Cultural and Linguistic Layers Embedded in Romanian Oikonyms Derived from Hagionyms

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 revealing “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 villages 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 subdialects; 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 specific 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)

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