Montenegro Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Montenegro cities.

Podgorica has a simple name describing the area. Here the 'region below Gorica', a hill name meaning 'little hill', refers to the small hills overlooking the city marked by cypress trees.

Herceg Novi is the Montenegrin version of the Italian Castelnuovo and the Greek Neokastron, all meaning 'the new castle'.

Bar is a shortened form of Antivari, itself owing to its location across the Adriatic from Bari in Italy, itself an Arabic personal name where Al-Bari means 'the creator'.

Cetinje takes its name from the River Cetina on which it stands. The river name is possibly from a Phrygian word zetna meaning 'carries' and a reference to the silt it moves.

Kotor can be traced back to its Greek beginnings when the city was known as Dekatera, from the Greek deka thira, meaning 'ten gates' and can only refer to the number of access points to the fortification.

Ulcinj has two possible origins. Some suggest this is from the Albanian ukas meaning 'wolf', however more likely is the Greek name of Colchinium or 'founded by settlers from Colchis'. This was the name given to an area of Georgia known to the inhabitants as Egris, Colchis coming from the Uratian Qulha and likely a proper noun.

Tivat is ultimately from the Greek Thiodhos or 'way of God'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Kosovo Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Kosovo cities.

Pristina is the capital of Kosovo, the origins of its name not entirely certain. Most often said to be from a Proto-Slavic pryscina 'spring of water'. A second possibility is a personal name, there being a few possibilities. However, the idea it comes from the Serbian prist meaning 'ulcer' or 'tumour' is impossible as this would never bring about a suffix of -ina.

Gjilan has a disputed etymology, ideas differ depending on the view of neighbouring countries and peoples. For example Albanians maintain it comes from the original settlers here, these led by Bahti Beg Gjinolli of Gjinaj and arriving in the middle of the 18th century. This seems very late for a record which is not documented and there is evidence of earlier inhabitants. Serbians claim it comes from the Serbian word gnjio, which is something of a derogatory description for it means 'putrid, rotten' and, while certainly not unheard of in place names, seems unlikely to be retained by the current nation.

Pec is a Serbian word meaning 'furnace' or 'cave' depending on the context. This would refer to the caves in Rugova Canyon which were home to Serbian Orthodox hermit monks.

Mitrovica comes from the Greek Demetrius and named after the 8th century Byzantine church and dedicated to St Demetrius of Thessaloniki, the patron saint of agriculture, peasants and shepherds.

Ferizaj was known as Ferizovik when under the Ottoman Empire, changing soon after the railway came through here in 1873, sparking a period of growth. It then took the name of the hotel, one already standing when the railway arrived, named after the owner Feriz Shasivari.

Gjakova is the Albanian name, Serbians refer to it as Dakovica. Several theories as to the origin, including a personal name Jakov, a minor lord who once held the town but at least managed to get his name on coinage; the Serbian dak'pupil' and a reference to the Serbian schools here; or, for reasons unclear, the Albanian word gjak 'blood'.

Vucitrn has two possible origins. First settled in the time of the Illyrian Empire some 2,500 years ago, the Illyrian could have name meant 'the side of the calves'; alternatively the Serbian Vucitrn is the name of the plant ononis spinosa, which is abundant in the area but could well have been named by the place. Incidentally ononis spinosa is commonly known as spiny restharrow and is found throughout much of Europe. Russians used an extract in the manufacture of bulat steel. The finished weapon dipped in a mixture containing the restharrow extract and then held aloft while on a galloping horse, thus allowing it to dry and harden. Not difficult to see why such a process was brought to Europe by the nomadic armies of the Mongolian Empire under Genghis Khan.

Kosovo Polje is takes the name of the nation and adds the Serbian polje or 'field'.

Orahovac is from the Serbo-Croatian orah meaning 'walnut'.

Suva Reka is the Serbian for 'dry river'.

Kacanik is likely from the Turkish Kacanlar, a reference to the Albanian bandits operating in this area who used the town as their base.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Albania’s City Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. It would seem logical to find any links with English place names to be fewer the further we get from the British Isles, yet this is not always the case.

Tirana is often said to have been named by the Turkish general Barkinzade Suleyman Pasha, who founded the place around 1600 and naming it Tigran in honour of his home of Tehran. However there is enough evidence to show this was known as such some 1300 earlier and certainly the Emperor Justinian built a castle in the early 6th century named Tirkan. Thus it seems likely this city was named as ‘the village of Tirania’, this being the ancient name of Tuscany inhabited by the Etruscans. While the Etruscans gave their name to the Tyrrhenian Sea, this being the Greek version of their name, the names have never been explained.

Durres was once recorded as Dyrrhachion and this comes from the Greek and means something akin ‘bad shoreline’. Undoubtedly the rocky coastline around here would have made landing here extremely hazardous. Roman historians claimed this represented the hero Dyrrachius, yet if there is anyone to link with he will have been named from the place.

Vlore was first known as the Greek Aulon meaning ‘valley’, likely a Greek translation of the existing ancient name for the area. Later pronunciations, notably the Italian Valona, resulted in the modern form.

Elbasan shares an origin with the name of Albania, where the Indo-European alb has been seen as ‘place of eagles’ and has been influenced by the Turkish il-basan ‘the fortress’.

Fier is certainly not from the Italian fiera or ‘trade fair’ despite there being an important Venetian marketplace here in the 14th and 15th centuries. There is a record of this name well before the heyday of the market and comes from the Albanian word for ‘fern’.

Berat was earlier known as Beligrad, itself meaning ‘white city’ in the Slavic tongues and a reference to stone buildings.

Sarande has undergone several minor changes, these solely down to pronunciation differences as successive cultures came and went. This name came from the Greek for the Byzantine monastery of Agioi Saranada or ‘forth saints’. This refers to the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, a group of Roman soldiers of the twelfth legion who were martyred on the orders of Licinius in 316.

Pogradec is another Albanian name of Slavic origin where po gradec literally means ‘under the city’. This not only defines the name of this place but also shows it was overlooked by the Illyrian settlement of Istarova located on the hill which still dominates the skyline.

Gjirokaster has often been recorded as being named after the legendary Princess Argjiro which, had she ever have existed, would be impossible as the name is known before her reputed lifetime in the 15th century. The true origin is Greek argyron kastron ‘the silver castle’.

Note the spellings are mostly English as the piece is written in English.