Abstract
The article deals with the semantic motivation of names denoting beech-tree (Fagus sylvatica), basing on the material recorded in subdialects of European languages as answers to the questionnaire of the Atlas Linguarum Europae and presented in a geolinguistic map. In general, ten motivational groups of names have been established, most important of them being: 1) names based on IE. *bhāg-i̯o-, cf. Engl. beech, Gm. Buche, Sp. haya, Port. faia, It. faggio, Russ., Ukr., Pol., Cz., Bulg. buk, Lith. bùkas, Latv. skābardis / guoba etc.; 2) forms derived from Latin vespices ‘shrub’, cf. Friul.Lad. vespol(a); 3) forms derived from Latin pertica ‘long perch’, cf. Fr. epache; 4) forms derived from Latin cerrus ‘oak’, cf. Rum. terş; 5) names based on Frank. *haistr- ‘young tree or bush’, cf. Fr. hêtre; 6) Hung. bükkfa, a name composed by bükk of obscure origin and meaning and fa ‘tree’; 7) forms derived from IE. *ask ‘ash-tree’, cf. Gr. όζυά, Alb. ah. Having examined the attested forms regarding their origin and semantics, the author concludes that the names to denote a beech-tree or its cognates, elm or box-tree, are rich in variants in the Baltic languages, mostly due to the influence of Standard Latvian or Lithuanian. However, beech-trees growing near Grobiņa are witnesses of ancient contacts between the Baltic and Albanian languages. Some names to denote a beech-tree can be found in Lithuanian phraseology. They frequently appear among both Latvian and Lithuanian toponyms as well as anthroponyms.
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