Simple & compound Meglenoromanian toponyms are etymologically divided into four groups: (1) inherited from the substratum, (2) inherited from Latin, (3) old Slavic loans, & (4) Turkish loans. ...Toponyms of the first two classes are listed by thematic domain (with subdomains within each) that include nature; material life; spiritual life; & the human being, the human body, & specific features of the human being. The alphabetic listing is by the head component of the toponymic composition, indicating whether the lexeme has an appellative counterpart or was preserved in Meglenoromanian only as a proper noun. Also provided are etymological information & specification as to correspondences in other historical Romanian dialects (Aromanian, Istroromanian, & Dacoromanian). An English translation, literal or descriptive, is included. The structural characteristics & designative motivation of the toponyms are briefly addressed. The importance of correspondences between the individual Romanian dialects to the study of their history is noted. Z. Dubiel
As the first stage of investigation into Istro-Romanian vocabulary of Slavic origin, data sources are examined. Except for a single 17th-century work, Istro-Romanian language samples including ...prayers & fables were not collected until the 19th century. Estimates of the population of native speakers since the 19th century range from 6,000 to 800. The history of field research, lexicography, & ethnographic materials on Istro-Romanian is outlined with assessments of the linguistic value of specific collections. Particular attention is given to the work of Andreiu Glavina, an Istro-Romanian; an important factor is that the other collectors were not native speakers of the dialect & in many cases had no philological training. Existing vocabularies do not provide a complete picture of the Istro-Romanian lexicon, for which no dictionary has been compiled. J. Hitchcock
Richard Sarbu's Istroromana-azi (Istro-Romanian Today Timisoara, 1987), a sociolinguistic study of the Istroromana dialect, is praised on both theoretical & pragmatic levels. The study is based on a ...survey of texts originating from two representative localities. The analysis focuses on three aspects: the functioning of morphological structures of Roman & Slavic types, the quantity of Roman- & Slavic-origin words, & the prevalence of old lexico-grammatical elements in the current spoken language. The book presents a valuable typology of dialectical exchanges between Istroromana, Slovenian, & Croat, & predicts the dialect's survival in the near future. I. Shagrir
A lengthy history of Romance-speaking peoples in the Balkan region may be traced back as far as the Thracians by some accounts. Historical, archaeological, & dialectological studies providing ...evidence about the Romance presence in the region are reviewed. The history of Istro-Romanian & Arumanian dialects is outlined. Evidence suggesting that the Arumanians originated as Latin-speaking Greeks is evaluated & rejected. B. Annesser Murray
A linguistic examination of Bulgaro-Romanian relations during the ninth to eleventh centuries involves several important aspects including borrowing, the chronology of Southern Slavic borrowings, & ...the specification & description of the ways in which eastern Southern Slavic (Bulgarian) influenced Daco-Romanian. It is found that the oldest Slavic borrowings in Romanian represent, from the viewpoint of form, a succession of phonetic phenomena, expressed as a continual process of reorganization & stabilization of the internal forms of the Slavic words. This contact & borrowing took place without a necessary establishment of bilingualism. Some issues relating to the adoption of Slavic toponyms in Romanian are discussed. Although Slavic was instituted relatively early as a liturgical language (probably before the eleventh century), it is certain that most Romanians did not understand it, although some individual terms were incorporated into daily language (eg, sfint 'saint', slava 'thanks'). B. Annesser Murray
The Megleno-Romanian dialect spoken by natives of the Meglena region of Macedonia is examined. Speakers of the dialect were relocated to the community of Dobroudja in 1923-1924. At that time, ...Megleno-Romanian had the status of a divergent dialect & participated in a relationship of diglossia with the standard Daco-Romanian dialect. A gradual elimination of the low form has been noted in research, & it is proposed that a third, intermediate form now exists as a result of standardization pressures. Data concerning the original status of the dialect in the 1930s & data collected from a recent study of residents of the area (N unspecified) in two age groups (65-85 years & 40-46 years) are compared. In general, the young residents of the area appear not to be learning the Megleno-Romanian dialects, & the dialect is becoming increasingly integrated with the standard language. B. Annesser Murray
The history of the Balkan peninsula is sketched in an effort to evaluate the controversial question of whether the lexical & grammatical similarities between the langs of Southeastern Europe, ...particularly Albanian, Romanian, Bulgarian, &, to a lesser extent, Greek & Serbo-Croatian, provide a sufficient foundation for a "Balkan linguistics." Archeological & anthropological research suggests that there was a relatively united civilization in this region, with a common linguistic base, prior to the arrival of the Indo-Europeans. It is hypothesized that the Thraco-Illyrian phenomenon is the source of many of the current linguistic affinities. Other crucial factors were the Roman conquest of the region & the fall of Constantinople. With the end of Ottoman domination, national states & langs were established, marking the end of linguistic convergence. The causes responsible for the observed linguistic affinities are essentially extralinguistic, being historical, political, cultural, or social in nature. A sort of mental collectivity came to be reflected in the phraseology & syntax of the various langs. P. Farrell
