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* The Medieval Latin form ''Ultrasylvania'' (1077), later ''Transylvania'' (from an other point of view after the foundation of Hungary in 895), was a direct translation from the Hungarian form (rather than the Hungarian being derived from the Latin).<ref name="engel">Engel, Pál (2001). ''Realm of St. Stephen: History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526 (International Library of Historical Studies)'', London: [[I.B. Tauris]]. ISBN 1-86064-061-3</ref> This theory is also supported by the [[Romania]]n historian [[Ioan-Aurel Pop]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Pop|first=Ion-Aurel|trans_title=The Medieval History of Transylvania: from the Romanian Ethnogenesis until Michael the Brave|url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/30886268/Istoria-Transilvaniei-Medievale|title=Istoria Transilvaniei Medievale: De la Etnogeneza Romanilor pana la Mihai Viteazul|accessdate=2013-10-03 |year=1997|language=ro}}</ref>
* The Medieval Latin form ''Ultrasylvania'' (1077), later ''Transylvania'' (from an other point of view after the foundation of Hungary in 895), was a direct translation from the Hungarian form (rather than the Hungarian being derived from the Latin).<ref name="engel">Engel, Pál (2001). ''Realm of St. Stephen: History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526 (International Library of Historical Studies)'', London: [[I.B. Tauris]]. ISBN 1-86064-061-3</ref> This theory is also supported by the [[Romania]]n historian [[Ioan-Aurel Pop]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Pop|first=Ion-Aurel|trans_title=The Medieval History of Transylvania: from the Romanian Ethnogenesis until Michael the Brave|url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/30886268/Istoria-Transilvaniei-Medievale|title=Istoria Transilvaniei Medievale: De la Etnogeneza Romanilor pana la Mihai Viteazul|accessdate=2013-10-03 |year=1997|language=ro}}</ref>
* Other strong Evidence for the Hungarian claim is that in Transilvania there are no Town/River/Mountain or what so ever geographic formation names of Romanian origin. There was a strong effort of Romanian side to translate all Hungarian origin names to Romanian language. The way it was done is quite unique. The Hungarian pronunciation was taken and given a Romanian pronunciation form, but without any particular meaning in the Romanian language. That is even true for names of historical figures.
* Other strong Evidence for the Hungarian claim is that in Transilvania there are no Town/River/Mountain or what so ever geographic formation names of Romanian origin. There was a strong effort of Romanian side to translate all Hungarian origin names to Romanian language. The way it was done is quite unique. The Hungarian pronunciation was taken and given a Romanian pronunciation form, but without any particular meaning in the Romanian language. That is even true for names of historical figures.
Examples for Mountain/ geographic formation:
** Examples for Mountain/ geographic formation:
-(Hungarian Form)Nagy-Hagymás (Nagy = Big, Hagyma = Onion. The mountain that has a form of an Onion ) -> (Romanian Form) Hășmașul Mare(Mare = Big, Hășmașu = Equilant of Hagymás Pronunciation)
*** (Hungarian Form)Nagy-Hagymás (Nagy = Big, Hagyma = Onion. The mountain that has a form of an Onion ) -> (Romanian Form) Hășmașul Mare(Mare = Big, Hășmașu = Equilant of Hagymás Pronunciation).
Examples for Mountain/ geographic formation:
** Examples for Town names:
-(Hungarian Form)Udvarhely (Udvar = Court, hely = place) -> (Romanian Form) Odorhei(Has no meaning)
*** (Hungarian Form)Udvarhely (Udvar = Court, hely = place) -> (Romanian Form) Odorhei(Has no meaning)
-The examples are countless.( Ádámos – Adămuş, Ágya – Adea, Éradony – Adoni, Adorján – Adrian, Egeres – Aghireşu …)
*** The examples are countless.( Ádámos – Adămuş, Ágya – Adea, Éradony – Adoni, Adorján – Adrian, Egeres – Aghireşu …)
Examples for names of historical figures:
** Examples for names of historical figures:
-(Hungarian Name)Pál Kinizsi – (Romanian Translation)Paul Chinezu
*** (Hungarian Name)Pál Kinizsi – (Romanian Translation)Paul Chinezu




Revision as of 11:43, 15 January 2016

Transylvania has had different names applied to it in several traditions.

Transylvania

The first reference to the region was as the Medieval Latin expression terra ultra silvam "land beyond the forest" in a document dating to 1075. The expression Partes Transsylvanæ "area beyond the forest" appears in the 12th century in Legenda Sancti Gerhardi and subsequently as Transsilvania in medieval documents of the Hungarian kingdom.

Ardeal/Erdély

The names of Ardeal in Romanian and Erdély in Hungarian are believed to be connected. However, the original source and meaning are disputed and claimed by both Romanians and Hungarians.

The first Hungarian form recorded was Erdeuelu (12th century, in the Gesta Hungarorum), while the first Romanian form recorded was in 1432 as Ardeliu. Nevertheless, it is highly plausible for the Hungarian form Erdély, older Erdeuelu (Erdőelü) (12th century) to be derived from the language of the original Wallachian inhabitants of Transylvania, since during the 10th-12th centuries the Transylvanian plateau was largely covered by forests, therefore, no contrasting 'forest free' country could have been identified as laying 'beyond' the forests of the Western Carpathians.

Hungarian view

The consensus of Hungarian linguists and Hungarian historians on the etymology of both Erdély and Transylvania is as follows:

  • The modern Hungarian form Erdély was derived from Erdő-elü, literally ‘beyond the forest’. Erdő means ‘woods, forest’, and the archaic elü suffix meant ‘beyond’ (modern reflexes: dialectal elvé ‘beyond’, dialectal el, elv ‘the place beyond’) and was applied to a certain type of border region (gyepű) and the associated social and economical organisation; for example, Gyepűelve (near Ungvár), and archaic Havaselve ‘Wallachia’, lit. "beyond the snowy mountains" (modern Havasalföld), refers to a region lying beyond the Carpathian mountains if viewed from Hungary, and was under strong Hungarian political influence during the Middle Ages.[1] The elü/elve suffix suggests a point of view east of the Carpathians, namely, the Hungarians created these names in Etelköz/Atelkuzu (Hungarian homeland in southern Ukraine), long before they settled in the Carpathian Basin.
  • The Medieval Latin form Ultrasylvania (1077), later Transylvania (from an other point of view after the foundation of Hungary in 895), was a direct translation from the Hungarian form (rather than the Hungarian being derived from the Latin).[2] This theory is also supported by the Romanian historian Ioan-Aurel Pop.[3]
  • Other strong Evidence for the Hungarian claim is that in Transilvania there are no Town/River/Mountain or what so ever geographic formation names of Romanian origin. There was a strong effort of Romanian side to translate all Hungarian origin names to Romanian language. The way it was done is quite unique. The Hungarian pronunciation was taken and given a Romanian pronunciation form, but without any particular meaning in the Romanian language. That is even true for names of historical figures.
    • Examples for Mountain/ geographic formation:
      • (Hungarian Form)Nagy-Hagymás (Nagy = Big, Hagyma = Onion. The mountain that has a form of an Onion ) -> (Romanian Form) Hășmașul Mare(Mare = Big, Hășmașu = Equilant of Hagymás Pronunciation).
    • Examples for Town names:
      • (Hungarian Form)Udvarhely (Udvar = Court, hely = place) -> (Romanian Form) Odorhei(Has no meaning)
      • The examples are countless.( Ádámos – Adămuş, Ágya – Adea, Éradony – Adoni, Adorján – Adrian, Egeres – Aghireşu …)
    • Examples for names of historical figures:
      • (Hungarian Name)Pál Kinizsi – (Romanian Translation)Paul Chinezu


Romanian view

Several Romanian perspectives have suggested alternative etymologies:

  • The Romanian name Ardeal derives from the Indo-European prefix ar, meaning “high”, or the Latin word arx, meaning “fortress”, and the Romanian / Wallachian deal / dealuri / deli , meaning “hill / hills”. The Hungarian form Erdély, older Erdeuelu (Erdőelü) (12th century) has probably been derived from the language of the original Wallachian inhabitants of Transylvania. The borrowing and adaptation of the Romanian name Ardeal are very likely, also since during the 10th-12th centuries the Transylvanian plateau was largely covered by forests, therefore, no contrasting 'forest free' country could have been identified as laying 'beyond' the forests of the Western Carpathians.
  • A letter from around 960 from the Khazar king Joseph to Chasdai ibn Shaprut, the Rabbi of Córdoba, mentions the Ardil country (Eretz Ardil), rich in gold and silver.[4][5][6] Today, in Hebrew, Ardeal is written identically: ארדיל. This theory therefore suggests that Ardi(a)l was the primary form of the name and thus "Ardeal" is an original Romanian toponym.[improper synthesis?]

Siebenbürgen

The oldest occurrences of this form are from the 13th century:

  • In the year 1241: in Annales Sancti Trudperti and in the Annals of Zwifalt: "Tartari terras Pannonie, Septum urbium, Moraviae vestaverunt”[7][8]
  • In the year 1242: in the notes of the friar Erfurt: „Eodem anno Tartari in Ungaria, terra scilicet Septem castrorum, civitatem dictam Hermanii villam in Aprili expugnantes, usque ad centum ibi peremerunt...”[9]
  • In the year 1285: "...Eodem anno Tarthari terram Ungarie que dicitur Septemcastris, intraverunt et multos christianos captivaverunt et occiderunt” and "...quid audientes Septemcastrenses”.[10]
  • In the year 1296: a reference to a particular "maister Dietrich von Siebenbuergen”.[11]
  • In the year 1300: Ottacher of Styria mentions "Sybenburger”.[12]

There exist a number of theories on the etymology of Siebenbürgen, the German name for Transylvania.

The most widely accepted theory is that Siebenbürgen refers to the seven principal fortified towns of the Transylvanian Saxons. The name first appeared in a document from 1296. An alternate Medieval Latin version, Septem Castra ("Seven fortresses") was also used in documents. The towns alluded to are: Bistritz (Bistrița, Beszterce), Hermannstadt (Sibiu, Nagyszeben), Klausenburg (Cluj-Napoca, Kolozsvár), Kronstadt (Brașov, Brassó), Mediasch (Mediaș, Medgyes), Mühlbach (Sebeș, Szászsebes), and Schässburg (Sighișoara, Segesvár). [citation needed]

Other theories include:

  • Siebenbürgen means "Seven Castles" but does not refer to the towns of the Transylvanian Saxons. Transylvania and the Mureș valley seem to have been the first portion of land within the Carpathians where Magyars gained a foothold. According to legend, each of the seven Magyar chieftains erected an earthen 'castle' in this region.[13]
  • Siebenbürgen means explicitly "Seven Towns" or "Seven Castles". However, this etymology seems to originate in the dialectical tradition of the first, mainly Low German, Flemish and Dutch settlers, in whose homelands there are hilly regions called "Zevenbergen" (a town in Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands) and "Sevenbergen" (east of the town of Hameln on the river Weser, Germany).[14]
  • Saxon settlement in Transylvania began in Sibiu. An early German name for the town was Cibinburg (akin to the Cibiniensis Latin name of the area). The alternate name Cibinburg was corrupted into Siebenbürgen, and became the name for the whole region.[2]

The Slavic names of the region (Sedmigradsko or Sedmogradsko (Седмиградско or Седмоградско) in Bulgarian, Sedmogradska in Croatian, Sedmograjska in Slovene, Sedmihradsko in Czech, Sedmohradsko in Slovak, Siedmiogród in Polish, Semihorod (Семигород) in Ukrainian), as well as its Walloon name (Zivenbork), are translations of the German one.

In Ukrainian, the name Zalissia (Ukrainian: Залісся), meaning "beyond the forest" is also used.

References

  1. ^ Benkő Loránd; Kiss Lajos; Papp László (1984). A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára (in Hungarian). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 963-05-3810-5.
  2. ^ a b Engel, Pál (2001). Realm of St. Stephen: History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526 (International Library of Historical Studies), London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-061-3
  3. ^ Pop, Ion-Aurel (1997). "Istoria Transilvaniei Medievale: De la Etnogeneza Romanilor pana la Mihai Viteazul" (in Romanian). Retrieved 2013-10-03. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Otrokocsi, F. F. (1693). Origines Hungaricae (in Latin). Vol. I. p. 27. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  5. ^ Halevi (1914). Sefer ha-Kuzari. Vilna.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Marțian, Ion (1925). Ardealul nu derivă din ungurește (in Romanian). Bistrița.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^ Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores. Vol. X. Hannover. 1852. p. 59.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores. Vol. XVII. 1861. p. 294.
  9. ^ Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores. Vol. XVI. 1859. p. 34.
  10. ^ "Annales Polonorum". Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores. Vol. XIX. p. 684.
  11. ^ Urkundebuch zur Geschichte der Deutschen in Siebenbürgen. Vol. I. p. 143.
  12. ^ Wolff, Apud J. (1886). "Die Landesnamen Siebenbürgens'". Programm des vierklassigen evangelischen Gymnasiums in Mühlbach (in German). Hermannstadt. p. 16.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ Kontler, László (1999). A History of Hungary: Millennium in Central Europe. Budapest: Atlantisz. ISBN 963-9165-37-9.
  14. ^ Popa, Klaus (1996). "An Outline of Transilvanian-Saxon History". Retrieved 2013-10-03.
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