Russian Names with the Stem Balah(o)n- in Historical and Etymological Perspective

Вопросы ономастики

Nikolai M. Shvarev¹ 

[1] Independent researcher;

关键词: Russian language;    historical onomastics;    anthroponymy;    toponymy;    etymology;    Volga River region;    city of Balakhna;    Novgorodian colonization;    language contacts;   

DOI  :  10.15826/vopr_onom.2015.1.007

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The article analyzes the origin of Russian personal and place names with the stem Balah(o)n-. The author argues that originally the stem in question was part of the Old Novgorodian diminutive personal name or surname *Balahno formed from an abridged common noun starting with bala- by adding the suffix -hno typical of Old Novgorodian anthroponyms. Based on the analysis of Russian common nouns starting with the onomatopoetic bala-, the author suggests that *Balahno could be used for naming people that spoke fluently, fast and incomprehensibly. If so, the originally Novgorodian name could have spread — with migratory movements — to other areas where it designated foreigners speaking languages unknown to Old Novgorodians. Thereby, fixed in toponymy, the stem Balah(o)n- serves as a specific territorial marker of Novgorodian colonization and indicates the areas where Novgorodians contacted peoples speaking unknown languages. The linguo-geographic analysis of personal and place names with the stem Balah(o)n- as compared with historical and archaeological data brings to conclude that these were eastern Finnic peoples, including, probably, Merya, Muroma, old Mordvinian and Udmurt tribes.

【 授权许可】

Unknown