English

Mesiarkin, Adam. The name of the Slavs: etymology and meaning

Modified Date
Published Date:

Section: Commentarii / Article

Posted in Commentarii / Article

Title of the article The name of the Slavs: etymology and meaning
Authors Mesiarkin, Adam — Ph. D. in History, Assistant Professor, Institute of Social Medicine and Medical Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,Scopus ID 57195246498
In the section Commentarii / Articles 
Year 2017 Issue 1 Pages 3-20
Type of article RAR Index UDK; BBK UDK 94(367) Славяне; BBK 63.3(2)41 Index DOI 10.21638/11701/spbu19.2017.101
Abstract
The name is the main constitutive element and the most important identification sign of a barbaric community. The fixation of the name Σκλαβηνοί in the 6th century by Procopius of Caesarea and Jordanes as a designation of one of the groups of the trans-Danubian Barbaricum is the chronological boundary that separates the Slavs of prehistoric times from the historic Slavs. For a long time it was believed in historiography that the Slavs as a «people» or «cultural community» existed long before the 6th century, thus hiding in sources under other names. Of these names, the most important was the name Venethi / Venedi. However, the Slavs became Venethi, as well as the Venethi became Slavs, only thanks to Jordanes. The author of the article tends to the opinion that the name Σκλαβηνοί was originally a designation of only one barbaric group, and then, due to various intellectual and ideological factors, it was transferred to other communities until it acquired the meaning in which it is understood today. Linguists, as well as historians, based on linguistic facts, a priori interpreted the self-name of the Slavs as based on the common language — on the word *slovo. It followed from this that this ethnic community arose on the basis of the language community. The thesis about the Slavs as «clearly speaking», that is, about the existence of an ethnic group, whose members determined themeselves through a common language already in the 6th century or even earlier, still occupies a strong position in Slavic studies. However, according to the author of the article, the picture according to which the formation of the group name «Slavs» was a result of the members of this group rational awareness that they use the unique «Slavic language» is not convincing. The connection between the name of the Slavonic community and the (Slavonic language) basis *slovo as well as the perception of the Slavs as the «people of the word» emerged much later: the linguistic interpretation of the ethnonym Slavs is the core of the intellectual and religious concept that took shape in the second half of the 9th century, being connected with the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Moravia and Pannonia. For this reason, the author of the article prefers the etymology of the name «Slavs» proposed by the Polish linguist Zbigniew Babik because, in the author’s opinion, it is Babik’s etymology, and not the traditional linguistic view that reflects the reality of the Barbaric world of the early Middle Ages in more adequate way.
Keywords ethnonym of Slavs, Slavic identity, Slavic ethnogenesis, Sclavi, slovene
Full text version of the article. Article language English
References
  • Babik, Zbigniew. Współnota językowa prasłowiańska [Proto-Slavic language community], in Tabaczyński, Stanisław; Marciniak, Arkadiusz; Cyngot, Dorota; Zalewska, Anna (eds). Przeszłość społeczna. Próba konceptualizacji [Social past. An attempt of conceptualization]. Poznań: Wydawnictwo Poznańskie Publ., 2012. P. 838–851 (in Polish). 
    Bačić, Jakov. The Slav: Origin and the meaning of the ethnonym, in Slovene Studies. 1987. Vol. 9. No. 1/2. P. 33–41.
    Barišić, Franjo. Kada su i gde su napisali Pseudo-Cezarijevi Dijalozi [When and where were Pseudo-Cesarius’ Dialogues written], in Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta. 1952. Vol. 1. P. 29–51 (in Serbian).
    Barford, Paul. The Early Slavs. London: British Museum Press, 2001. 416 p.
    Benedicty, Robert. Prokopios’ Berichte über die slavische Vorzeit. Beiträge zur historiographischen Methode des Prokopios von Kaisareia [Procopius’ accounts on the Slavic past. A study of Procopius’ of Caesarea historiographical method], in Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinischen Gesselschaft. Graz; Köln: Hermann Böhlaus Publ., 1965. Vol. 14. P. 61 (in German).
    Bielowski, August. Wstęp krytyczny do dziejów Polski [Critical introduction to Polish history]. Lwów: Włodzimierz Hr. Dzieduszycki Publ., 1850. 542 p. (in Polish).
    Brückner, Aleksander. Dzieje kultury polskiej. T. 1: Od czasów przedhistorycznych do r. 1506 [History of Polish culture. Vol. I: From prehistory to 1506]. Kraków: Krakowska Spółka Wydawnicza Publ., 1930. 58 p. (in Polish).
    Curta, Florin. The making of the Slavs. History and archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c. 500–700. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 436 p.
    Curta, Florin. Sclaviniai and ethnic adjectives: A clarification, in Byzantion Nea Hellás. 2011. Vol. 30. P. 77–89.
    Curta, Florin. Theophylact Simocatta revisited. A response to Andreas Gkoutzioukostas, in Byzantion Nea Hellás. 2016. Vol. 35. P. 195–209.
    Dzino, Danijel. Becoming Slav, Becoming Croat. Identity transformations in Post-Roman and early medieval Dalmatia. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2010. 271 p.
    Fusek, Gabriel; Zábojník Jozef. Príspevok do diskusie o počiatkoch slovanského osídlenia Slovenska [A contribution to the discussion on the beginning of the Slavic settling in Slovakia], in Slovenská archeológia. 2003. Vol. 51. No. 2. P. 319–340 (in Slovak).
    Gołąb, Zbigniew. Veneti / Venedi. The Oldest Name of the Slavs, in Journal of Indo-European Studies. 1975. Vol. 3. P. 321–326.
    Havlík Lubomír. Osídlení Balkánu Slovany a byzantská historiografie [The Slavs’ settlement in the Balkans and the Byzantine historiography], in Pražák, Richard; Dorovský, Ivan (eds.). Studia Balcanica Bohemoslovaca. Brno: Universita J. E. Purkyně Publ., 1970. P. 48–58 (in Czech).
    Havlík Lubomír. Počátky slovanského vědomí [Beginnings of the Slavic self-consciousness], in Šťastný, Vladislav (ed.). Slovanství v národním životě Čechů a Slováků [Slavdom in the national life of the Czechs and Slovaks]. Praha: Melantrich Publ., 1968. P. 17–23 (in Czech).
    Homza, Martin. Stredná Európa I. Na začiatku stredoveku [Central Europe I. At the beginning of the Middle Ages]. Bratislava: Comenius University Publ., 2014. 313 p. (in Slovak).
    Homza, Martin. Niekoľko poznámok k básni Proglas [A few comments to the poem Proglas], in Homza, Martin; Mesiarkin, Adam (eds). Symboly a mýty národov v stredoveku a včasnom novoveku [Symbols and myths of peoples in the Middle Ages and early Modern Time]. Bratislava: Comenius University Publ., 2014. P. 13–24 (in Slovak). 
    Katičić, Radoslav. Die Ethnogenesen in Avaria [Ethnogenesis in Avaria], in Wolfram, Herwig; Pohl, Walter (eds). Typen der Ethnogenese unter besonderer Berücksichtung der Bayern [Types of ethnogenesis, with particular regard to Bavaria]. Vol. 1. Wien: Austrian Academy of Sciences Publ., 1990. P. 125–128 (in German).
    Kolendo, Jerzy. Wenetowie a Słowianie [Venets and Slavs], in Z Otchłani Wieków: Pismo poświęcone pradziejom Polski [From remote ages: Journal devoted to the prehistory of Poland]. 1985. Vol. 51. No. 3–4. P. 125–130 (in Polish). 
    Krahwinkler Harald. Augewählte Slaven-Ethnonyme und ihre historische Deutung [Selected Slavic ethnonyms and their historical interpretation], in Bratož, Rajko (ed.). Slovenija in sosednje dežele med antiko in karolinško dobo. Začetki slovenske etnogeneze [Slovenia and neighbouring countries from the antique to Carolingian epoch. The beginning of the Slovenian ethnogenesis]. Ljubljana: National Museum of Slovenia Publ., 2000. P. 403–423 (in German).
    Králik Ľubor. Stručný etymologický slovník slovenčiny [Scientific etymological dictionary of the Slovak language]. Bratislava: VEDA Publ., 2015. 704 p. (in Slovak).
    Kučera, Matúš. Slovenské dejiny I. Od príchodu Slovanov do roku 1526 [Slovakian history I. From the arrival of the Slavs to the year 1526]. Prešov: Michala Vašek Publ., 2008. 358 p. (in Slovak).
    Labuda, Gerard. Fragmenty dziejów Słowiańszczyzny zachodniej, 1 [Fragments of the history of the Western Slavs, 1]. Poznań: Wydawnictwo Poznańskie Publ., 1960. 312 p. (in Polish).
    Labuda, Gerard. Udział Wenetów w etnogenezie Słowian [Participation of the Veneti in the Slavic ethnogenesis], in Kwilecka, Irena (ed.). Etnogeneza i topogeneza Słowian: Materiały z konferencji naukowej zorganizowanej przez Komisję Slawistyczną przy Oddziale PAN w Poznaniu w dniach 8–9 XII 1978 [Ethnogenesis and topogenesis of the Slavs. Materials from a scientific conference organized by the Slavic Commission of the Poznań branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 8–9. XII. 1978]. Warszawa; Poznań: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe Publ., 1980. P. 29–41 (in Polish).
    Lysý, Miroslav. Moravania, Mojmírovci a Franská ríša. Štúdie k etnogenéze, politickým inštitúcim a ústavnému zriadeniu na území Slovenska vo včasnom stredoveku [Moravians, Moimir dynasty, and the Frankish empire. Studies on ethnogenesis, political institutions, and power system in the territory of Slovakia in the early Middle Ages]. Bratislava: Atticum Publ., 2014. 374 p. (in Slovak). 
    Malinovská, Nora. Geographical concepts of Sclavinia in historical sources from the sixth to the fourteenth century, with an emphasis on the Moravian-Pannonian and South Slavic tradition, in Homza, Martin; Lukačka, Ján; Budak, Neven; Kucharská, Veronika; Kuzmová, Stanislava; Mesiarkin, Adam (eds). Slovakia and Croatia. Historical parallels and connections (until 1780). Bratislava; Zagreb: Department of Slovak history, Faculty of Philosophy of the Comenius University, Bratislava; Faculty of Philosophy of Zagreb University, 2013. P. 60–65. 
    Margetić, Lujo. Etnogeneza Slavena [Ethnogenesis of the Slavs], in Rad Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti. 2005. Vol. 492. P. 91–143 (in Croatian).
    Marsina, Richard. F. V. Sasinek: Dejepis Slovákov (Ružomberok 1895) [F. V. Sasinek: History of the Slovaks (Ružomberok 1895)], in Mulík, Peter (ed.). Čo písal o našich dejinách Franko Sasinek [What did Franko Sasinek write on our history]. Martin: Matica Slovenská Publ., 2015. P. 11–39 (in Slovak).
    Miklosich, Franz. Altslovenische Formenlehre in Paradigme. Texten aus Glagolitischen Quellen [Old-Slavic formations in paradigme. Texts from Glagolitic sources]. Wien: Wilhelm Braumüller Publ., 96 p. (in German).
    Moszyński, Kazimierz. Pierwotny zasiąg języka prasłowiańskiego [Original scope of the Proto-Slavic language]. Wrocław; Kraków: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich Publ., 1957. 332 p. (in Polish).
    Moszyński, Leszek. Czy Słowianie to rzeczywiście nomen originis? [Is the name of Slavs indeed a nomen originis?], in Z polskich studiów slawistycznych. Seria 5: Językoznawstwo. Prace na VIII. międzynarodowy kongres slawistów w Zagrebiu 1978 [From Polish studies in slavistics. Series 5: Linguistics. Proceedings of VIII International Slavic Congress in Zagreb in 1978]. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe Publ., 1978. P. 497–507 (in Polish). 
    Mulík, Peter. Používanie kľúčových termínov k počiatkom slovenských dejín [Use of key terms for the beginning of the Slovak history], in Etnogenéza Slovákov. Kto sme a aké je naše meno [Ethnogenesis of the Slovaks. Who we are and what is our name]. Martin: Matica Slovenská Publ., 2011. P. 39–53 (in Slovak).
    Nalepa, Jerzy. O pierwotnych siedzibach Słowian w świetle nowszych badań archeologicznych, lingwistycznych i historycznych [On the first settlements of the Slavs in the light of current archaeological, linguistical, and historical studies], in Slavia Antiqua. Vol. 48. 2007. P. 11–46 (in Polish).
    Niederle, Lubor. Slovanské starožitnosti. Díl 2. Svazek 1. Původ a počátky Slovanů jižních [Slavic antiquites. Part 2. Vol. 1. The origin and beginnings of Southern Slavs]. Praha: Bursík and Kohout Publ., 1906. 547 p. (in Czech).
    Ondruš, Šimon. Pôvod etnonyma Slovák, Slovan, Slověn a etnonyma Čech [Origin of the ethnonym Slovák, Slovan, Slověn, and the ethnonym Czech], in Studia Academica Slovaca. Prednášky XI. letného seminára slovenského jazyka a kultúry [Studia Academica Slovaca. Lectures of the 11th summer seminar of the Slovak language and culture]. 1975. Vol. 4. P. 223–241 (in Slovak). 
    Ossoliński, Józef Maksymilian. Wiadomości historyczno-krytyczne do dziejów literatury polskiey: O pisarzach polskich, także postronnych, którzy w Polscze albo o Polscze pisali, oraz o ich dziełach; z rozstrząśnieniem wzrostu i różnéy kolei ogólnego oświecenia, jako też szczególnych nauk w Narodzie Polskim. T. 1 [Historical-critical news on the history of Polish literature: About Polish writers, including those who have written in Polish or about Polish, and about their works; With the ragged growth and various turns of general enlightenment, as well as special teachings in the Polish nation. Vol. 1]. Kraków, s. n., 1819. 507 p. (in Polish).
    Otrębski, Jan. Słowianie. Rozwiązanie odwiecznej zagadki ich nazw [Slavs. A solution to the eternal mystery of their names]. Poznań: Księgarnia ziem zachodnich Publ., 1947, 191 p. (in Polish).
    Panzer, Baldur. Quellen zur slavischen Ethnogenese. Fakten, Mythen und Legenden (Originaltexte mit Übersetzungen, Erläuterungen und Kommentaren) [Primary sources on the Slavic ethnogenesis. Facts, myths, and legends (Original texts with translations, explanations and commentaries)]. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Publ., 2002. P. 15–19 (in German).
    Peisker, Jan. Die älteren Beziehungen der Slawen zu Turkotataren und Germanen und ihre sozialgeschichtliche Bedeutung [Ancient relations of the Slavs with the Turkic-Tatar peoples and their social-historical significance]. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer Publ., 1905. 243 p. (in German).
    Peisker, Jan. The expansion of the Slavs, in The Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1914. P. 418–458.
    Podolan, Peter. Sláwa Bohyně a původ gména Slaůw čili Slawjanůw… Jána Kollára [Jan Kollar’s work «The Goddess Fame / Glory (Slawa) and origin of the name Slaw or Slawian…»], in Historia Nova. Bratislava: Stimul Publ., 2013. Vol. VI. P. 82–93 (in Slovak).
    Pohl, Walter. Die Awaren: Ein Steppenvolk in Mitteleuropa, 567–822 n. chr. [The Avars: A steppe people in Central Europe, 567–822 A. D.]. München: Beck Publ., 1988. 553 p. (in German). 
    Pohl, Walter. Die Germanen [Germanic peoples]. München: Oldenbourg Publ., 2000. 156 p. (in German).
    Pohl, Walter. Ein Jahrtausend der Wanderungen, 500–1500 [Thousand years of migrations], in Kaser, Karl (ed.). Kontinuitäten und Brüche: Lebensformen — Alteingesessene — Zuwanderer von 500 bis 1500 [Continuities and Breaks: Forms of life, established populations, migrants from 500 to 1500]. Klagenfurt: Wieser Publ., 2010. P. 150–159 (in German).
    Pohl, Walter. Telling the difference. Signs of ethnic identity, in Pohl, Walter; Reimitz, Helmut (eds). Strategies of Distinction. The construction of ethnic identities, 300–800. Leiden; Boston; Köln: Brill Academic Publ., 1998. P. 17–71.
    Popowska-Taborska, Hanna. Utrwalone w języku ślady etnicznej wspólnoty Słowian [Traces of the Slavic ethnic community fixed in the language], in Z językowych dziejów Słowiańszczyny [From the language history of Slavdom]. Warszawa: Slawistyczny Ośrodek Wydawniczy Publ., 2004. P. 161–166 (in Polish).
    Pritsak, Omeljan. The Slavs and the Avars, in Settimane di studio del centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo. Vol. XXX: Gli Slavi occidentali e meridionali nell’alto medioevo [Week studies of the Italian center for early medieval studies. Vol. XXX: Western and Southern Slavs in the early Middle Ages]. Spoleto, 1983. P. 353–435.
    Profantová, Naďa. Kultura s keramikou pražského typu a problém šíření slavinity do střední Evropy. K článku Florina Curty [The Prague-type pottery culture and the problem of diffusion of Slavinity into central Europe. On the article by Florin Curta], in Archeologické rozhledy. 2009. Vol. 61. P. 303–330 (in Czech).
    Puschner, Uwe. Germanenideologie und völkische Weltanschauung [German ideology and nationalistic imagination], in Beck, Heinrich; Geuenrich, Dieter; Steuer, Heiko; Hakelbach, Dietrich (eds.). Zur Geschichte der Gleichung «germanisch-deutsch» [On the history of the identification «Germanic-German»]. Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter Publ., 2004. P. 103–129 (in German).
    Riedinger, Rudolf. Pseudo-Kaisarios: Überlieferungsgeschichte und Verfasserfrage [Pseudo-Caesarius: The history of tradition and the question of authorship]. München: C. H. Beck Publ., 1969. 471 p. (in German).
    Rospond, Stanisław. Struktura pierwotnych etnonimów słowiańskich [Structure of the first Slavic ethnonyms], in Rocznik slawistyczny. 1966. Vol. 26. No. 1. P. 31–32 (in Polish).
    Schramm, Gottfried. Ein Damm bricht. Die römische Donaugrenze und die Invasionen des 5.–7. Jahrhunderts im Lichte von Namen und Wörter [A dam breaks: The Roman Danube frontier and  the invasions of the 5th–7th centuries in the light of names and words]. München: R. Oldenbourg Publ., 1997. 400 p. (in German).
    Schramm, Gottfried. Venedi, Antes, Sclaveni, Sclavi. Frühe Sammelbezeichnungen für slawische Stämme und ihre geschichtlicher Hintergrund [Venedi, Antes, Sclaveni, Sclavi. Early collective names for Slavic tribes and their historical background], in Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas. 1995. Vol. 43. No. 2. P. 161–200 (in German). 
    Sławski, Feliks. Słowianie [Slavs], in Labuda, Gerard; Stieber, Zdisław (eds). Słownik starożytności słowiańskich [Encyclopedia of Slavic antiquites]. Vol. 5: S–Ś. Wrocław; Warszawa; Kraków; Gdańsk: Ossolineum Publ., 1975. P. 274 (in Polish).
    Smith, David Anthony. Myths and memories of the nation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. 288 p.
    Stanislav, Ján. Slovienin — Slovan — Slovák — Tót, in Náš národ. 1944. No. 1. P. 25–32 (in Slovak).
    Steinacher, Roland. Wenden, Slawen, Vandalen. Eine frühmittelalterlische pseudologische Gleichzetung und Ihre achwirkungen bis ins 18. Jahrhundert [Wends, Slavs, Vandals. An early medieval pseudo-logical identifications and its effects until the 18th century], in Pohl, Walter (ed.). Die Suche nach den Ursprüngen. Von der Bedeutung des frühen Mittelalters [The search for the origins. Of the importance of the early Middle Ages]. Wien: Austrian Academy of Sciences Publ., 2004. P. 329–353 (in German). 
    Surowiecki, Wawrzyniec. Śledzenie początku narodów słowiańskich [Study of the origins of Slavic peoples]. Wrocław; Warszawa; Kraków: Zakład narodowy imięnia Ossolińskich, Polish academy of sciences Publ., 1964. 201 p. (in Polish).
    Surowiecki, Wawrzyniec. Z. D. Chodakowskiego O Słowiańsczyznie przed chrześciaństwem i W. Surowieckiego zdanie o pismie témźe z dodaniem krótkiej wiadomości o Chodakowskim i korrespondencyi jego [Z. D. Chodakowski’s «On the Slavdom before Christianity» and W. Surowiecki’s opinion on this work with the addition of a short information on Chodakowski and his correspondence]. Kraków: Anton Zygmunt Helcl Publ., 1835. 51 p. (in Polish).
    Schachmatov, Aleksei Aleksandrovich. Zu den ältesten slavisch-keltisch Beziehungen [On the oldest Slavic-Celtic relations], in Archiv für slavische Philologie. 1911. Vol. 33. No. 1/2. P. 51–99 (in German).
    Šafárik, Pavol Jozef. Dejiny slovanského jazyka a literatúry všetkých nárečí [History of the Slavic language and literature of all the dialects]. Bratislava: Slovak academy of sciences Publ., 1953. 601 p. (in Slovak).
    Šafárik, Pavol Jozef. Slowanské starožitnosti. Oddjl Děgepisný [Slavic antiquities. Historical part]. Praha: Česky Museum Publ., 1837. 1005 p. (in Czech). 
    Schlözer, August Ludwig. Nestor Kiovensis 1056–1114: Russische Annalen in ihrer slavonischen Grund-Sprache [Nestor of Kiev (1056–1114): Russian annals and their original Slavic language]. Göttingen: Heinrich Dieterich Publ., 1802. 340 p. (in German).
    Téra, Michal. Slovanská identita v raném středoveku [Slavic identity in the early Middle Ages], in Hrodek, Dominik; et al. (eds). Slovanství ve středoevropském prostoru. Iluze, deziluze a realita [Slavs in Central European space. Illusions, disillusionments, and reality]. Praha: Libri Publ., 2004. P. 53–60 (in Czech). 
    Třeštík, Dušan. Příchod prvních Slovanů do českých zemí v letech 510–535 [Arrival of the first Slavs to Czech lands in 510–535], in Český časopis historický. 1996. Vol. 94. No. 2. P. 245–280 (in Czech). 
    Tyszkiewicz, Lech. Słowianie w historiografii antycznej do połowy VI wieku [Slavs in antique historiography before the mid-6th century]. Wrocław: University of Wrocław Publ., 1990. 218 p. (in Polish).
    Verešová, Nora. Vývoj chápania geografického termínu Sklavínia v historických prameňoch 6.–14. storočia [Evolution of the notion of the geographical term Sclavinia in the 6th to 14th century sources], in Historický zborník. Martin: Matica slovenská Publ., 2008. No. 1. P. 124–143 (in Slovak).
    Verešová, Nora. Povesť vremennych let a jej koncepcia Slovienskoj zemli [The Tale of Bygone Years and its concept of the slavic land], in Historia Nova. Vol. II: Štúdie k jubileu Pavla Jozefa Šafárika [Studies on the occasion of the anniversary of Pavol Jozef Šafárik]. Bratislava, 2011. P. 12–20 (in Slovak).
    Wenskus, Reinhard. Stammesbildung und Verfassung. Das Werden der frühmittelalterlichen gentes [Tribal formation and political organization. The making of early medieval gentes]. Köln; Graz: Böhlau Verlag, 1961. 656 p. (in German).
    Živkovič, Tibor. De conversione Croatorum et Serborum. A lost source. Belgrade: Institute of History Publ., 2012. 255 p.

 

Tags: historiography, Slavs, Sclavi, slovene, ethnonym of Slavs, Slavic identity, Slavic ethnogenesis, Slavic studies, Procopius of Caesarea, Jordanes, Barbaric world, MESIARKIN A.

  English