Find in Library

Medieval elements of Hungarian karstgeographic word stock and their appearance in place-names   The conquering Hungarians arriving from the Plains of Eastern Europe had not lived in karstic areas before, thus they had no inherited vocabulary to refer to karstic phenomena. In their new homeland surrounded by the Carpathians, however, they found karstic cavities, gullies and other characteristic landmarks of dolomitic landscape. They named them either by forming compound words from the items of their existing vocabulary or by borrowing words from Slavic peoples living here. Some of these words are still used in today's standard Hungarian. Other words have been preserved in place-names up until now.