THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE OLD BULGARIAN TITLE ЦѢСАРЬ/ЦЬСАРЬ
Date
2024-04-21
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Publisher
Plovdiv University Press “Paisii Hilendarski”
Abstract
This article deals with the etymology of the Old Bulgarian (Slavonic) title цѣсарь/цьсарь which has been a matter of discussion and different hypotheses for а long time. In the second half of the 20th century most authors accepted the Gothic hypothesis according to which the title appears to be a Gothic loan – from Káisar. It is attested in the Gothic transcription of the New Testament made by the Gothic bishop Ulfilla in the 4th century in Moesia. However, this hypothesis is problematic too – it cannot explain the different phonetic variants of the title in the Old Bulgarian (Slavonic) records and modern Slavic languages as well as the lack of labialization of the final short -a in Káisar. The article introduces a new hypothesis insisting on the connection of the title and its variants with the Late Latin vernaculars spread in Moesia and modern Western Bulgaria and Eastern Serbia and attested in a relatively big number of inscriptions dated back to the 5th and 6th century. A large number of anthroponyms, toponyms and some of the Romance loanwords in the Old Bulgarian language, whose phonetic structure indicates contacts between South Eastern Slavs and the Late Antique Latin speaking population in the Balkans are examined. The Old Bulgarian (Slavonic) variants of the title are explained in the context of the phonetic changes in the Late Latin vernaculars.
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Keywords
цѣсарь/цьсарь, Old Bulgarian (Slavonic), Late Latin Balkan vernaculars