Reči (Beograd) (Jan 2019)
Is it "Sklavko" or Slavoč, Užica or Užice?
Abstract
The city government of Užice named the small square in front of the Town Hall Sklavko's Square and inaugurated it on 9 October 2017, on the anniversаry of the first mention of Užice in historical sources. Namely, "Sklavko" was the first inhabitant of Užice mentioned, along with his native Užice, in historical sources - in a loan certificate made in Ragusa (Dubrovnik) on 9 October 1329, which states "Mila, wife of "Sklavko" from Užice". The Serbian name "Sklavko" is not found in the comprehensive Dictionary of Serbian personal names (Rečnik ličnih imena kod Srba), and neither is any name, male or female, beginning with Skl-. The historical record itself was composed in Medieval Latin, stating: Mila, uxor de Sclavoco de Usiça, "Mila, wife of Slavoč, from the place named Užica"; it is noticeable at first glance that the masculine name Sclavocus was misinterpreted by overseeing the middle -o-, i.e. the Serbian suffix -oč (in Lat. -ocus/-oçus/-оç/-оcius/-оtius/-оçius/-оzius), e.g. *Bratoç, Dobrocus/Dobroçus/Dobroç/Dobrocius/Dobroçius/Dobrozius, Marocus/*Maroç, Radocius stand for Bratoč, Dobroč, Maroč, Radoč, while the Serbian suffix -ko (alone or as a part of complex suffixes) is marked by the Latin -cus/-chus/-g[c]hus/-icus/ichus/-igchus, for instance, Bratcus/Braticus, Dobercus/Doberchus, Marcus/Marchus, Radcus/Radichus stand for Bratko, Dobrko, Marko, Radko. Also, the name Slavko, as well as the patronym/surname Slavković derived from it, are written as Slavcus/Slavchus and Slavcovich (Slafcovich). The name Sclavocus was written with -Scl because Medieval Latin usually inserted the consonant k in the root of the Slavic words Словѣнин and словѣньскъ(ıјь), as well as in the root of all Old Serbian and Serbian words derived from them, and wrote (while replacing the Slavic o with the vowel a) Sclav-, emulating Medieval Greek orthography (and pronunciation). This is due to the fact that Medieval Greek constantly inserted the consonants θ or κ in the aforementioned root in order to make pronunciation easier, and wrote (while replacing the Slavic o with the vowel α) Σθλαβ and Σκλαβ(Σκλαυ-), respectively. In the same manner, Medieval Latin inserted the consonant k in the root of the Old (Chakavian) Croatian and (Chakavian) Croatian (as well as Old Serbian and Serbian) word slava, and wrote equally sclav-. Therefore, for the sake of precision, the name of the square in front of Užice Town Hall should be altered from Sklavko's Square (Sklavkov plato) to Slavoč's square (Slavočev plato), and the name 'Sklavko' to Slavoč. The first mention of Užice in historical sources, stating Užica in plural, has also been scrutinized, as well as the etymology of this oeconym. Užica meant "the area in which there are several items named *užice". Also, *užice is the old diminutive of the word uže, "rope" in the additional, antiquated meaning of "rope around the waist, belt", which can also denote a "little meander" in geographic terms. Namely, in the area of The Old Town of Užice, i.e. the area from the Fortress of Užice onwards, the Đetinja River has several little meanders (Serb. *užica) and because of this phenomenon the whole area got the name Užica, and so did the inhabited place, later fortress, and the town which sprung in it.
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