Sh. blavor. (Iz balkanskog latiniteta XI.)

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the question of the etymology of Serbo-Croatian blavor 'Pseudopus apodus' and the problem of its relationship with Romanian bălaur 'dragon, monster' and Albanian bullar 'Pseudopus apodus, dragon' which — though troubled by exact phonetics — has long since been established. It is proposed that Serbo-Croatian blavor derives from Balkan Latin *ballauru or *balvaru, that Romanian bălaur derives from Balkan Latin *ballauru, that Alb. bullar derives from Romanian bălaur. (Additionally, it is proposed that Čakavian mulavar 'Pseudopus apodus; dragon', a variant comparable to Slovenian molavar 'dragon', derives from Balkan Latin *mallauru.) Balkan Latin *ballauru and *mallauru appear to point to a substratum *Ball-aur-, where B is a labial consonant or a cluster of labials.