Names of the Serbs and Serbia

Names of the Serbs and Serbia
For other uses, see Serbian names.
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The Serbs (Serbian: Срби/Srbi, pronounced [ˈsr̩biː]) have been referred to with several names by other peoples, although the autonym is and has always been Srbi.

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Autonym (Serbs - Срби/Srbi)

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the first Russian chronicle, Serbs are among the first five Slav peoples who were enumerated by their names.[1]

Serbs are thought to be first mentioned by Tacitus in 50 AD, Pliny the Elder in 77 AD (Naturalis Historia) and Ptolemy in his Geography 2nd century AD, associated with the Sarmatian tribe of Serboi of the North Caucasus and Lower Volga. Serbian historian Sima Ćirković associated these with the Serbs.[2] Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (325-391) referred to the Carpathians as "Montes Serrorum" in his works, according to some, connected to the Serbs.[3] The works of Vibius Sequester also mention the Serbs.[4] In De Bello Gothico Procopius (500-565) uses the name Sporoi as an umbrella term for the Slavic tribes of Antes and Sclaveni, it is however not known whether the Slavs used this designation for themselves or he himself coined the term, it has been theorized however that the name is corruption of the ethnonym Serbs.[4][5] A large number of linguists agree that 'Sporoi' (Spores) is another name for the Serbs.[6]

The Serb ethnonym is written as Σερβlοι (Servloi), Sorabos, Surbi, Sorabi in early medieval sources.[7] De Administrando Imperio mentions the realm of the Unknown Archont and his descendants (House of Vlastimirović) as Servlia.[8][2] A mythological homeland was written as Boiki (derived from Proto-Slavic *bojь. = battle, war, fight), also, the town of Servia received its name from the temporary inhabitants - the Serbs.[8][2] According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the first Russian chronicle, Serbs are among the first five Slav peoples who were enumerated by their names.[1]

"...Sorabi, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur..."
transl. "Serbs, who inhabit a large part of Dalmatia"[9]

10th-century geographer Ibrahim ibn Yaqub placed the people of "Saqalib" in the mountainous regions of Central Balkans, west of the Bulgarians and east from the "other Slavs" (Croats), thus in the Serb lands. The Saqalib had the reputation of being "the most courageous and violent".[10]

The name of the first Serbian state "Rascia" has connections with the words "Rus-" and the name Thrace (Tračka-Raška). The Serbs are referred to as Srblji in early Slavonic texts which also is the rendering of the name for Triballians, a Thracian people living in South Serbia and Western Bulgaria, the town of Trebinje evolved into a Serbian Zhupanate of Travunia (referred to as Tribalia in many medieval sources). "Bojka", the mythological name for the homeland of the Serbs, has a connection with the region of Boyko, inhabited by Rusyns/Ruthenians (Ukrainians).

Meanings

  • (< *serb-) is in the root of the Slavic word for "same" (modern исто isto) in following languages: сербать - in Russian, Ukrainian, сербаць - in Belarussian, srbati - in Slovak, сърбам - in Bulgarian. серебати in Old Russian.[11]
  • Scholars have suggested that the Indo-European root *ser- 'to watch over, protect', akin to Latin servare 'to keep, guard, protect, preserve, observe' (applied in particular to herds and flocks of domesticated animals).[12]
  • In some Caucasian languages, "Sur" means "man" (singular) with the suffix "-bi" becomes "men, people" (plural).
  • In Armenian, Surb means "holy, saint".

Renderings in other languages

Historical renderings in other languages:

  • Servii, Latin rendering.[13]
    • Servians, medieval French and English rendering of the Serbs.

Modern renderings in other languages:

  • Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, Macedonian, Slovak and Slovene: Srbi

Exonyms

Rascia

The state(s) anachronistically called Raška were first known collectively as Serbia.

The name Rascia (Serbian: Рашка; Raška) is used by modern historiography to refer to the mainland region (known in Serbian as the hinterlands, in contrast to the maritime fiefs of the Adriatic coast) of the Principality of Serbia inhabited and ruled by Serbs; the seat of the early medieval state of Serbia. It is used to describe Serbia up to Stefan Nemanja (1166–1196) or the forming of the Kingdom of Serbia in 1217. "Rascia" continued to serve as an exonym for Serbia in West European sources since late 12th century, along with other names such as Servia and Slavonia.

The name is derived from the name of the region's most important fort, Ras which first appears in the work de aedificiis of Byzantine Procopius as Arsa prior to the forming of Serbia.[14] Ras eventually became the capital district and seat of the first bishopric of Serbia (871). In Constantine Porphyrogenitus' De Administrando Imperio, Ras is mentioned as an important town of Serbia (Σέρβια) under Časlav Klonimirović (927–960) near its border with the First Bulgarian Empire. Constantine's Serbia is often identified as Raška by modern historiography to differentiate it from the other provinces ruled by the Serbs: Zahumlje, Travunia, Duklja, Bosna and Pagania. Porphyrogenitus uses Serbia as a name for the mainland regions of Rascia; and Bosnia, although the name comes to denote "all of Serbian lands". The name of the bishopric (Ras bishopric, Raška episkopija) eventually started to denote the entire area under jurisdiction and later, under Stefan Nemanja, Ras was re-generated as state capital and the name spread to the entire land. The first attested appearance of the name Raška is in a charter from Kotor dated to 1186, in which Stefan Nemanja is mentioned as župan of Rascia (Prince of Serbia). Soon after Rascia became one of the common names for Serbia in western sources (Papacy, German, Italian, French etc.) often in conjunction with, Serbia (Servia et Rascia). However, Rascia appears scarcely in Serbian and never in Byzantine works to denote the state.

Between the 15th and 18th centuries, the term Raška (Rascia, Ráczság) was used to designate the southern Pannonian Plain inhabited by Serbs (Raci), who settled there during the Great Serb migrations from medieval Serbia, "Rácz" has survived as a common surname in Hungary.

Other connections have been made with the Etruscan civilization (800 BC–264 BC, The Etruscans called themselves Rasenna, which was syncopated to Rasna or Raśna), the geographical name Ratiaria (founded 4th century BC, near Archar, in modern Bulgaria), and the personal names of Thracian kings Rhescuporis of Odrysia (Ραισκούπορις, r. 240 BC - 215 BC) and Rhescuporis of Sapaea (r. 48-41 BC. He also had a brother, Rascus).[15]

Triballians

The Triballi (Greek: Τριβαλλοί, Bulgarian, Serbian: Трибали/Tribali) were an ancient Thracian tribe whose dominion was around the plains of southern modern Serbia[16][17] and west Bulgaria, at the Angrus and Brongus (the South and West Morava) and the Iskur River, roughly centered where Serbia and Bulgaria are joined.[17]

This Thracian tribe has etymologically been connected with the Serbs,[18][19] as many medieval Byzantine historians referred to the Serbs as the Triballians[20] (Serbian name for Triballians is "Srblji/Србљи", Thracians is rašani - the first Serbian state was Rascia, present-day Serbia). Trebinje, a present city of Herzegovina and historical Serbian principality (Travunija, sometimes rendered as Triballia) has also been connected with this tribe.

From the 11th century until the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Serbs were called Triballians in Byzantine works.[21][22][23][24][25] For example in the works of historian Niketas Choniates (1155–1215), Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (1391–1425), it is explained that Triballians are synonymous with Serbs.

Other

Other attested names:

  • Rascians, referring to the population of medieval Serb state Rascia (the one and same people as the other tribes of Duklja (Dukljans), Travunija (Travunians), Pagania (Neretvians/Paganians), Zahumlje (Zahumlians) that all belong to the Serb ethnos, initially also referring to Bosnia (Bosnians).
  • Triballians, a Thracian tribe assimilated by the local Slavs, by Byzantine and Greek authors.
  • Slavs, by West and East Roman Empire
    • referred to as "Saqaliba" by the Arabs in the early medieval times
    • Sclaveni, Slav allies settled in Byzantine lands (In Administrative regions of Sclaviniae)

Dalmatians/Dalmats

In the context of referring to the local peoples writers describing contemporary events of their time using archaic names, the Byzantine writers most often called the Serbs "Dalmats" or "Dalmatians" (Δαλμάται, Dalmatai), the Delmatoi tribe being eponymous of the region.

In 822, the Serbs "inhabit the greater part of Dalmatia".[9] The De Administrando Imperio clearly describes the Serbs as inhabiting the southern former Roman province of Dalmatia.[8][9]

In the Byzantine chronicle Alexiad, covering the 11th century (written 1148), Anna Komnene mentions the Serbs by the names Sklaveni and Dalmati, with Dalmatia starting from Kosovo and Metohia.[26] John Kinnamos continues, in his work covering 1118-1176: "the Serbs, a Dalmatic (Dalmatian) tribe" (Σέρβιοι, ε-8-νος Δαλματικών), thus using "Dalmat(ian)s" or "Dalmatic (Dalmatian) people" in the contexts of the Serbs, and "Dalmatia" in the context of Serbia.

There are numerous other, less prominent, instances, poetic for example - Theodore Prodromus, Michael Italicus and the typikon of the Pantokrator monastery, among others.

The Serbian Orthodox Church published "Serbs and Orthodoxy in Dalmatia and Dubrovnik" in 1971.[27]

In a very similar manner, the Moesians and occasionally, Peonians, was the term for the Bulgarians.

Some Serbs and Croats were registered as Dalmatians in 1899-1952 statistics in the United States of America.[28]

Although the name has been applied to the Serbs, it is predominantly applied to the inhabitants of maritime Croatian Dalmatia, i.e. Croats, since notable Serb communities in maritime Dalmatia were significant before the 20th century.

Vlachs

Vlachs, referring to pastoralists, was a common name for Serbs in the Ottoman Empire and later.[6] It was used as a derogatory term and a common name used to denote the Eastern Orthodox Christian Serbs in Roman catholic and lesser in Ottoman lands.

Tihomir Đorđević points to the already mentioned fact that the name 'Vlach' didn't only refer to genuine Vlachs, but also to cattle breeders in general.[6] A letter of Emperor Ferdinand, sent on November 6, 1538, to Croatian ban Petar Keglević, in which he wrote "Captains and dukes of the Rasians, or the Serbs, or the Vlachs, who usually call themselves the Serbs".[6] Serbs that took refuge in the Habsburg Krajina, were called "Vlachs" by Croats.[6] In the work "About the Vlachs" from 1806, Metropolitan Stevan Stratimirović states that Roman Catholics from Croatia and Slavonia scornfully used the name 'Vlach' for "the Slovenians (Slavs) and Serbs, who are of our, Eastern confession (Orthodoxy)", and that "the Turks in Bosnia and Serbia also call every Bosnian or Serbian Christian a Vlach (T. Đorđević, 1984:110). That the name 'Vlach' used to signify the Serbs is testified by Vuk Karadžić as well, who quotes the poem sang by Turkish women: "A couple of Vlachs came passing by, with powder in their pumpkins". In "Serbian Dictionary" itself, under the word 'Vlach', the above mentioned assertion is confirmed, as well as in many other proverbs recorded by Vuk.[6]

Misnaming

Because of a confusion of ethnicity/nationality with religious affiliation, many authors from historic times referred to and recorded Serbs by the following names:

Pejorative

Anthroponymy

  • Male: Srba, Srbislav, Srbivoje, Srbko, Srboje, Srbomir, Srborad, Srbomil, Srboljub, Srbobran
  • Female: Srbijanka, Srbinka
  • Surnames: Srbinac, Srbinić, Srbinov, Srbinović, Srbinovski, Srbić, Srbović, Srbljanović, Srbljanin, Srbljak

Toponomy

Serb
Rascia
Other, historical

See also

  • Serbian names

References

  1. ^ a b Povest vremennih let (Moscow, Leningrad: Akademiya nauk SSSR, 1990), pp.11, 207.
  2. ^ a b c Ćirković, Sima M., and Vuk Tošić. The Serbs, p. 13. Vuk Tošić (ed. and trans.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2004, p. xii. ISBN 978-0-631-20471-8.
  3. ^ Ivo Vukcevich, Rex germanorum, populos sclavorum, p. 73: "Zupanic believes that the montes Serrorum can be traced to early Serb settlements in Dacia: Since we have shown that Serri is the same as Serb, the montes Serrorum mentioned by Marcellinus confirms the presence of Serbs" Google Book
  4. ^ a b The Spread of the Slaves, by Henry Hoyle Howorth, Journal of the Anthropological Institute, 1878
  5. ^ Our forefathers
  6. ^ a b c d e f http://facta.junis.ni.ac.rs/pas/pas2003/pas2003-02.pdf
  7. ^ Istorija Srba, Chapter 5: "Slovenska plemena i njihova kultura"
  8. ^ a b c De Administrando Imperio, ch. 32
  9. ^ a b c http://books.google.com/books?id=wEF5oN5erE0C&pg=PA35
  10. ^ Islam in the Balkans: religion and society between Europe and the Arab world, by H. T. Norris
  11. ^ http://www.rastko.rs/rastko-lu/jezik/hsuster-srbin.html
  12. ^ J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams, "Protect", The Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (London: Fitzroy and Dearborn, 1997).
  13. ^ http://books.google.se/books?id=kHxJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA608
  14. ^ Procopius, De aedificiis, IV 4
  15. ^ (Appianus, De bell. civ. Lib. IV. 87)
  16. ^ Papazoglu 1978, 58-61
  17. ^ a b George Grote: History of Greece: I. Legendary Greece. II. Grecian history to the reign of Peisistratus at Athens, Vol 12, 1856 "...from the plain of Kossovo in modern Servia northward towards the Danube..."
  18. ^ The letters of Manuel II Palaeologus
  19. ^ http://www.eliznik.org.uk/Bulgaria/history/thracian-tribes.htm
  20. ^ The development of the Komnenian army: 1081-1180
  21. ^ JSTOR: The English Historical Review, Vol. 53, No. 209 (Jan., 1938), pp. 129-131
  22. ^ Mehmed II the Conqueror and the fall of the Franco-Byzantine Levant to the Ottoman Turks Page 65, 77: "Triballians = Serbs"
  23. ^ The letters of Manuel II Palaeologus Page 48: "The Triballians are the Serbs"
  24. ^ The Journal of Hellenic studies Page 48: "Byzantine historians [...] calling [...] Serbs Triballians"
  25. ^ Studies in late Byzantine history and prosopography Page 228: "Serbs (were) Triballians"
  26. ^ Anne Comnene, Alexiade (Regne de L'Empereur Alexis I Comnene 1081-1118) II, pp. l57:3-l6; 1.66: 25-169. Texte etabli er traduit par B. Leib t. I-III (Paris, 1937-1945).
  27. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=FTw3lEqi2-oC&pg=PA234
  28. ^ http://books.google.se/?id=npQ6Hd3G4kgC&pg=PA1043

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