Ethnonyms in old Hungarian settlement names

Summary of a habilitation dissertation

Abstract

Ethnonyms in old Hungarian settlement names. Summary of a habilitation dissertation  

The habilitation dissertation outlined in the present paper consists of four main chapters. The first chapter is of a theoretical character, in which the author summarizes the historical changes in the interpretation of the term people (ethnos) and, in relation to this, of the term ethnic name (etnonym). The second chapter examines settlement names including etnonyms as a category. The chapter outlines the scientific problems that scholars have attempted to solve through research into this name type, while presenting an overview of the method known as the typology of historical place names. The dissertation, besides providing an analysis of actual name forms, also attempts to complete and renew this method. The third chapter deals with the history of the ethnic groups identified by the 37 etnonyms under discussion in the dissertation, as connected to the contemporary history of Hungarians. The paper examines the etymology of the etnonyms and also the appearance of the etnonyms in personal names. The forth chapter, accounting for half of the dissertation, provides a complex analysis of the collected settlement names. Based on categories of name structure observed by the author, features of the settlement names with respect to chronology, linguistic structure and geographical distribution are examined in detail.