From: george knysh
Message: 64582
Date: 2009-08-03
--- On Mon, 8/3/09, Francesco Brighenti <frabrig@...> wrote:
--- In indo_iranian@ yahoogroups. com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@ ...> wrote:
> Does anyone here have a good etymology for these two ethnonyms
> (Iranian, presumably?)
>
> http://impearls. blogspot. com/2003_ 12_28_impearls_ archive.html
>
> Who were these peoples?
> It seems Wolfram has the information from Ammianus Marcellinus.
>
> http://tinyurl. com/nscg6s
The two names have been etymologized as, respectively, *Ardarag-Antes (the correct form of the name according to J. Harmatta) and *Limig-Antes. The former may have been the rulers, the latter the subjects within the mixed Slavo-Alanic people body, the Antes, who inhabited the Ukrainian steppe in the early centuries CE. The two classes of Antes may have distinguished from each other by means of prefixes:
1) for ardarag- (the manuscripts give also the variants argarag-, arcarag-), cp. Ossetic ældar- 'prince, ruler' > (?) Magyar Ossetian aladar 'centurion' --> whence *Ardarag-Antes 'Royal Antes' = Sarmatae liberi of Latin sources (the equivalent of the 'Royal Sarmatians' of the classical sources);
2) for limig-, cp. Ossetic læmæg- 'weak' --> whence *Limig-Antes 'Weak Antes' = Sarmatae servi of Latin sources (with the adjectivation designating the low social status of this class of people).
Of course, the etymology of the ethnonym Antes is, in turn, unclear.
Regards,
Francesco
****GK: I have no comments on the ardarag- and limig- components of these names. The above might well be right. But I would suggest that you forget about the "Antes" aspect. You could make hundreds of such "antes" with the present plural participle of regular Latin verbs. The only genuine "Antes" are those mentioned by Jordanes and Byzantine chroniclers of the 6th c. In the case of Jordanes one must also distinguish between the Slavic Antes (Antes-Antium) of the the 6th c., and the "Anti" (pl. gen. Antorum) who fought with Vinithar in the 4th. Comparison with Ammianus Marcellinus suggests these earlier "Anti" might have been Alans allied to the Huns. Of the various etymologies suggested (both for "Anti" and "Antes") perhaps the turkic "allies" fits best. But everything is still open here.****