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From: "David Zincavage" <>
Subject: [LITHUANIA-L] Lithuanian Onomastics
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 11:41:07 -0700


There is an article on "Personal Names" in the IVth volume of the English
language edition of the Encyclopedia Lituanica (1975) by Petras Jonikas.

Mr. Jonikas writes:

"Some of the two stem names are older than others. Thus, the
nomen-plus-root (e.g. But-vilas, Taut-ginas), nomen-plus-nomen
(Taut-Vais^as, Sir-tautas), and indeclinable-plus-root types (Daugvilas,
San-gaila) generally appeared at a time when there were still close contacts
among the various Indo-European dialects,

[DZ COMMENT-- Jonikas never explains what exactly a "nomen" is or how it is
different from a "root" and an "indeclinable." As far as I can see,
indeclinables are cognate with adjectives or adverbs rather than nouns and
verbs.

Which Indo-European dialects? Presumably Baltic ones. But why do we know
this?]

cont.

while the root-plus-nomen type (Bar-tautas, Nor-butas) seem to have
developed later as a transposition of the nomen-plus-root type, yielding
Vil-tautas from Taut-vilas and Nor-vais^as from Vais^-noras. Belonging also
to the same later period are also the types with an initial pronomial (i.e.
reflexive or vis-) element (Vis-baras, Vis-mantas, Sau-rimas), with an
initial compound component (Ges-mant+taut-) [DZ: ? Je ne comprend.] and
others. Of still later origin (already in the separate Lithuanian period)
are the types root-plus-root expansion (Gin-vilas) and
root-plus-indeclinable (Jo-daugas)."

Mr. Jonikas' classifications largely elude me. I can see that a Tautvilas
is different somehow from a Viltautas, but I only understand these name
elements as fragments cognate with various surviving or archaic words of
Lithuanian. I have difficulty understanding how in general you classify the
fragments, apart from some being cognate with "indeclinables," i.e.
non-verbs, non-nouns.






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