LIETUVIŲ KALBOS LEKSIKOS RAIDA

LIETUVOS TSR MOKSLŲ AKADEMIJA

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE NAMES OF LITHUANIAN RIVERS DŪNOJUS AND DNIEPRAS

A. VANAGAS

At present, the names of Lithuanian rivers comprise more than eight thousand river names and their variants (including names that recur). This system of several thousand names took shape over the centuries during which the Lithuanian people (and, in a certain sense, the Baltic peoples) have existed. It is therefore of mixed origin: alongside Lithuanian (Baltic) names it also contains river names of foreign origin. In studying the formation of Lithuanian river names, native hydronyms of Baltic origin must be distinguished from foreign, borrowed names. The non-Baltic origin of some hydronyms is obvious, while others may give rise to all sorts of doubts. Now that Lithuanian hydronymy, as well as the entire corpus of names, has been collected with comparative thoroughness, the origin or formation of many a river name can be explained in greater detail and, in a certain sense, more precisely (above all, given the abundance and completeness of the material) than before.

This article will examine two groups of Lithuanian river names (and other place names as well). In our view, one group entered the Lithuanian name system through the Slavs, while the route by which the second group arrived is not yet entirely clear. Nevertheless, the place names belonging to the latter group are also connected with present-day Slavic hydronymy. The origins of the place names in both groups are not entirely clear.

a) One Lithuanian river name whose origin is not entirely clear is Dunojus (2) 1. Čk., a tributary of the Dubysa. 2. Gl., a tributary of the Jotija. 3. Ks., in the village of Juodkonys. 4. Srd., a tributary of the Naudupis; and Dunãjus (2) 1. Akm., a right-bank tributary of the Dabikinė. 2. Grnk., in the village of Tendžiogala. 3. RdN., a tributary of the Apaščia. 4. Rs., in the village of Pakapurnis. 5. Skd. 6. Vn., a tributary of the Bikava. 7. Vn., a tributary of the Šustis. 8. Vvr., a right-bank tributary of the Dumblė. Cf. Dumõjus || Gudonių ežeras in the village of Gudonys, Srj., and Dūnõjus lake, Lkm., in the village of Trainiškis. It is not currently clear whether the Lithuanian (and Latvian: Dunajs river, for example; Dunaji river, for example; Dunaj-plava river, for example; cf. other place names with the root dun-, dūn-, which J. Endzelīns compares with Latvian dunajs or Lithuanian Dunõjus, Dūnõjus—see J. Endzelīns, LV I 1. 238, 239, 243) river names Dunõjus, Dunãjus are Baltic, formed from the root dun-, which is somewhat more common in Latvian names, and the suffix -ojus, -ajus¹, or are borrowings somehow connected with the name Dunõjus, the name of one of Europe’s largest rivers. First of all, it should be remembered that the common noun dunõjus, “a large body of water,” is widespread in Lithuanian folklore (most often in folk songs), for example: “In the middle of the manor, a broad dunojus” Alvt. “A little fish called out to me from the dunõjus and the sea” Žrm. “On the seashore, a deep little dunojėlis; there the young maiden washed her fair face” Lp. “Beyond the deep seas, beyond the little dunojėlis, there my maiden is at her mother’s” LKŽ II 606; dunãjus “the same”: “Mother sent me to the dunajus for water. I went into the middle of the dunojėlius” LKŽ II 606. Besides the words du-

¹ For the suffixes -ojus and -ajus, cf. the rivers Luk-õjus, Or-õjus, Ram-õjus, Žiežm-õjus, Blind-ajus, and Nik-ajus.

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nōjus and dūnājūs, Lithuanian folk songs contain many other variants of these words, for example: dunojis “the same”: …“down to the dunojus for cold water” Ld.²; dūnojus “the same”: “Mother sent me to the dūnojus for water” Vl. LKŽ II 606. “A little dūnojėlis flows through the yard” Ld. “I’ll go to the quiet dūnojun” Ld. “I rode by day, I rode by night, and came upon a dūnojėlis” Ld.; dunujėlis: “In the middle of the dunujėlis” Ld.; dūnavėlis: “And the north wind blew the little wreath into that dūna, into the dūnavėlis” Ld.; dunava: “And the north wind rose, and blew the little wreath into the lake of dunava” Ld.; dujonaitis: “A little stone will float out of the dujonaitis” LKŽ II 560; dujonėlis: “At the edge of the dujonėlis: Throw a little stone into the dujonėlis” LKŽ II 560; dujūnas “such water, a deep river, a dunojus” (in a song): “And Bendorutė fell into the deep dujūnas” Jrb. LKŽ II 560. Cf. Prussian Lithuanian donajus, dano jus³; donujėlis: “On the other side of the donujėlis” Kdn. Ld.; donojėlis: “On the other side of the donojėlis” Slč. Ld.; danujėlis: “On the other side of the danujėlis, the meadow was green” Ps. Ld.; duinojėlis: “Ažū duino duinojėlio” Ad. Ld. (and perhaps duinajėlis: “Ažū duina duinajėlio” Ad. Ld.; “Až to duino duinajėlio” Ml. Ld., though here the vowel a after n may be dialectal); daina: “Mother sent me to the daina river for water” Kltn. Ld.; dauni: “Mother sent me to dauni [the river] for cold water” Ld. The words dunojus, dunājūs, dūnojus and others, as these few examples show, denote not a particular river but water in general⁴. In Lithuanian folk songs they have given rise to various other words (usually in refrains) with the root dun-, dūn-, used almost without exception in contexts referring to water, for example: dūnoja refrain: “The deep little lake dūnoja, the river dūnoja, dūnoja” Ds.; dūnojo refrain: “Dūnojo; dūnojo, the little dunojėlis flows; I heard, I heard what father says” Sb.; dūnō: “You silly lad, dūno dūnoj, the stream dūno dūnoj. Dūnō dūna, the river dūna, the river flows lylio into the little lake” Jž.; sudunti (-dūna, -dūno) intransitive: “The little stream suduno, dūno, with my little tears, dūno” LKŽ II 606; dunolaiški refrain: “Dunojau, a manor on the hill, dunojau dunolaiški” Kb. LKŽ II 606 (or dunala iške: “Dunojau, a manor on the hill, dunojau dunala iške” Kb. LKŽ II 589); duna: “Quietly the little river duna flows” Brž. Ld.; dunas “?”: “Beyond that duno, that little dunojėlis” Ml. Ld.; “Mother sent me to the dunan for cold water”, cf. donas: “Mother sent me to the donan for cold water, ayai ayai, to the donan for cold water” Ld., cf. dūnelė “?”: “A wreath floated into the deep dūnelė, ai ai, into the deep dūnelė” LKŽ II 602; dunūs,-i “?” (a song word): “Dunios seas” LKŽ II 606. The following opening words from various versions of one Lithuanian folk song likewise show this direction of development for the common nouns dunojus, dunājūs⁵:

“Into the dunojus, into the dunojus…” “Dūno it, dūno it, the little dunojėlis flows…” “Dunojau, dunojau, the little dunojėlis flows…” “Dunojo, dunojau, the little dunujėlis flows…” “Dūnojo, dūnojo, the little donujėlis flows…” “Dunojo, dunojo, the little dunojėlis flows…”

^² This and the other examples followed by the abbreviation Ld. (words from folk songs) are taken from the folklore collections of the Institute of Lithuanian Language and Literature or from the systematic catalogue of Lithuanian folk songs.

^³ See Chr. Bartsch, Über litauische Volksliteratur, „Mitteilung der litauischen litterarischen Gesellschaft“, Heft 8 (II.2), Heidelberg, 1884, p. 107.

^⁴ According to A. Juška, dunojus means “a depth (in a lake or river), a lake” (Литовский словарь А. Юшкевича с толкованием слов на русском и польском языках, I, С. Петербург, 1904, p. 366; according to O. Kollberg, dunajus means “any mass of water: a huge pond, a lake, the sea” (Pieśni ludu litewskiego zebrął Oskar Kollberg, p. 212).

^⁵ According to the systematic catalogue of folk songs of the Folklore Section of the Institute of Lithuanian Language and Literature (here and below).

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It is interesting that in Lithuanian folk songs dūnojus, dūnojus and other forms of the word often alternate with other common or proper (river-name) words. Here is the opening of various versions of a well-known folk song: Quietly, quietly the little Dunojelis flows; Quietly, quietly the little Nemunas flows; Oh, quietly, quietly the little Širvinta flows Šk. Ld.; …The holy one flows Ds. Ld.; Quietly, quietly the little stream flowed; Quietly, peacefully the stream flowed; Quietly, smokily the little stream flowed; Oh, quietly, oh, so quietly the little Dunojelis flows; Quietly, peacefully the little Nemunas flows; Quietly flows the little Dunojė river, and so on. Or: Through the yard a little lake flows; Through the manor yard the little Dunojelis flows; Through the yard the little Dunajėlis flows; The little Šalinė flows through the yard; Through the yard the little Dunojelis flows; Across the field the little streamlet flows; A stream, a little lake flows; A little lake, a stream flows; Into the little lake, into the little lake a swift river flows; Through the stream a little lake flows; The little stream splashes toward the shore of the sea; The little Dunajėlis, not a stream, flows; Oh, wine, wine, the river flows; Through the manor yard the little Nemunas flows; Through the manor yard the little Dunojelis flows; Through the yard the little Dunojelis flows; Past grandmother’s manor the little Dunojelis flows and so on.

Some researchers of Lithuanian folklore thought that in folk songs dūnojus, Nemunėlis, stream, little lake and other words alternate according to the song’s geography (in places with more lakes, the word lake is used; closer to the Nemunas, Nemunas, Nemunėlis; by the sea, sea, the sea; and so on). This view is not entirely unfounded, but it can be qualified somewhat. First, it should be said that there are relatively few songs sung throughout Lithuania in which dūnojus alternates with other words. Regional songs are less suitable for determining the geographic distribution of dūnojaus usage. Among the most popular and widely known songs across almost all of Lithuania in which dūnojus alternates with other words, the following may be mentioned: “On the other side of the Nemunėlis, a little meadow was green,” “On Saturday evening,” “Quietly, quietly the little Nemunas flows,” and “Mother sent me for a little water of the Dunas.” Of these four songs, the first two are the most widely known, while the third and fourth are less popular. Indeed, a song’s popularity and distribution can be determined only approximately, since all songs “travel.” Thus, some songs, including these four, may have reached one or another part of Lithuania very recently and by various routes. Our observations about the geography of these songs and their variants therefore say nothing about their place of origin or directions of migration, but only show their distribution over the past three to five decades. Considering these four songs together, it can be said that no marked alternation of dūnojaus with other words according to the physiography of a locality is apparent. For instance, in the song “Quietly, quietly the little Nemunas flows,” the word Nemunėlis is most often replaced by little lake in a comparatively lake-poor region—the central part of northern Lithuania (around Mažeikiai, Joniškis, Pušalotas, Linkuva, and elsewhere). In what is probably Lithuania’s most lake-rich, northeastern corner, the word Nemunėlis is very often (in some areas—Smalvos, Dūkštas, Daugėliškis, Tverečius, Mielagėnai, and elsewhere—always) replaced by stream, brook. South of the Nemunas and Neris rivers, Nemunėlis is almost never replaced by another word.

In the song “Mother sent me for a little water of the Dunas,” which is almost unknown in Žemaitija, the word dūnojaus is rarely replaced by another word, with a few exceptions, and then only in northeastern Lithuania (most often replaced by stream, little stream, and the like).

The word dūnojaus in the song “On Saturday evening” rarely alternates with other words, but no marked change associated with the physiography of a locality is apparent.

Perhaps most often among the four songs mentioned, dūnojaus is replaced by various other words in the song “On the other side of the Nemunėlis.” It is interesting that in northeastern Lithuania,

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that is, in the particularly lake-rich corner of Lithuania, in songs dūnoju, Nemunėli are very often replaced by lake, little lake. Yet even here there is no clear pattern. For instance, the word Nemunėlis in place of dūnojus is common not only around Jurbarkas, Raudonė, and Kaunas, but also around Mažeikiai, Viekšniai, Akmenė, and Laižuva.

Furthermore, the cartographic picture of the alternation of dūnojaus with other words in these four songs does not show—as some folklore researchers have thought—that the word dūnojus occurred most often in folk songs in areas bordering Poland and Belarus, and gradually became rarer farther north and northwest, yielding place to stream, little lake, little seas and the like. It is true that in the song “Mother sent me,” dūnojus is especially frequent south of the Nemunas and Neris, but the song itself also seems to be more popular there. In the song “Quietly, quietly the little Nemunas flows,” as already mentioned, Nemunėlis is replaced by dūnojus, with a few exceptions, only north of the Nemunas and Neris.

In the songs “On Saturday evening” and “On the other side of the Nemunėlis,” dūnojus is perhaps more frequent north of the Nemunas and Neris than it is to the south. This would indicate that dūnojus became established in Lithuanian folk songs quite some time ago.

What do the words dūnojus, dunājūs, dūnōjus and others, so often found in Lithuanian folk songs, mean, and what is their relation to the river names Dunōjus, Dunājus? Are they native Baltic derivatives, or are they somehow connected with the name of the European river Dunōjus? It is interesting to note that the uncertainties surrounding Dunōjus in hydronymy and dūnojaus in folklore or dialects, similar to those faced by Lithuanians, arise above all among Bulgarians, Slovenes, Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Czechs, and other Slavic peoples. Slavic languages have not only many rivers named Дунай, Дунаеџ and the like⁶, but also the widely used common noun dunajъ (дунай, dun’aj, dunaj and the like), meaning “river, current, depth, riverbed, swift flow; an unknown and distant river, a very swift or very deep and quiet one; pond, canal, standing water; a deep water-filled hollow, spring, source, water abyss,” and so on⁷. It is striking that the word Dunōjus, used both as a hydronym and a common noun, is not unique: above all, in some Slavic languages there is a very similar situation with the word Visla, which denotes not only a river (Polish Wisła), but is also used as a common noun: Polish wisła “river, large body of water, any large river, stream, flood”⁸. A certain analogy can also be seen in the Lithuanian word Nėmunas, which denotes not only rivers (Nėmunas—two rivers; Nemunėlis—four rivers; Nemuniūkas river; Nemuny kštis river), but also a river or water in general (cf. nemunai, nėmunai: “There were nemunai that could not be crossed that spring” Grg. “We’ll ride to the green meadows, we’ll sail along the little nemunėliai. Across little lakes, across little nemunėliai, a gray horse comes sailing” Drsk.; nemunaičiai: “On the hill are little birches, below the hill little nemunaičiai”; nemunėlis: “On the hill a little nemunėlis, beneath the hill a little dunojėlis” LKŽ K).

⁶ Žr. T. Lehr-Splawiński, Rozmieszczenie geograficzne prasłowiańskich nazw wodnych, „Rocz. sł.“ XXI, cz. I, p. 11; П. Маштаков, ДБ, p. 248; В. Топоров, О. Трубачёв, ЛАГВП, p. 224.

⁷ Žr. B. Ślaski, Dunaj i Wisła, „Sl. occ.“, t. 16, p. 183; T. Lehr-Splawiński, Rozmieszczenie…, p. 11; M. Jurkowski, Rzeka, potok i jej synonimy w języku ukraińskim, „Sl. or.“, roč. XII, Nr. 3, p. 462; V. Jagić, Dunav-Dunaj in der slavischen Volkspoesie, AslPh, I, p. 299—333.

⁸ See M. Rudnicki. Etymologies du nom de la Vistule et de la dénomination Veneti, „Premier Congrès International de Toponymie et d’Anthroponymie. Actes et mémoires“, Paris, 1938, p. 205 (the same in „Sl. occ.“, vol. 17, p. 132); B. Ślaski, Dunaj i Wisła, „Sl. occ.“, vol. 16, p. 186; T. Lehr-Splawiński, Rozmieszczenie…, p. 7.

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Lithuanian common nouns alaušai || alaušos “a place where a lot of water has accumulated; a puddle” are probably of similar origin: “When it poured, alaušai stood in the fields” Užp. “Look, you’ve made alaušus on the table” Užp. How much wealth they have—alaušai of good things! Ds. “Alaušai stand in the fields, full of water” Užp. LKŽ I 76; cf. alaušą “a muddle-headed person, a chatterbox”: “Listen to that alaušos—he turns a grain into a mountain” Ds. As the examples show, all these common nouns are known in a very small area (Užpaliai, Dusetos). It is precisely in this area that there are two lakes called Alaūšas (Alaūšas), one lake called Alaūšai, and a river called Alaūša⁹.

Thus, there is reason to think that we are dealing not with an exceptional, completely isolated phenomenon, but with a highly distinctive type of common-noun and hydronym formation. As for Lithuanian Nėmunas and nemunai, it seems beyond doubt that the common noun is merely the name of the country’s largest river used metaphorically, while some other river names (Nėmunas, Nemunykštis, Nemunėlis) are probably secondary formations, connected with the name of the great Nemunas (in one or another case, perhaps indirectly, through the common nouns nėmunas, nemunėlis). The same applies to Visla, visla¹⁰. Only as regards Dunojus (the name of a European river) and Slavic dunajb do opinions differ. Some believe that the Slavic common noun dunajb has nothing to do with the river name Dunojus, but derives from Indo-European *dheu- || “to run, flow”¹¹; others think that the hydronym Dunajb, widespread in the Slavic languages, originated from the European river’s name Dunaj; later, names such as Дунай, Дунаец and the like arose from Dunajo¹². What prevented a final resolution of this problem was that the origin of the European river name Dunojus had remained very unclear until now. The origin of the river name Dunojus (Russian Дунай, Romanian Dunăre, etc.) has been explained in many different ways. Some researchers regarded the European Dunojus as a Celtic name¹³, others as Iranian—Scythian¹⁴, others as Thraco-Dacian¹⁵, still others as Slavic¹⁶; yet others considered it a name of non-Indo-European origin (Georgian¹⁷), and so on. Among the many works on the name of the European river Dunojus

⁹ For the origin of these hydronyms, see K. Būga, RR, I, p. 311, 500; III, p. 407, 414, 424, etc.

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ K. Zierhoffer, Nazwy miejscowe północnego Mazowsza, Wrocław, 1957, p. 162–163; T. Lehr-Splawiński, Rozmieszczenie..., p. 11; T. Lehr-Splawiński, O pochodzeniu i pra-ojczyźnie słowian, Poznań, 1946, p. 73.

¹² See M. Vasmer, REW, p. 380 (including references therein); B. Toporov, O. Trubachov, ЛАГБИ, p. 224.

¹³ M. Förster, Der Name der Donau, ZsPh, I, p. 23–24; M. Vasmer, REW, I, p. 380 (Celtic-Latin); B. I. Georgiev, Исследования по сравнительно-историческому языкознанию, M., 1958, p. 254; Wł. Georgijew, Нынешнее состояние ономастических исследований в Болгарии, „I międzynarodowa slawistyczna konferencja onomastyczna“, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków, 1961, p. 13; A. L. Pogodin, Изъ истории славянских передвижений, С.-Петербургъ, 1901, p. 85; B. Toporov, O. Trubachov, ЛАГБИ, p. 224.

¹⁴ P. Kretschmer, Zum Balkan-Skythischen (I. Der Name der Donau), „Glotta“, XXIV, 1936, p. 1 ir kt.; A. A. Зализняк, Проблемы славяно-иранских языковых отношений древнейшего периода, ВСЯ, вып. 6, p. 45; R. Meister, Der Name der Donau, KZ, 78, 1/2. Heft, p. 55.

¹⁵ For references, see G. Ivănescu, Origine pré-indo-européenne des noms du Danube, „Contributions onomastiques“, Bucarest, 1958, p. 127.

¹⁶ T. Lehr-Splawiński, O pochodzeniu..., p. 73; T. Lehr-Splawiński, Rozmieszczenie..., p. 11; K. Zierhoffer, Nazwy miejscowe północnego Mazowsza, p. 162; J. Rozwadowski, Studia nad nazwami wód słowiańskich, Kraków, 1948, p. 247–251. For further references, see G. Ivănescu, op. cit., p. 125.

¹⁷ H. Ya. Marr, Лингвистически намечаемые эпохи развития человечества и их увязка с историей материальной культуры, „Сообщения ГАИМК“, 1, L., 1925, p. 40. (Or

12. Užsak. Nr. 174

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A recently published work by Vl. Georgiev stands out¹⁸. It not only explains quite successfully the relationship between *Dānavi(s) (an old form of the name Dunojus) and Romanian Dunăre and Slavic Dunajъ and Dunav (a relationship that had until now been very obscure), but also offers what is probably the most convincing explanation of the origin of the European river name Dunōjus (and likewise Slavic Dunaj). In Vl. Georgiev’s view, the European Danube had three principal names: 1) the lower course was called Ἴστρος (a Thracian name); 2) the upper course (and part of the middle course) — Dānuvius < from Indo-European *dānu-io- (a Celtic name); 3) the lower course and part of the middle course (roughly from Budapest or Belgrade) had a similar Dacian-Moesian name, *Dānavi(s) < from Indo-European *dānaw-jo-. In the Dacian-Moesian language, long stressed ā changed to ō after the 3rd–4th centuries AD (hence *Dānavi(s) > *Dōnavi(s)). Later, intervocalic v regularly disappeared in Dacian-Moesian, and *Dōnavi(s) > *Dōnai(s). Slavic Dunajъ (cf. Russian Дунай, Polish Dunaj, Croatian Dunaj) could only have come from the form *Dōnai(s), since Proto-Slavic did not have the phoneme ǭ (cf. Old Bulgarian цкоуна < Greek εἰκών, just as < Gothic bōka). This leads to another conclusion important for our purposes: since the root archetype of the European river name Dunōjus is *dān- > *dōn (or *dān-), the Lithuanian variant Dunōjus of the European river name Dānuvius could have arisen only from Slavic Dunajъ (< *Dōnai(s)), because if Lithuanian Dunōjus had not come from Slavic, the root would have a different vowel.²²

The fact that Slavic Dunajъ is a borrowing, most likely from Dacian-Moesian *Dōnai(s), and Lithuanian Dunōjus from Slavic Dunajъ, does not mean that the many other Slavic hydronyms with dun- (Дунай, Дунаец, etc.) and the appellative dunajъ, or the Lithuanian place names Dūnōjus, Dunajus, Dunōjus and the appellatives dūnōjus, dunājus, dunōjus, are related to the European river name (Slavic Dunajъ, Lithuanian Dunōjus). As noted, some researchers believe that Slavic Dunajъ and dunajъ arose independently of the European river name Dunajъ. Attempts have also been made to examine the Lithuanian hydronym Dunōjus without linking it to the European river name Dunōjus. Many facts, however, argue against this interpretation. As for the Slavic river names with dun- (Дунай, Дунаец) and the appellative dunajъ, we must agree with M. Fasmer, V. Toporov, O. Trubačiov, and others (see above) that the Slavic appellative dunajъ is merely the name of Europe’s largest river used metaphorically, while the other Slavic hydronyms (Дунай, Дунаец, etc.) are of later, secondary origin. It seems to us that the Lithuanian river names Dunājus, Dunōjus and the appellatives dunōjus, dunōjus (similarly to Nėmunas, Nemunėlis and ne-

H. Я. Марр, Избранные работы, III, p. 37); G. Ivănescu, min. veik., p. 131—136. (For a review of this article, see ВЯ, 1960, No. 2, p. 141).

¹⁸ Вл. Георгиев, Дунай, Дунаве, Dunāre, „Studia linguistica in honorem Thaddaei Lehr-Spławiński“, Warszawa, 1963, p. 87—90.

¹⁹ A. Vaillant, Gramaire comparée des langues slaves, I, Paris, 1950, p. 120.

²⁰ Cf. also G. Ivănescu, min. veik., p. 126.

²¹ A. Vaillant, min. veik., p. 120; Вл. Георгиев, Дунай, Дунаве, Dunāre..., p. 88.

²² Latin words in Germanic languages show that at some point ō could also change to ū in Germanic languages; cf. Latin Rōma > *Rūma, Old Saxon and Old High German Rūma; Latin Rōmāni > Gothic Rūmōneis (see Сравнительная грамматика германских языков, II, М., 1962, p. 116). However, given the absence of other hydronyms and appellatives with dunaj- in Germanic languages, and the less intensive linguistic contacts between Baltic and Germanic than between Baltic and Slavic, it is difficult to imagine that the European river name Dunōjus entered Lithuanian through Germanic.

See also K. Būga, RR, III, p. 671; E. Fraenkel, LEW, p. 111.

²³ See B. Savukynas, Ežerų vardai, LKK, V₁, p. 197.

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munai, nemunėlis: Visla and visla· Alaušai and alaušai) are related to one another and genetically inseparable from the name of the European river Dunojus and the Slavic appellative dunajь. This appellative, very widely used in Slavic languages, especially in folklore, may also have entered the Baltic languages²⁴ as a distinctive symbol of a river or water, a poetic image. It is true that old Slavic borrowings in Lithuanian generally have ū in place of Slavic u; cf. grūšia < spuća, kūmas < кум, dūlia < дуля, būbnas < бубен, tijūnas < тиюн²⁵. If one considers phonetics strictly, it may seem that Lithuanian dun- does not correspond to Slavic dun-. This discrepancy might be explained as follows: Lithuanian dunãjus, dunõjus (and Latvian dunavas, as well as the place names Dunava river, Dunajs lake, etc.—see J. Endzelīns, LV I 1. 238) are later borrowings, which entered the Baltic languages from Slavic after long Slavic u had shortened. Lithuanian has quite a number of borrowed common nouns in which short u occurs in place of Slavic u, e.g., bujà, burõkas < brus. буракъ, juká < brus. юха < lenk. jucha, jupà < lenk. jupa < brus. юпа, kupà < brus. купа < lenk. kupa, kūtas < lenk. kut, rujà < lenk. ruja, šūtas < brus. шута²⁶. As noted, in folklore, alongside the words dunõjus, dunõjus one often also finds dunõjus, dunojėlis; cf. dūnavėlis. Place names with a long ū in the root are also fairly common in Lithuanian nomenclature, e.g.: Dūnãjus lake, Lkm., Trainiškis village; Dūnãjus meadow, Brž., Meilūnai village; Dūnõjus meadow, And., Laičiai village; Dūnõjus meadow, Vb., Medžiūnai village; Dūnõjai meadow, Užp., Viešeikiai village; Dūnõjai meadow, Všt., Pavištytis village. It may be supposed that the common nouns dunõjus and dūnõjus entered Lithuanian from Slavic at different times: dūnõjus would be an older borrowing than dunõjus. There are more words that entered Lithuanian from Slavic at different times, for example, pundùs (K. Būga, RR I 339) and pūdas (ibid., II 364), kuila (ibid., I 347) and kyla (ibid., 348), viešnė (ibid., II 660) and vyšnia (ibid.), etc. The fact that words with the root dun- entered Lithuanian folklore later is also suggested by the circumstance that the refrain words dūnoja, dūnojo, dūnõ, which are probably considerably older than the appellatives dunõjus, dunãjus and the like, have a long ū in the root.

Several names of small streams or pools may have later arisen from the common nouns dunõjus, dunãjus, dunõjus. It is hard to believe that the name of the European river Dunõjus, transmitted through the Slavs, would already have found in the Baltic onomasticon other, wholly independently formed Baltic names Dunõjus. It is true that, at first glance, Lithuanian hydronyms Dūnõjus, Dūnõjus and others might be regarded as a Balto-Daco-Mysian (or Balto-Thracian, Balto-Illyrian) isogloss. Such an isogloss is not impossible, given the numerous Balto-Illyrian parallels among other place names²⁷. However, phonetics contradicts this assumption. Since the archetype of the root of the European Dunojus is *dān- > *dōn- (or *dān-), the root vowel in Baltic parallels of this name could not be ū or u.

The fact that the Lithuanian place names Dūnõjus, Dūnõjus, Dūnõjus, Dunãjus are secondary and of later origin, having arisen from the borrowed common noun dunõjus and the like, is also indicated by the complete isolation of the roots dūn-, dun- in Lithuanian nomenclature.

²⁴ A. Bezzenberger considered the Lithuanian dunojų to have come from Slavic folklore (A. Bezzenberger, Litauische Forschungen. Beiträge der Kenntniss der Sprache und des Volkstumes der Litauer, Göttingen, 1882, p. 18, note 1); Chr. Bartsch was very cautious (Chr. Bartsch, Über litauische Volksliteratur, p. 108).

The “Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language,” II, p. 606, regarded dunojų as a borrowing from Slavic.

²⁵ See K. Būga, RR, I, p. 271; II, p. 621.

²⁶ Žr. P. Skardžius, Die slawischen Lehnwörter im Altltauischen, Kaunas, 1931.

²⁷ B. H. Toporov, Several Illyrian-Baltic parallels in the field of toponomastics, „Problems of Indo-European Linguistics“, Moscow, 1964, p. 52.

12*

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There is another interesting parallel. In the Baltic languages, alongside dūnaj-, dūnoj- there is also dūnav-; cf. Lithuanian dūnavėlis, dunava, Prussian Dunow (G. Gerullis, AO 32), Latvian dunavas ‘a small stream; spring, source; unfrozen water’ LVV 518, Dunav-a river (J. Endzelins, LVI 1. 238). Similar variants are also common in Slavic languages (cf. Russian Дунай, Дунаецъ ir Дунавец²⁸). The Slavic river names Dunav-, like Dunajь, probably derive from the same European river name, Dunōjus, which has two forms in Slavic languages: Dunajь ir Dunav; cf. Russian, Ukrainian Дунай, Croatian Dūnai, Slovenian, Czech, Polish Dunaj and Old Bulgarian Доунавъ, Old Serbian Доунавъ, Bulgarian Дунав, Serbian Дунав, Дунаво²⁹. As noted, Slavic Dunajь probably derives from the later Daco-Mysian form of the European Danube name, *Dōnai(s). In Vl. Georgijev’s view, Slavic Dunav also derives from the older Daco-Mysian form of the Danube name, *Dōnavi(s)³⁰. Thus, the parallel between the Baltic place names Dūnav- (alongside Dūnaj-) and Slavic Dunav (alongside Dunajь) is probably not accidental. One may conjecture that Baltic Dūnav-, like Dūnaj-, reflects the Slavic form Dunav of the European Danube name³¹.

The development of Lithuanian place names Dūnōjus, Dūnājus, Dunājus and others can be represented graphically as follows: *Dōnai(s) (the Daco-Mysian name of the European Danube)→Dunajь (the Slavic name of the Danube)→dūnojus, dūnajus, dunajus, dunojus and others (Lithuanian appellatives)→Dūnōjus, Dūnājus, Dunōjus, Dunājus (Lithuanian place names).

b) A second group of river names whose origin is not entirely clear consists of Dniėpras, Šmn., tributary of the Lakme-nios; Doniėpras (2), Šln., tributary of the Šūšvė; Dunėprėlis (2), Jž., Čivylių village. This group also includes some other place names, for example, Dunėpriai meadow, RdN., Latveliai village; Dunėpras meadow, Jž., Čivylių village. It may be supposed that they all have a common origin, although, according to the phonetic laws of Lithuanian, the stems dniepr-, doniepr-, dunepr-, dinepr- cannot be derived from a single archetype. They are probably connected with the name of the Ukrainian river Dnepras. As is known, the Dnieper was called Borysthēnēs (βορυσ-θενης) in antiquity, while the later name Dniėpras had many variants: Δανάπρις (Danapris), Дънѣпръ, Дънѣпръ, Непръ, Dnieper, Neper, Nieper, Niepor, Niper, Nyeper³². The river name Dnepras is not Slavic. Its root an- < dan- (cf. Danapris) is generally associated with Iranian danu- ‘river’ and Ossetian don ‘river, water’³³. The Lithuanian place names Dniėpras, Doniėpras, Dunėprėlis, Dunėpriai, Dunėpras were probably derived from various variants of the name Dnieper. The variants closest to the Lithuanian place names would be Днепр, Данап-рис, Дънѣпръ, although comparison of the Lithuanian place names with the variants of the Dnieper name also reveals partial phonetic discrepancies (e.g., Doniepras – Danapris). It may be suspected that some Lithuanian place names changed later or derive from other variants of the Dnieper name that are not recorded in written sources. Moreover, not all Lithuanian place names need have been borrowed at the same time. There is some basis for the highly hypothetical conjecture that the oldest borrowing is the river name Doniėpras³⁴ (cf. Danapris). Perhaps this river name entered Lithuanian

²⁸ П. Маштаков, ДБ, p. 248.

²⁹ Вл. Георгиев, Дунай, Дунав, Dunāre..., p. 87.

³⁰ Ibid., p. 89.

³¹ For the Slavic origin of Lithuanian Dunaj- and Latvian dunavas, see also M. Vasmer, REW, p. 381.

³² П. Л. Маштаковъ, ДБ, p. 1.

³³ See A. A. Зализняк, Проблемы славяно-иранских языковых отношений древнейшего периода, ВСЯ, вып. 6, М., 1962, p. 45; T. Lehr-Spławiński, O pochodzeniu..., p. 61; M. Viasmer, REW, I. 354.

³⁴ If the o between d and n is not later, it is an epenthetic vowel.

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entered the language not through the Slavs, but was brought by the ancient Balts who lived in the Dnieper basin, or adopted by Lithuanians from those Baltic tribes that lived in the Dnieper region in ancient times. Similarly, place names containing dniepr, dunėpr- and the like may perhaps have entered the Lithuanian language, although, generally speaking, the route by which they entered Lithuanian is unclear. We have no evidence that they are later, secondary formations (like Dunõjus, Dunãjus and the like).

Abbreviations

aukšt. — Aukštaitian

brus. — Belarusian

bulg. — Bulgarian

chorv. — Croatian

dš. — right (tributary)

gn. — pasture

got. — Gothic

gr. — Greek

int. — tributary

ir. — Iranian

kr. — left (tributary)

lat. — Latvian

liet. — Lithuanian

Lat. — Latin

Osset. — Ossetian

e.g. — meadow

Rom. — Romanian

Rus. — Russian

O. — Old

Sl. — Slavic

Ger. — German

Samog. — Samogitian

AO — Die altpreussischen Ortsnamen gesammelt und sprachlich behandelt von G. Gerullis, Berlin und Leipzig, 1922.

AšlPh — Archiv für slavische Philologie, Berlin, 1876 tt.

KZ — Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der indogermanischen Sprachen, begründet von A. Kuhn, Berlin und Gütersloh, 1852 tt.

LEW — Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch von E. Fraenkel, Göttingen, 1962.

LKK — Questions of Lithuanian Linguistics, Vilnius, 1957 ff.

LKŽ — Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language, Vilnius, 1941 ff.

LKŽK — Card index of the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language of the Institute of Lithuanian Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the Lithuanian SSR.

LV — J. Endzelīns, Latvijas PSR vietvārdi, Rīgā, 1956 tt.

REW — M. Vasmer, Russian Etymological Dictionary, Heidelberg, I, 1953; II, 1955; III, 1958.

Rocz.sl. — Slavic Yearbook. Kraków, 1908 ff.

RR — K. Būga, Selected Writings, Vilnius, I, 1958; II, 1959; III, 1961.

Sl.Occ. — Slava Occidentalis, Poznań.

Sl. Or. — Savia Orientalis, Warszawa.

ВСЯ — Issues in Slavic Linguistics, Moscow, 1957 ff.

ВЯ — Issues in Linguistics, Moscow.

ДБ — П. Л. Маштаков, Список рек Днепровского бассейна, С. Петербург, 1913.

ЛАГВП — V. N. Toporov and O. N. Trubachyov, Linguistic Analysis of the Hydronyms of the Upper Dnieper Region, Moscow, 1962.

Note: Abbreviations of settlement names are the same as in the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language (see vol. III, Vilnius, 1956).

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REGARDING THE ORIGIN OF THE NAMES OF LITHUANIAN RIVERS

Dinojis and Dniepras

А. ВАНАГАС

S u m m a r y

This article examines two groups of Lithuanian river names: a) Dunõjus (four rivers), Dunājūs (eight rivers), cf. Dunājūs || Gudonių ežeras Lake, Dūnõjus Lake, Dūnājūs lug, Dūnõjus lug, Dūnõjai lug. There is a certain connection between these toponyms and the appellatives dunõjus, dunājūs, dūnõjus ‘large water, etc.’, cf. dūnõjis, dunujēlis, dūnavēlis, dujonēlis, dūjūnas, donajus, danojus, donajēlis, donojēlis, danujēlis, duinojēlis, refrains dūnoja, dūnojo, dūno, the verb sdundti (-dūna, -dūno), dūma ³⁴, dūnas ³⁵, dūnūs ³⁶. They are very widespread in Lithuanian folk songs. The appellatives dunõjus, dunājūs, dūnõjus and others entered Lithuanian folklore from Slavic folk songs as a distinctive poetic image, a symbol of water. The Lithuanian toponyms Dunõjus, Dunājūs, Dūnõjus, Dūnājūs are most likely secondary formations derived from these appellatives.

b) Dniepras, Doniēpras, Duneprēlis, cf. Dunēprāi (meadow), Dunēpras (meadow). These toponyms are genetically related to the name of the Ukrainian river Dnieper. As is known, the name Dnieper formerly had many variants: Δανήπρ, Дънѣпръ, Дънѣпрь, Непръ, Dnieper, Niper, Nieper, Непер, and others. The Lithuanian toponyms Dniepras, Doniēpras, Duneprēlis, Dunēpras may have originated from different variants of the name Dnieper. When Lithuanian toponyms are compared with variants of the name Dnieper, partial phonetic mismatches are apparent. It may be assumed that some changes in the Lithuanian toponyms occurred later.

The route by which the river name Dnieper entered Lithuanian toponymy is not entirely clear. It is possible that the names Dniēpras, Doniēpras and others reflect those distant times when the Balts inhabited the vast territories of the Upper Dnieper basin.

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