A Tihanyi alapítólevél szórványaihoz : Tichon, Balatin, Petre, Fuk
Date: 2007
Subject: Tihanyi alapítólevél
helynév
szórvány
ómagyar kor
Tihany
Balaton
Fok
Petra
helynév
szórvány
ómagyar kor
Tihany
Balaton
Fok
Petra
Abstract:
ISTVÁN HOFFMANN, 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.