http://www.pribramska.cz/knih/ruzne/Graesse/orblatv.html
> http://www.pribramska.cz/knih/ruzne/Graesse/orblatb.html
> http://www.pribramska.cz/knih/ruzne/Graesse/orblatw.html
Yet another example of the 'throw enough mud at the wall,
and maybe some of it will stick' technique. Or perhaps
research à la Adrian Gilbert, Alan Wilson, Baram Blackett,
and the like.
The sources of the names in Orbis Latinus are exceedingly
various, and some are very late. There's nothing wrong with
using OL as a source of name forms to investigate, but
that's the barest start: individual investigation -- the
step that you always omit -- is required.
I haven't the resources to do a decent job, and I'm not much
inclined to do your homework for you, but I was curious
enough to a little of the easier work. I've deleted the
names that I don't discuss, and I've rearranged the rest to
make my comments easier to follow.
> Vesontio, Vesuntio, Visontio, Bizantia, Bisontium,
> Bisunzium, Besantio, Vesonticorum, Vesontiensium od.
> Crisopolinorum civitas, Besantio,
> Besançon, Stadt, Frankr. (Doubs)
D&R: from the pre-IE *ves- 'mountain' (cf. mounts <Viso> and
<Vésuve>) and the pre-Celt. suffix <-unt-> followed by the
suffix <-ionem>, attracted to Low Latin <bison, bisontis>,
whence the arms of the city. K.L. Jackson, LHEB 89 n. 2:
There appear to have been sporadic examples of initial
Latin <v-> becoming the media [b] in VL., e.g. <Vesontio>
> Besançon; it is common in inscriptions, but there it is
probably mainly graphic, as a result of the confusion in
the spelling internally. See Grandgent, IVL. p. 133,
Richter, CPF. pp. 60-63. This is not found at all in
loanwords in Brit. According to A. Mawer, _The Place
Names of Northumberland and Durham_ (Cambridge, 1920), p.
22, <Vinovia> became Binchester in this way; but the
absence of any parallel to Latin <v-> giving Brit. <b->,
and the fact that in any case the phenomenon presupposes
Latin <v-> first > [B]-, which did not happen in Britain,
is strongly against it. Moreover, the is, after all,
Brit., not Latin, and initial Brit. <w-> never became <b>.
Ekwall gives a quite different and perfectly satisfactory
derivation for Binchester, Dict. p. 41. See, however, p.
260 below.
The relevant material on p. 260:
Positive evidence for any of the other well-known
developments of Vulgar Latin not found in British Latin as
we know it, such as the assibilations of <t> and <c>, the
change of <w> to <B>, the new quantity system based on the
nature of the syllable, and so on, is all equally lacking.
So, for instance, the fact that <Pennocrucium> was taken
over with the second <c> still a guttural, not <ts>, or
that <Sorviodunum> gave AS. <Searoburh>, not *<Syrfeburh>
with <B>, shows that the English did not hear these names
from speakers of the Continental type of Vulgar Latin[5],
but from Britons talking Brittonic -- and not even
British Latin either, because the AS. <Pencric> has
sound-substitution for British, not British Latin, <ü:>
(cf. § 20. 2), and the vocalism of the first syllable of
<Searoburh> points to a PR.W. form *<Serw> with Late
British vowel-affection.
[5] Mawer's explanation of Binchester (see p. 89) would
certainly predicate the <B> pronunciation, and subsequent
confusion with <b->; but it is not a probable one.
Initial <V-> in names in Britain invariably appears as
<W-> in English.
The Ravenna Cosmography has <Bizantia>, <bizancia>,
<Bizuntia>.
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=mlxRV1Gz1ZkC>
> Vinovia,
> Binchester, D., England (Durham)
It's not even known whether the Roman and English names are
related. The English name is found as <Bynceastre> ~1050,
<Bincestre> 1104x8; Ekwall suggests that the first element
may be OE <binn> 'manger', later also 'stall', the old fort
perhaps having been used as a shelter for cattle. A.H.
Smith also notes that the name may contain OE <binn>. He
mentions that it's been suggested that it derives from
<Vinovia>, the name of a nearby Roman station, but points
out that this would normally have given Engl. <Win->. K.L.
Jackson expanded on that in LHEB; see the comments above.
> Vin-, Bindogladia,
> Blandford, Stadt, England (Dorset)
K.L. Jackson, LHEB, p. 35:
Another very common mistake is the confusion of <b> and
<v>, arising from the fact that in Vulgar Latin <v> in all
positions, and internal <b>, had both come to be
pronounced [B}, the bilabial <v>; see p. 88. Examples are
fairly frequent, especially in Ravennas, who has, for
instance, <Bindogladia> for the <Vindogladia> or
<Vindocladia> of AI., and the opposite error <Avalana> for
<Aballava>; while ND. reads <Aballaba>.
Here 'Ravennas' refers to the anonymous Ravenna Cosmography,
compiled around 700, which includes 'a list of British
place-names jumbled together and preserved in an exceedingly
corrupt form'; the British section goes back to a 4th c.
source. ND is the Notitia Dignitatum, an official list of
the disposition of the Roman forces in Britain at the
beginning of the 5th c. AI is the Antonine Itinerary, a
gazetteer of the cities and towns along the chief Roman
roads, with the mileage between them, from about 300 CE.
> Bicestria, Vicestria,
> Bicêtre, D., Frankreich
From the Grand Larousse encyclopédique:
Bicêtre tire son nom d'un château construit en 1285 par
Jean de Pontoise, évêque de <Winchester>, terminologie
déformée en <Wincestre>, puis <Bicêtre>.
Estienne Cholet, _Remarques singulières de la ville cite et
université de Paris_, 1614 (in an edition of 1881, whose
editor supplied the footnote):
BISSESTRE ou Vvicestre[1] est vn Chasteau basty par Iean
Duc de Berry, fils du Roy Iean, sous l'autorité Royale de
Charles V, non par les Anglois, ainsi qu'estime le
vulgaire. [...]
[1] Jean, éveque de Wincester en Angleterre, bâtit, en
1290, un château en cet endroit, qui s'appelait auparavant
la <Grange aux queux>. Dans la suite, par corruption, le
peuple le nomma Vinchestre, Bichestre et Bicêtre. Jean,
Duc de Berry, le reconstruisit sur un nouveau plan et avec
magnificence; [...]
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=bigKAAAAIAAJ>
1290 seems to be the date usually given. Other sources
mention a form <Bincestre>. The place is now within the
southern suburbs of Paris. There is no old Latin or
pre-Latin name here: <Bicestria> and <Vicestria> are clearly
just documentary Latinizations.
> 'Vapincum, -cesium, Vappincum, Bapinco, Vapingo,
> Vappincenslum od. Guapincensium civitas,
> Gap, Stadt, Frankr. (Hautes-Alpes)
Dauzat & Rostaing: a pre-Latin word, probably Ligurian, of
obscure meaning; the initial <v-> has been treated like a
Gmc. <w->.
Gmc. initial /w-/ became early OFr. /gw-/, which became /g-/
by the end of the 12th c.; this explains <Guapincensium> and
<Gap>. <Bapinco> is from the Ravenna Cosmography and hence
suspect.
> Vibiscum, Viviscus, Bibiscum, Viviacum,
> Vevey, Stadt, Schweiz (Waadt)
The Ravenna Cosmography has <Bibiscon>, which appears to be
the source of <Bibiscum>.
> Vesalia, Ves. superior, Wesalia, Wesela, Wessila, Wyesela,
> Vosalia, Vosava, Bosagnia, Ficella (Wasaliacensis),
> Oberwesel, Stadt, Preußen (Rheinprov.)
Wasaliacensis 649
Vesalia civit. 1254
Wesalia, Wesele 1262
Wesalia super. 1280, 1287
Wessila 1287
Wyesela 1287
Wesela 1288, 1289, 1300
Oberwesel 1389
<Bosagnia> is from the Ravenna Cosmography and is clearly
corrupt.
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=lOCvcWnF3UwC>
> Vasatica, Vesatica, Vasatum, Basatum civitas, Vasatis,
> Bazas, Stadt, Frankr. (Gironde)
Dauzat & Rostaing: at first <Cossium>, then <civitas
Vasates> 4th c.; from the Aquitanian ethnonym <Vasates>.
This is in the southwest, in or near the historically
Gascon-speaking region. Gascon has [b] and [B] but no [v],
and I believe that [B] does not occur initially. That this
should end up with <B-> is therefore hardly surprising.
> Vultonna, -tumnus,
> Boutonne, Nfl. d. Charente, Frankr.
<Vultumna>, nombre de un alfuente de la Charente[28], que
en época carolingia se denomina <Boutonne>. Considera que
es el mismo radical que el nombre del clásico <Volturnus>,
río de la Italia central.
[28] Dauzat-Deslandes-Rostaing 1978, s.u. <Vologne> nos
dan testimoniado <Vultumna> en el 830 y <Vultonna> en el
951. La forma con b- aparece ya desde 1317.
<emerita.revistas.csic.es/index.php/emerita/article/download/111/112>
(PDF)
This is also in the southwest, albeit not quite so far
south.
> Wazelinsruthi, Wacilinisruti, Becilinisruti,
> Bezzelinsruthi,
> Wetzisreute, D., Württemberg (Donaukreis)
The four <-rut(h)i> forms are all from 1109 and all from the
same source, according to
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=lOCvcWnF3UwC>.
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=PoYqAAAAMAAJ>, p. xiv, has
<Bezzelinsruthi>, <Wazelinsruthi> 1278, and on p. xii, also
from the second half of the 13th c., <Becilinisru'ti>.
(Here <u'> denotes <u> with a small vertical stroke above
it, an old form of umlaut.)
This is a clearing-name from the eastward expansion, so the
first element is almost certainly a personal name. The
diminutive <Waz(z)elin> is well-attested, but so is the
diminutive <Bez(z)elin>. The latter is from <Bez(z)o>, from
<Betto>, a pet form of names in <Bert->; the former, from
<Waz(z)o>, from <Watto>, a pet form of names in <Wad-> ~
<Wat->. (There's also a <Wezzo>, from names in <Wern->.)
In a document of 4 August 1278 Pope Nicholas III took the
abbey of Weingarten under his protection, including all of
its possessions, which are individually named; two of them,
named in immediate succession, are Wezzelnsruthi and
Bezzelinsruti.
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=94gqAAAAMAAJ>, p. 123f.
The obvious explanation is that there were originally two
neighboring farms, one cleared by Wazelin, the other by
Bezelin, and that the names were subsequently conflated;
apparently <Wetzisreute> takes its <W-> from one name and
its first vowel from the other.
> Verodunum, Veredunum, Veridunum, Virodunum, Virdunum,
> Viridunum, Wirdunum, Viridonium, Viritonium, Viridinnum,
> Clarorum urbs (Ver, Bardunensis),
> Verdun, Stadt, Frankr. (Meuse)
At least one instance of <Bardunensis> is in a source that
in the same sentence has <Besintionensis> for <Vesontiensis>
'de Besançon' and <Biennensis> for <Viennensis> 'de Vienne',
the Annales Bertiniani, anno 865; this part was written by
Hincmar of Reims (806-882). At that date occasional
orthographic B/V confusion is to be expected.
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=3k0YAAAAMAAJ>
> Verona, Bernum, Berma, Berna, Bernna, Berona, Beruna,
> Verena, Arctopolis,
> Bern, Stadt, Schweiz
<
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bern>:
Nach ersten Siedlungen auf der Engehalbinsel in der
La-Tène-Zeit und der gallorömischen Epoche wurde die Stadt
1191 von Herzog Berchthold V. von Zähringen gegründet.
Laut einer Sage nannte er die Neugründung Bern, weil er
dort einen Bären gefangen haben soll. Dies ist jedoch eine
Volksetymologie. Wahrscheinlicher ist jedoch, dass er die
Stadt nach Bern, dem damals üblichen deutschen Namen von
Verona benannte, im Gedenken an den von Berchthold
verehrten Sagenhelden Dietrich von Bern.
Dietrich's Bern is of course Verona in Italy.
Thanks to the popularity of Dietrich von Berne and his saga,
of which there is even an ON version (Þiðreks saga af Bern),
the equation Germ. <Bern> = Lat. <Verona> was
well-established; the only real question here is why Verona
came to be called <Bern> in German. <Berna> goes back at
least to the 10th c. (Thietmar v. Merseburg); Schwarz says
without explanation that the Goths had already borrowed the
name as *<Baíruna>. If the borrowing really is that old,
it's possible that <Verona> had [B], and the closest
available Gmc. choices were [b] and [w]; if so, the choice
of [b] is hardly surprising.
> Verona,
> Beraun, Stadt, Böhmen (Horowitz)
Wikipedia, quoting the 1911 Britannica:
Beroun was originally called na Brode^ (by the ford), and
received the name of Bern, Berun or Verona in the 13th
century, when it obtained the privileges of a city from
the emperor Charles IV, who was specially attached to the
place, calling it "Verona mea."
By that time the association <Bern> ~ <Verona> was of course
well-established.
> Bonna, Bunna, Verona, Ubiorum arx,
> Bonn, Stadt, Preußen (Rheinprovinz)
The application of <Verona> to Bonn is a learned invention
of the 10th c.: 'cisalpinae Verone, quae usiatius [sic]
Bunna vocantur' (959 CE). Apparently it was intended to
give the city a more distinguished past; I've read in
several places that in the high Middle Ages it was popularly
believed that <Bonna> had replaced an ancient <Verona>,
though in fact Tacitus has <castra Bonnensia>.
<
http://www.semafoor.net/niftelungen.htm>
> Barda, -do, Brido, Burda,
> Wartha, Stadt, Preußen (Schlesien)
<
http://www.bardo.info.pl/bardo2/ciekawos.htm> gives <Brido>
1096; <Burdan>, <Bardun> 1124; <Gradice Barda> 1155;
<Bardon>, <Berdow> 1189; <Barda>, <Warda> 1190; <Bardo>
1202; <de Bardo>, <Bard> 1207; <Bardo> 1230; <Wartha> 1301;
<Warta> 1310; <Warthe> 1348; <oppido Warthae in Silesia>
1631; <Wartha> 1791; <Brodno>, <Byrdo> 1945; <Warta
S'la,ska>, <Warta>, <Bardo S'la,skie>, <Bardo> 1946. The
original name, which seems to have had <B->, will presumably
have been Slavic, and it appears that the <W-> forms are
originally German. It was a castle, so the name may have
been attracted to <Warte> 'watchtower', but see also the
last entry below (<Wurcza terra> = <Burzenland>).
> Bonsidelia,
> Wunsiedel, Stadt, Bayern (Oberfranken)
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=lOCvcWnF3UwC> has only
<Wunsidl>, <Wunsidel> 1459, <Wonsidel> 1472. I've not found
any instance of <Bonsidelia> before the 17th century. Some
serious research would be needed, but it seems possible that
it's a post-medieval Latinization predicated on an erroneous
etymology.
> Bicina,
> Wieste, Nfl., d. Wömme (Weser), Hannover
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=lOCvcWnF3UwC>: <Bicina>
788 (Adami Gesta Hamburg.) It's not at all clear that
the modern name has anything to do with Adam's <Bicina>.
> Westfali, -fala(h)i, -falhii, -faldingi, -phalia,
> Guestfalia, Bestvalia, Saxones occidentales,
> Westfalen, ... Preuß. Prov.
<Guestfalia> requires no explanation.
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=lOCvcWnF3UwC> has
<Bestvalia> 1285 from the Continuatio Weichardi de Polhaim);
this Weichard appears to be the Weichert von Polheim who was
archbishop of Salzburg from 1312 until his death in 1315.
<
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weichart_von_Polheim>
If the substitution means anything at all, it suggests that
you should look into Austrian dialects of MHG.
> Wurcza terra,
> Burzenland, Lschf., Siebenbürgen
<Wurtzenland> in Gebhard Dacher, Die Chroniken der Stadt
Konstanz, before 1472
(<
http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Bericht_%C3%BCber_Dracole>).
In the Drakula-Erzählung of the same vintage ('Die histori
von dem posen Dracol der vil wunders vnd vbels begangen
hat') it appears as <Wurtzenland>, <Burtzenlant>, and
<wurtzland>. The similar 'Die geschicht dracole waide',
1488, seems to have only <wurtzland>.
<
http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Die_geschicht_dracole_waide>
The Urkundenbuch der Stadt Lübeck has a document dated 4
July 1427 'Geben zur Cron in Wurtzland' (at Kronstadt in
Burzenland).
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=OfsDAAAAYAAJ>
<Wurcza> 1210
<
http://books.google.com/books?id=lOCvcWnF3UwC>, p. 107.
<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzenland>:
Burzenland is named after the stream Bârsa (Barca, Burzen,
1231: Borza), which flows into the Olt river.
[...]
The German colonists from this region are attested in
documents as early as 1192 when <terra Bozza> is mentioned
as being settled by Germans (<Theutonici>).
(For what it's worth, it says that 'Romanian word <bârsä> is
supposedly of Dacian origin'.)
It does appear that <W-> was a medieval German substitution,
but it's not clear why it was made.
Brian