Vajunites - connection to Slovenia?

Alexandra_K

Alexandra_K

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Epirus, Vlach, Arvanite, Kephalonia, Kea
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Hello,
I am researching my maternal family's regional origins and history and would like to share some of my findings and hear your opinions.
Our place of origin is a village near Ioannina, Greece, called Ekklisohori. It was renamed in 1928 and its original name had been Tserkovista (or Tsarkovista). Slavic for church village, more or less (see cerkov+ista). It was a Slavic settlement of the Middle Ages. It can be placed the earliest around the 9th century after the Slavs were christianized (see cerkov). The Slavic settlers have allegedly married mostly to local women and through the centuries they were assimilated both culturally and genetically, however leaving a distinct signature in place names, surnames and everyday vocabulary (even in our local accent I would think). The village was later on occupied also by Bulgarians, Serbs, and of course by the Turks. In the village and the broader area, the Greeks (and Slavs) have long coexisted with Vlachs and Arvanites as well. The cluster of villages where Tserkovista belonged to was called Kourenta, which is also characterized as a word of Slavic origin.
In many sources, I read that those specific Slavic settlers must have been Vajunites. Trying to find out more about this tribe (?) I could just read that Vajunites were Southern Slavs without any further specifications. However, recently I read in an essay written in Bosnian (using Google translate) that the Vajunites, the Slavs that settled in Epirus and Albania (also Western Macedonia etc.), can be linked to modern-day Slovenians.
Out of curiosity, I searched for words similar to the word Kourenta/ Kurenta in all languages (Google translate) and quite immediately got the result of Kurent, the mythical figure in the Slovenian culture. Also cerkov is the actual Slovenian word for church. The plot started to thicken.
Does anyone know something more about a possible link between the Vajunites and Slovenians? Or any other related information that could be helpful to add to the picture?
Thank you in advance
 
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Look, someone has said that the name Vajunites can be related to the name 'Paeonians'.

Most linguists wouldn't even consider that, for various reasons, but there is at least one case where we have a shift p > xv or p > f in a toponym of a Slavic country. The island Hvar/Hvor/For in Croatia was originally called Paros and had been founded by Parians supposedly.

A shift from Παιον- to Vajun- is possible if we assume the following shifts: p > v, o > u, aí̯ > aj
 
A. Papadimitriou said:
Look, someone has said that the name Vajunites can be related to the name 'Paeonians'.

Most linguists wouldn't even consider that, for various reasons, but there is at least one case where we have a shift p > xv or p > f in a toponym of a Slavic country. The island Hvar/Hvor/For in Croatia was originally called Paros and had been founded by Parians supposedly.

A shift from Παιον- to Vajun- is possible if we assume the following shifts: p > v, o > u, aí̯ > aj
Click to expand...

Thank you. Interesting. The name is also found as "Βαϊουνίται" in Greek.
 
Thank you Milan,
I also came across this explanation and it does sound very probable. I was just reading about them again by google-translating South Slavic sources (Serbian, Croatian etc.) and I again read that the Vajuniti were one of the Slovenian tribes. There must be some truth in it, otherwise there wouldn't be so many agreeing sources.
 
Interestingly enough, in my village (Tserkovista) which belongs to the Kurenta group of villages, the center of the village was called Selio :)
Also, when I was a child going there on vacation in the summer, when older people would ask me whose grandchild I was, nobody understood if I referred to my grandmother using her official name and surname. I had to say that I am the granddaughter of Kostayannova ;), the wife of Kostas whose father is Yannis. All the women of the village would have similar names, Vassilantonova etc. Also surnames like Detsikas, pronounced Dečkas by the locals...and everyday words with Slavic origins. Not to mention the local accent...I tend to think that all these must be some interesting remainings and proofs of the Slavic origin of our village.
 
Alexandra_K said:
Interestingly enough, in my village (Tserkovista) which belongs to the Kurenta group of villages, the center of the village was called Selio :)
Also, when I was a child going there on vacation in the summer, when older people would ask me whose grandchild I was, nobody understood if I referred to my grandmother using her official name and surname. I had to say that I am the granddaughter of Kostayannova ;), the wife of Kostas whose father is Yannis. All the women of the village would have similar names, Vassilantonova etc. Also surnames like Detsikas, pronounced Dečkas by the locals...and everyday words with Slavic origins. Not to mention the local accent...I tend to think that all these must be some interesting remainings and proofs of the Slavic origin of our village.
Click to expand...

Selio could come from selo meaning village,can you give some words used by local with supposed Slavic origin? Once I talked with a girl from Korinthia and she said that her village was settled by Slavic speakers in middle ages and she told me plenty of word that her grandfather was using,some were archaic,indeed.
 
Alexandra_K said:
Thank you Milan,
I also came across this explanation and it does sound very probable. I was just reading about them again by google-translating South Slavic sources (Serbian, Croatian etc.) and I again read that the Vajuniti were one of the Slovenian tribes. There must be some truth in it, otherwise there wouldn't be so many agreeing sources.
Click to expand...

I don't know of such connection, but concerning toponyms they left out in southern Albania,or I never looked for Epirus they belong to Macedonian Slavic dialects.
 
I don't know which exactly of the unusual words my grandparents were using were of Slavic origin (some could be also of Albanian, Vlach, Turkish origin or even Italian). However, glava for head is indeed Slavic, torvas for bag? Goustera for lizard? I will ask my mother too.
 
Among the other villages of Kourenta you find many other Slavic names: Sioutista (pronounced Shutsta), Dragomi, Gribovo, Gribiani, Rajko, Granitsa, Riahovo, Rahovitsa, Zitsa, Veltsista (Belciste?), Gourianista (Gorjaniste?), Doliana (Doljane), Zagoriani (Zagorjane), Zelista, Karitsa, Kosoliani, Kourenta, Mosiari, Brianista, Pogdoriani...
In any case, it provokes one's curiosity...
 
Alexandra_K said:
I don't know which exactly of the unusual words my grandparents were using were of Slavic origin (some could be also of Albanian, Vlach, Turkish origin or even Italian). However, glava for head is indeed Slavic, torvas for bag? Goustera for lizard? I will ask my mother too.
Click to expand...
Yes "glava" for head and "goustera" (gušter) lizard are Slavic,torva or torba is Turkish borrowing but maybe coming through Slavic intermediate since I don't know what other languages around pronounce it.
 
Thank you Milan! I will ask my mother and come back with some more words tomorrow :)
 
Hi Alexandra. At first glance I don't think that they were closely related to modern Slovenians, I think that they were more closely related to Slavic tribes which were ancestors of Bulgarians and Slavo-Macedonians. But I might be wrong.

South Slavs can be divided into West-South Slavs and East-South Slavs.

And I think that they were more closely related to East-South Slavs.
 
Tomenable said:
Hi Alexandra. At first glance I don't think that they were closely related to modern Slovenians, I think that they were more closely related to Slavic tribes which were ancestors of Bulgarians and Slavo-Macedonians. But I might be wrong.

South Slavs can be divided into West-South Slavs and East-South Slavs.

And I think that they were more closely related to East-South Slavs.
Click to expand...

Hi, Tomenable! Thank you. I will try to find the sources that I mentioned before and cite them here. Maybe the translation is misleading, I don't know.
 
[h=1]Vajoniti[/h]From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia


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Balkan tribes in the 8th century​

Vajoniti or Vajuniti are one of the South Slavic tribes who lived in the 7th - 9th century in the southwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula . [1]
In the beginning they settled the upper catchment of the Bistrica River . Later, they gradually moved to the eastern coast of the Ionian Sea , where they came into contact with the local Greek population. The center of Vajonite settlements until 800. was Epirus and southern Albania .
The name Vajoniti is most likely derived from his rebellious character. They have long retained traditional Slovene beliefs ,
By the beginning of the XI century , when the fall of South Slavic states began, Vajonites fell under the control of the Byzantine Empire .
Their main interests were agriculture and cattle breeding . In the period between the 13th and 16th centuries , the Vajonites disappear by drowning among tribal groups of coastal groups, which are rapidly helenized and become part of the future Greek nation. In this way, during the 15th and 16th century Vajoniti largely Hellenized .
[h=2]Sources [ edit ][/h]




 
[FONT=&quot][h=1]Bajuniti[/h][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Bajuniti (Vajuniti), slavensko pleme. U VII. st. boravilo je u zapadnoj okolici grada Soluna. Odatle su se preselili u Epir oko Janine i Konice (Ioánnina i Kónitsa), gdje se slavensko stanovništvo održalo do XV. st. U vezu s Bajunitima dovodi se ime epirskoga distrikta Βαγενετíα (Bagenetía), koji se spominje u izvorima od XI. do XIV. st.

[/FONT]
 
The Vajunites inhabited the part of the river Vojuja (Seliščev, B.Hrabak, J.Popovski.), Which is part of Epirus.
The Arbanas part of Epira along with Vojuš is full of Slovene names. (P.Skok)
Reka Voju + maybe he got a name by the Voju tribe + on (D. Petrotic)
Maybe Vojnicci? (Zbornik Instituta Srbije, Ž.Petković)
Vojinici? Bojinići? (M.Andonović)
Initially in the vicinity of Soluna, until they settled in Epirus (M.Apostolski)
Soldiers (Vajuniti) envy at hranicích makedonsko-epirskych. (V.Šiš)
Quote Originally Posted by Atentator View Post
Otherwise, only the name of Morea, most likely of Slovenian origin - comes from the sea - the Slavs could no longer go to the south because there is a sea there.
Since there are many records that the Slavs were very skilled sailors (and the Romeians hooked on them because they were attacking them), it is more likely that the name Sea + (as well as the Sea, Pomorie) is due to the fact that the "Sea" (Peloponnese) is surrounded морем.
[QUOTE = Silver;
28708627] When the order to strengthen the rule over Makedoslovenima then created three new themes - Macedonia, Thessaloniki and Strumska theme (Strymon), Byzantine authority in these issues systematically settled neslovene: Greeks colonists from Syria (Thrace) and about 14 thousand crossed Turks (between lower Vardar and Dojran)
http://www.arhivnis.co.rs/cirilica/i...enskisavet.htm

http://books.google.rs/books?id=yzYa..._cloud_r&cad=4
Click to expand...
 
I start suspecting a possible misunderstanding on my part due to errors in the automatic translation....can the translated word "Slovenian" be a mistaken translation of the meaning "Slavic" as a whole?!?
If this is the case, then I was indeed misled by the translation... :) But still Kurent and Kourenta is a curious coincidence...Except if Kurent exists/existed in other Slavic cultures too...
 
Slovenski means Slavic in Serbo-Croatian. Slovenac is Slovenian. So yeah you have mixed those two.
 
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