ETIMOLOGII TOPONIMICE ROMÂNEȘTI ÎN BANATUL MEDIEVAL. STUDIU DE CAZ: ETIMOLOGIA TOPONIMULUI LUGOJ

Constantin-Tufan STAN Universitatea din Oradea

Abstract

ROMANIAN TOPONYMICAL ETYMOLOGIES IN THE MEDIEVAL BANAT. THE CASE STUDY OF THE LUGOJ TOPONYM ETYMOLOGY Using linguistic tools, contextualizing the information and relating it to historiographical realities, the study aims to capture the evolutionary process of the spelling of a place name, Lugoj, from medieval Banat. The settlement, located in an area of cultural and linguistic interference, has gone through several historical stages, over the centuries, preserving ethnonymic meanings of Romanian origin. A whole host of linguists and historians have formulated hypotheses regarding the etymology of the toponym. Theories regarding a possible Geto-Dacian substratum of the etymon, a Latinist theory, the hypothesis of a supposed derivation from a Slavic radical and a theory that appeals to the Hungarian origin of the etymon were expressed. In the present study, I have taken the argument of the linguist Simion Dănilă, which records the appellation logoj (i), the plural of logoz Banat doublet for rogoz, from the old Slavic rogozǔ, herbaceous plant (carex riparia), which can be found in swampy areas and wet places, used to weave mats and to cover houses in rural areas. Keywords: Medieval Banat, Lugoj, toponymy, etymology, linguistic hypotheses.