On some Hungarian place names in the Latin Charter of Foundation of Tihany Abbey: Tichon, Balatin, Petre, Fuk

Abstract

On some Hungarian place names in the Latin Charter of Foundation of Tihany Abbey: Tichon, Balatin, Petre, Fuk

This paper joins in the debate initiated by Onomastic Review concerning methodological problems and basic principles of historical onomastics. The author re-analyses some Hungarian words of the the oldest authentic linguistic record of Hungarian (1055) which survived in the original version. By reviewing earlier relevant ideas the author wishes to prove that from time to time there is a need for modernising our knowledge about the most important linguistic records of Hungarian in the light of the results of recent research. The place-name Tihany comes from a Slavic personal name, though it is argued whether the place-name itself is the result of a Hungarian or Slavic name giving process. The author also analyses four more place-names of the Carpathian Basin that can be derived from the same stem. The Slavic origin of the place-name Balaton is beyond doubt, but earlier opinions need to be refined regarding both the constituents of the etymon and the sound changes that have taken place in Hungarian. Names Balatin ~ Bolatin might reflect Latinised name forms used frequently in contemporary charters. It is questionable whether the word Petra in the charter is a Hungarian place name or a Latin common noun meaning ‘rock, cliff’. Considering its relation to the Latin context the author claims that in all probability Petra is a Hungarian place-name. The author tries to reconstruct the meaning of the hydronym Fok as well as identify the landscape it refers to.