Macedonian names and makeDonski pseudo-linguistics: The case of the name Lyka.

Miltiades Elia Bolaris

Το παρόν άρθρο είχε πρωτοεμφανιστεί στο Αμέρικαν Κρόνικλ στις 15 Αυγούστο του 2009. This article first appeared in the "American Chronicle", on August 15, 2009.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/114302

"Lyka. This female Macedonian name, which exists in the present day language, is possibly derived from the noun "lika" (a face, pretty face). The name Lika is present in today's Macedonian onomasticon." Quote was taken from: "Similarities between ancient Macedonian and today's' Macedonian Culture (Linguistics and Onomastics)" by Aleksandar Donski, celebrity "historian" and propagandist from FYROM.

Lyka/Λύκα

Lykos/Λύκος in Greek means wolf. In Greek the substitution of the -os/ος ending of masculine names by the -e/-η and -a/-α endings signifies the female equivalent of the same noun or adjective. Therefore, to the uninitiated, Lyka obviously sounds like female wolf in Greek. Under certain conditions it could be, but properly it is not. The female wolf in standard modern Greek, is Lykaina (G.Babiniotis, Athens, 2002). Lyka/Λύκα is also understood, but it does not sound proper.

The modern Slavic name Lika/Лика, (wherever it is not a simple cut-off derivative of Angelika) can possibly be a survival of the ancient Greek name Λύκα/Lyka, since many Greek rural populations lived side by side with Slavic ones and some were probably assimilated into the Slavic populations of later times, post 7th century Ad. But since this name is found also in other Slavic languages, who never came into contact with the local Greek speaking populations of the Balkans, then this hypothesis is probably unsupported.

Personally, I would would tend to think that if, and that is a big if, the Slavic female name Lika/Лика is related to Greek, then it is most probably a modern loan name that could in fact be derived from the Greek Lykos/ Λύκος=wolf. In a dialectical format in some parts of modern Greece the she-wolf may indeed also be called Lyka/λύκα, though personally I cannot attest to it, nor deny its posibility. In ancient Greek the word to describe her was either Lyko/Λυκώ or Lykaina/Λύκαινα(Stamatakos, Athens, 1972). The commonly used word to describe the the she-wolf now, in Modern Greek, is also Lykaina/Λύκαινα, the "Wolfette" . For the record, Lykos/ Λύκος is derived from the common Indo-European word for the wolf *wlkwos, which is found in numerous other Indo-European languages, besides Greek: Latin "Lupus", Sanskrit "Vrka", Tocharian B "Walwa", Lithuanian "Vilkas", Albanian "Ujk", English and German "Wolf", Russian "Volk", etc. (Oxford Introduction to Indo-European, Oxford 2006).

Professor Donski may actually be correct in pointing out that the modern Slavomacedonian name Lika/Лика "is possibly derived from the noun "lika" (a face, pretty face)". Indeed, "face" in Russian is "Litso/лицо", and when speaking of a Saint's face the Russians use the word "лик святого" (lik svyatogo). In Serbian and Croatian it is "Lice/лице" and in Bulgarian it is "Litse/лице" or "Lik/лик" so it seems probable that Donski may actually be partially right on this one, on the derivation of the modern Slavonic name Lika.

Regardless and completely independent of where the modern Slavic female Lika/Лика is derived from, the ancient Macedonian name Λύκα/Lyka is unquestionably Greek. Unlike the modern version, though, it is for sure not derived from Λύκος/Lykos, the wolf. Linguistically the two words are totally unrelated.

We must go to the ancient sources and look at what the ancient epigraphy can reveal to us, in order to find out why.

The first inscription is from the Macedonian city of Amphipolis/Ἀμφίπολις, not far from the city of Serres:

Regions : Northern Greece (IG X) : Macedonia
SEG 35:712
Makedonia (Edonis) — Amphipolis — Portraita se Taphika Mnemeia (1983) 194,
127 — Grabdenkmäler mit Porträts (1998) 104,135

Ζώσιμος καὶ Χρη-
σίμα Λύκᾳ τῷ τέ-
κνῳ μνήμης
χάριν.

Zesimos and Chre-
sima to Lyka their
child in memory's
Grace.

A second inscription from Macedonia comes from Beroia:

Regions : Northern Greece (IG X) : Macedonia
EKM 1. Beroia 341
Makedonia (Bottiaia) — Beroia — 2nd/3rd c. AD

Ἡλιοφῶν Λύκαν τὴν γυ-
νε̑κα μνήμης χάριν κὲ Οὐα-
λέριν τὸν υἱὸν ἥρωα.

Heliophon to Lyka his
wife in memory's Grace and to Oua-
lerios his son the Hero.

A third inscription, this one from Thessalonike mentions yet another Lyka:

Regions : Northern Greece (IG X) : Macedonia
IG X,2 1 326
Makedonia (Mygdonia) — Thessalonike — 2nd c. AD

Σεραπιακὸς καὶ
Λύκα Λευκίππ[ῃ]
καὶ Ἀθηνοδώρῳ
τοῖς τέκνοις μνεί-
ας χάριν.

Serapiakos and
Lyka to Leukipe
and Athenodoros
their children, in me-
mory's Grace

Then, on an inscription, from the Paionian city of Stoboi, now in Central FYROM, the name appears in its masculine form, Lykas/Λύκας.

Regions : Northern Greece (IG X) : Macedonia
SEG 16:406
Makedonia (Paionia) — Stoboi — Sirkovo — Roman period — ZAnt 3 (1953) 237, 7

Κλυμένη Λύ-
κᾳ τῇ θυγατρὶ
καὶ Πουπλίῳ
τῷ ἀνδρὶ ἐποίει
μνήμης χάριν καὶ
ἑαυτῇ ζῶσα.

Klynene, daughter of Ly-
kas to her daughter
and to her husband
Pouplios she made
(and dedicated this monument)
in memory's grace and
to herself, while still alive.

Τhe Paeonians were an ancient ethnic group that lived in the Amphaxitis, in what is now Central Macedonia,Greece, in southern ex-Yugoslavia (what is now southern and central FYROM), and in SW Bulgaria. They were squeezed between the Macedonians and the Thracians. The Paionians are thought to have been a cousin nation to the Greeks, the closest ethnolinguistic relatives of the Greeks in the ancient Balkans. Precious few of their words are known to us. Only some toponyms, hydronyms, animal names ethnic and personal names have passed down to us. They never had their language written down and what has been written is all in proper Greek. Paionia became completely Hellenized after it became a client state of the Macedonians, retaining only nominal independence. It is generally accepted that they were also closely related to the Phrygians, who were originally neighbors of both the Paionians and the Northwestern Greeks, according to Herodotus and others, and the linguistic affinity of the Phrygian language to Greek has recently been well established (Claude Brixhe, Vladimir Orel, Panayiotou, Diakonov, etc) beyond doubt.Revealingly, most of the Paionian names were either unmistakably Greek (Agis/Άγης, a Royal name shared with several kings of Sparta, Ariston/Αρίστων, Audoleon/Αυδολέων, Leon/Λέων, etc) or Greek-related (almost completely Greek with only slight dialectical differences with classical Greek, like Patraos/Πατράος, Eupolemenos/Ευπολεμένος, etc). At any rate all of their names are easily decipherable using Greek. One of the Paionian names was that of a Paionian κing, named Lycceios/Λύκκειος (356BC - 340BC).
We see that there are plenty of inscriptions in Macedonia, which indicates that the name Lyka and apparently Lykas too were quite common in Macedonia, and apparently in Paionia too. In fact there was a city known from Hellenistic times called Lyka, on the island of St Achileios in the Prespa Lake, which has been recently identified by Roman and Hellenistic fragments under Byzantine archaeological strata, and of course the epigraphy found at the spot:

EAM 149
Macedonia : Lynkestis: Lyke (Agios Achilleios)

Λυ]καίων ἡ πολειτεία
Κ(όιντον) v Ἰούλιον Κρίσπον

The city of the Lykaioi
to Kointos Ioulios Krispos (a Latin name written in Greek)

SEG 47:910
Macedonia : Lynkestis: Lyke (Agios Achilleios)

θε]οῖς Σεβαστοῖς καὶ τῇ Λυκαίων
πό]λει Λ(εύκιος) Φλαούιος Φαβρικιανὸς

to the Respected Gods to the city of the
Lykaioi Leukios Flauios Fabrikianos

The St. Achileios island inscriptions, besides the identification of Lyka, the city of the Lykaoi, it also gives us a good hint of the language spoken in this macedonian city during the Roman times.

But was the name Lyka/Λύκα exclusive to Macedonia? Apparently not, as the epigraphic record will easily prove.

An Athenian man, sometime in the early 5th c BC inscribed his name in ancient graffiti form, for posterity:

SEG 40:47 Attica
Att. — Würzburg: Martin-v.-Wagner — c. 480-470 bc
graffito:}²

Λύκας.

Lykas

In the Attic town of Eleusis, in Athens we read:

Regions : Attica (IG I-III) : Eleusis
SEG 45:188
Att. — Eleusis — AD 47.1992[1997].B.42

Λύκα Θρέπτου ἐγ Μελιτέων

Lyka daughter of Threpsis from Meliteoi.

A woman's funerary dedication on her father's tomb, tells us that the name Lyka was also in use in the island of Crete.

Regions : Aegean Islands, incl. Crete (IG XI-[XIII]) : Crete
IC II v 43
Crete, W. — Axos — IIp.

Λύκα Μυ̣-
στίκωι
τῷ πατρὶ
μνήμης
χά̣[ριν].

Lyka to My-
stikos
her father
in memory's
grace.

The name Lyka appears twice on a long list of about 270 names from the Torre Nova area of Rome, the vast majority of which are Greek, with some Latin ones, which indicates that this was a Greek religious cult or mystic order, since such religious titles as ἱέρεια/Hiereia, μύσται/mystai, ἥρως/hero, δᾳδοῦχος/dadouchos, ἱεροφάντης/hierophantes, βουκόλοι ἱεροί boukoloi hieroi, πυρφόροι/pyrphoroi and of course a φαλλοφόρος/phalophoros are mentioned, all by name:

Regions : Sicily, Italy, and the West (IG XIV) : Italy, incl. Magna Graecia
IGUR I 160
Italia — Roma: Torre Nova, area of — ca. mid. 2nd c. AD — cf. IGUR IV, p. 148, 160

βάκχαι/bacchae
Τύχη/Tyche
Ἐρώτιον/Erotion
Σεουέρα/Seouera
Λύκα/Lyka
etc
and further down:
Στρατηγία/Strategia
Οὐαλερία Ἀριστεῖνα/Oualeria Aristeina
Μυγδονίς/Mygdonis
Νεμεσίλλα/Nemesilla
Φηλείκιτας/Phelikitas
Λύκα/Lyka
Σέμνη/Semne
etc

Finally, in the Greek city of Knidos, in Caria of Asia Minor, at the base of a statue we read:

Regions : Asia Minor : Caria
IK Knidos I 165
Karien — Knidos (Tekir) — 180-170 v.Chr. — AJA 77.1973.422 Anm.37

Κλέαρχον Ἀναξιδώρου
Τιμόξενος Ἀριστοκλεῦς
καὶ Λύκα Ἀναξιππίδα
τὸν αὐτᾶς πάππον

To Clearchos son of Anaxidoros
Timoxenos son of Aristocleus

and Lyka daughter of Anaxipidas
to her grandfather

The epigraphic record, therefore, amply proves, as we said earlier, that Lyka/Λύκα is not only a Macedonian, but a Panhellenic name; all the Greeks used it, in every part of the Greek speaking word.

Let us now go to two inscriptions from Central Greece, with the name Lyka/Λύκα. They are from the oracle of Delphi, where Apollo was worshiped. Both inscriptions very similar, I would say almost identical, which seems to indicate that they followed a ritual pattern for this type of sacred dedicatory texts, where only the names of the persons, the names of the months and the amounts of money involved in the sacred sale were changing. They are dedications to the Pythian Apollo of Delphi.

1 ἄρχοντος Δαμοσθένεος μηνὸς Δαιδαφορίου, ἐπὶ τοῖσδε
ἀπέδοτο Διόδωρος Μνασιθέου Δελφὸς τῶι Ἀπόλλωνι
τῶι Πυθίωι σῶμα γυναικεῖον ἇι ὄνομα Λύκα, τιμᾶς ἀργυ-
ρίου μνᾶν τεσσάρων ἡμιμναίου, καθὼς ἐπίστευσε
5 Λύκα τῶι θεῶι τὰν ὠνάν, ἐφ´ ὧιτε ἐλευθέρα εἶμεν

which translated into English will give us:

1 during the archonship of Damosthenes in the month of Daidaphorios right here
Diodoros son of Mnasitheos, a Delphian offered to Apollon
the Pythian a body of a woman whose name is Lyka worthy
four and a half silver mnas since she
5 Lyka has accepted the sale to the Gods

Regions: Central Greece (IG VII-IX) : Delphi
SGDI II 1963 SGDI II 1962 SGDI II 1964
Phokis — Delphi — 182 bc

Now the second Inscription:

ἄρχοντος Κράτωνος μηνὸς Θεοξενίου, ἐπὶ τοῖσ-
δε ἀπέδοτο Λύκα Δώρου τῶι Ἀπόλλωνι τῶι
Πυθίωι σῶμα γυναικεῖον ἇι ὄνομα Εὔπρα-
ξις. τιμᾶς ἀργυρίου μνᾶν τριῶν, καθὼς ἐπί-
(στευσε)..................................

and in approximate translation:

during the archonship of Kraton in the month of Theoxenios right
here Lyka daughter of Doros offered to Apollon
the Pythian a body of a woman whose name is
Eupraxis worthy three silver mnas since she be-
(lieved)..................................

Regions: Central Greece (IG VII-IX) : Delphi
SGDI II 1961
Phokis — Delphi — 183 bc

In both of these texts we notice the mention of two women named Lyka. They are obviously unrelated, which seems to indicate that this was probably a common name in the area of Delphi. In fact I found a total of seven inscriptions from Delphi (SGDI II 1741 Delphi, SGDI II 1833, Delphi, SGDI II 1876 Delphi, SGDI II 1961 Delphi, SGDI II 1963 Delphi, SGDI II 1975 Delphi, SGDI II 2243 Delphi) where the name Lyka is mentioned no less than 13 times.

The reason is simple: One of the names of the Pythian Apollon is Lycaios Apollon / Λυκαίος Ἀπόλλων or Lyceios Apollon /Λύκειος Ἀπόλλων. To know the meaning of this adjective we go to other words in the Greek language: Lykauges/Λυκαυγές (from Lyke/λύκη, meaning bright light+auge/αὐγή meaning dawn) is the light of the early dawn, when darkness breaks into day.

The same meaning is also found in the Greek word Lykophos/Λυκόφως (λύκη + φώς) for twilight. In ancient Greek we also encounter the word Lykabas/Λυκάβας (Λύκη+βαίνω) which means the going, the traveling, the departure of light, and it signified the time of day that still has light – before it gets dark, but also alternatively the solar year. Therefore, Lyke is a word that means light, and it is related to the word Lychnos which is the oil lamp the ancients used at night. Therefore Lycaios Apollon/Λυκαίος Ἀπόλλων means Apollo the illuminating one, which makes perfect sense considering that Apollon is a Solar God, a God of Light. Homer calls Apollon Lykegenes/Λυκηγενής=born of light, offspring of the light (and not wolf-born as popular etymology would assume, that would have been: Lykogenes/Λυκογενής).

In Arcadia in central Peloponnese we find the worship of Lycaios Zeus/Λυκαίος Ζεύς and indeed the toponym (one of many throughout Greece, from Macedonia to the Peloponnese) of Lycaeon/Lykaion/Λυκαίον Oros/Lycaeon mountain and on that mountain we also find the temple of Apollon at Bassae, in Phigaleia, a work of the celebrated architect Iktinos, one of the most magnificent temples in all of Greece. There is also a town called Lycaia, in Arcadia ("Λύκαια, πόλις Αρκαδίας"/Lycaia, a city of Arcadia - Stephanus Byzantius), adn yet another one, called Lycoa/Λυκόα ("Λυκόα, πόλις Αρκαδίας"/Lycοa, a city of Arcadia - Stephanus Byzantius, referencing Pausanias).

On top of the mountain Lycaeon/Lykaion the Arcadians celebrated the festival of Lycaea/Lykaia/Λυκαία in Honor of Lycaios Zeus/Λυκαίος Ζεύς.

An inscription from the town of Tegea, in Arcadia, enumerates the career victories of a Tegaean athlete, a native son, Damatrios/Δαμάτριος (Doric form of Demetrios), son of Aristippos/Ἀρίστιππος, and we read that among his numerous victories he had also won four times the Javelin throw prize in the Lykaian Games, the Lykaia/Λύκαια, held in his native Arcadia:

IG V,2 142 Arkadia (IG V,2) Arkadia — Tegea — late 3rd c. BC

Δαμάτριος Ἀριστίππου Damatrios son of Aristippos
Ὀλύμπια παῖδας στάδιον, Olympic Games children, Stadion run
Νέμεα παῖδας δόλιχον, Nemean Games children, Javelin
Ἀσκληπίεια παῖδας δόλιχον, Asclepieian Games, children, Javelin
Ἀλέαια παῖδας δόλιχον, Aleaian Gamnes, children, javelin
Λύκαια ἄνδρας δόλιχον τετράκις, Lykaian Games, men, Javelin, four times
Νέμεα ἄνδρας δόλιχον τρίς, Nemean Games, men, Javelin, thrice
Ἑκατόμβοια ἄνδρας δόλιχον ἵππιον δίς, Ecatomboia Games, men, Javelin, twice
Ἴσθμια ἄνδρας δόλιχον δίς, Isthmian Games, men, Javelin, twice
Ἀλέαια ἄνδρας δόλιχον τρίς, Aleaian Games, men, Javelin, thrice
Πύθια ἄνδρας δόλιχον δίς, Pythgian Games, in Delphi, men, Javelin, twice
Ὀλύμπια ἄνδρας δόλιχον ἅπαξ, Olympic Games, in Olympia, men, Javelin, once
Βασίλεια ἄνδρας δόλιχον δίς. Basileian Games, men, Javelin, twice

In the center of Athens, across the Acropolis, there is the white capped hill of Lycabetus/Λυκαβητός, a name it has had since prehistoric times. Then there is Lykeion/Λύκειον, the neighborhood by the temple of Lyceios Apollon, where Aristotle established his school of philosophy appropriately named the Lyceion/Λύκειον, in Latin transliterated as Lyceum. Τhe archaeological site has already been identified several years ago, in modern Athens. Now schools worldwide are called Lyceum/Lyceo/Lycee' due of Aristotle's random choice of that neighborhood as a good place to locate his school.

An inscription found in Athens actually mentions Lyceion/Λύκειον as an Athenian neighborhood landmark location:

IG II² 457 Attica

το τό τε στάδιον τὸ Παναθην]αϊκὸν καὶ τὸ γυμνάσιον τ-
ὸ κατὰ τὸ Λύκειον κατεσκεύ]ασεν καὶ ἄλλαις δὲ πολλαῖ-
ς κατασκευαῖς ἐκόσμησεν] ὅλην τὴν πόλιν·

and the stadion known as Panathenaikon and the gymnasion (a place for exercise),
the one next to Lykeion (Lyceion/Λύκειον) he built and other numerous
structures he decorated throughout the city.

Stephanos Byzantios mentions it too, in his "Ethnica": Λυκείον, τό γυμνάσιον. καί Λύκειος ό Απόλλων, λέγεται καί Λυκήιον / Lyceion, the gymnasium. and Lyceios Apollon, it is also called Lyceeion.

Finally in ancient Greece we encounter the names Lycaon/Λυκαων of Arcadia, Lykastes/ Λυκαστης of Crete, Lycarios/Λυκαριος the Spartan, Lycaonides/Λυκαονιδης the Arcadian, Lycanthos/Λυκανθος the Athenian, Lycainion/Λυκαινιον as a name for a woman from Athens Lycaros/Λυκάροs (IG X,2 2 327) in Macedonia : Derriopos: Styberra (Cepigovo), and Lycaretos/Λυκάρητος (Lebedos 6) from Ionia. We find Lyka/Λυκα a name very popular in Delphi and also Lyca/Λύκα (I.Apollonia 115) from Epeiros, and Lyca/Λύκα ( SEG 36:1156) from Bithynia, Lyca/Λύκα (IC I xviii 95) from Crete, Ctr.: Lyttos and Lyca/Λύκα (SEG 37:450) from Thessaly (IG IX,2): Magnesia: Demetrias. Lycaon/Λυκάων (IvO 91) from Elis in the Peloponnese, Lycaon/Λυκάων (MAMA 10 244) also from Phrygia, Lycaon/Λυκάων (FD III 1:478) from Delphi but also from (Spomenik 98 (1941-48) 48,101) Macedonian Paionia: Idomene? (Isar-Marvinci). Lykaios/Λυκαῖος (Epigr. tou Oropou 353) from Megaris in Boiotia (IG VII), Λυκάδας (Brunšmid, Inschriften 2-14) Epeiros, Illyria, and Dalmatia : Dalmatia, IG IV²,1 188, Λύκαιθος (IG IV²,1) from Epidauros in the Peloponnese, Lycades/Λυκάδης (ID 338) from the Cycladic island of Delos (IG XI and ID), Lycarion/Λυκαρίων (IGUR II 756) from Magna Graecia, in Southern Italy but also Lycarion/Λυκαρίων (SEG 40:1568) from Egypt. Lycandros/Λύκανδρος ( Graffites d'Abydos 91) from Egypt, Lycaris/Λυκάρις (IK Klaudiu polis 15) from Bithynia, Lycaithion/Λυκαίθιον (IK Knidos I 73) from Caria : Knidos. Lycaithos/Λύκαιθος Chios 152) from the island of Chios, and Lycaithos/Λύκαιθος (Iscr. di Cos ED 81) from Cos and Calymna : Kos.

Lyc/Luk-/Λυκ- derived Greek names, are all over the map of the ancient Hellenic world, they are obviously Pan-Hellenic and certainly not exclusive to the Macedonians.

Lyka-/Λυκα- is derived from Lyke/Λυκη meaning "bright light", which is also distantly related to Leukos/Λευκος which means "bright white, shiny, clear, bright" in Greek, and both are directly derived from the original Indo-European word *leukos which meant light, shiny, clear and bright, and related to the Indo-European noun *loukes for light. The Germanic-derived English word "light", the Old Irish "Loch" (glowing white), Hittite "Lukke", Sanskrit "Roki", Tocharian B "Lyuke", Lithuanian "Laukas" for blazing white, as well the Latin words "Lux" for light and "Luceo" for kindle, are all linguistically related to the Greek words "Leukos/Λευκός" the bright white, and Lyke/Λύκη" and of course to the ancient Macedonian, therefore Greek name "Lyka/Λύκα".

If we had the white she-wolf, shown in the photograph above, and had named her Lyka, she would have been Lyka/Λύκα, the lyceia/λυκεία-leuce/λευκή lykaina/λύκαινα:

In ancient Greek:

Λύκα ἠ λυκάλευκη λύκαινα - Lyka he lykaleyke Lykaina: Lyka the brightly white - shiny white she-wolf.

Come to think of it, it almost sounds like the title for a beautiful children's fable, like one of those professor Donski could be writing, once he stops wasting his great talent with words in fake nationalist fables for politically delusional adults of the type that belongs to the VMRO-DPMNE party; fables that try to promote an imaginary Ancient Macedonian Greek past for those with an uncertain and confused identity who happen to live in the lands of ancient Paionia and Dardania.


NOTES:

The photographs from Amphipolis, Lycabetos and Stoboi, as well as the Ancient Greek to English translations are by the author.

Greek Inscriptions
http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions/main

THE OXFORD INTRODUCTION to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World, Oxford Linguistics, J.P.Mallory & D.Q. Adams, Oxford University Press, 2006-2007

Εθνικά, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ΚΑΚΤΟΣ, Αθήνα, 2004

A LEXICON OF GREEK PERSONAL NAMES - VOLUME IV - MACEDONIA, THRACE, NORTHERN REGIONS OF THE BLACK SEA, The British Academy, Clarendon Press, The University of Oxford, Oxford, 2005

Villages Cities and-Ethne in Upper Macedonia, Rizakis-Touratsoglou, page 82
http://www.scribd.com/doc/20072904/Villages-Cities-and-Ethne-in-Upper-Macedonia

GREEK - ENGLISH LEXICON, Liddell & Scott, Oxford University Press, 1843-1951

Λεξικόν της Αρχαίας Ελληνικής Γλώσσης, Ιωάννου Σταματάκου, Αθήνα, 1972

Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσaς, G.Babiniotis, Athens, 2002

Macedonian names and makeDonski pseudo-linguistics: The case of the names Dadas and Dada.

Originally published in:
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/106364




Balkan Illusion - phantasia archaica:

"...it is very interesting to note that many of the authentic ancient Macedonian words, according to their etymology and pronunciation, have a striking resemblance to the appropriate words used in the modern Macedonian language (and other so called "Slav"[sic] languages)."..."Dada. The noun "dada" in the present day Macedonian language means "older sister". The name "Dada" is present In todays' Macedonian onomasticon."

From: "Similarities between ancient Macedonian and today's' Macedonian Culture (Linguistics and Onomastics)" by Aleksandar Donski, celebrity "historian"-propagandist from FYROM.

Dadas / Δάδας & Dada / Δάδα

The Prodromos Hellenikes Bibliothekes / Πρόδρομος Ελληνικής Βιβλιοθήκης, "A Forerunner to a Greek Library", published in Paris in 1805, was a literary collection of works by three ancient writers whom the editor considered as introductory to the corpus of the ancient classics. The editor and publisher was Adamantios Koraes, (Αδαμάντιος Κοραής, 1748–1833) a Greek humanist scholar and medical doctor and an active supporter of the French revolution. As a man of the Age of Enlightenment, who was in constant correspondence with the greatest liberal minds of his era He was in constant correspondence with Thomas Jefferson, for example), Koraes tirelessly worked for the liberation of Greece from the yoke of Ottoman slavery and for the education of young Greeks everywhere. His influence in the formation of the literrary modern Greek language has been compared to that of Dante for Italian or Martin Luther for the German language. Koraes believed in the power of education in liberating the minds of individual people and collectively their nations and convinced many wealthy expatriate Greeks to finance the publishing of books in the Greek language to be used in Greek schools in occupied Greece and abroad. The Prodromos Hellenikes Bibliothekes was one such case. In Koraes' Prodromos we find the short story of a Cretan woman named Dada, as relayed by Nikolaos Damaskenos / Νικόλαος Δαμασκηνός in his Ιστορίαι/Stories:

Ὀτι Σκάμανδρος ό βασιλεύσας πρώτος των Τρώων, Σάμωνι χρησάμενος συνεργώ, τους εν τή Τρωάδι ἐνίκησεν. ἀποθανόντος δε Σάμωνος κατά την μάχην, την γυναίκα αυτού Δάδαν [Dadan] μητέρα των νεανίσκων, εἰς το Πόλιον εξέπεμψε διά κήρυκος, ὠς ἀν έκεί συνοικήσειεν ότω βούληται. Ὀ δε κήρυξ κατά την όδόν βιασάμινος αὐτήν ήσχυνεν. Ἠ δε, το ξίφος έχουσα το του ἀνδρός, αὐτήν διεχρήσατο. Αίσθόμενοι δε οί Κρήτες τον κήρυκα κατέλευσαν, ένθα ό χώρος Ἀναίδειας ὠνομάσθη.

Dada's story was retold (using almost to the word Damaskenos' narrative) in French and then translated into English in the "Dictionary of Classical Mythology", by Pierre Grimal (Willey-Blackwell Publishing, 1990):

Dada/Δάδα

"The wife of the Cretan hero Samon, who helped Scamander take possession of the Troad. After Samon's death in battle Dada entrusted herself to a herald, asking him to accompany her to a nearby city, where she intended to remarry. On the way the herald violated her and, overcome with shame, Dada ran herself through with her dead husband's sword. When the Cretans became learnt of this tragic event they stoned the herald to death at the very place where he had carried out his rape; the place became known thereafter as the Field of Shamelessness."

This is an ancient Greek myth connecting a Greek woman from Crete named Dada and events on the island of Crete with Skamandros, the mythical king of the city of Troy, on the Asiatic shore of the Aegean Sea, by the Hellespont. The name Dada/Δάδα and her male equivalent Dadas/Δάδας are names that are found throughout the Greek speaking word, and not only in Macedonia, as professor Aleksandar Donsky implies. They happen to be far more widespread and popular in Ionia, and the rest of Hellenic Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey. Searching through the epigraphic record, we looked for the name Dadas and Dada, and their derivatives and other names derived from the same toot, and what we found is a rather disproportionate distribution:

We begin with Asia Minor:

45 mentions of Dadas or Dada

8 mentions of Dadouchos/Δαδούχος

2 mentions of Adados/Ἀδαδος

1 mention of Theudados/Θευδᾶδος (Θευδᾶδος is Ionian and Dorian for:

Theodados/Θεο-δᾶδος. Θευ-= Θεο-=Theo-).

1 mention of Νεικάδαδος/Neikadados.

Below is an example on an inscription from Galatia, close to the modern Turkish capital Ankara:

Regions : Asia Minor : Galatia

Strubbe, Cat. Pessinus 45

Gal., N. — Pessinous: Sivrihisar — AEMÖ 7.1883.182,56

Δαδα Ἀλεξάνδρῳ ἀνδ-

ρὶ κὲ Δίῳ υἱῷ μνήμης χάριν.

Dada to Alexandros her husband

and to Dion her son, in memory's favor.

Another example from Phrygia, found not far from the first one:

Regions : Asia Minor : Phrygia

MAMA 5 Lists Note:188,1[2/5]

Phryg. — Dorylaion (Eskişehir), W. of: Inönü — MDAI(A) 25.1900.417,28 w/470

ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ.

Διὶ Βροντῶντι ἐπη-

κόῳ θεῷ Δαδᾶς/Dadas Δαμᾶ

σὺν τοῖς τέκνοις Ὀ-

νησίμῳ καὶ Διομᾶ

καὶ Χρυσίῳ ὑπὲρ τῶν

ἰ]δίων εὐχὴν ἀνέστησαν

In benevolent Fortune

To Zeus the Thundering one

the god who listens (epecoos), Dadas son of Damas

along with his children O-

nesimos and Diomas

and Chrysios, praying on their

own behalf they raised this

Next we look at inscriptions at the North Shore of the Black Sea:

We find

38 mentions of Dadas/Δάδας or Dada/Δάδα

2 mentions of Dadaios/Δαδαίος

4 mentions of Dadagos /Δάδαγος

4 mentions of Dadakos /Δάδακος

Example of a Greek inscription from the Greek city of Ερμόνασσα/Ηermonassa, modern Tmutarakan (Тмутаракань) by the Cimmerian Bosporus,in Russia, a city strategically located by the entry from the Euxine Pontus into the Sea of Azov.

Regions : North Shore of the Black Sea

CIRB 1054

N. Black Sea — Hermonassa (Taman ) — 123-133 AD — IosPE IV 421

βασιλεύοντος βασι]-

λέως [Τιβερίου Ἰουλίου]

Κότυος υἱ[οῦ βασιλέως]

Σαυρομάτου, [φιλοκαίσα]-

ρος καὶ φιλορωμαίου,

εὐσεβοῦς, ἡ σύνο-

δος ἡ περὶ νακόρον

Βάγην Σωσιπάτρου,

καὶ ἱρ̣έα Στράτωνα

Ὀν̣[ησιδ?]ώ̣ρου καὶ ἱερομά-

στορα Ἀπολλώνιον Χρυ-

σαλίσκου καὶ γραμμα-

τέα Ἀγαθοῦν Πολεμοκρά-

του καὶ φιλάγαθον Μυρεῖ-

νον β καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ θιασεῖτ[αι]·

Καλοῦς Μυρείνου

Μέγης Μηνᾶ

Δημοκράτης Δάδα/Dada

Ἀρισταγόρας Ἀγαθοῦ

Δάδας [Dadas] Ἀπολλωνί[ου]

etc

During the royal rule of

king Tiberios Ioulios

Kotys son of king

Sautomates, who is philocaesar,

philoroman, and

pious, the council surrounding

the president of the temple:

Bages son of Sosistratos

and priest Straton son of

Onesidoros and holy

official Apollonios son of

Chrysaliskos and secre-

tary Agathon son of Polemo-

krates and the well meaning Myrei-

nos and the rest of the (Bacchic) thiasos members:

Kalous son of Myreinos

Meges son of Menas

Democrates son of Dadas

Aristagoras son of Agathos

Dadas son of Apollonios

etc

Next we look at occurrences of these names in Thrace and Lower Danube:

19 mentions of Dadas/Δάδας or Dada /Δάδα.

1 mention of Dadoparenos/Δαδοπαρηνός.

1 mention of Dados/Δαδος.

The first examples is from ancient Οδησσός/Odessus, by modern Varna (not to be confused with Odessa of Ukraine, further north):

IGBulg 286

Thrace and Moesia Inferior

Odessus (Varna) — Galata

above relief.1

Ἥρωι Καραβασ]μῳ

below relief.2

Ἀγαθήνωρ Πόσσειος ὁ

καὶ Δαδας/Dadas εὐχαριστήριον

κατ´ εὐχὴν τοῦ πατρός.

Agathenor Poseios also

known as Dadas, thanks offering

according to the wish of his father

The second example is from Byzantium/Βυζάντιον/Constantinople, modern Istanbul:

IK Byzantion 234

Thrace and Moesia Inferior

Thrace — Byzantion (Istanbul) — 2nd c. BC (Fir.)

Firatli-Robert (Annexe) 230 — SEG 24.721

Χρηστὴ Δ̣α̣δα/Dada, Δα̣[δας]/Dadas

Ἀπολλωνίου.

Chreste daughter of Dadas, Dadas

son of Apollonios

We now move to the Aegean Islands:

Here we have

5 mentions of Dadas/Δάδας

3 mentions of Dadamas/Δαδἀμας

Below is a well published example from the island of Lesbos:

Regions : Aegean Islands, incl. Crete (IG XI-[XIII]) :

Lesbos, Nesos, and Tenedos (IG XII,2)

IG XII,2 222

Lesbos — Mytilene

from the base of a statue:

ὀ δᾶμος

Δάδαν/Dadan Δίη, γύναικα δὲ Λεσβώνακτος

τῶ Ποτάμωνος, ἰρεύσαισαν Ἐτηφίλα

κάλως καὶ εὐσεβέως καὶ ἀποκατάσται-

σαν τὰ ἶρα, ἀρέτας ἔννεκα καὶ εὐ-

νοίας τᾶς εἰς αὖτον.

the people

To Dada daughter of Dies, and also wife of Lesbonax

son of Potamon, who has been priestess of Etephila

in a good and pious way and was instrumental in

reconstituting the Ira, due to her virtue and her

good will towards them, the people.

Incidentally, this same Dada, whose Roman citizen's name was Claudia, was later honored by the Mytilinean demos with a second statue. She was the daughter of Dies/Δίης, sister of Philon and wife of Lesboanax/Λεσβώναξ (yes, indeed, his name means "king of the Lesbians", and no, we should not get over-excited: it merely refers to the inhabitants of the Greek island of Lesbos).

The base of the second statue preserves the following commendation:

Κλαυδίαν Δα[δα?]/Dada

ἠροίναν Γαίω[---]

τὠ εὐεργέτα πα[ίδα].

To Klaudia Da[da?]

a heroine to Gaio[---]

to the benefactor child.

Now we search for the same names in northern Greece, in Macedonia:

We locate

2 mentions of the name Dadas/Δάδας

1 mention of the name Dadouchos/Δαδοῦχος.

1 mention of Dados/Δάδος

Examples:

EKM 1. Beroia 181

Macedonia : Bottiaia: Beroia

Διογένης Βαρναίου ἥρως

Δάδα/Dada ἡ[ρ]ώ̣ισσα.

Diogenes son of Barnaios, a hero

Dada, a heroine

Another example comes in the form of a small inscription stamped on a clay vessel, an amphora, originating in the SE Aegean island of Cos:

SEG 48:832,3

Macedonia : Bottiaia: Pella, Unpublished Coan amphora stamp

naming eponym Δάδας : Dadas

A third inscription from Macedonia, concerning the sale of a house:

Regions : Northern Greece (IG X) : Macedonia

Meletemata 22, Epig. App. 91 Meletemata 22, Epig. App. 90 Meletemata 22, Epig. App. 92

Makedonia (Edonis) — Amphipolis — 3rd c. BC — SEG 24.584

ἀγαθῆι τύ[χηι]. ἐφ´ ἱερέως Αἰσχύλου, ἐπισ̣-

τάτου δὲ Κλεάνδρου, μηνὸς Δίου. Κίσσο-

ς Ἑκαταίου ἐπρίατο παρὰ Σωσικράτους τοῦ Ἀ-

νδρονίκου τὴν οἰκίαν καὶ τὸ οἰκόπεδον τὸ

προσόν, ἧι γείτονες Ἀντίγονος Μαχάτα,

Νίκανδρος Λεωνίδου, χρυσῶν ἑδομήκ̣-

οντα τριῶν. βεβαιωταὶ Μαχάτας Ἀνδρονί-

κ]ου, Καλλίστρατος Δάδου, Νύμφων Ξεν-

οφῶντος καὶ αὐτὸς Σωσικράτης. μάρτυρ-

ε]ς Νέων Ἰχναίου, Ἀ̣σ̣τιδ̣ί̣ης Ἀντιδότου.

In Good fortune. During the time of priest Aeschylos when

president was Cleandros, in the month of Dios, Kissos

son of Hekataios took possession from Sosikrates son of An-

dronikos of the house and the land plot

adjacent to the properties of the neighbors Antigonos son of Machatas,

and Nikandros son of Leonides, for seventy

three gold (coins). Verifyiers: Machatas son of Andro-

nikos, Kallistratos son of Dados/Δάδος, Nymphon son of Xeno-

phon and Sosikrates himself. Witnes-

ses Neon son of Ichnaios and Astides son of Antidotos.


In Egypt of the Ptolemies we find:

2 mentions of the name Dadas/Δάδας

1 mention of the name Dadouchos/Δαδοῦχος.

1 mention of the name Dadouchios/Δαδοῦχιος.

Example of an inscription:

Regions : Egypt, Nubia and Cyrenaïca : Egypt and Nubia

Syringes 693

Eg. — Thebes [W.]: Syringes

Δαδᾶς/Dadas Ζ̣ιπύρου

Θρᾶϊξ,

Νίκανδρος Ζ̣ένωνος

Σελγεὺς ἥκω,

ἐπ´ ἀγα-

θῷ,

εὐτυχῖτε {εὐτυχεῖτε}.

Dadas son of Zipyros

a Thracian

Nikandros son of Zenon

who came from Selgia

for goodness, well

being.

Joy to you!

In Central Greece:

2 mentions of the name Dada/Δάδα

Example from Thessaly, from a marble-inscribed declaration of freeing of slaves, mentioning a freed woman named Dada:

IG IX,2 324

Thessaly (IG IX,2): Hestiaiotis: Aiginion (Kalambaka)

στρατηγοῦντος Ἀσκλάπωνος μηνὸ[ς]

Ἑ]ρμαίου τρίτῃ· αἱ ἀπελευθερωθῖσαι ἀ-

π̣ὸ Ἀντικράτους τοῦ Νικάνορος καὶ Ἀ-

φθ]οννῶς τῆς Λαχάρου Δ[ά]δα / Dada [κα]ὶ Κ[—]-

Ι̣ραὶς ἡ θυ[γάτ]ηρ άδας/ D

— — — — — — οἱ ἀπελ]ευθερωθέντες

While Strategos was Asclapon on the month

Hermaios, the third day; the freed by

Antikrates the son of Nikanoc and aph-

thono daughter of Lacharos, Dada and K[—]-

Irais the daughter of Dada.

— — — — — — the freed slaves...

In Syria, Arabia and Masopotamia we had to be especially carefull in selecting names, since Babylonian, Persian and numerous other non-Greek names appear which sound similar to but are not related to the Greek Dadas. We only chose the ones which are indisputably Greek:

1 mention of Dadados/Δάδαδος

1 mention of the name Das/Δας (genitive: Dados/Δαδός)

1 mention of the name Dadaia/Δαδαία

Example from Arabia:

Regions : Greater Syria and the East : Arabia

PPUAES IIIA 5,651^1

Syria, S./Arabia-Hauran—Inkhil

σῆ[μα] τόδε

γαμετῇ τεκτή-

ν]ατο Δαδος / Dados

ἥτις ἄγαν πι-

ν]υτὴ δο[ύλη]

πο[λ]υήρατο-

ς ο̣ὖσ ̣, ἵλα̣-

ος(?)

here is the tomb

built for the married woman

named Das

who was always

wise, a much de-

sired slave

and a joyous

one

In Attica/Athens there are countless mentions of the word/atribute dadouchos, due to the Eleusinian and Panathenian festivals and their torch relays, but we only chose this word (Dadouchos / Δαδούχος) only when used as a person's name. Therefore, in Athens we have:

1 mention of the name Dadates/Δαδάτης

1 mention of the name Dada/Δάδα.

30 mentions of the name Dadouchos/Δαδοῦχος.

2 mentions of the name Dados/Δάδος

Example:

Regions : Attica (IG I-III) : Attica

IG II² 11032

Att. — Athens: Akr. — s I p

Κορνηλία

Δάδα / Dada

Cornelia

daughter of Dadas.

And also:

Regions : Attica (IG I-III) : Attica

IG II² 8944

Att. — Athens: Akr.

Εὐρυδίκη

Δάδου / Dadou

Ἰχναία.

Euridice

daughter of Dados

from Ichna

Italy:

1 mention of the name Dadouchis/Δαδουχίς

The inscription contains a very long list of Greek names (about five hundred), from a religious document from a temple in the city of Rome.

IGUR I 160

Italy, incl. Magna Graecia

Italia — Roma: Torre Nova, area of — ca. mid. 2nd c. AD — cf. IGUR IV, p. 148, 160

οἱ ὑπογεγραμμένοι

Μακ]ρεῖνος ἥρως

Κεθ]ηγίλλα δᾳδοῦχος/dadouchos (a torchbearer, as a function not as a name)

ἱερεῖς

Γ]α̣λλικανός

Γ̣αλλικανός

Μακρεῖνος

Ὄρφιτος

Γλύκερος

Πτέρων

Καικιλία

Δύναμις

Φιλήτη

Ἐπίκτητος

Δαδουχίς/Dadouchis

Ροῦφα

Μουσική

Φοῖβος

the undersigned

Mak]reinos hero

Keth]egilla a torch bearer (δᾳδοῦχος/dadouchos)

the priests

Gallikanos

Gallikanos

Makreinos

Orphitos

Glykeros

Pteron

Kaikilia

Dynamis

Philite

Epictetos

Dadouchis

Roufa

Mousike

Phoebos

Now that we have seen the name Dada and Dadas as well as many of similar names in related form, all derived from the same root, let us look at their meaning.

Let us start with Hesychios, the 5th century AD lexicographer, who saved for us thousands of unusual Greek words and words in various Greek dialects:

δᾷδα· λαμπάδα Dada: a torch

δᾷδας· λαμπηδόνας Dadas: torches (plural)

δᾷδες· λαμπάδες Dades: torches (plural)

δᾳδουχεῖ· λάμπει, φέγγει. φωτίζει. [φαίνει] verb: Dadouchei: it shines, lights up

δᾳδουχίας· λαμπαδηφορίας λυχναψίας. φωτισμοῦ Dadouchias: about torch bearing

δᾳδοῦχος· λυχνάπτης. [λαμπαδηφόρος] Dadouchos: torch bearer

δᾳδουχοῦνται· φαίνονται verb Dadouchountai: they are being lit, seen

δᾳδουχῶν· διαλάμπων. n φωτίζων Dadouchon: sparkling shiny, well lit

δαΐδες· λαμπάδες. g λύχνοι Daides: torches, lights (plural)

δαΐδων· λαμπάδων (Σ 492) Daidon: of torches

δᾳδῶχορ· λυχνία Dadochor: a night light

δαίς· πεύκη, λαμπάς Dais: pine, torch

δαίων· καίων S Daion: the burning one

δαίω· καίω ἐξάπτω vgAS verb Daio: to burn, to torch.

In the monumental work of the German Linguist Julius Pokorny's Indogermanisches Etymologisches Woerterbuch, which was published in 1959, we find the root / lemma:

" dāu-, dǝu-, dū̆- which means : "to burn". "

Pokorny connected this to:

"Old Indian dunṓti `burns (trans), afflicts', dūná- `burnt, afflicted', Pass. dūyatē `burns' (intr.), kaus. dāvayati `burns' (trans), dāvá-ḥ (with ablaut change davāḫḥ) `blaze', etc...as in δεδαυμένος[dedaumenos]". He continues further down:

"gr. Δαίω [daio] (*δᾰF-ι̯ω) `set on fire, inflame', Perf. δέδηε [dedëe]`be in flames, be on fire' (: Old Indian dudāva), participle δεδαυμένος [dedaumenos] (δαῦσαι[dausai] ἐκκαῦσαι Hes., ἐκδαβῇ[ekdave] ἐκκαυθῇ Λάκωνες Hes.), δάος n., δαΐς[dais], -ίδος f. `torch' (to ᾳ: von att. δᾱͅς[das], δᾱͅδός[dados] s. Schwyzer Gr. Gr. I 266), δᾱνός [dais] `easily ignitable = to dry' (*δαεινός from *δαFεσ-νός), δᾱλός `burning piece of wood' (*δαFελός = lakon. Δαβελός)[davelos];" and also:

"air. dōīm `singe, burn' (about air. dōīm `get, exert' see under deu̯(ǝ)-), Verbalnom. dōud = Old Indian davathu-ḥ `blaze, fire'; atūd `kindle, inflame' from *ad-douth, cymr. cynneu `kindle, inflame'".

In the much more recent work "The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo European world, by J.P.Mallory and D.Q. Adams (Oxford University Press, 2006), a more updated lema is shown in *dehau, meaning "kindle, burn". On page 123 we read:

"Getting a fire started may have been indicated by *dehau- "kindle, burn" with cognates in Celtic (e.g. OIr daud "burning"), Grk dai'o "kindle, burn", Skt Duno'ti "kindles, burns", and Tocharian (e.g. TochA twas- "kindle, ignite, light").

We look up some Sanskrit words in a Sanskrit-English dictionary freely available on the internet, and some words come up which are phonetically similar to the Greek dada and also etymologically related to it:

"DAH, I. P. (E. also A.) DAHA, burn, consume with fire ; cauterize ; destroy ; torment, agitate ; pj.be burned; be destroyed; be consumed with inward fire ; be tortured : pp. DAFFDHA, i/, v. ; cs. DAHAYA, cause to be burned; burn (tr.); DO.DIDHAKEHA, be about to burn or destroy ; intv. DANDAHITL, dan- dagdhi, DANDANYATE, burn or destroy completely ; "

And also:

"DAVA, m. (forest) conflagration; m. n. forest : -DAHANA, m. forest fire ; -Agni, m. fire of a burning forest; Tanala, iii. id."

"A Sanskrit-English dictionary", by Arthur Anthony Macdonell

Dava is a word that in Sanskrit is related to both wood and fire, but particularly in a forest fire. The meaning of the Greek word for dada is similarly related to a piece of wood on fire.

The word Dava-Agni-Davagni which indicates the fire of a burning forest could be of particular interest to us, since it has two familiar cognates: one in Greek (Sanskrit Dava – Greek Dada) and one for Latin (Sanskrit Agni - Latin Ignis [the Greek word agne/αγνή is also a cognate, although not an obvious one: agne=pure, purified – through fire). The English word "to ignite" is a cognate of the Sanskrit "agni", and the same word exists in Slavic too: ogni-ogonj-огонь=fire. The name Ignatius is derived from Ignis, for fire in Latin, and is therefore related to Agni; we will see it again, later on, so let us remember it, but it is interesting to see its Saskrit cognate here couple with Dada's Sanskrit cognate to form the Sanskrit forest-fight: "Davagni".

As it becomes very apparent by now that the Greek word dais/δαίς-dados/δαδός and the names Dada/Δάδα Dadas/Δάδας and their derivatives all relate to the act of "starting a fire", "setting wood ablaze", "igniting", and of course "torches" and "torch bearing".

They are all derived from the verb daio/δαίω (in original form *δαF-ίω), which means "to light up", "to kindle", "to set on fire", "to burn,". Passive form: Dedaumai/δέδαυμαι, I am being lit up, torched. Δαίς/dais, is also found as δάς/das, in genitive form δαδός/dados, which translates as "the torch". In ancient Greek we also have the words δαδούχος / dadouxos for "the one holding a torch", as in the torch bearers at the festival of Eleusinian Demetra, in Athens, and δαδοφόρος / dadophoros which also means "the torch bearer". The two associates of the Persian Mithra, the prophet of Zaroaster, whose cult spread throughout the Roman empire and competed with Christianity for dominance in Europe in the beginning of the first millennium, always followed Mithra each holding a torch in their hand, and they were called Dadophoroi/Δαδοφόροι. The verb describing their action (bearing a torch) is δαδοφορέω/dadophoreo : to bear a torche, as in festivals (Liddel & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon, page 365, 1951 reprint). Dadaphorios/Δαδαφόριος was also the name of the fifth month in the calendar of Delphi (roughly equivalent to today's January, the Macedonian Peritios/Περίτιος and the Athenian Gamelion/Γαμηλιών). Dadophorios took its name from of the annual torch-light festival Dadaphoria/Δαδαφόρια that was held on this month in Delphi. Δαδουχεω/dadouheo is a verb meaning "to be a torch", being a torch bearer. The image of the two Dadophoroi/torch bearers passing a dais/dados, a torch to one another, shown at the beginning of this article, is from an ancient Greek amphora. It is showing the passing of the torch in such an athletic contest help during a religious festival, a Dadophoreia, a torch relay.

In modern Greek, δάδα/dada still means the torch. A quick "image" search in the internet (using a "copy and paste" for those who cannot spell it in Greek) of the word δάδα will bring up countless images of torches; especially the Olympic torches of the torch relay around the world (from the site of ancient Olympia, in the Peloponnese, to the Olympic city of that year). Dada/δάδα is what the statue of Liberty in New York harbor is holding on her right hand (also called a pyrsos/πυρσός, from Pyr/πύρ for fire). Dadi/δαδι in modern Greek is the resin wood chip used to ignite a fireplace fire.

Professor Aleksandar Donski/Александар Донски, of Skopje, FYROM, in his futile attempt to establish a non-existing connection between the ancient Greek names Dada/Δάδα - Dadas/Δάδας to words in the jugo-Slavic language spoken in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, proclaims that "The noun "dada" in the present day Macedonian [sic] language means "older sister"". He obviously forgot to inform us as to how Δάδας/Dadas is related to his own "Дада"". And what about Dados, Dadouchos, Dadates, etc...how are these men related to the Slavomakedonian "older sister-Dada/Дада"? Consistency, it seems, is not a pre-qualification criterion for the good nationalistic propagandist.

Having by now been informed of the meaning of Dada in the "present day" language of the modern inhabitants of FYROM (ancient Paeonia and Dardania-not Macedonia), it is time to recall what Dada means in the "present day" languages of most other European nations: DADA: an anti-war, anti-establishment radical art movement of the WWI years (started in Zürich in 1916), which reverberates on and off till now (the Punk subculture owed much to Dada). Unfortunately, the European Dada, despite its obvious phonetic similarities, happens to have about as much connection to the ancient Greek Dada/Δάδα and Dadas/Δάδας as the pseudo-makedonka "older sister"-"Dada/Дада".

In conclusion, Dada/Δάδα and Dadas/Δάδας and other similarly derived names of the same linguistic root, have been attested in Greek Mythology and Greek History. The Hellenic epigraphjic record containes numerous inscriptions with these names, as clearly demonstrated above. Equally important is the fact that Dadas, Dada and related names were popular throughout the Greek-speaking word, and certainly not only in Macedonia. While there are only four mentions of the name Dada (and similar, related names) in Macedonia, there are about twenty one mentions of these same names in Thrace (in modern Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece), over fifty-five mentions of these same and related names in Asia Minor (now Turkey) and forty eight in the (predominantly Ionian) Greek colonies of the Euxinus Pontus (the Black Sea), Greek cities in what is now Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia. There were, as we showed above, ancient Greek inscriptions with the names Dada/Δάδα, Dadas/Δάδας, Dados/Δάδος etc found in other places in Greece, from Thessaly and Athens to Crete, Delos and Lesbos, but also in places as diverse and distant from each other as modern Syria, Mesopotamia-Iraq and Saudi Arabia, but also in Egypt and in Italy-Rome.

The common thread uniting these names is their "burning", "fire-igniting" and "torch"-related etymology:

Dadas/Δάδας, Dados/Δάδος, Dadaios/Δαδαίος, Dada/Δάδα: if they were Romans, instead of Greeks, with etymologically similar Latin names, they would have been named Inflammatus, Candelabrarius, Candela, or Ignatius: they too are "burning", "inflaming", "fire-igniting" and "torch" related names, like Dada/Δάδα and Dadas/Δάδας.