Cultural and linguistic layers embedded in Romanian oikonyms derived from hagionyms
Oliviu FELECAN and Nicolae FELECAN
Introduction In addition to constituting linguistic, geographical, historical, anthropo- logical, ethnographic, social and psychological markers, toponyms may also function as religious symbols, especially in those cases when the name of a place is derived from a hagionym. In the present paper, we focus on hagionymic oikonyms, a field of research that has been explored through various theoretical frameworks within Romania and which pro- vides fruitful insights into religious and cultural practices and attitudes. In the case of oikonyms bearing a religious background, “the proper name is a linguistic sign that designates a precise referent which can be located in time and space” (Billy 1995, p. 142, apud Vaxelaire 2005, p. 161, orig. French1) and whose position is transparent. Accordingly, our study lies within the broad domain of onomastics, highlighting specific aspects related to anthroponymy, on the one hand, and toponymy, on the other. With regard to Romanian anthroponymy, Puşcariu (1976, p. 298, orig. Romanian) has pointed out that: there is no continuity between the official names of pagan Romans and Christian Romanians. […] Christianity does not seem to have greatly affected old Romanian onomastics. In fact, apart from the two names Nicoară and Sumedrea (from Sâmedru = Sanctus Demetrius)2 Romanian does not evidence any other hagionyms revealing ancient phonetic structures.
1 The quotations marked as being originally in French or Romanian (indicated by “orig. French” and “orig. Romanian” respectively) are only provided as translations. 2 As an oikonym, this name does not occur in the Daco-Romanian area. However, researchers consider that the name of the town situated east of Belgrade, Smederevo, in the Austrian-Hungarian form Semendria (Drăganu 1933, p. 100, n. 1), is a Slavi- cisation of the name Sâmedru (Sumedru) (Goicu 1999, p. 129). Nevertheless, traces of the name of Saint Demetrius can be found in the Romanian area as well, which is evident from the oikonyms Dumitreni, Dumitriţa and Mitreşti.
Onoma 48 (2013), 89-107. doi: 10.2143/ONO.48.0.3223615. © Onoma. All rights reserved. 90 Oliviu and Nicolae Felecan
Inevitably, as with all European systems of naming, Romanian anthro- ponymic conventions came to be established and constructed under the influence of Christianity, in relation to the Holy Sacrament of Baptism. As opposed to secular names, which are circumstantial and follow exter- nal trends or influences, religious names have the advantage of reveal- ing “the unity of the heritage of religious names in Western and Eastern theological traditions” (Tomescu 2009, p. 5, orig. Romanian). Although deriving from different sources such as Hebrew, Greek, Roman and Slavic, these names are ultimately “unifying”, since they “are reunited in the same space, in the same onomastic tradition, and have expanded into a large number of variants that result from their distinct linguistic adaptation” (Tomescu 2009, p. 6, orig. Romanian).
Preliminary remarks In the Romanian landscape, anthroponyms play a major role in the for- mation of toponyms. For instance, Toma (2002-2003, p. 188) has observed that 49.2 per cent of all the toponyms recorded in the Oltenia region (according to Dicţionarul toponimic al României. Oltenia [The toponymic dictionary of Romania. Oltenia]) originate from an anthropo- nymic base. Similarly, numerous names of settlements from other areas also derived from anthroponyms. Nonetheless, it is important to distin- guish between anthroponym-based oikonyms (inspired by the founder of a settlement, in the cases in which the founder bore a saint’s name) and those derived from hagionyms related to a saint whose protection is invoked for the sake of a village, or to a monastery in the vicinity. When an oikonym borrows the name of the patron saint of a religious institu- tion, it signifies that the latter is a well-established landmark in that area. The distinctiveness of oikonyms derived from hagionyms in the Romanian sphere is attributable to several factors pertaining to a region’s geographical situation, its dominant religion, the stage at which the name entered the onomastic system and the norms imposed by the phonologi- cal system which applies to both inherited and borrowed appellatives. As a result of these factors, oikonyms can be defined by specific characteristics which are reflected both in the nature of the settlements bearing such names and in the internal structure of the names themselves. For example, the regions of Muntenia and Moldova, which are influenced by the Orthodox Church to a great extent, have developed relatively few oikonyms of this type, whereas in Transylvania and the cultural and linguistic layers embedded in … 91
Banat, where Catholicism (also through the Greek Catholic Church) is followed more closely, these oikonyms are far more numerous. This can be accounted for by the fact that, as Drăganu (1928, p. 118, orig. Roma- nian) explains, “the Catholic Church used saints’ names wherever it ruled and especially wherever it colonised, even in the Balkans”. Accord- ing to the earliest records, beginning in the twelfth century, monks of different (Catholic) orders founded monasteries, which “were meant to form and actually existed as tiny distinct worlds, […] so that it is not an exaggeration to label them as monastic archipelagos […]” or “groups of insularity” (Rusu et alii 2000, p. 5, orig. Romanian) around which vil- lages were constructed displaying names based on devotional support of such monasteries, as is common in all Catholic countries.3
Research area and methodology Our research covers the entirety of Romanian space located within the present-day borders of the country. As for the names of certain regions, they correspond to the five subdialects of the Daco-Romanian dialect known as the Muntenia, Moldova, Banat, Crişana and Maramureş sub- dialects; they are named after the historical provinces where they are spoken, even if the dialect area no longer completely conforms to the original territory of the province in question. The settlement names are taken from Indicatorul localităţilor din România [The index of settlements in Romania] (hereafter referred to as the The Index) and their first historically documented references are quoted after Coriolan Suciu, Dicţionar istoric al localităţilor din Transylvania [A historical dictionary of Transylvanian settlements], vol. 1, A–N, 1967, vol. 2, O–Z, 1968. For the historical documentation, diffusion and evolu- tion of monasteries in Transylvania and the Banat, our source is Dicţionarul mănăstirilor din Transilvania, Banat, Crişana şi Maramureş [Dictionary of monasteries in the regions of Transylvania, Banat, Crişana and Maramureş], coordinated by Adrian Andrei Rusu, Cluj-Napoca, 2000.
3 For this situation, see Billy 2011; Casanova 2011, 2013, Fénié & Fénié 1997, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007; Nomenclàtor 2003; Papa 2011. For instance, in French regions, Fénié & Fénié (2003, p. 95, orig. French) observes that “in the onomastic landscape, 3,500 toponyms or place names begin with ‘Saint’ or ‘Sainte’ in the 36,000 communes throughout the French metropolitan area”, and that they are spe- cific to the early centuries of the second millennium. 92 Oliviu and Nicolae Felecan
The structure of oikonyms derived from hagionyms According to the The Index, correlated with other such works as Enci- clopedia României [The Romanian encyclopaedia], “Index:Sate” [Index: villages]), village names derived from hagionyms may be grouped into four categories: (1) Names which employ the lexeme sfânt(ă) (‘saint’, masculine and feminine forms): Sfânta Elena (‘Saint Helena’), Sfântu Gheorghe (‘Saint George’), Sfântu Ilie (‘Saint Elijah’) and Sfântu Vasile (‘Saint Basil’). (2) Names with the element sânt (sân, sâm) (‘saint’), inherited from Latin sanctus and preserved in constructions with saints’ names: Sâmpietru < Sanctus Petrus (‘Saint Peter’), Sâ(m)nicoară < Sanctus Nicolaus (‘Saint Nicholas’), Sângior(d)z < Sanctus Georgius (‘Saint George’), Sântă-Mărie < Sancta Maria (‘Saint Mary’), Sântilie (Sântilii) < Sanctus Helias (‘Saint Elijah’), Sântio(a)n < Sanctus Iohannes (‘Saint John’), Sântoader < Sanctus Theodorus (‘Saint Theodore’), Sânvăsii < Sanctus Basilius (‘Saint Basil’) and Simedru (Sumedru, Sămetru) < Sanctus Demetrius (‘Saint Demetrius’) (Ciorănescu 2001, p. 718). (3) The name of a saint without any appellatives, most often in derivative forms such as Dumitriţa (< ‘Saint Demetrius’), Iacobeni (< ‘Saint Jacob’) and Nicoleşti (< ‘Saint Nicholas’). (4) Other forms of names where, as Carole Hough has pointed out (2009, p. 511), “it is often difficult to differentiate between secular and religious names”.
Names with the lexeme sfânt(ă) (‘saint’, masculine and feminine forms) With reference to this type of name, the analysis is straightforward. All the oikonyms recorded contain the lexeme sfânt(ă) (from Slavic sventŭ), either preceded by an appellative or not, and followed by the name of a saint (a man or a woman) or of a religious object that is evocative of divinity: Baia Sfânta Cruce (‘mine’ + ‘Holy Cross’, Harghita county), Copăceni Sfântu Ion (‘grove’ + ‘Saint John’, Ilfov county), Sfânta Elena (‘Saint Helena’, Caraş-Severin county), Sfântu Gheorghe (‘Saint George’, in several counties: Buzău, Covasna, Ialomiţa, Ilfov, Mureş, cultural and linguistic layers embedded in … 93
Teleorman and Tulcea), Sfântu Ilie (‘Saint Elijah’, Suceava county) and Şieu-Sfântu4 (‘Şieu’ + ‘saint’, Bistriţa-Năsăud county).5 This mechanism for forming oikonyms is not applied widely. It mostly occurs in the regions of Muntenia and Moldova, but also in Transylvania and the Banat, areas where the Orthodox Church used to have or still holds authority.
Names with the lexeme sânt (sân, sâm) (‘saint’) According to contemporary sources, most of the hagionymic oiko- nyms consist only of two blended lexemes6: sânt (sân, sâm) (‘saint’) + the name of the divinity or a saint: Sânandrei (‘Saint Andrew’), Sânbenedic (‘Saint Benedict’), Sângeorz (‘Saint George’), Sânnicoară (‘Saint Nicholas’), Sânpetru (‘Saint Peter’), Sântana (‘Saint Anne’), Sântămăria (‘Saint Mary’), Sânvăsii7 (‘Saint Basil’) among others.8
4 The village was founded in 1173-1196 as villa Igalia, with subsequent name changes recorded over the years: 1230 Igalis iuxta fluvium Syou, 1288 terra Zenthandreas, 1340 Sanctus Andreas, 1837 Szvuntu, 1850 Szintul, 1854 Szent Andras, Sfintul (Suciu 1968, p. 172). 5 Were we to also take into consideration other types of toponyms (major or minor ones), the number of this kind of structure would be significantly higher. 6 There is a single exception, Santa Maria (cf. DG), which seems to have been imposed for administrative reasons, as the local pronunciation is Sântămăria. 7 There exist various hypotheses regarding how the name Sânvăsii was inherited from Latin. The Latin origin of this form is unlikely, as Cristian Ionescu (2001, p. 385, orig. Romanian) explained, “both for linguistic reasons (the initial B in Basilius should have been preserved as in the case of biserică ‘church’ and intervo- calic -l- in basilica should have turned into -r-, and so on) and for cultural ones (the old forms, which probably existed in the distant past, were replaced along with the introduction of the Slavonic Byzantine rites; moreover, the cult of Saint Basil is newer than that of Saint John, whose name resulted in the form sânziene).” The name was adopted into Romanian from Slavic, via scholarly or oral channels. Once it was naturalised, the borrowed forms diversified, as they adapted to the system of subdialects and led to the establishment of a large onomastic family for the base name Vasile, in which one can also find the form Sânvăsii(u). 8 The list we have compiled for this type includes oikonyms like Sântandrei (‘Saint Andrew’, the counties of Bihor, Hunedoara and Mureş + another variant, also without determiners), Sâncrai(u) (‘Holy King’, the counties of Alba, Cluj, Covasna, Harghita and Hunedoara + five variants, simple or with determiners), Sândominic (‘Saint Dominic’, Harghita county), Sângeorz-Băi (‘Saint George’ + ‘baths (resort)’, Bistriţa-Năsăud county + seven variants, simple or with determiners), Sâniacob 94 Oliviu and Nicolae Felecan
They are uniquely characteristic of Transylvania and the Banat and completely absent from other areas. It should be noted that the contemporary form of a name is also a clue as to when the word in question became part of the Romanian onomastic stock. For instance, Sângeorz (‘Saint George’), along with the other variants recorded – Simdzo
(‘Saint Jacob’, Bistriţa-Năsăud county and Cluj county), Sânianoş (‘Saint John’, Satu Mare county), Sâniob (‘Saint Job’, Bihor county), Sânlazar (‘Saint Lazarus’, Bihor county), Sânleani (‘Holy Virgin’, Arad county), Sânmartin (‘Saint Martin’, in the counties of Arad, Bihor, Cluj and Harghita + five variants with determiners), Sânmărghita (‘Saint Margaret’, Cluj county and Mureş county), Sânmihaiu de Câmpie (‘Saint Michael’ + ‘of the plains’, Bistriţa-Năsăud county + six variants with determiners), Sânnicoară (‘Saint Nicholas’, Bistriţa-Năsăud county and Cluj county + seven variants, simple or with determiners), Sânpaul (‘Saint Paul’, in the counties of Arad, Cluj, Harghita and Mureş), Sânpetru (‘Saint Peter’, Braşov county and Hunedoara county + six variants with determiners), Sânsimion (‘Saint Simeon’, Harghita county and Mureş county), Sânta Maria (‘Saint Mary’, Sălaj county + three variants, simple or with determiners), Sântana (‘Saint Anne’, Arad county + two variants with determiners), Sântămaş (‘Saint Thomas’, Arad county), Sântejude (‘Saint Aegidius’, Cluj county + a variant with determiners), Sântelec (‘Holy Ghost’, Bihor county), Sântimbru (‘Saint Emeric’, Alba county and Harghita county + two variants, a simple one and another with determiners), Sântioana (‘Saint Joanna’, in the counties of Bistriţa-Năsăud, Cluj and Mureş + another variant with determiners), Sântion (‘Saint John’, Bihor county + two variants, a simple one and another with determiners), Sântu (‘The saint’, Mureş county), Sânvăsii (‘Saint Basil’, Mureş county), and Sucutard (‘Saint Gothard’, Cluj county). 9 The forms recorded confirm that they were regularly used in Romanian local subdialects and that the settlement existed and bore this name long before it first appeared in a written source in 1440, when the name was translated into Hungarian. Further evidence of this is the addition, in 1607, of the ethnonym Olah to the initial name, Olah Szentgyörgy, reiterated in 1909 in the form Sângeorzul Român (‘Saint George’ + ‘Romanian’). 10 Cristian Ionescu (2001, p. 293-294, orig. Romanian) claims that “in our case, Nicoară is not a continuation of a Latin form, but of a Greek-Latin one, which preserves the Greek stress, in other words, a Balkan or Danubian form, in which the Greek influence was normal. The aforementioned period [“sometime between the fourth and tenth centuries”] is also important: primitive Romanian developed in cultural and linguistic layers embedded in … 95
Nevertheless, the form Sânnicolau refers to a more recent stage, marked by the influence of Slavonic, in which intervocalic -l- was not rhotacised. The oikonyms Sângeorge and Sângeorgiu (‘Saint George’) emerged in modern times. Georgiu is inspired by the Latin Georgius, whereas George is shaped after “forms borrowed from modern West- ern onomastics (especially French and Italian, but Spanish, German and English as well)” (Ionescu 2001, p. 191, orig. Romanian). Often, when there are several settlements with the same name, an element is added (with reference to ethnicity, size, position in space, the name of the area in which a settlement is situated, and so on), in order to distinguish between them: Sângeorz-Băi (‘Saint George’ + ‘baths (resort)’) / Sângeorzul Trascăului11 (‘Saint George’ + ‘of Trascău’); Sângeorgiul de Câmpie (‘Saint George’ + ‘of the plains’) / Sângeorgiul de Meseş (‘Saint George’ + ‘of Meseş’) / Sângeorgiul de Mureş (‘Saint George’ + ‘of Mureş’) / Sângeorgiul de Pădure (‘Saint George’ + ‘of the woods’) / Sângeorgiul Nou12 (‘Saint George’ + ‘new’) / Sângeorgiul Român (‘Saint George’ + ‘Romanian’) / Sângeorgiul Săsesc (‘Saint George’ + ‘Saxon’); Sânmartinu Sărat (‘Saint Martin’ + ‘saline’) / Sânmartinu Sârbesc13 (‘Saint Martin’ + ‘Serbian’) and Sânnicolau de Beiuş14 (‘Saint Nicholas’ + ‘of Beiuş’) / Sânnicolau de Munte (‘Saint Nicholas’ + ‘of the mountain’) / Sân- nicolau Mare (‘Saint Nicholas’ + ‘big, large’) / Sânnicolau Mic (‘Saint
close contact with Greek, which, in the area south of the Danube and starting with the seventh century, eliminated and replaced Latin, a language that had been until then the official language of the Empire and Church. At least from this date onwards, Romanians began hearing in church this old form with a Greek stress, which can be found in Italy as well, where the name in question has developed, as in our area, forms that differ in stress: Nicóla and Nic(c)oló (the first corresponds to Nicoară, while the second, with a Latin stress, corresponds to Niculái, a form that entered our onomasticon via scholarly channels, when Church Slavonic replaced Latin as an ecclesiastical language)”. 11 Nowadays, the locality is called Colţeşti. 12 In The Index (1974, p. 231), the name appears in the form Sângeorzu Nou, with z, perhaps due to its resemblance to Sângeorz-Băi. 13 In the Middle Ages, Sânmartinu Sârbesc and Sânmartinu Maghiar were a single village, Sânmartin (Suciu 1968, p. 129). 14 The old name was Sânmiclăuşu Mare (‘Saint Nicholas’ + ‘big, large’) (The Index 1974, p. 231). 96 Oliviu and Nicolae Felecan
Nicholas’ + ‘little, small’) / Sânnicolau Român (‘Saint Nicholas’ + ‘Romanian’) among others. Due to the Hungarian and Austro-Hungarian sphere of influence, under which Latin was used as the language of administration, the first records of villages bearing names with this structure appear: (1) in Latin, between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries (sanctus + a saint’s name, nominative case form or another case form): Sânan- drei (‘Saint Andrew’) (1333 sacerdos de Sancto Andrea); Sân- benedic (‘Saint Benedict’) (1332 sacerdos de Sancto Benedicto); Sâncrai15 (‘Holy King’) (1219, 1282 villa Sancti Regis); Sângeorge (‘Saint George’) (1319 villa Sancti Georgii); Sânpaul (‘Saint Paul’) (1295 Sanctus Paulus); Sântana de Mureş (‘Saint Anne’ + ‘of Mureş’) (1332 sacerdos de Sancta Anna); Sânzieni (‘Saint John’) (1332 sacerdos de Sancto Spiritu) and Săvădisla16 (‘Saint Ladis- laus’) (1332 sacerdos de Sancto Ladislao) among others or: (2) in Hungarian, beginning with the fourteenth century17 (with szent, zent, zenth and zen): Sâncraiu (‘Holy King’) (1566 Zentkijralij); Sân- craiul Almaşului (‘Holy King’ + ‘of the Almaş’) (1345 Zentkiraly, Zentkiral); Sâncraiul Silvaniei (‘Holy King’ + ‘of Sylvania’) (1452 Zenthkkyral); Sândominic (‘Saint Dominic’; Dominic = Hungarian Domokos) (c. 1567 Zent Domokos) and Sângeorgiu de Meseş (‘Saint George’ + ‘of Meseş’) (1453 Zenthgerg, Zenthgeuorg) among others. There are also cases when settlements received a saint’s name later on, as their earliest documentation attests to a different name: Sânmiclăuş
15 Crai in Sâncrai is related to Slavic kralĭ ‘king’ and Hungarian király ‘king, prince, ruler of the Ardeal, lord’. The oikonyms refer to King Stephen (997-1038), crowned in 1001 by Pope Sylvester II. During his reign, administrative institutions were formed and Christianity was adopted as the official religion. He was canonised in 1081, Sanctus Rex (DE VI, p. 633). 16 Although the element sân is not conspicuous, it is, nevertheless, part of the name, by means of successive phonetic transformations: 1332 sacerdos de Sancto Ladisloo, 1824 Szavagyiszláv, implying a Slavic name, Sân Wladisla(w) or Sân Vladislav, which became Săvădisla and Săvăghisla in Romanian. This proves that, when this settlement was founded, Slavic people still inhabited the area (cf. Puşcariu in DR VIII, p. 344). 17 This situation led to the coexistence or even blending of the two means of ono- mastic expression (Latin and Hungarian) in the fourteenth century, e.g. Sanctus or an appellative + Hungarian phrase: 1320 terra Zenthguthard = Sucutard (‘Saint Gothard’). cultural and linguistic layers embedded in … 97
(‘Saint Nicholas’, Satu Mare county) – 1390 possession habitatoribus destituta Kathool, 1417 Kathazenthmiklos; Sântejude18 (‘Saint Aegid- ius’, Cluj county) – 1173-1196 Vesscel, 1328 Szent Egyed, de Sancto Egidio; Dumitriţa (‘Saint Demetrius’, Bistriţa-Năsăud county) – 1333 sacerdos de Truhnek, 1334 Sanctus Demetrius; Gurghiu (‘Saint George’, Mureş county) – 1249 Gurgen <= Gurgeu>, 1453 Zenth- emreh; Poiana Ilvei (‘meadow’ + ‘Ilva’, Bistriţa-Năsăud county) – 1760-1762 Pojana, 1808 Szent-Jósef cum Major, 1839 Szent-Jósef, Pojána (Lenk), 1854 Szent-Jósef, Poiana; Şieu-Sfântu (‘Şieu’ + ‘Saint’, Bistriţa-Năsăud county) – 1173-1196 villa Igalia, 1230 Igalis iuxta flu- vium Syou, 1288 terra Zenthandreas and 1340 Sanctus Andreas. The choice of hagionyms to designate human settlements psychologically corresponds to placing those settlements under the protection of saints so as to keep them safe from danger and disaster. Finally, some villages have preserved to this day their Romani- anised Hungarian name: Sânianoş19 (‘Saint John’), Sânmiclăuş20 (‘Saint Nicholas’) and Sântămaş(u) (‘Saint Thomas’), for example.
Oikonyms consisting of hagionyms that occur without appellatives As they consist solely of saints’ names, oikonyms from this category are problematic with respect to the value of the underlying anthropo- nyms, which might equally be treated as hagionyms or secular names. In order to keep to the framework formulated for the present paper, we will only deal with oikonyms that, through the years, have been recorded in phrases together with the words sanctus or zent(h).21
18 Sântejude is “a Romanian adaptation of Hungarian Szent Egyed (< Latin Sanctus Egidius)” (Goicu 1999, p. 144, orig. Romanian). 19 A village absorbed by the town of Carei, Satu Mare county. 20 Miclăuş reproduces the Romanian pronunciation of the Hungarian name Miklós (= Nicolae ‘Nicholas’), similar to the case of Tămaş = Tamás (‘Thomas’). 21 The list we compiled comprises the oikonyms Agnita (Sibiu county), Andrid (Satu Mare county), Avrămeşti (Harghita county), Benic (Hunedoara county), Cata- lina (Covasna county), Dumitreni (Mureş county), Dumitriţa (Bistriţa-Năsăud county), Eliseni (Harghita county), Eremieni (Mureş county), Iacobeni (Cluj county), Ivăneşti (Mureş county), Martineşti (Cluj county and Satu Mare county), Mihăeni (Satu Mare county), Mihăeşti (Cluj county), Mihăileni (Harghita county), Mitreşti (Mureş county), Nicoleni (Harghita county), Nicoleşti (Harghita county and Mureş county), Petreni (Harghita county), Simoneşti (Harghita county), Tămaşu (Harghita county), Tomeşti (Harghita county), and Vasileni (Harghita county). 98 Oliviu and Nicolae Felecan
Due to the fact that some occur as simple names and others as derivatives, we will group them according to the presence or absence of suffixation: (1) Without suffixation: Benic (Hunedoara county), from Benedict (= Sanctus Benedictus, Hungarian Benedek, Benyik)22; Catalina (Covasna county) / Cătălina (Cluj county) (‘Saint Catherine’, 1334 Sancta Katherina, 1854 Szent-Katolna, Sânt-Catolna); Tămaşu (Harghita county) (‘Saint Thomas’, 1333 sacerdos de Sancto Thoma, 1576 Szent Tamás, 1854 Szent Tamás, Sân-Tomaş); Troiţa (Mureş county) (‘Holy Trinity’, 1332 sacerdos de Sancta Trinitate, 1496 Zent Trinitas and 1854 Szent-Háromság, Haroşaga). (2) With the suffix -ea: Mesentea / Misentea (the Romanian forms of Hungarian Mendzenth / Mindszent ‘All Saints’ Day’, Omnes Sancti). (3) With the suffix -eni: Dămăcuşeni < Dămăcuş = Hungarian Domokos: Szent Domokos ‘Saint Dominic’; Eliseni < Elisa, a hypoc- orism of Elisabeth or Elisabet (1333 sacerdos de villa Sancte Elysa- beth); Eremieni < Eremia (Ieremia ‘Jeremiah’, from Hebrew Jirme- jahu), considered identical to Hungarian Emeric / Imre(h) / Imru / Imbru (‘Saint Emeric’, 1332 sacerdos de Sancto Emerico); Iacobeni < Iacob (‘Saint Jacob’, 1341 poss. Zenth Jacaptelke, 1854 Sân Iacob); Lăureni < root laur-, extracted from the name of Saint Lawrence = Hungarian Lörintz: 1332 sacerdos de Sancto Laurentio; Mihăeni < Mihai ‘Michael’ = Hungarian Mihaly: 1380 Myhalfalwa, 1647 Szent Mihalyfalva; Mihăileni < Mihăilă, a variant of Mihail ‘Michael’ (1333 sacerdos de Sancto Michaele); Nicoleni (‘Saint Nicholas’, 1333 sac- erdos de Sancto Nycolao); Petreni (‘Saint Peter’, 1567 Zent Peter) and Vasileni < Vasile ‘Basil’ = Hungarian László (1566 Zenthlazlo). (4) With the suffix -eşti: Avrămeşti23 (‘Saint Abraham’, Sân Avram: 1334 sacerdos de Sanct Abraam); Crăeşti (‘Holy King’, Sân Craiul
22 Benic and other forms based on the name Benedict have appeared in Romanian documents since as early as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as a result of the Catholic influence, which was fairly strong in Transylvania and the Banat. In these regions, the impact of Catholicism was exerted via Hungarian, Serbian or Croatian channels (Ionescu 2001, p. 71). 23 The Index (1974, p. 72) records several settlements with this name, in the counties of Alba (two), Buzău, Harghita, Vaslui, Vâlcea, and a settlement named Avrămeni, in Botoşani county, which may be explained in a similar manner. However, these oikonyms may also be derived from Avram (English Abraham), possibly the name of a founder. cultural and linguistic layers embedded in … 99
Deşert ‘Holy King’ + ‘desert / deserted’: 1310 villa Scentkirály); Ivăneşti (‘Saint John’, 1332 sacerdos de Sancto Johanne); Mărtineşti (‘Saint Martin’, 1213 Villa sancti Martini); Mihăieşti (‘Saint Michael’, 1283 Zent Michallytelke); Mitreşti (a hypocorism of Dumitru ‘Demetrius’: Mitru, Mitrea, Mitra (cf. Ionescu 2001, pp. 140-142), as a result of establishing an incorrect connection with Martin, Hungarian Marton: 1453 Zenthmarthon); Nicoleşti (‘Saint Nicholas’, 1333 sacerdos de Sancto Nicolao); Nicoleşti (‘Saint Nicholas’, 1332 sacerdos de Sancto Nycolao); Simoneşti (‘Saint Simeon’, 1333 sacerdos de Sancto Simone); Ştefăneşti < Ştefan ‘Stephen’ = Hungarian István (1332 sacerdos de Sancto Stephano, 1644 Szent István) and Tomeşti < Toma ‘Thomas’ = Hungarian Tamás (1333 sacerdos de Sancto Thoma). (5) With the suffix -iş: Mărtiniş24 (‘Saint Martin’, 1333 sacerdos de Sancto Martino). (6) With the suffix -iţa: Dumitriţa (‘Saint Demetrius’, 1334 Sanctus Demetrius).
Other names The following settlements have not preserved the names with which they were recorded through the centuries. They are documented with new names, which were bestowed according to different criteria, such as the characteristics of an area or its being reminiscent of various people, officials and churches. We have included them in the list as proof of the abundance of villages with names based on saints’ names, even if the oikonyms in these cases were eventually changed. Bozna (Sălaj county) (1619 Szent Peterfalva ‘Saint Peter vil- lage’). Bozna is not related to the Hungarian name. Originally, it was also an anthroponym, derived from Boz, Bozea or Boza (Pătruţ 1980, p. 64); Bisericani (from biserică ‘church’, Mureş county) (1333 sac- erdos de Sancto Spiritu). The Latin term Sancto Spiritu is not linked to the initial documented record “Sfântul Spirit” (‘Holy Ghost’), Sanctus Spiritus, but refers to the field of religion nonetheless; Colţeşti (Cluj county) (1332 sacerdos de Sancto Georgio ‘Saint George’);
24 In present-day Romania, the settlement is recorded in The Index with the name Gligoreşti, a village that belongs to the commune of Luna, Cluj county. 100 Oliviu and Nicolae Felecan
Feliceni (Harghita county) (1333, 1334 sacerdos de Villa Sancte Marie ‘Saint Mary’); Gălăţeni (Mureş county) (1332 sacerdos de Sancta Gerecia = Gracia ‘Holy Grace’); Gurghiu (Mureş county) (1249 Gurgen <= Gurgeu>, 1453 Zenth-emreh, 1854 Görgény-Szent- Imre, Görgény, Sân-Imbrul-Gurghiului ‘Saint Emeric’); Mănăstire25 (‘monastery’, Timiş county) (1913 Zárdas-szentgyörgy ‘Saint George’); Mănăstirea (‘the monastery’, Cluj county) (1308 Scen- benedek ‘Saint Benedict’); Mihai Viteazul26 (‘Michael the Brave’, Cluj county) (1310 datum in villa Beati Michaelis ‘Saint Michael’); Murgeşti (Mureş county) (1332 sacerdos de Sancto Benedicto ‘Saint Benedict’); Nucet (Sibiu county) (1387 villa regia Zent Janusfalua ‘Saint John’); Poiana Ilvei (‘meadow’ + ‘Ilva’, Bistriţa-Năsăud county) (1808 Szent-Jósef cum Major ‘Saint Joseph’); Sânzieni27 (‘Saint John’, Covasna county) (1332 sacerdos de Sancto Spiritu ‘Holy Ghost’) and Voivodeni (from voievod ‘voivode’,28 Mureş county) (1332 sacerdos de Sancto Johanne ‘Saint John’).
Conclusion The most numerous oikonyms derived from hagionyms are found in Transylvania and the Banat and they are recorded from the twelfth century onwards. This proves that there existed a period in which Christianisation (carried out in a systematic and comprehensive man- ner) intensified in these areas, through the monasteries founded by monks of various orders coming from the West especially after the conversion to Christianity of King Stephen of Hungary in the year 1001. The patron saints of these institutions were the inspiration for
25 A village founded in 1909 and named Monostor-szentgyörgy in 1913 (Suciu 1967, p. 402). 26 The continuity of the designation is ensured only formally, through the name Mihai(l): Sfântul Mihail (‘Saint Michael’) and Mihai Viteazu (‘Michael the Brave’), ruler of Wallachia (1593-1601), Transylvania (1599-1600) and Moldova (1600) (cf. DE IV 2001, p. 397). 27 We included the oikonym in this paragraph because it is derived from an inherited term, although it is not related to the names recorded. This transfer was also accepted due to the semantic load that Sânziene (from Sanctus dies Johannis, cf. DLR s.v.) displays. 28 The name refers to an authority that disappeared in time: voivode, from Slavic vojevoda ‘1. lord, ruler. 2 (old-fashioned) an army leader, captain’ (DLR, s.v.). cultural and linguistic layers embedded in … 101 the names of the villages that were established in the vicinity of the churches, as well as of other villages in the area, which were “rebap- tised”. The transfer of function may be accounted for by the popular belief that, by borrowing a hagionym, a new settlement would be protected by the titular saint; the same conviction underlies the choice of holy patronage for churches (see Felecan & Felecan 2013, pp. 186-206). Nevertheless, this should not lead to the conclusion that Roma- nian villages only began to be founded in this period. Some settle- ments date back to much older times, perhaps even as early as the age in which the Romanian language and people were formed (see Sângeorz and Sânnicoară). The earliest records of villages that bear these kinds of names, first in Latin and then in Hungarian, reveal the ongoing efforts of the Hungarian administration to translate every toponym or anthropo- nym, except for those that they could not understand. On the other hand, this model of naming villages is still in use. It is a motivated type of name-giving, making the resulting oikonyms easy to under- stand. It is true that, in time, the names of some settlements were sub- jected to changes for various reasons, most often prompted by the authorities. Sometimes the element sânt (sân, sâm ‘saint’) was removed, which made it difficult to determine whether an anthropo- nym referred to the founder of the village or the lord or patron of the religious institution. In other cases, it simply happened that another name was adopted. A comparison could be made with France, where the number of religious oikonyms decreased after the Revolution of 1789, when a campaign “of eliminating religious names” (Vaxelaire 2005, p. 162, orig. French) was waged. However, in Romania, in spite of all the trials and tribulations that history has brought about, including the period of atheistic communism in the twentieth cen- tury, most religious names have endured. The reasons are manifold: the steadfast faith of the nation, as reflected in the great number of churches and monasteries; the location of Romanian territories on the border of the Ottoman Empire, constituting further motivation for Christian names to be preserved, even in toponyms and oiko- nyms. From a religious perspective (see the situations discussed under 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4), although the tradition of naming villages after saints is 102 Oliviu and Nicolae Felecan
Catholic, the most popular saints’ names that occur in oikonyms are not Hungarian but derive from the best-known saints in the Byzantine-Slavic and Orthodox cultures. Thus, of the 150 settlements in our list, the top positions are occupied by Sfântul Nicolae (Szent Miklos ‘Saint Nicholas’) with fourteen occurrences, Sfântul Mihail (Szent Mihaly ‘Saint Michael’) with twelve, Sf. Petru (Szent Peter ‘Saint Peter’) with ten, Sfântul Ioan (Szent Ivan ‘Saint John’) with ten, Sfântul Gheorghe (Szent Gyorgy ‘Saint George’) with ten, Sfântul Dumitru (Szent Demeter ‘Saint Demetrius’) with five, Sfântul Andrei (Szent András ‘Saint Andrew’) with five, Sfântul Paul (Pavel ‘Saint Paul’) with four, Sfântul Vasile (‘Saint Basil’) with four and Toţi Sfinţii (‘All Saints’) with two. If we also include the names that refer to the divinity (Sfântul Spirit ‘Holy Ghost’ three occurrences, Sfânta Treime ‘Holy Trinity’ two occurrences), the Virgin Mary (Sfânta Maria ‘Saint Mary’ five occurrences) or Saint Anne (Sfânta Ana three occurrences) and Saint Joseph (Sfântul Iosif one occurrence), these names add up to 90 in total, that is, 60 per cent. The number and percentage correlate closely with the lists compiled by the Hungarian researchers Kniesza István, 1943, and Mezö András, 1996, for a broader area (cf. Goicu 1999, p. 140). An interesting situation is that of the oikonym Andrid, from Hun- garian Endred, a derivative with the toponymic suffix -d from Endre (an element found in the name of the famous poet Ady Endre, 1877- 1919), which is derived from the Romanian name Îndrea, inherited from Latin Andreas (cf. Ciorănescu 2001, p. 423). In this example, î was rendered by means of the vocal e and the diphthong ea also by means of e, as in the case of Florea, which became Flore (Goicu 1999, p. 132).29 In Transylvania, despite the coexistence of several ethnic groups (Romanian, Hungarian and German, in particular) and creeds (Ortho- dox, Catholic and Protestant), the religious element has always been a binding agent and no form of government ever dared to try to eli minate oikonyms of Christian origin. At the most, these names suffered language-related changes.
29 Îndrea has also acquired an anthroponymic value (cf. Goicu 1999, pp. 131-134), but the name may be used to refer to the month of December, as in the case of Sardinian sant-andria ‘November’ and Albanian šën-ëndre ‘December’ (Ciorănescu 2001, p. 423). cultural and linguistic layers embedded in … 103
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Oliviu Felecan, Nicolae Felecan Department of Philology and Cultural Studies, Center of Onomastics, Faculty of Letters North University Centre of Baia Mare, Technical University of Cluj- Napoca 76 Victoriei Street, 430122 Baia Mare, Romania [email protected]
Résumé : Strates culturelles et linguistiques dans les noms roumains d’habitat dérivés d’hagionymes Cet article a pour but de mettre en lumière la relation profonde entre religion et nom d’habitat. Il traite de l’utilisation des noms de saints pour désigner certains habitats en Roumanie. Le bâtiment de l’église, trait d’union entre ces deux domaines, est un lieu de culte qui rassemble des populations d’une zone géographique déterminée. Chaque lieu de culte étant consacré à un titulaire (Jésus, Vierge Marie ou, plus souvent, un saint du calendrier), le nom du titulaire peut parfois devenir le nom de l’habitat formé autour de l’église, phénomène fréquent dans toute l’Europe. Bien que ce système caractérise en général, mais pas seulement, l’aire de l’Europe occidentale (Italie, France, Espagne, Portugal…), il a aussi fonctionné en Roumanie, surtout en Transyl- vanie, par l’influence du catholicisme. En particulier, la structure de certains noms d’habitats permet de distinguer une phase historique, et même linguistique et culturelle, liée à l’influence crois- sante des peuples qui ont, à certaines époques, établi un contact direct avec le peuple roumain, sinon régné sur des parties de son territoire. À cet égard, nous pouvons citer des exemples de lexèmes usités pour sfânt ‘saint’ : sânt (sân, sâm, issu du latin sanctus), sfânt (du slave sventŭ), hongrois szent et allemand Sankt. Les noms des saints usités sont alors conformes à ces langues (Nicoară / Nico- la(i)e / Miklós ; Sângeorz / Szent-György / Sankt-Georgen entre autres). Mais souvent, en fonction de la nature dynamique des noms d’habitats, les toponymes issus d’hagionymes ont été réduits à de simples vestiges, voire devenus inintelligibles de la plupart des locuteurs. Notre but est ici de décou- vrir et expliquer ces aspects.
Summary: Cultural and linguistic layers embedded in Romanian oikonyms derived from hagionyms This study aims at highlighting the strong relationship between religion and oikonymy. The paper deals with the use of names of saints to designate certain Romanian settlements. The agent that unites the two fields and ensures their 106 Oliviu and Nicolae Felecan
connection is the church, considered physically, as a place of worship that brings together people from a specific geographical area. As every place of worship is consecrated to a patron (such as Jesus, Blessed Virgin Mary or, more often, a saint of the calendar), the name of the patron can sometimes become the name of the settlement formed around the church, a situation that has frequently occurred throughout Europe. Although this system usually—but not exclusively—characterises parts of western Europe (like Italy, France, Spain and Portugal), it was also established in Romania, especially in Transylvania, via the influence of Catholicism. Interestingly enough, the structure of certain names of settlements allows us to distinguish a certain historical phase and even a linguistic and cultural phase, which can be related to the ever-increasing influence of the peoples who, in certain ages, established direct contact with the Romanian people or ruled over parts of the Romanian territory. In this respect, we cite examples of the lexemes used for the word sfânt ‘saint’: sânt (sân, sâm, inherited from Latin sanctus), sfânt (from Slavic sventŭ), Hungarian szent and German Sankt. To these forms, the names of saints are attached; the hagionyms occur as inherited variants, as elements of Slavic origin or as Hungarian and German variants (Nicoară / Nicola(i)e / Miklós; Sângeorz / Szent-György / Sankt- Georgen among others). More often than not, as a result of the dynamic nature of oikonyms, topo- nyms derived from the names of saints have been reduced to mere relicts or are unintelligible to most speakers. It is the aim of our study to uncover and explicate these aspects.
Zusammenfassung: Kulturelle und sprachliche Schichten in rumänischen Oikonymen, die von Hagionymen abgeleitet sind Der vorliegende Aufsatz setzt sich zum Ziel, den engen Zusammenhang zwi- schen Religion und Oikonymie zu verdeutlichen. Dafür wird der Gebrauch der Heiligennamen zur Benennung rumänischer Siedlungen untersucht. Der Fak- tor, der beide Bereiche miteinander verbindet, ist die Kirche als konkreter Ort der Verehrung, der Menschen aus einer bestimmten geographischen Umge- bung zusammenbringt. Da jeder Verehrungsort einem Schutzheiligen gewid- met ist (so Jesus, der Muttergottes oder einem Heiligen aus dem Kalender), kann der Heiligenname zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt zum Namen der Sied- lung in der Umgebung der entsprechende Kirche werden. Dieses Benennungs- muster hat sich überall in Europa vielfach wiederholt. In der Regel, aber nicht ausschließlich, ist ein solches Benennungssystem für Westeuropa charakteristisch (z. B. Italien, Frankreich, Spanien und Portu- gal). Es hat sich allerdings auch in Rumänien, insbesondere in Transsilvanien, durch den Einfluss des Katholizismus etabliert. Interessanterweise lässt die Struktur einer Reihe von Siedlungsnamen eine bestimmte historische, aber auch eine sprachliche und kulturelle Entstehungs- phase erkennen. Solche Phasen können dem wachsenden Einfluss der Völker cultural and linguistic layers embedded in … 107 zugeordnet werden, die zu bestimmten Zeiten einen direkten Kontakt zu den Rumänen aufgenommen oder Teile des rumänischen Territoriums beherrscht haben. Diesbezüglich können Beispiele von Lexemen zum Wort sfânt ,Heili- ger‘ genannt werden: sânt (sân, sâm, vom lateinischen sanctus), sfânt (von slavischem sventŭ), szent ungarischer Herkunft und Sankt deutscher Herkunft. Zu diesen Formen werden Heiligennamen hinzugefügt; die Hagionyme treten in ihrer ererbten rumänischen Form oder als Elemente ungarischer, slavischer oder germanischer Herkunft auf (u. a. Nicoară / Nicola(i)e / Miklós; Sângeorz / Szent-György / Sankt-Georgen). Als Ergebnis der dynamischen Entwicklung von Oikonymen wurden Orts- namen von Heiligennamen häufig zu bloßen Relikten reduziert bzw. sie sind für die meisten Sprecher undurchsichtig. Der Aufsatz zielt darauf ab, solche Aspekte offenzulegen und zu erläutern.