Some Place Names of Slavic Origin in the Athonite Actes

Abstract

This article deals with some place names of Slavic origin, mentioned in the acts of the Orthodox monasteries of Mount Athos (mostly of that of Vatopedi) of the 14th c. 23 toponyms are located in the domains of the Vatopedi and (the only example) Chilandar monasteries in the regions of Melnik (6), Lemnos (5), Chalcidice Peninsula (4), the valley of the Lower Strymon (3), the Lake region (2), Serres (2), West Macedonia (1). The author provides their reconstruction, etymological, phonetic, nominational, and word-formative analysis. On the whole, the phonetic side of these toponyms corresponds to the features distinguished by M. Vasmer; it shows the preservation of the nasals and the incompletion of the vocalization of the jers. The names are derived from geographical terms (8), collective inhabitants’ names (6), anthroponyms (4), and stems belonging to other semantic groups (5). Both lexico-semantic (13) and morphological (10) modes of the toponymical word-formation are presented. The morphological toponyms are derived by means of the suffi xes (-ov)-ica (4), -j(3), -akъ, -ev-, -ьcь (each 1). The stems of some names are not known in Bulgarian. 3 toponyms refl ect Slavic-Greek contacts.