An onomastic study of linguistic remnants from St Stephen’s era

Early Hungarian place names and name continuity

Abstract

The paper surveys toponymic data in the deed of foundation of the episcopate of Pécs in an etymological perspective, with special regard to the possible continuity of names. Most toponymic data in the document are probably continuations of their pre-conquest antecedents; however, this does not necessarily entail a continuity of population in each and every case. The probability of name continuity differs across the various types of names. River names occurring in the document in their Latin form (as well as the parallel vulgar versions like Duna or Száva) must have been continuous. The same may be true of toponyms like Pécs, a vulgar name that only occurred later on in a written form but must have been hidden behind the Latin name occurring in the document, or perhaps also of the German form Raab. Names of the latter type refer to contacts across the subsequent groups of population more clearly and in a geographically more anchored manner than river names do. Of the toponyms of the document, the settlement names Győr and Tápé, as well as the river name Kapos, were definitely coined after the Hungarian conquest. With respect to the other names, the issue of continuity cannot be settled at the moment.