Macedonia is the Mother of all Macedonians, 1856!

[TheNikoWhiteIch]

Regarding the other name of Macedonian in the ancient world (Maketa), I found these to be interesting:

Macedonians formed during the Iron Age, from Brygian substratum and from Indo-European substratum, settled here at the end of the II millennium; the Macedonians, according to legends got their name from the mythological ancestor Makedon. Maketa, the oldest name of Macedonia (Makedonis), after the mythological original ancestor Maketa

Source: http://www.winne.com/macedonia/bf01.html

The name Emathia was overridden by the name Macedonia whose older name used to be Maketa and Makedon as Hesiod, in his Teogonia, he mentioned it where he determined Makedon as the son of Zeus and Thia. The etymology of the name Macedonia, most probably derives from the substratum of extinct Balkan languages of Indo-European origin.

Source: http://whereismacedonia.org/about-ma...bout-macedonia

For the Macedonians belong to the Lyncestae...The original Macedonians, a nation referred by Mueller to the Illyrian race, are supposed to have been confined, in their earliest settlements, to Maketa, a district of Orestis. That which is generally called Macedonia proper, is divided into upper and lower Macedonia. The former comprises the mountainous districts of Elimeia, Lyncestis, and Oresti (which took its name from the mountains (ori/ora) wherein they dwelt). Lower Macedonia, which appears to have been a later acquisition of the Maketai, and to have originally been called Emathia, comprised the districts of Edessa and Beroea. This part, inhabited originally by the Pelasgians, fell into the power of the Teminidae.

Source: The English Works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 8

Given that Maketa, a district of Orestis, is said to have been the original Macedonia, and originally settled by Illyrians, we can assume that the specific Illyrians that lived there were likely the Paeonians (a fact which is supported by Homer).

As to it's definition, that still remains unclear. But if we consider that the Paeonians are said to be settlers from Phrygia (another fact supported by ancient scholars), then we can at least assume it means "Mother." But until I see a definition of it in a lexicon, it cannot really confirm it.

[TheNikoWhiteIch]

"In the word "Macedonia" the "-ia" is a suffix as in many words in the Indo-European languages. Hence, the word that we have to interpret is "Macedon".

The word "Macedon", from the Indo-European point of view, is a compound word which consist of two roots: "mac" (mak) and "don". The vowel character "e" between them is a linking character. Thus, the formal structure of this compound word is "Mac-e-don".

In the Indo-European languages we have similar words as the last root-word in "Macedon": "dom" (in many Slavic languages); "domus" (in Latin language); "dam" (in Sanskrit); "dun" (in Armenian), and etc. The meaning of "dom", "dam", and "dun" in these languages is house, homeland, or fatherland. No doubt, the word "don" in "Macedon" has the same meaning and derives from the Indo-European "dŌm" (3) – house, homeland or fatherland as in this mentioned above languages and has no relation to the Russian river "Don" (2). We see that in Slavic, Latin, and Sanskrit languages the root always ends with the consonant "m" (dom, dom-us, dam) with the exception of Armenian. In Armenian language the root ends in "n" (dun). This exception in Armenian is believed to be due to the influence of the suffixes in the Hurrian language (6). Since "don" in "Mace-don" ends in "n", the root-word is likely a Hurrian word for house or homeland. This raises the question of whether "mace" is also a Hurrian word.

In some Slavic Indo-European languages we have the word "mac" (a poppy), but there isn´t information that Bruges (Phrygians) were familiar with bleating this plant from which opium is made. However, the meaning of the first root-word in "Macedon," "mac" (mak), in the Indo-European mother language is "sheep". Similar words as "makaka" (bleating animals – sheep, goat) we have in Sanskrit, "maki" (female sheep) in Armenian, and other Indo-European languages (3).

Based on above, the meaning of the compound word "Macedon" is "Sheep Land" or "The Land of Sheep". However, there is more likely interpretation of the word "Macedon" after the discovery of one word in the old Armenian language – "Macenotsats"."

Source: http://archive.is/50DJ

An interesting analysis by an Edouard Selian. This supports the idea that the "-don" suffix in "Make-don" means "homeland." However, the rest of the analysis is certainly peculiar.

[Macedonian]

I once read that the "ia' suffix is derived from "zemja/zemia", hence Make (Mother) - Don (Home) - Ja/Ia (Land) = Motherland.

Furthermore, just pop 'World of Mother" into Google translate and listen to what the 'Hindi' translation vocalizes as. I asked a Hindi speaking colleague to confirm and he verified to the positive.

Interesting to say the least.

[TheNikoWhiteIch]

I've heard of that one and it is possible, I'm just sharing something interesting I found on the possible etymology. I find it peculiar that "mak-" is connected to sheep here, since I haven't found much about if sheep held any special meaning in the ancient Macedonian society like snakes and horses did.

[George S.]

The thing that is grossly overlooked
Is that macedonians were
Around before prehistory
Before the neighbours even came in.How ridiculous
For greeks to claim that macedonians and greeks were the same.They were not and they spoke a different language.They are two different races.Any one can write their own history with their own slant.