Etymology of the Macedonian name

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   Is generally accepted that the today observers agree that there is more than one variant of Macedonians. Ironically, all these variants are usually defined in foreign languages by the same name: Macedonians, Macedoniens, Macedoni etc..

Of course with the notable exception of the Germans, who use two names: �Makedonen� for the Ancient Macedonians, and �Mazedonier� for the various contemporary brands of Macedonians).

Let  explain  one by one the various brands of Macedonians.

A. HELLENIC VIEW

GENERAL
The Macedonian (Makedon) derives from the ancient Greek adjective makednos (μακεδνός). The latter was formed by the stem of the noun makos=mekos (this mean length) with the suffix �d-(delta) and the ending �nos.This came from the Homer (Od h-106)

MACEDONIANS OF ANTIQUITY
MAKETH(D)W(Omega)NES
A tribe of Greek culture and language The etymology of their name is further proof of their greek identity as I explained previous. They gave their name to the land and self-identified themselves in their Greek vernacular as , [pronounced �makethnΙ� (a as in about, e as in bet, Ι as ea in eat�)]. Under Alexander the Great they united the Greeks and spread the greek language and greek civilisation to the known limits of the world.

MACEDONIANS  AS A REGIONAL GREEK NAME
MAKETH(D)ONES

For centuries, in Byzantine and Ottoman times, Greek-speakers of the wider and usually ill-defined Macedonian regions identified themselves as Macedonians in the regional as well as in a cultural sense. Particularly after the revival of Greek cultural heritage, educated Makethones also compounded their greek identity with elements of the ancient Macedonian heritage and proud references to the Kings Alexander and Philip and their generals such as Philotas, Krateros, etc. It is interesting to notice that such names were given only by the Greeks of Macedonia to their children, not by the Slavs of Macedonia, who opted for names of the medieval Bulgarian tradition (Boris, Ivan). How popular the Macedonian name is among the Greeks of Macedonia, is attested by its widespread use. Since the 19th century, and especially during the 20th until today, numerous Greek firms, shops, associations, schools (both private and state institutions) have used the adjective �Macedonian� as part of their trade mark

B. BULGARIAN VIEW

MACEDONIANS AS A REGIONAL BULGARIAN NAME

MAKEDONC(TS)I

At the time of the Bulgarian renaissance of the 19^th century, and during the national liberation struggles, the Bulgarians, like the Greeks, used regional names, in addition to their ethnic Bulgarian name, to identify themselves. Thus the name Makedonc(ts)i was used to differentiate the Bulgarians of Macedonia from the Dunavtsi, Trakiitsi etc. The name Makedonc(ts)I  gained more prominence after the establishment of the Bulgarian state (1878) and during the Bulgarian armed fighting in Macedonia in the last decade of the 19^th century and the first decade of the 20^th. It was used to describe the Bulgarians of Macedonia and distinguish them from those of the Bulgarian Principality. The term is still being used in this sense by Bulgarian Macedonians in Bulgaria and the diaspora.

C. Slav-MACEDONIAN VIEW

MACEDONIANS AS AN ETHNIC TERM OF CERTAIN SLAVS OF THE WIDER MACEDONIAN REGION

MAKEDONC(TS)I

According theirs scholars derives from the Makedonjia that mean mother land. Nationalists and scholars continue their debate over their diametrically opposing views concerning the origins of the name Makedontsi as an ethnic term. It is still a controversial issue. It is true, however, that at the beginning of the 20^th century, certain Slav- (Bulgarian-) speaking intellectuals and nationalists from Macedonia sought to define themselves, through the Macedonian name, as a separate national group from the Bulgarians. But the main impetus came during the 1930s when the Comintern and the communist parties of the Balkan states, motivated by political reasons, adopted the term not only as a regional but as an ethnic one. It was on this basis, that during the Second World War and after the Liberation, the Yugoslav communists accepted and sanctioned the Macedonian name as the ethnic and national name of a separate people within the Yugoslav federation.

This is also today the name of the citizens of the UN recognized state of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). By this name, the state recognizes not only the ethnic Slav Macedonians, but also the Albanians, the Vlachs, the Serbs and other citizens of the country. The constitutional name is Republic of Makedonja.

sources:
-History of the Name Macedonia,Nikolaos Adriotis,Thessaloniki 1960
-Macedonia and Macedonians,C Antonovski,Skopje 1974
-The Macedonian Question ,Dimiter Minchev, Ph.D.,Sofia, 2002

Edited by akritas - 10-Sep-2006 at 05:09