Megjegyzések népnévi eredetű tulajdonneveinkről

Absztrakt

Remarks on Hungarian proper names derived from ethnic names  

Hungarian proper names derived from ethnic names help us to understand the early ethnic relations of the Carpathian Basin. Settlement names developed from ethnic names, if the indicated habitations can precisely be localized and if the motivation for the name choice can convincingly be detected, inform us about the actual presence of a relevant ethnic group in the given territory. To draw such conclusions, it is essential to create an appropriate database, which is now at our disposal, owing to a recently published volume by Anita Rácz (2011). With the help of this dictionary containing Old Hungarian data of settlement names developed from ethnic names, one can easily survey the historical records connected to different ethnic names, whose observation might induce further analyses or might raise questions to be answered. In case of some words (avar, polyák ~ polyán, komán, román, etc.), however, the explanation based on their origin in Hungarian ethnic names is dubious, but, with the help of toponymic and anthroponymic data of ethnonyms, the history of ethnic names can also be reconstructed in an authentic way.