Possible Etymology of Alexander

[George S.]

you should know which gods & words plenty of examples abound.Pretending & acting dumb is not going to protect you.You know about the names how the ending is ous where you helenised the names.Names which you take for granted are not really greek.

[Sweet Sixteen]

Poseidon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poseidon#Etymology

Aphrodite

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Etymology

Pelasgians

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelasgians#Etymology

Athena

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena#Name.2C_etymology.2C_and_origin

Smyrna

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0zmir#Names_and_etymology

Semele

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semele#Etymology

Silenus
Some believe it is related to the Thracian words zilai, zeila, zelas (= wine), or to a hypothetical (not real) early Thracian word Silfanos that would be related to the Latin Silvanus, Silva (=forest). Lastly, it has been related to the words silos, sillos, sillea (hair), anasillos (Satyre hairstyle) which would suggest that Silenus means hairy

Zagreus
Chantraine has suggested it comes from di-agreus (=perfect hunter)

[Toska]

or what about just Silen = Strong,Powerful. Direct Macedonian translation

[Sweet Sixteen]

or what about just Silen = Strong,Powerful. Direct Macedonian translation

If you have such a word you should trace it's history through your recent Bulgarian, Serbian or even Russian and Polish literature of the previous four or five centuries and gradually go back until the texts of Old Church Slavonic, Old (West and East) Slavic etc and find if it's still there and in which form. You just have to find its' earliest appearance in the middle Ages. I don’t know what next, but at least you may exclude some possibilities.

In short, you should study YOUR language; which I don’t see you doing (at least in this forum).

[Chakalarov]

SS:

Here is a website also mentioning the God of Light Xandos, not Xanthus.

http://myweb.unomaha.edu/~mreames/Alexander/basics.html

And my point about the Thracian Pulpudeva is that the Thracian language, which was more related to ancient Macedonian than ancient Greek was, translated Phillippos as -Pulpu. This to me indicated that different people translated names in different ways. So Phillip's name, however it may have been spoken by Macedonians, may have been in an all-together different form than Phillippos. And it is well-known that the ancient Macedonians did not possess the letter f. This can be founds here: http://books.google.com/books?id=Apz...0greek&f=false

[Risto the Great]

If you have such a word you should trace it's history through your recent Bulgarian, Serbian or even Russian and Polish literature of the previous four or five centuries and gradually go back until the texts of Old Church Slavonic, Old (West and East) Slavic etc and find if it's still there and in which form. You just have to find its' earliest appearance in the middle Ages. I don’t know what next, but at least you may exclude some possibilities.

In short, you should study YOUR language; which I don’t see you doing (at least in this forum).

power or virtue here:

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/ocsol-BF.html

In short, people shouldn't throw stones if they live in glass houses.
Further, please don't forget where the Bulgars learned their current language. Many people seem to forget.

Any Macedonian should be able to understand the Old Macedonian. Try that with English of 1000 years ago. Or Greek prior to the great experiment of the 1800's.

Thanks.

[Chakalarov]

Poseidon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poseidon#Etymology

Aphrodite

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Etymology

Pelasgians

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelasgians#Etymology

Athena

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena#Name.2C_etymology.2C_and_origin

Smyrna

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0zmir#Names_and_etymology

Semele

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semele#Etymology

Silenus
Some believe it is related to the Thracian words zilai, zeila, zelas (= wine), or to a hypothetical (not real) early Thracian word Silfanos that would be related to the Latin Silvanus, Silva (=forest). Lastly, it has been related to the words silos, sillos, sillea (hair), anasillos (Satyre hairstyle) which would suggest that Silenus means hairy

Zagreus
Chantraine has suggested it comes from di-agreus (=perfect hunter)

Your reliance on Wikipedia as an actual source of information is troubling to say that least.

And if you read them, you´d see how many attest to the fact that the origins remains unclear.

[George S.]

how can you explainyour greek book written by your minister for northern Greece,4000 years of greek history when you have only been on the greek peninsula for 3k approximately.You had no language or alphabet.You adopted the phonecian alphabet 3 centuries after the liniar aA scripts,&liniar B scripts.So you started to Hellenise everything even to the point that your neighbour Macedonia was derived from greek stock.You believed in your greek lies Myths made up stories.None of it is true for Macedonians and greeks weren't a related race of people.

[Sweet Sixteen]

SS:

Here is a website also mentioning the God of Light Xandos, not Xanthus.

http://myweb.unomaha.edu/~mreames/Alexander/basics.html

Xandos (Ξάνδος or Ξανδός) is a rare form (alteration) of Xanthos (Ξανθος), so rare that at the first time Google would not produce relevant results. It is not a God, but an eponym of God Apollo. Both today and in antiquity it means blonde, yellow.

That brings as to a different (but again) Greek etymology for Alexander ranging from Ηλιόξανθος (Helioxanthos) to Αλιόξανδος (Alioxandos), meaning Yellow Sun.

And my point about the Thracian Pulpudeva is that the Thracian language, which was more related to ancient Macedonian than ancient Greek was, translated Phillippos as -Pulpu. This to me indicated that different people translated names in different ways. So Phillip's name, however it may have been spoken by Macedonians, may have been in an all-together different form than Phillippos. And it is well-known that the ancient Macedonians did not possess the letter f. This can be founds here: http://books.google.com/books?id=Apz...0greek&f=false

So you meant that ancient Macedonians did not possess the sound F, not the letter Φ. Actually, that’s not very clear. We only know that certain names of South (e.g. Pherenike, Phryges) appear in Macedonia as Berenike, Bryges. Yet, the letter Φ appears in many names (e.g. Philip, Philotas etc). Similarly Θ often changes to Δ in Macedonia (Xandos/Xanthos, αδραία/αιθρία), K becomes Γ, Ω becomes ΑΥ (σωτήρια/σαυτώρια) and so on.

These are considered Aeolic influences and bring Macedonian dialect closer to Homer’s language. On the contrary, Attic dialect is closer to Ionian.

These effects are not the rule. E.g. Xanthos (with a Θ) appears in famous Macedonian headstone from Pella (around 420-400 BC). "Xanthos son of Demetrios and Amadika"

power or virtue here:
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/l.../ocsol-BF.html

A superficial search shows:
Russian/Bulgarian/Serbian: силен, Slovenian: Silen (=strong, forceful)
Czech/ Slovakian/ Polish: silny (=strong)

In short, people shouldn't throw stones if they live in glass houses.

What’s that supposed to mean?

Further, please don't forget where the Bulgars learned their current language. Many people seem to forget.

I don't buy that.

Any Macedonian should be able to understand the Old Macedonian. Try that with English of 1000 years ago. Or Greek prior to the great experiment of the 1800's.

Are you sarcastic by any chance? I thought, based on previous discussions, that Old Church Slavonic is not easily intelligible by you. I also sensed limited interest in investigating your recent linguistic history. But, if I'm wrong, I take it back.

Greek language hasn’t changed much in the last 1000 years. Changes in antiquity were faster and broader.

Your reliance on Wikipedia as an actual source of information is troubling to say that least.

And if you read them, you´d see how many attest to the fact that the origins remains unclear.

I didn’t find any “proto-slavic” interpretations, and I don’t know what this would mean. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, an aggregator of sources (references can be found at the bottom of the page, discussion and compromises can be found in the discussion page).
I can’t say the same about the link you provided. After searching and searching I couldn’t find the author/compiler of these university notes or any references. I have to admit it was more entertaining than scientific and I mean this the good way. I hope these notes will be attractive for American students.

Some of the pages (e.g. the one on the controversies of Vergina tombs) may interest the members of the forum. So here it is:

http://myweb.unomaha.edu/~mreames/Alexander/tomb_discussion.html

---

[Risto the Great]

A superficial search shows:
Russian/Bulgarian/Serbian: силен, Slovenian: Silen (=strong, forceful)
Czech/ Slovakian/ Polish: silny (=strong)

Why would you do a superficial search when I gave you a link to where the language was actually derived from? (Macedonia I might add)

It defies logic.

Ease up on the superficiality mate.

What’s that supposed to mean?

It means Greeks should not attempt to suggest they are the yardstick by which we should measure the authenticity of a language. There are numerous reasons why modern Greek exists as it does today and you would be a fool to ignore the revisions and codifications of the last 150 years.

I don't buy that.

You don't buy the fact that that the Bulgars spoke a different language prior to settling in the region? Don't worry, I am not selling it to you. Do you think the Greeks taught them their current language? Where did they learn the language? Please answer, although I must admit I expect to be amused more than I will learn anything.

It always amuses me when Old Macedonian is described as Old Bulgarian. How ridiculous. If they want to call it New Bulgarian I am happy to chat. Because that is pretty much what it became for the Bulgars. Give it your best shot champ.

Are you sarcastic by any chance? I thought, based on previous discussions, that Old Church Slavonic is not easily intelligible by you. I also sensed limited interest in investigating your recent linguistic history. But, if I'm wrong, I take it back.

Me? Sarcastic? Me?

Are your spider senses tingling on a number of issues? I gave you a link in my preceding post. I read a number of the texts on that link. It was quite easy to understand well over 70% of it. I think it is remarkable that this is the case with a language documented over 1000 years ago. Don't you?

Greek language hasn’t changed much in the last 1000 years. Changes in antiquity were faster and broader.

You should go back 200 years and tell everyone that. We know why you think it hasn't changed, but it did change and the change was to try to introduce archaic words into your modern language. They are accepted as normal now, but were not the case back when Grandparents could not understand their Grandchildren in the newly established modern Greece. Oh, and my Greek speaking relatives can't understand the archaic Hellenic languages. But they have the books which show the texts side by side (solely to impress other Greeks).

[Vangelovski]

power or virtue here:
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/l.../ocsol-BF.html

I never quite realised how similar modern Macedonian and medieval Macedonian actually were. After looking through this I'm quite impressed.

[Toska]

too me it sounds half macedonian half serbian, there is alot of words with serbian prefix "u" at the end of the words but alot of those words serbians dont even use or understand.

[George S.]

so what language is the Serbian language its Macedonian.

[Toska]

thats just logical, but im saying from a todays viewpoint, if you had no recollection of the past, you would see how the Macedonian language has morphed maybe 5% in 1300 years and how outsiders would could perceive the language as Serbian as many times our history has been muffled by western historians that came to balkans in 1800s and thought they saw Bulgarians or Serbians because of this reason, but as for the bible written for the slavic speakers of the Balkans and Eastern Europe, do you think it was intellectual by the other speakers.

[Risto the Great]

I never quite realised how similar modern Macedonian and medieval Macedonian actually were. After looking through this I'm quite impressed.

In fact, it just took more time to come to terms with the biblical names, than it did for the rest of the Old Macedonian words.

It is remarkable, no doubt!

And if it was so well documented then, why would it be so difficult to believe the language thrived for hundreds of years in the region prior to that time.