plik

iversity

Scando-Slavica

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2003

The Names of the Dnieper Rapids in Chapter 9 of

Constantine Porphyrogenitus’ D e administrando imperio

Elsa Melin

The  ninth  chapter  of  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus’  De  administrando
imperio (DAI)  was  composed  c.  944.  For  some  300  years  several  distin
guished  scholars  in  the  fields  of  Slavonic  and  Scandinavian  languages
have  laboured  over  the  interpretation  of  the  names  of  the  rapids  in  this
chapter.  In the  1940s,  when  two  Scandinavian  Slavicists,  A.  Karlgren  and
K.-O.  Falk,  published  extensive  studies  devoted  exclusively  to  the  names
of the  Dnieper  rapids,  this  discussion  was  given  a  new  lease.  Regarding
earlier  literature  I  refer to  Falk  1951,  and  to  the  comprehensive  commen
tary  and  bibliography  on DAI published by  D.  Obolensky  (1962).  Below,
I  shall  discuss  Falk’s  contribution,  as  well  as  reviews  and  articles  pub
lished  subsequently  by  scholars  such  as  G.  Y.  Shevelov,  R.  Ekblom,  A.
Zariba,  A. I. Tolkačev,  P.  Rehder,  M.  Shapiro,  B.  Struminski,  A.  Dany-
lenko and Th. Andersson.

In his strongly critical review of Karlgren’ s and Falk’s works on the

names of the Dnieper rapids Shevelov (1955/1971, 144) explained the
problems in interpreting the names, and why the criterion of synonymity
must be met:

The  problem  facing  the  scholar  in  a  study  of the  names  for  the  seven
falls  of  the  Dnepr  [...]  consists  not  merely  in  deciphering  them  and
giving  their etymologies.  The  main  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact,  that,  as  is
well  known,  Porphyrogenitus  regularly  gives  two  names  for  each
fall— one “ Slavic” ,  and the other Scandinavian, and next he gives  their
etymology  or  translation  into  Greek;  moreover,  he  gives  this  as  a
translation  of  both  names.  From  this  it  would  follow  that  the  Slavic
and  Scandinavian  names  must be  synonymous, and their meaning  must
correspond  to  the  Greek  translation  or explanation.  However,  this  cor
respondence  as  often  as  not is  absent  [...]  so  far,  no one has  succeeded
in  bringing  into  harmony  the  three  basic  parts  of the  material  in  Por
phyrogenitus.

Taylor & Francis

TtyotS. Franci» Croup

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36 Elsa Melin

In a note entitled “ Postscript 1969” in the reprint edition Shevelov

(1955/1971, 164) declared that his opinion of 1955 remains unchanged
even after the subsequently suggested interpretations. Tolkacev (1962)
lays down that there is semantic correspondence in two names only.

However, it is crucial to point out that a reliable correspondence be

tween the three available names can be reached only if they have been
correctly rendered into Greek.

The Name o f the First Rapids — Έσσουπή (Explanation: μή
κοιμάσαι)

The Emperor Constantine reports a single name — έσσουπή — which
he took to mean μή κοιμάσαι ‘do not sleep’ in “Russian” (Old Swedish)

as well as in Slavonic. If we are to imply Slavonic ne (= μ ή) we must

borrow the final v of the preceding word, έττονομαζόμενον, a procedure
commonly adopted by scholars.

Falk (1951, 85) suggests a completely different explanation for the

name — Ο ύστουπή = ustupi = ‘rocks’ . Some scholars have recognized a

Norse word in the name— thus Karlgren (1947, 107) supandi and Sahl-

gren  (1950a,  145)  cisupi.  The  critics  o f Falk’ s  suggestion  have  objected
that  his  reading  requires  several  emendations  (Zariba  1958,  153f),  and
that  it  does  not  fulfil  the  criterion  o f  synonymity  with  the  explanation

(Shevelov 1955/1971, 146; Sahlgren 1952,7).

Tolkacev regards the problem as quite unresolved, the name, however,

as Old Swedish. Several scholars have expressed criticism o f the inter

pretation o f the name as an imperative.

The most recent explanation involving negative imperatives was

brought forward by Strummski, who (1996, 149) gives negative impera

tives for both “old Ukrainian name” ne sT>pi and “old Nordic name” ne
siirbi = ‘shouldn’t be sleepy’. Greek explanation: ‘do not fall asleep’.

I would like to suggest a quite different explanation. In the Codex Su-

p raslien sis, 479, 19 (M eyer 1935, 140), we find the Church Slavonic

word neusypaj^i,  the  definite  form  in  masc.  nom.  o f the present participle
o f ne  usypati,  ‘he who  does  not  fall  asleep,  who  is  always  awake’ .  It  oc
curs  in a text read at Easter,  attributed to an archbishop o f Constantinople.
It  is  a  direct  translation  o f Greek ά κ ο ίμ η το ς. Slo v ar'  russkogo jazyka

XI-XVII vv. gives from Lavr. let. 105 the same example as occurs in the

Supras liens is: neusypajaj: cervb neusypajai. In this participle -ajaj may,
due to a haplological loss, have resulted in -aj, neusypaj, which is the

Scando-Slavica Tomus 49, 2003

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The Names o f the Dnieper Rapids

same form as the imperative ‘don’t fall asleep’. The Greek on may have

been contracted into -η. Similar final contractions are found in Gignac

(1976, 248, 2): π ρ ά ξ η ίο Γ π ρ δ ξ α ι, κομίση for κομίσαι. Sreznevskij
(1893-1903, s.v.) gives the corresponding Old Russian participle: neusy-

p a ja i monastyrb — μονή τ ώ υ ά κο ιμ ήτω υ was a monastery near the

outlet o f the Black Sea at Constantinople.

The vowel sequence ευ could be monophthongized into ε, especially in

older Modem Greek dialects such as Pontic. This phenomenon is treated

by Dieterich (1898, 78f; 279, d) and Oekonomides (1908, 5 no. 9).

The sequence o u reflects [y], as in β ο υ σ ε γ ρ α δ έ (DAI 9/7) and in

Σ τρ ο ύ κ ο υ ν , the seventh rapids. This rendition is common also in Sla

vonic place-names in Greece.

In later periods these rapids were called Kodak, Kodatskij porog, and

several further variants (see Evarnickij 1890, 35). At one point the Turks

had built a fortress here, according to Struminski (1996, 138) with a
Turkish name *K iidäg ‘Watching’ , lacking a source reference. This mea

ning  is  found  in  the  Uigur  word  kydäsci  <  kydäs  +  ci  ‘the  watchman’ ,
which  according to  Radloff (1893-1911,  2:1487) was  formed on the  verb
stem kydäs  ‘to guard’ .

Hrusevskyj (1906, 151 fn. 2) categorizes Uigur in this period as a West

Turkish language, following Munkäcsi: “ogur — ugur {Namen der westli
chen Türken, Ujguren)".

In C. Brockelmann’s 1921 article on the language o f the 11th-century

Turks verbal adjectives are treated on p. 34. To hardi = ‘der Mann ging’
was formed the participle bardaci = ‘der gehende Mann’ . On this analogy

kydäsci might have the sense o f ‘he who watches, is vigilant’. I find it
possible that it is this Turkish name that has been translated into Old Rus

sian. They corresponded in sense as well as in form, as a present participle

masc. nom. The name signified the rapids as well as the fortress.

Translations o f Turkish names were common in Byzantine literature,

according to G. Moravczik (1943, 23). On p. 229 he deals with the name

Ζάρκελ, a Chazar fortress on the Don. The Turkish word means ‘white

house’,  and  the  Slavonic  translation  is  bela  veza,  ‘white  tower’ .  L.  Nied-
erle  (1902-24,  1:4  121)  explains  ’Ά σ π ρ ο υ   κάστρου  in  ch.  9:91  o f DAI
as  a  direct  translation  o f Turkish Akkerman,  ‘white  fortress’,  in  Russian
Belgorod.  This  fortress  stood  on  the  south  bank  o f the  Dniester.  If my

interpretation is correct there were fortresses, with Turkish names trans
lated into Slavonic, on all the great Russian rivers, the Don, the Dnieper

and the Dniester. But apparently the Slavonic name o f these Dnieper rap

Scando-Slavica Tomus 49, 2003

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38 Elsa Meliti

ids  and  the  adjoining  fortress  was  not  widely  known  and  used.  No  Old
Swedish  name  is  mentioned,  merely  that  its  significance  is  the  same  as
that o f the Slavonic name.  Was the translation made for the  sole use o f the
Emperor?

The Second Rapids

— OuXjBopai, ’OaTpo[3ouvi7Tpax

(Explanation:

t o vricriov tou

payi_iou)

The significance of these names, O uX ^opoi, ’O oT poP ouvrrrpax— ‘the

rapids with the islets’— has been uncontested ever since Thunmann’s
interpretation in 1774 of the Scandinavian name Hulmfors. However, in
my opinion the forms have still not been satisfactorily explained.

OuA(3opai is described by Obolensky (1962, 45) as a dative-locative

form. Struminski as well (1996, 139) explains the name as a dative, refer

ring  to  Sahlgren.  But  Sahlgren  had  changed  his  view  in  1950,  concurring
in  Torbjomsson’s  (1911)  opinion  that  -i  is  a  Greek  ending.  Sahlgren  as
serts  (1950a: 143f)  that  there  are  no  datives  whatsoever  in  the  Scandina
vian names for rapids. This is also my own opinion.

The rendering o f the reduced vowel b as o u in ’O aTpo(3ouvnrpdx

has  been  long  discussed.  Basing  his  hypothesis  on  ^-spellings  in  Church
Slavonic  texts  Shevelov  (1955/1971,  147)  explains ou  as  a  development
o f -b  rather than  b.  In  line  with  all  his  other  explanations  o f the  phonetic
development  o f  the  names  o f  the  rapids  Falk  regarded  this  ou  as  a
Ukrainian  ir.  On  Falk’s  Ukrainianisms  Shevelov  states  in  conclusion
(1955/1971,  161)  that

features o f Ukrainian phonetics do not appear

in these names” .

Among the names o f the rapids there is yet another name with the ad

jectival suffix -*bttyj — (3ouAviTrpdx, a name for the fifth rapids. It is

generally recognized  that  in  this  name  there  is  no  trace  o f &-.  In my  view
ou in ’OaTpo(3ouviTrpdx  is unlikely to be a reflection o f b or t>.  I would
like  to  offer  an  explanation  o f ou based  simply  on  the  Greek pronuncia
tion  o f the  consonant  sequence  [v]  +  [n],  a  combination  which  does  not
exist in Greek (see Meyer  1896,  337).  Thumb states  (1910,  19):  “Vor v  ist
P>  zu  n  geworden.”  In Vasmer  1941  there are three options  for  expressing

[v] + [n]: 1. by inserting the vowels i, e o r a i between (3 and v, as in

Z a p o p iv a = *Zarovbna (1941, 62); 2. by substituting n v f o r (3v:

C u A iu v a (1941, 158) = *SIivbna; 3. by (3v: ’Opo^viK (1941, 194) =
*Orechovbriikb.

Scando-SIavica Tomus 49, 2003

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The last example is taken from Fiorina in Macedonia, a region where

the population  is  now,  as  it  always  has  been,  predominantly  Slav.  Fiorina
is  the  only area  in  this  material  where  ß and υ  were  used  in  conjunction.
In  the  same  records  o f names  anaptyxis  o f o  and  ou  is  found  in  words
which  have  never  contained  a  reduced  Slavonic  vowel,  e.g.  Κ οβόζδα  =

gvozd(Vasmer 1941, 37) ‘forest’ .

E. Schwyzer gives (1953, 277ff) the following description o f epen

thetic vowels in Greek: “Der Übergangslaut erhält teilweise die Färbung

des  Vollvokals  der  folgenden  oder  auch  der  vorhergehenden  Silbe,  teil
weise  wird  er  ohne  Rücksicht  auf die  Umgebung  durch  i  oder  ε  wieder
gegeben.”  He  continues  by  stressing  that  this  phenomenon  is  almost  al
ways  vernacular  and  sporadic.  Epenthesis  o f such  anaptyctic  vowels  is
outlined  by  Dieterich  (1898,  42f).  In  Modern  Greek  the  most  common
vowels  to  appear between  a  consonant  and  a  lateral, v  or  λ  (in rare  cases

p), are i and ou. This development took place primarily in older, eastern

dialects, such as Pontic, but was not realized consistently. Consequently, I
regard ou in Ό σ τρ ο βο υ υ ιπ ρ ά χ as an anaptyxis between the consonants

[v] and [n], which in Greek could not be pronounced in conjunction.

As regards -π ρ ά χ I believe it to be a Church Slavonic metathesis, just

as e.g. Sachmatov (1916, 80f) and Falk (1951a, 114) assumed. I agree

with Tolkacev in his claim (1962, 57): “napisanie prag~b — bylo vosprin-

jato Konstantinom v vide π ρ α γ (bez glasnogo -b) ... χ moglo otrazat' is-

konnomu g v zaimstvovannych slovach” , but in my opinion it was not
written but only spoken.

The Third Rapids — Γελα υ δρ ί (Explanation:

ήχος

φ ρα γμ ού)

For  these  rapids  only  a  single  name  is  extant.  This  is  now  unanimously
explained  as  the  present  participle  of OSw  gcella,  ‘roar’ .  The  question  of
why  the  name  ends  in  -5pt  instead  of,  as  might  be  expected,  in  -δι,  has
been  brought  up  once  more  through  the  contributions  of  Strum m ski
(1996)  and  Danylenko  (2001).  Several  scholars,  including  Falk,  have
regarded  -δρι  as  part  of  the  Greek  word  [’αν]δρί.  Vasmer (1971, 873),
however,  sees  an  influence  from  the  Greek  word  for  ‘cold’  in  the  femi
nine —  γελαυδρή.

As early as 1911 Pipping (p. 17) understood the word as a plural o f the

present participle. His view was supported by Torbjömsson, who pointed

out (1911, 4) that it is not uncommon for rapids consisting o f several

The Names o f the Dnieper Rapids

Scando-Slavica Towns 49, 2003

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40 Elsa Meliti

ridges to receive a plural name. Torbjömsson also (1911, 8) interpreted
the final -i as a Greek ending, in my opinion a correct interpretation.

Strumiriski (1996, 142) has concurred in Pipping’s view o f this name

as a plural. On the ending, however, he comments: “ The pi-ending proba

bly reflects the palatal pronunciation o f

R .”

If the date assumed by Nordic

philologists for the disappearance o f the palatal

[

]

is correct the graph

eme pi cannot reflect this sound. Noreen (1970, §265) maintains: “Das

urn.

ist schon vorliterarisch, am frühesten nach dentalen und inter

dentalen Konsonanten, mit altem r zusammengefallen.”

On the corresponding Slavonic name o f the rapids, which is not re

ported  by  Constantine,  Vasmer states  (1971,  873)  that  it  does  correspond
to Zvonec,  reported  later.  In  the  oldest  record  o f the  names,  that  by  Las-
sotas  o f  1594  (Kleiber  1959,  97),  which  contains  all  names  later  than

Constantine’ s  DAI,  we  find  the  plural  form  Zwoncze,  not— as  Vasmer
says— the  singular Zvonec.  However,  in  Danylenko’s  opinion the records
o f Lassotas are not reliable,  they are polonized.  Instead,  Danylenko  (2001,
50)  sees  in the r-form  a personification  o f the present  participle,  as  in  the

personal name Stigander (= Stig) and the animal name ]>rondr. On the

other hand, these words signify animates, usually people—Prondr being

used as a male name— and outside this category I have not been able to

find any present participle ending in -r in the singular.

These third rapids consisted o f four ridges. Every time the water

plunged down a ridge there was the same roaring sound. What could be
more natural than using the plural for these repeated roars.

The Fourth Rapids — Ά ειφ ό ρ , Ν εα σ ή τ (Explanation: δ ιό τι

φ ω λεύουσ ιν oi π ελεκά νο ι είσ τ ά λιθ ά ρ ια τ ο ΰ φ ρ α γμ ο ύ)

In DAI 9/45-56 the Emperor Constantine describes the struggles of the

R us' at these  rapids.  These  are  the only rapids  where  the boats  are  carried
over  land— six  miles,  which  according  to  Obolensky  (1962,  48)  is
equivalent  to  8.8  kilometres.  At  the  other rapids  the  boats  are pushed  on
wards by their crews  wading barefoot, except in the last rapids,  where  the
boats pass along the main channel.

Ά ειφόρ

V. Thomsen (1919, 307) analysed the name as consisting of ei (e , a i),

‘ever’ and fo rr ‘ violent’. His explanation was accepted by Falk (1951,

Scando-Slavica Tomus 49, 2003

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135) and others. Sahlgren (1930, 146 f) suggests a completely different

interpretation— Aidfors, Modern Swedish Edforsen, ‘the rapids by the
isthmus’ ; the Northmen had to port their boats across an isthmus. Ekblom

(1951,  171f)  rejects— in  my  opinion  justly— Aidfors  on  paleographical
grounds,  and  because  a e ^ o p   is  not  a  semantic  parallel  of VEaor|T.  Ek
blom  is  sceptical  also  towards  Aiforr  and,  like  Obolensky  (1962,  47),  he
maintains  that  so  far the  name  has  not been  given  a  satisfactory  explana
tion.

With Thomsen (1919) I understand ctsi as OSw ai, ON ei. This is, ac

cording  to  Hellquist  (1939,  172,  sub  1.  e-prefix),  a  frozen  inflected  form
that  could be  combined with  nouns  as  well  as  adjectives.  In  combination
with  a noun it  is  evidenced  in the personal name  Eric Emuni,  according to
Knudsen,  Hornby,  and  Kristensen  (1936-64:2,  248)  ‘the  man  with  the
everlasting  memory’ .  The  word  thus  means  ‘continuous’  as  well  as  ‘al
ways’.

op I recognize the Old Swedish noun fo r. For its interpretation I

refer to the well-known Hogby stone (Brate 1911 no. 81), which was
erected around A.D. 1000. The runes read “ Fiall a furi fr

kn draengr As-

mundr” .  The  dative  a furi is  the  most  intensely  discussed  place-name  on
the  stone.  Pipping  (1936,  71)  proposed F 0 ri instead  of  the  previously
suggested Fyri.  Sahlgren  (1939,  162)  proposed  a  specialised  sense  for

F 0ri— ‘a  place,  whether in  a  stream  or  a  lake,  so  shallow that people  can
wade  through  the  water.’  Hellberg  (1950,  45)  points  out  that  F0ret ap
pears  in  Runic  Swedish  on  the  Hogby  stone.  He  concludes  that  the  sense

proposed by Sahlgren is found in place-names from Uppland containing
F0ri. Andersson (1971, 29) declares that Hellberg had proved to full satis

faction that Sahlgren’s hypothesis was correct.

Sahlgren continues (1939, 162): “ The word, which evidently had its

origin in Uppland, seems to have spread along the ancient itineraries.” It
also appears in place-names, such as Forkarby.

Accordingly, I interpret the name ’AE

1 9 0

P as ‘the rapids that are al

ways shallow’ . They were so shallow that the boats could not be punted
even when unloaded.

Rygh (1904, s.v.) cites F o r and F(?r for A.D. 1322, and gives 21 ex

amples o f these roots in Norwegian river-names. Since this meaning of

the  word  originated  in  Uppland  this  sense  must  have  been well  known to
Vikings  setting  out  on  expeditions.  One  o f the  routes  led  from  Kungs-
hamn  in  Uppland  through  Foret,  ‘the  shallow  lake’— formerly  much

larger than today— to Ostra Aros (Uppsala), see Hafstrom 1949, 67.

The Names o f the Dnieper Rapids

Scando-Slavica Tomus 49, 2003

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42 Elsa Melin

№aor|T

N eaariT derives from ne-j^-sytb ‘insatiable’ . But this Church Slavonic

word also means ‘pelican’ , and most modern commentators have trusted
Constantine’s explanation that “pelicans build their nests on these rocks” .

A large number o f hypotheses involving birds have been proposed over
the years. Certainly it is possible to maintain—with Kleiber (1959; 1960)

and other scholars— that rapids or streams have got their names from

birds. Adding -fors is unnecessary, nor need there be any nests; some

times  the  occasional  appearance  o f large  flocks  o f birds  has  been  suffi
cient.  But  there  should  be  some  logical  grounds  for  the  naming  if this
hypothesis  is  to  be  believed.  Struminski  (1996,  144;  149)  interprets

N eaoriT as ‘ seagull’, and in order to find a corresponding Norse word he

reads, rather than det

op, *Maeicp6p—a word in which he assumed an n

taken from the particle hev.

M. Shapiro (1982) has dealt exhaustively with *ne-jq-sytb, a word

which  in  the  sense  o f ‘pelican’  occurs just  once  in  the  Church  Slavonic
Bible,  in  Psalms  102.  The  sole  reason,  Shapiro  says,  why  all  bird  names
must be rejected is the strict synonymity between the Old  Swedish and the
Slavonic  names.  His  view  is  also  mine.  Shapiro  interprets  this  name  as

‘ever violent, ever rapid’ . In its original sense o f ‘ insatiable’ VEaar|T

would refer to the wild and dangerous rapids, which must have taken a
great many lives. But for my own part I cannot see ‘ever violent, rapid’ as
a strict parallel o f ‘insatiable’.

Since the root o f VEaar)T is -syt- it can be associated with terms for

water.  According  to  D al' sytaja  voda  means  “polnaja,  v  koryte;  samaja
vysokaja  v  beregach,  bez  razliva  ili  poema” .  Moreover,  the  sense  o f the
verb  sytet'  is  exemplified;  “ o  vode  pribyvat',  polnet',  ne  razlivajas' esce
za  berega” .  Without  the  negation  the  name  o f these  rapids  would  signify

‘ filled with water to the brim, but not flooding the banks’ . N eaar|T is

likely to mean that the water did not even reach the banks.

I suspect, with Thomsen (1919, 306) and other scholars, most recently

Shapiro (1982, 169), that the original name o f the rapids might well have

been what they were called in later records— Nenasyt, + suffix, Nenasy-

tecb.

N E aar|T , ‘ insatiable’ , means that the rapids were never sated with

water. As Obolensky points out (1962, 47): “This is an eminently suitable
name for the largest and most fearsome o f the rapids, the only one which,

even in the spring, is never wholly covered by the water.”

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The Names o f the Dnieper Rapids

It was quite possible for Greek words to end in p, but final -τ is as a

rule simply dropped. “ Only in cultivated speech is it retained, as in

Ε λ ισ ά β ε τ , though even here its pronunciation appears rather affected”

(Jannaris  1897  §§  218,  218b).  However,  in e.g.  Pontic  all  consonants may
appear  in  final position (see  Jannaris  1897,  §  219b).  Besides,  there  are no
traces  o f a  reduced  vowel  in  the  Slavonic  name.  According  to  P.  Rehder
(1968,  154)  the  fact  that -j%-  is  not rendered by a nasal proves neither the
existence  nor the  disappearance  o f a  Slavonic  nasal  in  this period,  merely
that certain consonant sequences, e.g. -νσ-, were not permitted in Greek.

The Fifth Rapids — βαρουφ όρο^, β ο υ λ ν η π ρ ά χ (Explanation:

δ ιό τι μ εγ ά λ η ν λίμ νη ν ά π ο τελ εΐ)

βα ρουφ όρος

Most  scholars  accept  Lehrberg’s  interpretation  (1816,  369)  of this  name
as  ‘the  wave-rapids’ ,  Old  Icelandic  bara  ‘ wave’  and fo rs  in  a  grecized
form.  Only in Jurgevic do we find a warranted distrust:  “ ...  we find in Old
Icelandic  the  form  bara  ‘wave’ ,  but  are  we  therefore justified  in  attempt
ing  to  prove  that  βα ρο υφ ό ρο ς  must  necessarily  be  half  Icelandic  and
half  Swedish,  a  compound  o f  Old  Icelandic  b ara  ‘wave’  and  Modern
Swedish/ors?” (Falk  1951,  159)

Thunmann (1774, 387) was the first scholar to read β as [v], Falk

(1951, 163) reads Varuforos, which he understands as ‘the rapids that
abound in tall cliffs and islets’ . In Modem Greek the letter β can be pro

nounced either [v] or [b]. The question is whether, in this case, both op

tions were open. Vasmer (1941, §15d) shows that in Slavonic place-

names in Greece they were restricted. He maintains that in early Modem

Greek sandhi variation in certain consonant sequences entailed the pro

nunciation of the second consonant as a plosive; in e.g. τη ν βασιλικήυ β

must be pronounced [b]. The phrase in our text is μέυ βαρουφόρο$. In

this respect Thumb (1910, §15) puts articles and particles in the same

category. If Vasmer is correct we should read [b].

I read Barouforos, but see no reason to understand the word as ‘the

wave-rapids’ .  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  a  single  Swedish,  Danish
or Norwegian name  for lake  or  stream  containing  bara  ‘wave’ ,  neither  in
Hellquist  1903-06,  Jonsson  1966  and  Kousgard-S0rensen  1968-78  nor  in
Rygh  1904  or  Hovda  1966.  L.  Ryman o f Sprak-  och  folkminnesinstitutet
(personal  communication)  confirms  that  neither  bara  ‘wave’,  nor the cor

Sccindo-Slavica Tomus 49, 2003

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44 Elsa Meliti

responding Modem Swedish bára, is found as a place-name element in
their Swedish etymological files.

I understand (3apou<pópos as Barforsen, containing the adjective bar

in the sense ‘ free from everything that normally covers the ground’ . B a r

in  this  sense  is  part  o f  many  place-names.  A  few  examples  from  the
province  o f Skaraborg  (Ortnamnen  Skaraborg  1950-81)  are B arebacka
(11:1,7);  Barm ossen  (13:212)  B a r e fja ll  (1:305),  etc.  We  find  it  also
among  Scottish  names:  Barra,  usually  interpreted  as  St.  Barr’s  Isle,  may
really  mean  ‘bare  isle’  (Mackenzie  1931,  128).  In Mackenzie  1931,  141
we read  “Barra:  the  derivation may be  from  ON  berr,  Dan.  and  Swed.  bar

‘bare’ .” In the SAOB vol. B p. 284 we find from the year 1605 the ex

pression “nar sjon var bar” o f water that is open, not frozen over.

The vowel ou is likely to be a Greek anaptyxis (see sub Rapids nos. 2

and 6).

The element bar was, in initial position, probably unique in expressing

the sense o f ‘free from’, but usually with reference to vegetation only.

What, then, was it that Barforsen was free from? In my opinion all

those obstacles that cluttered the other rapids— rocks, sandbanks, islets,
etc. For the crews this was useful information, which could be supplied in

a name.

BouXvriTTpáx

A clear majority of scholars— about twenty— have regarded the first ele
ment o f the name as an adjective from *v b ln a ‘ w ave’ , in recent years

Obolensky (1962,48) and Danylenko (2001,45).

I see several factors that contradict this interpretation. Constantine did

not write the expected form o f the adjective— v b ln tn y j— but only
PouXvr)-. This slip has been explained as a haplology— bn was left out.

Neither Sreznevskij (1893-1903) nor D al' (1903) adduces an adjective

vblnbnyj formed on the noun volna with the meaning o f ‘wave-’ .  The only
meaning  given by  Sreznevskij  is  ‘wool’ .  Slovník jazyka staroslověnského,
however,  cites  an  adjective  derived  from  volna  ‘wave’ .  Thus  we  cannot

know with certainty whether this adjective was used in Russian or

Ukrainian territory during this period. Today, the adjective volnovoj is

used in Russian, while Ukrainian has a different noun for ‘wave’— iilija.

When Obolensky (1962, 49) derives the name o f these rapids from

volna ‘wave’ he finds support in Miller. But Miller (1885, 26), quoted by
Falk (1951, 160), believes that the g in Volnigskij, a derivation from

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The Names o f the Dnieper Rapids

volna,  has  dropped  out  o f  Constantine’s  name  for  the  rapids  because
Constantine  had  confused  this  name  with  that  o f the  ninth  rapids.  These
rapids were  later called  Vilbnyj, which means  ‘free’ .  If there was  indeed a
confusion  it  was  due  to  Constantine  himself.  However,  it  is  my  opinion
that in Constantine’s record there was no confusion, nor a slip of the pen.

In Kleiber 1959 (p. 97) we find a table o f the names o f the rapids, re

corded by scholars and writers from 950 to 1892. On the order o f Peter

the  Great B.  Baturin and I.  Chruscev carried out geodetic  investigations  in
the Ukraine for seven years,  1721  to  1728.  They drew maps  o f the country
which  were  published  by  the  Russian  Academy  o f Sciences.  From  1730

onwards we find the names Volnoi and Volnoj for the seventh rapids as

well as for the fifth, i.e. identical names for two rapids. These two explor

ers are likely to have had time enough to ascertain the correct names for
their maps. It follows that in those days the name o f the fifth rapids was

Volbnyj.

Danylenko (2001, 46) recognized the problem o f the numerous names

for the fifth rapids which contained Vol'n- and Vil'n-. These occurred in

maps from the 17th century and later, or were mentioned in literature. He

concluded: “This puzzle still resists comprehensive solution.”

There is no way that the sense o f ‘the wave-rapids’ can be supported

by Constantine’s  explanation “because  it  forms  a  large  lake”.  The  English
translation of λίμνη  into  ‘lake’  is  inadequate.  Liddell  and  Scott (1925-40,
s.v.)  give  ‘pool  o f standing  water,  left  by  the  sea  or  a  river’,  Pape  (1914,

s.v.) ‘ stehendes Wasser’ . Evidently there was here a quiet stretch o f water,

contrasting with the main channel o f the rapids.

Hence, Lehrberg suggested that λίμνην should be replaced by δίνην

‘whirlpool’, a conjecture accepted by Thomsen and others but rejected by

e.g.  Malitsky  (quoted  here  from  Obolensky  1962,  49).  Malitsky  pointed
out that in these rapids the  fall was not very great,  and that there had even
been  a  small  harbour  at  the  end  o f the  rapids.  For  λ ίμ ν η   he  suggests

‘creek’ .

My conclusion is that the two names mean ‘the free rapids’ , i.e. free

from  stones,  rocks  and  sandbanks.  Already Thunmann  (1774,  388)  under
stood  it  so:  “ Der  slavische  Name  Wolny  =  Prach  bedeutet  einen  freien
und  ungehinderten  Wasserfall” .  Falk,  too,  interpreted  Β ο υ λ ν η π ρ ά χ  as

‘the free rapids’ , but believed them to be— comparatively— free from

water.  But  he  changed  the  order  o f the  rapids,  placing  the  fifth  where
others  have  the  seventh.  For  this  he  was  criticized  by  Slavicists  such  as
Ekblom  and  Shevelov.  Moreover,  Falk  himself (1951,  170)  admits  that

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46 Elsa Melin

Varnforos, ‘the rapids that abound in rocks’, and BouXvniTpdx, ‘the

rapids free from water’, do not constitute a semantic parallel. His inter
pretation thus contradicts his chief thesis— that all the Ukrainian names
were direct translations from Old Norse.

The expression volnaja voda refers also to lakes; according to D al'

1903 it means “ glubina, na kotoroj sudno stoit bezopasno, ne na meli,

dostatocna dlja sudna glubina, pri naibol'sej ubyli, otlive, vygone” . In
later periods they were called Sina Luka, ‘the blue bend’, which also goes

well with the sense ‘blue, open water surface’.

Here I would like to recall Kleiber’ s description (1959, 76f) o f the

changes the Dnieper has undergone over the centuries. Kleiber believes
that the river must have been considerably deeper when Constantine

wrote about its rapids a thousand years ago, before the extensive defores

tation of the region: “ Der Unterschied im Wasserstande von damals und

jetzt muss nicht in Zentimetem, sondem in Metem gemessen werden.”

In BouAvr|TTpdx [o] is rendered by ou. I interpret ou as a Greek ren

dering o f Slavonic [o] in an unstressed syllable, as first pointed out by
Tolkacev (1962, 53). (See the section “What Greek Dialect Is Repre
sented in the Names of the Rapids?” on page 57.)

The Sixth Rapids — Aeccvti — |3EpouT£r| (Explanation: (3p a a |a a
vspou)

A ea v T i

Obolensky (1962, 49) comments on 9/61-62: “The name is quite clear, it
corresponds to the Old Swedish participle le(i)andi, from lea ‘to laugh’

[...], which, as Falk has pointed out, was an onomatopoeia.” B. Ravndal

(1938,  92)  writes:  “ Number  6  vaunts  the  name  o f Leanti  or  ‘Laughing’ ,
corresponding  to  the  Minnehaha  o f America’s  Indians.”  Thomsen  as  well
(1919,  310)  had  referred  to  this  Indian  name,  but  it  does  not  support  the
sense  o f  ‘laughing’ .  N.  Holmer,  a  scholar  eminently  versed  in  North

American Indian languages, has declared that the word quite simply
means ‘water-fall’ (personal communication to Falk, see Falk 1951, 179).

As early as 1774 Thunmann (p. 389) had proposed ‘laughing’ as the

sense  of  le(i)andi.  Miller  (1885,  27)  mentioned  this  interpretation,  but
suggested  another possibility,  the  participle  “hlyjandi, —  sogrevajuscij  no
znacenie malo podchodit k  (3pdana  vepou” .  Danylenko  (2001,  52)  takes
issue  with the  sense  of ‘laughing’ :  “But  this  interpretation  is  not remotely

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The Names o f the Dnieper Rapids

similar to the explanation of ßspour^ri as vertigine actum.” Struminski
(1996, 147) develops Miller’s suggestion of ‘warming’ , proceeding from

the intensive ya-verb *h l0ja ‘to boil hot very much’ , while Danylenko

(2001, 54) associates this verb with the IE root *kel-, Latin calere.

Shevelov (1955/1971, 151) takes issue with Falk’s interpretations of

the two names:

The correspondence in meaning between the names for the falls is in

itself questionable. In order to make things fit, Falk ([1951,] 186f) first

has to declare that vbreti designated a sound, and then has to ascribe to

its Scandinavian correspondence the meaning not only of laughter in
general, but also of the most diverse sounds. This all, however, is con
firmed neither by East Slavic nor by Swedish linguistic facts.

Falk  himself pointed  (1951,  186)  at  a crucial  argument  against  the  expla
nation  ‘ smiling,  laughing’ :  “ It  should  be  mentioned  that  he  [Hellquist,
EM]  does not adduce a single  name for a lake formed on the verb  ‘le’ ,  and
that the  senses  of ‘smile’  and  ‘laugh’  are  not given.”  And further on  in  fn.

2: “ A fresh examination of place-names formed on Le- might provide
new, divergent results.”

I choose to base my argument on the Swedish lake names Stora Le and

Lelängen, as well as on place-names that contain the element le-. I will

exemplify by these place-names from the province of Värmland (Ortnam-
nen Värmland 1922-62): 11:60 Letjärnet, 111:71 Lesjön, Letjämen,

111:51 Lesjön, Lesjöforsälven. In the province of Skaraborg (Lundahl
1950-81) we find 16:12 Lefors, in Västernorrland (Ortnamnen Väster-

norrland 1955) 4:6 Lean, ibid. 65 Lesjön. The first part of the compound

is frequently regarded as uncertain. No comprehensive survey of these

names seems to have been made.

For the explanation of Le Hellquist (1939, s.v.) refers to Noreen (1909)

and  to  Kock  (1899).  ON  hier,  from  the  Edda,  with  the  senses  o f “ lake”
and  “ seagod” ,  is  treated  by  both  o f  these  Scandinavian  philologists.
Noreen regards hier as  fully  identical with the  lake  name Le.  He derives  it
from  the  IE  root  *hlewa,  Latin  cluo,  ‘bespüle,  reinige’ ,  and  refers  to  the
Old  Irish  river-name  Cluad.  In  Pokorny  1959  the  corresponding  root  is

*kleu-, *klö-, *klu- (p. 607). Noreen does not mention Kock’s interpreta

tion of hier. Kock associates Hier < *HIewaR, ‘loud’, with examples that
we find sub *kel- ‘rufen, schreien’ (Pokorny 1959, 548), and makes no
attempt to explain the lake name.

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48 Elsa Melin

In Denmark Kousgárd-S0rensen cites s.v. Le: “Lehulta sjö, Leesiö,

Lebaek”  (1968-78:4,  291f).  For the Danish  names  he surmises  an  uncom
pounded  lake  name  Le,  and  links  them  with  the  “etymologically  obscure
Le and Lelángen.” He points out that nobody has attempted to explain le -

lae  in the names  discussed;  the East ON correspondent of We- ought to be
lae.  Thus he rejects  the  derivations  proposed by Noréen  and Kock.  Possi
bly,  he continues,  Le  might derive  from  *H law ian,  an  adjective  meaning

‘lukewarm’ .

Evidently there is no consensus among these three philologists on the

derivation  and  signification  of Le.  Hence  I  would  like  to  propose  a  hy
pothesis  of my  own.  E.  Ekwall  (1928,  250)  comments  on  the  name  Lent:
“The  name  may  be  derived  from  Welsh  lliant,  ‘a  torrent,  flood,  stream’ .
Lliant  looks  like  a participial  formation  from  the  root  lei-,  on  which  see
Leen.” Sub  this  name  he  says  (p.  248):  “Leen  may be  identical  with Leon

{Lion). [...] The earliest example is Lionhina 1040. [...] OE Lion [...] is a

derivative of the root lei- ‘to flow; water’ . [...] The base may be *liian- or

*liion- from *leian-, *leion-.” Ekwall refers to Walde 1930-34:2, 392,

corresponding  to  Pokorný  1959,  664.4:  “ lěi-,  giessen,  fliessen,  tröpfeln,
Idg.  *leio-,  regnen,  strömen.”  The  senses  noted  here,  which  are  relevant
for  Ekwall’ s  river-names,  are  ‘Flut,  Meer,  Überschwemmung,  Meeres
gott,  Lear,  strömt.” Lent  is  categorized  by  Ekwall  as  an  originally  Celtic
name  with  the  sense  of ‘river,  stream’ .  The  stress  is,  according  to  Ekwall

(1928, lxiii), before 1100 likely to have fallen on the final syllable, Lliánt.

Thus the stress in

e ó c v t i

may quite well have fallen on the a.

The commentary on Stora Le in Keyser 1846-95 sub A.D. 1268 reads:

er Lee mykit vatn, “Lee means a lot o f water.” Was the original sense still
current at this time, and is this the best etymology given for the word?

Thus, the name

e ó c v t i

may be understood as ‘the violently flowing

rapids’ , ‘the torrential rapids’ . The name is not likely to be onomatopoeic.

Ekwall thus regards lliant as a present participle. H. Krahe, on the

other hand, maintains (1951/52, 159) that there were no nř-participles in
Celtic. “Wären participiale «J-Flussnamen alt, so könnten sich gerade in

ihnen auch für das Keltische Reste verbaler «r-Bildungen erhalten haben.

[...] Das Keltische besitzt überhaupt keine participial gebildeten Fluss

namen.” Although Krahe repeatedly quotes from Ekwall 1928 he seems to

have  overlooked  Ekwall’s  explanation.  Nicolaisen  (1957,  219)  deals  with
the chronology of these Celtic  names:  “These river-names  must have been
around  500  B.C .”  Pokomy,  writes  Nicolaisen,  is  to  be  credited  with  indi

cating the possibility of pre-Celtic but still Indo-European name elements

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The Names o f the Dnieper Rapids

in the British Isles. Krahe (1964, 78) indicates the geographical distribu
tion of these the oldest of our names: “ diese voreinzelsprachliche Hydro-

nomie umfasst nicht die Gesamtheit der indogermanischen Sprachen— die

zugehörigen Gewässernamen sind von Skandinavien bis Unteritalien, von
Osteuropa, namentlich den baltischen Ländern, bis zu den Britischen In

seln und den Küsten des Atlantischen Ozeans verbreitet... ” .

According to Pokorny (1959, 664.4) the root lei

is found in several

European languages. He suggests the possibility that the name Lietuva
(Lithuania), and also Latvian LeTtis “Lithuanians” , can be derived from

this root. OtrQbski (p. 117) provides yet another explanation, but from the

same root, for the much discussed name Lithuania. He regards the older

form Leituvä  >  Letuvä  as  a  modification  of  *Leitüs,  according  to  him  a
region  on  the  river  *Leita  or  *Leite,  forms  he  had  himself reconstructed
on  the  root  *lei-.  OtrQbski  (1911,  188)  gives  the  present-day  Lithuanian

rivername Leita, which he describes as “ein bedeutender Gewinn für die

Flussnamenforschung” .

We have seen that there is evidence o f the root lei-

in river-names in

the  British  Isles,  Scandinavia,  and  the  Baltic  countries.  This  corresponds
to Krahe’s view o f the  geographical  distribution o f the oldest river-names,
which  according  to  him  had  been  coined  as  early  as  1500  B.C.  Among
these he does not, however, mention names formed on the root lei-.

In Sweden these ancient Indo-European names are well known and

well covered by scholars, e.g. Boren by Hellquist (1903-06, 66), from IE

*bha ‘glitter’ .

BepouT^ri

Most  scholars  have  seen Bepoux^ri  as  the  present participle  of vbreti ‘ to
boil’ .  In  recent  years  Kleiber  (1959;  1960),  Shevelov  (1955/1971)  and
Danylenko  (2001)  have  objected  to  the  term  “present  participle” .  Dany-

lenko (2001, 55) calls it “ an archaic denominative” . The change of the
vowel from % to q is treated by Leskien (1922) in §138. Forms such as

gorQste — gorqsta occur already in Old Church Slavonic texts. Vasmer

(1971, 872) deals with Russian «f-participles with the corresponding -ja-
w-vowels, such as Grem jaca, Gremucij in hydronymics. I will keep the
term ‘substantival present participle’ , a direct parallel to OSw Leanti.

Participles in Slavonic river-names are treated by Krahe (1951/52). To

be sure, he notes, they are far fewer than in the Germanic languages, but
they can still be established with confidence. On p. 154 he adduces

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Veroutzi in DAI, used as a noun. Subsequently (p. 160f), Krahe points out:

“ Es zeigt sich jedenfalls, dass wir mit mehreren Schichten participialer nt-

Flussnamen  zu  rechnen  haben:  einige  (nicht  sehr  häufige)  erweisen  sich
auf  Grund  ihrer  formalen  Verhältnisse  als  Schöpfungen  vorhistorischer
Perioden,  andere —  und  zwar  die  überwiegende  Mehrzahl —  scheinen

jüngeren Zeiten ihre Entstehung zu verdanken.” Krahe also indicates

(p. 161) “die Möglichkeit ni-Flussnamen auf verbalen Grundlage in ver
schiedenen Stadien der Sprachentwicklung immer neu zu erschaffen” .

The discussion on this name has also concerned a possible rendering

o f the reduced vowel

in weak position. Falk (1951, 190) initially

explained

as a Greek svarabhakti vowel, serving to facilitate the pro

nunciation o f the first part o f the word, as Skok (1928, 230) had done
earlier concerning the

in the fortress name ßspouAAia. In his review of

Falk’s work Zariba showed (1958, 167) that the sequence ßp- occurs in

an initial position in Greek words; thus there was no need for a Greek

svarabhakti vowel. Initial vr- is uncommon in Greek. In §245a Meyer

states that “vr- ist im Laufe der Zeit durch das allgemeine Schwinden des

v a u f'p   reduciert worden” .  In  §  179  he  deals  with  a  later development  of
vr-  from mr-,  e.g.  ß p axu g.  Such  developments  are  confirmed by  etymo
logical  dictionaries. According  to  Greek  grammarians  the  development  of
svarabhakti,  or  anaptyctic,  vowels  is  not  clearcut  or  predictable.  M ost

Greek grammars deal with this phenomenon. Initial br- has developed an

a in e.g. ß a p d y x ia (Meyer 1896, §94a; more examples in the following

§§). Curtius (1879, 729) writes: “Vor p erzeugt sich solches

im aeol.

UETEppos =  UETpios; Ü E p p au os = TTpiauos.”  On papyri  Gignac  (1976,
311)  writes:  “ Development  o f a  vowel  between  two  consonants  occurs
more  frequently  than  elsewhere  in  Greek,  probably  because  o f the  col
loquial  nature  o f the  language  o f the  papyri  ...”  (see  the  section  on  the
second  rapids,  page  39).  Since  the  phenomenon  was  not  realized  consis
tently,  but  was  sporadic  and  limited  to  vernacular  speech,  ßsp-  could  oc
cur alongside ßp-, and Zariba’s objections are thus irrelevant.

In Vasmer 1941 we find u, i, and

as anaptyctic vowels where there

had never been a reduced Slavonic b. Vasmer (1941, 246) cites instances

involving p — C u p ia jjo v =

ZipsA, *ZepeAi = *zre/o-and A is

dealt with on p. 139: Z u A iß aiva, ZiAißEva = *Slivbna. Evidently there

was a long tradition o f anaptyctic vowels developing in Greek, even from
the Classical period, and in my view we have the same anaptyctic vowel

in ßspouT^n as in ßspouAAia.

50 Elsa Melin

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The literal sense o f βράσμα νερού, ‘the boiling o f water’, can be un

derstood in three ways: 1. The heating o f water. 2. The seething and bub
bling o f water. 3. The movement o f water when boiling.

I regard the first interpretation as nonsensical for the rapids, and con

sequently  also  Miller’s  (1885),  Strum inski’ s  (1996)  and  Danylenko’s
(2001)  derivation  o f the  name  o f these  rapids  from  the  root  *hlyja.  No.  2
would  be  onomatopoeic,  but  I  fail  to  hear the  similarity.  To  establish  the
signification  o f the  verbal  noun βράσμα I turn to the corresponding verb,

βρ ά σ σ ω , according to Liddell and Scott (1925-40, s.v.) ‘to shake vio

lently (o f the sea)’ . In Pape (1914, s.v.) there is a participle o f this verb
referring to the sea, signifying ‘ in heftige Bewegung gesetzt’ . This evi

dence should be sufficient proof that βρά σ μα primarily refers to the vio

lent movement o f the rapids.

The Seventh Rapids — Σ τρ ο ύ κ ο υ υ — Ν α π ρεζή (Explanation:

μικρός φ ρα γμ ός)

Στρούκουν

While the signification of the name, ‘ current, small rapids’ , was recog

nized by Thomsen (1919, 312f), its form constitutes a problem that has
not been decisively solved.

Falk cites (1951, 207-10) a large number of instances o f struk, mainly

from northern Sweden. There is also one instance o f stryk, in the sense of

‘current, small rapids’ . He regards the name as the dative plural serving as

a nominative. To this explanation Sahlgren objected several times in

Namn och Bygd, especially in 1951, 159. Ekblom (1951, 154) and Obol

ensky (1962, 56) regard the form as a dative plural following a prepo

sition, at Strukum. Sahlgren, on the other hand, believes the nominative to

be strukn, a word which, according to Ekblom (1951, 154) and Karsten

(1933, 39ff), is nowhere to be found. Th. Andersson discussed this type of

place-name in an exhaustive article (1980); he established that the forma

tion o f place-names with e.g. the suffix -n is not likely to have been

prevalent in the Viking Age. In rare cases words or suffixations may be

reconstructed  for  chronological  reasons.  Such  a  reconstruction  is  the
Dnieper rapids  name strukn,  ‘passage,  current,  small  rapids’— all  accord
ing to  Andersson.  This name has  thus  not been  found,  only reconstructed,
as Andersson himself admits (p.  19).

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52 Elsa Meliti

It is my intention to prove that what we have in this name is neither

strukn nor a dative plural o f struk.

In his book (1960) on plurals in the earlier Scandinavian naming sys

tem  Lars  Hellberg  demonstrated  that  singular  names  for  water-courses
frequently  form  the  basis  for  plural  names  for  settlements  along  these
water-courses.  The plural N ora  stands  on  a  singular  nor,  ‘narrow  straits’
(1960,  73).  Am,  a  dative  plural,  stands  on  a  single  river  (a)  (1960,72).  In
the  same  way  those  place-names  in  the  dative  plural  that  Falk  cites  are
more likely to represent  ‘a number of houses on a river’  than  ‘ a number of
rivers’ .

For obvious reasons we are not concerned with the names o f the set

tlements  along the Dnieper.  I believe  that Στρούκουν contains  the nomi
nativ  singular stryk  and  the  Greek  ending  -ouv. The  root  might  vary  in
this  word— strak, streke, struk, or stryk.  To  be  sure,  Hellquist  (1939,  s.v.)
regards  stryk  as  a  fairly  modem  formation,  but  other philologists  express
the  opposite  opinion.  Torp  (1919)  relates  stryk,  defined  as  ‘strong current
in  a  water-course’ ,  to  Old  Norwegian/Icelandic  strykr.  Lars  Hulden
(1960,  16)  believes  stroke,  from  Osterbotten,  to  be  an  extension  of  Old
West Norse stryk,  ‘main channel’ .

In Swedish dialects, and outside Sweden as well, stryk, masc. and

neutr., has a wider distribution than struk. From the archives o f the Dia

lect Institute at Uppsala (Sprak- och folkminnesinstitutet; personal com
munication from L. Ryman) it appears that stryk and its variants are

known in the provinces o f Norrbotten, Vasterbotten, Dalama, Varmland

and Orebro, in  Osterbotten in Finland and in the  Nucko dialect in Estonia.
Through  these  provinces  led  itineraries  for  levies,  and  along  these  the
Vikings  may  have  acquired  stryk  as  a  word  for  small  rapids.  SAOB  as
well  (s.v.) cites stryk n.  for  ‘the part of the  main channel where the current
is  strongest.’  However,  as  pointed  out by  Falk  and  Sahlgren,  no  instances
of  stryk, struk  have  been  found  in  such  central  parts  o f Sweden  as  Up-
pland and Sodermanland.

The neutral ending -ouv is a variant o f -ov, which is extremely com

mon in Greek place-names. The same change o f o into ou occurs as in

β ο υ λ ν ιπ ρ ά χ , in this case after a guttural k in post-tonic position. In
Vasmer (1941, 90) we find such variants as Ζάρκον and Ζάρκου, and
final v could be pronounced or left out in different dialects.

It is obvious that the interpretation “ μικρός φ ρα γμός” goes very well

with Stryk, having the same sense and the same number.

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The Names o f the Dnieper Rapids

Falk (1951) justifies his interpretation o fS T p o u K o u v on p. 214:

“From the Slavonic correspondent, Nastrežje, it is evident that the Norse
name refers not merely to these rapids but also to the surroundings.

Nastrežje is formed on streib ‘ struka’ , and its meaning is ‘the area around

the rapids’ .” Thus, the Slavonic name induced Falk to add ‘the area

around’ to the sense o f the Norse name as well. The discussion will there
fore be continued sub the Slavonic name o f the rapids.

N a T r p e C jí — N a a T p E Ç i i

A number of unsuccessful attempts at explaining this name have been
made, see Falk 1951, 192-206. Falk suggested o t for

i t

since these let

ters were easily confused. With Obolensky (1962, 51) I find his conjec
ture sound. Synonymity is achieved, the root *strbzb having the sense of

‘the rapid current of a river’ . Moreover, Sreznevskij (1893-1903, s.v.

Strbibn-b)  has  found  Strežent  for A.D.  1393.  In  the  Dnieper basin,  in  the
lower  reaches  of the  tributary  Desna  the  Ukrainian  form  Strilenb  is  ad
duced twice,  and  we  also  find Střižna  (Korepanova  1969, 47).  Obolensky,
however,  comments  in  summarizing  (1962,51):  “ the  exact  relationship
between  NaoTpeÇri  and střeží  may  remain  controversial” .  According  to
Falk  (1951, 221)  the  formation of *Nastrežje  is  quite  straightforward;  it is

a  common  type  of word  in  the  Slavonic  languages,  like  other  formations
involving prepositions, e.g.  Pomorbje.  Among  other references  Falk  cites
the work by Karas  (1955)  on place-names formed on prepositions.  On p.  7
Karas gives the example Nawsie, from na wsi.

It is my intention to demonstrate that nouns formed on na- and a col

lective noun ending in -bje are not always based on a prepositional phrase.

Miklosich (1927) treats both unprefixed collectives (p. 207) and na-
prefixed place-names. We find e.g. kří and nákří ‘ copse’ (p. 273), dvorje

and nádvoří ‘ farm’ (p. 241), lèse and nálesí ‘ forest’ (p. 304). “Das Suffix
ije bildet Collectiva,” he writes, but does not comment on the na-prefixed

names.  The  formation is Primitive  Slavonic.  In  a minor group o f Russian,
Ukrainian,  Polish  and  Czech  appellatives,  all  containing  the  prefix  na-,  I
have  found  a  collective  formation  with  no  connotation  o f ‘place  for’  (all

from D aF 1903 s.v.): napóTe — obsirnye polja; n áboloťe — bolotistoe
mes to', nagôr'e — nagornaja polosa, storona. Corresponding words are
found in Ukrainian and Polish.

Only a very few such appellatives have been preserved. A particular

type of formation may however be productive in place-names long after it

Scando-Slavica Tomus 49, 2003

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54 Elsa Melin

has ceased to function in appellatives. This is the reason why there are
many more place-names than appellatives of this origin.

The -io- suffix is Indo-European. It was used i.a. for diminutives, e.g.

"ανδριου,  ‘manikin’.  In  the  Germanic  languages  it  appears  as  -ia,  which
in  rare  cases  had  a  diminutive  signification.  Wessén  notes  (1943,  2 Iff)
that  the  suffix  had  long  since  lost  its  productivity  even  in  the  Germanic
languages.  It was used  i.a.  to  form  collectives, but  in compounds the  con
notation  o f collectivity  was  often  undetectable.  These  had  earlier  been
indicated  by  the  prefixes  ga -  or g e -;  thus  the  German  correspondent  o f

nagorbje  is  Gebirge.  In  Scandinavian  words  a  diminutive  and  collective
connotation  can  be  found  in  e.g.  aspe,  ‘aspen  grove,  small  aspen  wood’ .
In  the  Slavonic  languages  I have  found a diminutive  sense in  Czech  only,
and only  in two words,  návrší and the obsolete  náhon, both meaning  ‘pa
horek’ ,  ‘hill’  (Příruční slovník jazyka  českého).  In  these  words  there is  no
collective  connotation,  as  is  quite  clear  from  the  quotation  from  B.
Němcová  (ibid.)  “Viděly  zámek  na malém návršf’,  ‘They  saw  a castle  on
a  small  hill’ .  In  most  Slavonic  languages  this  diminutive  function  can  be
found  in  verbs  and  adjectives,  and  in  adverbs  with  the  prefix  na-.  In  ex
actly  the  same  manner  as  in  návrší it  affected  Ν α σ τρ εζή ,  as  is  evident
from  the  explanation  μικρός  φ ραγμός.  The  name  is  well  suited  for
Lišnyj,  a  small  rapids  with  a  fall  o f merely  0.4  metre  (Obolensky  1962,

52).

I have suggested fresh interpretations for the following names:

The name o f the first rapids — (υ) Έσσουπή — I derive from the

Old Church Slavonic/Old Russian present participle neusypaj^i, neusy-

p ajaj, ‘watching’ . This Slavonic word may be a translation o f the Turkish

name for the fortress and the rapids—Kodak < Kydasči, an Uigur word for

‘the watcher’ , ‘the guard’ .

The names o f the fourth rapids — Ά ειφ ό ρ — Ν εασήτ — I interpret

respectively as ‘the rapids that are always shallow’ and ‘the rapids that are
never sufficiently filled with water’.

The names o f the fifth rapids — βαρουφόρος — βο υ λ νη π ρ ά χ sig

nify in my interpretation ‘the rapids that are bare, free’— free that is from

sandbanks, islets and other obstacles to the passage o f the boats.

The sixth pair of names is Λ εά ντι — βερούτζη. I link the present

participle Λ εά ν τι with  the  IE  root  *lei-,  which  occurs  also  in  the  Celtic
present participle  lliant,  ‘ stream’ .  This  root also appears  in the Lithuanian
river-name Léita,  the  origin  of the  name  Lithuania,  βερο ύτζη is  the  pre

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The Names o f the Dnieper Rapids

sent participle of * vbreti, literally ‘the boiling’. Since

( 3 p d a n a V E p o u

refers to the violent movement of water I find it reasonable to attribute the

sense of ‘violently rushing’ to both o f these names. With H. Krahe

(1951/52, 160f) I maintain that Slavonic river-names could be formed on
present participles in several periods and with varying forms.

Except for -Ttpax, Neccotit and ’Asupop all names in the nominative

case ending in a consonant have been given Greek endings: -

, -os, -ouv.

In consequence,

t p o u k o u v

cannot be a dative plural, nor does it reflect

a reconstructed “ *strukn” . Regarding the word-formation I have demon
strated that NaTrpe£r| — N aaxpE^ri is a collective formation with a
diminutive meaning but with no connotation o f ‘the area around’ .

The Reduced Vowels

Since the names of the Dnieper rapids were recorded very early they may

be useful for throwing light on the phonetic development of the reduced

vowels.  Recently,  however,  Danylenko  (2001,49)  has  expressed  his  be
lief  that  nothing  definite  can  be  said  about  final  reduced  vowels  in  the
names.  These  vowels  are  always  missing  in  final  position,  once  in

Neocotit and twice in  --rrp&x.  In the latter cases  the  absence of a vowel  is
a  prerequisite  for  the  Greek  development  of y   into  x ,  as  Tolkacev  says
(1962, 57).  Despite  this  he  claims  (ibid.)  that  at  the  time  in  question  the

reduced vowels had not yet been dropped. In medial position b is missing
not only in |3ouAvr|TTpdx but also in NccaTpE^fj, and in DAI 9/6 in Te-

i o u t

ccv

where -bb- has fallen. All these losses occur in weak positions.

In strong position we have e in NaaTpE^fj and in T^Epviycbyav (DAI
9/6), in my opinion also an

in MiAiviaKccv, from

< b. Their renderings

in PEpouT^r) and ’OcrrpoPouviTTpax are incorrect;

and ou are incon

sistent with other spellings  and  Slavonic phonetic development.  As  I  have
attempted  to  explain  sub  these  names  they  are  signals  merely  of  scribal
tradition  and  Greek  phonetic  development.  Shevelov  (1955/1971,  152)

justifies the ou-spelling in ’O o T p o P o u v n rp ax with the large number of

cases of -b for b in adjectives in Church Slavonic texts, but in these texts
ou-spellings are missing completely. He further rejects the analogy

for b

in  pEpouT^ri and (3EpouXXia, on  the  grounds  that  the  latter  name  had
been  fetched from  a  southern  Slav  region  which  had  for a  long  time  been
under  Byzantine  administration  and  in  which  the  scribal  traditions  were
Byzantine.  “Of course,  in  the  region of the  Dnepr falls  there were  neither
Byzantine  administrators  nor  any  Romance  population  with  the  old  Byz

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56 ElsaM elin

antine  cultural  tradition”  (Shevelov  1955/1971,  154).  But  Constantine
composed  his  works  in  Constantinople,  subjected  to  the  rules  of  the
Graeco-Byzantine  scribal  tradition.  Horrocks  (1997,  162)  describes
Constantine’ s  language  in  these  works:  “They  range  stylistically  from  a
near  academic  register,  with  influences  from  the  language  of  imperial
administration,  to  a  mere  basic  variant  which  owes  much  to  the  conven
tions o f the chronographic tradition.”

I am quite convinced that the Greeks did not perceive the Slavonic

weak  reduced  vowels.  To  be  sure,  the  name  corpus  is  tiny,  but  the  syn
copes  are  consistent  and  the  inaccurate  substitutes  in  accordance  with
Greek  scribal  tradition.  It  seems  unlikely  that  these  vowels,  which  were
not written down by the Greeks, were pronounced by the Slavs.

The G reek Explanation o f the N am es o f R apids 2, 3 and 6

The  explanations  “τό   υησίον  το υ   φραγμού”  (the  second rapids),  ήχος
φ ρα γμο ύ   (the third rapids),  and  βράσμα  υεροΰ  (the  sixth  rapids),  con
sist of two  nouns,  of which  the  second  is  in  the genitive.  Lehrberg  (1816)

pointed out that the word-order should have been the reverse — φ ρ α γ

μός το υ νησιού (p. 357) and φραγμός ’η χ ώ ν (p. 361). No scholar has

made an attempt to explain this word-order. Since it is repeated it is not
likely to have been an accidental mistranslation. I will submit an explana
tion to the discrimination of experts.

Ossetic, the sole survivor o f the Northern Iranian languages, contains

archaic  remnants  in  which  headword  and  attribute  have  switched  places,
in comparison with  other Indo-European  languages.  The  ancient name  for
Kerc,  Pantikapaion,  is  an  Ossetic  compound with the  sense  o f ‘road-fish’ ,
while  we  would have  expected  ‘ fish-road’, the  road to  the  fish o f the  Sea
o f Azov.  Don,  Dnieper  and  Dniester  are  all,  according  to  G.  Schramm

(2001, 9f), Ossetic names containing postposed adjectives meaning ‘wide’

and ‘deep’, added to the word for ‘river’ .

In the Russian chronicles the Ossetes are called ja sy . Other Iranian

peoples  mentioned  are  the  Antics and  the  Alans,  who  may  have  mixed
with  the  Slavs.  Vernadsky  claims  (1943,  159)  that  “the  Antic  ruling  clan
must  have  been  o f Iranian  origin” .  From  the  6th  and  7th  centuries  the
Antics  were  settled around Kiev.  On p.  347  Vernadsky points  out that “ in

some border districts a mixture o f Slavic and Ossetian may have been

used” . Possibly we have in “ τό υησίον του φ ραγμού” a case o f Iranian
word-order, attested in names from Slav territories.

Scando-Slavica Tomus 49, 2003

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The Names o f the Dnieper Rapids

What Greek Dialect Is Represented in the Names o f the Rapids?

In Melin 2003 I pointed out the Pontic Greek features in TeàioûtÇccv,

MiAivioKcxv and B ouaeyp aSé. In the names of the rapids as well there

are features which can be identified as Pontic, being particularly frequent
in this Greek dialect. These are anaptyctic vowels

(

in BEpoûxÇri, ou in

Bapoucpôpoç, ’O aTpoPouviTrpâx), and loss o fv in

e u

[N]Eoaourrfi.

The  shift  of  o  to  ou  in  BouXvr)TTpax  and  SxpoÛKouv is  usually  ex
plained  as  a  Northern  Greek  phonetic  development.  This  weakening,
however,  occurred  in  Pontic  as  well,  although  it  was  here  more  variable
(see  Horrocks  1997, 313).  In Pontic,  loss  of the  vowel  took  place  in  the

syllable  immediately  after  the  stress.  Thus,  I  find  it  unlikely  that  bn  has
fallen before the  stress  in  (3ouÀvr|TTpàx.  In  my  view  the  number  of Pon
tic  vernacular  forms  in  this  chapter  are  the  best  witnesses  to  the  Greek
dialect  spoken by  the  informants.  Most Greek cities  on  the  northern  coast
were  founded  by  colonists  from  Asia  Minor.  One  of  these  early  Pontic
cities  was  Olbia,  which  controlled  the  commerce  between  Kiev  and  Byz
antium.  Later  on  Varangians  settled  in  Olesie,  which  was  to  assume  the
function  that  Olbia  used  to  have  (Vernadsky  1943, 56ff).  Even  today
Pontic lives on, e.g. in a region south of Rostov on the Don.

What Language Produced the Original Nam es?

An issue long discussed is whether the original names were Slavonic or

Norse. Falk (1951, 39f) believed the Slavonic names to be direct transla

tions  of the  Old  Swedish  names.  Tolkacev  (1962, 60)  is  the  most  recent
scholar to  hold the  opposite view.  In my  opinion  the  frequent  appearance
in  this  region  of the  name  Vol'nyj for rivers  and  rapids  is  evidence  of the
Slavonic  origin  of  the  names.  That  B arfors  was  the  origin  of  all  these
names is simply out of the question.

Who Was the Informant?

It is quite unlikely that the Emperor Constantine himself communicated or
explained  the  names.  He  spoke  no  Pontic,  no  Iranian  language  nor,  in  all
probability, no Slavonic  language.  In  several  contexts  it is  claimed that he
knew  some  sort  of  Slavonic  language,  since  his  grandfather  was  a  Slav.
This  allegation is firmly rejected by Bury  (1906, 542, fn.  2).  Constantine’s

Scando-Slavicci Tomus 49, 2003

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58 Elsa Melin

father, Basileios, is described by Horrocks (1997, 137) as “ an illiterate

peasant of Armenian descent” .

Following the same linguistic argument it is unlikely that a Varangian

would have been able to report the  full  range o f the names.  Several  schol
ars  have  believed  that  a  southern  Slav— a  Bulgar,  a  Serb,  or  a  Macedo
nian— acting  as  an  interpreter  would  have  communicated  the  Slavonic
names,  with  their  thrice  repeated  metathetic  forms.  This  view  as  well
seems  improbable  to  me.  A  fairly  long  residence  in  a  dialect-speaking
milieu  is  needed  for someone  to  start using  dialect  forms.  Nor  is  it  likely
that  a  Pontic  Greek would have  reported  all  these names— he had  no  rea

son to be familiar with the Slavonic bible. The most probably informant

would  be  a  Slav,  an  Alan  or  an  Ossete  in  a  border  territory  where  Old
Russian,  Pontic  Greek  or  an  Iranian  language  were  spoken.  This  infor
mant  must  have  been  familiar  with  the  Church  Slavonic  Psalter,  the

source o f NeaariT in the sense o f ‘pelican’ in the name o f the fifth rapids,

and also o f the Church Slavonic metathetic forms.

Objections have been raised to the presence o f Church Slavonic forms,

most recently by Tolkacev (1962), who claims that at this date Church

Slavonic had not yet gained a foothold among the eastern Slavs. But his

view is not supported by the information provided by Vernadsky

(1943, 369) and Horrocks (1997, 139). Shapiro claims (1982, 169): “Any

person  literate  in  Slavonic  in  the  tenth  century  had  necessarily  to  be  fa
miliar  with  the  Bible,  the  Psalter  in  particular.”  The  most  ancient  Chris
tian tradition prevailed among the Pontic  Greeks.  Among the  Slavs  Chris

tianity had been spreading from A.D. 850. “ Between the mid-ninth and

mid-eleventh centuries Byzantine culture, spearheaded by Christian mis

sions that brought with them religion, law, art and literature, was spread
as far as the Baltic” (Horrocks 1997, 138).

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Translated by B. Ellenberger

Elsa Melin
Anslagsvägen 1
S-226 47 Lund Sweden

Scando-Slavica Tomus 49, 2003