ISSN: 2306-5737E-ISSN: 2658-4069
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana
Transactions of the Institute for Linguistic Studies
ISSN: 2306-5737E-ISSN: 2658-4069
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana
Transactions of the Institute for Linguistic Studies 

On the historical geography of Ossetia: Medieval Tualia

DOI:10.30842/alp2306573717273102
PDF, 1.83 Mb
Dzitstsoyty Yu. A. K istoricheskoy geografii Osetii: srednevekovaya Tualiya.. Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. 2021. 17(2): 73–102.

The article surveys data from the “Monument to the Eristavs”, a Georgian early 15th century chronicle on the medieval upland Ossetia, inhabited by the Tuals. The toponymic information found in the chronicle (about 30 names in total) has been repeatedly commented in the literature. The etymological analyses of the medieval Tual toponymy undertaken to determine the Tuals’ ethnicity, however, have produced mixed results, with Adygs (Circassians), Vainakhs, Kartvelians, or Ossetians seen as the medieval Tuals. It is quite obvious that the authors of some studies made methodological errors. The main one is that the toponymy of the medieval Tualiya was analyzed separately from the modern Ossetic toponymy. Meanwhile, our comparison of the old toponyms with their modern counterparts shows that the population of the upland Ossetia has not changed for more than six hundred years. The ethnonym shavdvalni ‘Black Tuals’, recorded in the Georgian monument mentioned above, is very important for determining the linguistic affiliation of this population. The Ossetians still describe their fellow tribesmen who live at the water-head of the Ardon River in North Ossetia as Black Tualts (Sau tualtæ). They are contrasted against the “White Tuals” (Urs tualtæ) living at the water-head of the Liakhva River in South Ossetia. This opposition is social in nature. Since Black Tuals are mentioned when describing events that took place in the 9th century, there is a reason to believe that the Tuals spoke Ossetic already then. Etymological analysis of the rest of the toponymy of medieval Tualiya also indicates its Iranian (Ossetian) origin. The origin of only one toponym remains unclear.

Keywords
toponymy, etymology, ethnogenesis, the Tuals, Ossetia
References
Abaev 1949
V. I. Abaev. Osetinskiy yazyk i folklor [Ossetian language and folklore]. Vol. I. Moscow; Leningrad: USSR Academy’s of Sciences Publishing House, 1949.
Abaev 1979
V. I. Abaev. Istoriko-etimologicheskiy slovar osetinskogo yazyka [Historical etymological dictionary of the Ossetic language]. Vol. III. Leningrad: Nauka, 1979.
Abaev 1989
V. I. Abaev. Istoriko-etimologicheskiy slovar osetinskogo yazyka [Historical etymological dictionary of the Ossetic language]. Vol. IV. Leningrad: Nauka, 1989.
Abaev 1990
V. I. Abaev. Izbrannye trudy [Selected writings]. Vol. I. Vladikavkaz: Ir, 1990.
Akhvlediani 1960
G. S. Akhvlediani. Sbornik izbrannykh rabot po osetinskomu yazyku [Selected works on the Ossetian language]. Tbilisi: Tbilisi University Press, 1960.
Alemany 2003
Agusti Alemany. Alany v drevnikh i srednevekovykh pismennykh istochnikakh [Sources on the Alans]. Moscow: Menedzher, 2003.
Andronikashvili 1966
M. Andronikashvili. Narkvevebi iranul-kartuli enobrivi urtiertobidan [Studies in Iranian-Georgian linguistic contacts]. Vol. I. Tbilisi: Tbilisi University Press, 1966.
Bailey 1979
H. W. Bailey. Dictionary of Khotan Saka. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
Bekoev 1985
D. G. Bekoev. Ironskiy dialekt osetinskogo yazyka [Iron dialect of the Ossetian language]. Tskhinvali: Iryston, 1985.
Byazyrov 1959
A. X. Byazyrov. Issledovaniya V. N. Gamrekeli o tualakh-osetinakh [V. N. Gamrekeli’s researches on the Tual tribe of Ossetians]. Otdel rukopisnych fondov Severo-Osetinskogo instituta gumanitarnykh i socialnykh issledovaniy. Otdeleniye istorii. [Manuscript department of North Ossetian institute of the humanitarian and social studies. Department of history]. Collection No. 4, Inventory No. 1, storage unit No. 68.
Desheriev 1963
Yu. A. Desheriev. Sravnitelno-istoricheskaya grammatika nakhskikh yazykov i problemy proiskhozhdeniya i istoricheskogo razvitiya gorskikh kavkazskikh narodov [Comparative-historical grammar of Nakh languages and the problem of the origin and development of High Land people of Caucasus]. Groznyj: Chechen-Ingush Publishing House, 1963.
Dzattiaty 1996
R. G. Dzattiaty. Osetinskaya toponimika v gruzinskikh istochnikakh [The toponymy of Ossetia in Georgian sources]. Daryal. 1996. No. 4. P. 230–236.
Dzitstsoity 1992
Yu. A. Dzitstsoity. Narty i ikh sosedi: Geograficheskie i etnicheskie nazvaniya v nartovskom epose [Narts and their neighbours: Geographical and ethnic names in the Narta epic]. Vladikavkaz: Alaniya, 1992.
Dzitstsoity 1995
Yu. A. Dzitstsoity. Toponimiya i etnicheskaya istoriya Yuzhnoy Osetii [Toponymy and the ethnic history of South Ossetia]. Yuzhnaya Osetiya (newspaper). 1995. No. 66.
Dzitstsoity 2017a
Yu. A. Dzitstsoity. Voprosy osetinskoy filologii [Issues in Ossetian philology]. Vol. I. Tskhinval: Respublika, 2017.
Dzitstsoity 2017b
Yu. A. Dzitstsoity. Digorsko-kudarskie izoglossy v toponimii Yuzhnoy Osetii [Digor-Kudarian isoglosses in the toponymy of South Ossetia]. Izvestiya Severo-Osetinskogo instituta gumanitarnykh i socialnykh issledovaniy. 2017. Iss. 25 (64). P. 134–145.
ESIY, I
V. S. Rastorgueva, D. I. Edel’man. Etimologicheskiy slovar iranskikh yazykov [Etymological dictionary of Iranian languages]. Vol. I. Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura, 2000.
ESIY, IV
D. I. Edel’man. Etimologicheskii slovar iranskikh yazykov [Etymological dictionary of Iranian languages]. Vol. IV. Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura, 2011.
ESIY, VI
D. I. Edel’man. Etimologicheskii slovar iranskikh yazykov [Etymological dictionary of Iranian languages]. Vol. VI. Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura, 2020.
Gadlo 1979
A. V. Gadlo. Etnicheskaya istoriya Severnogo Kavkaza IV–X vv. [The ethnic history of North Caucasus in IV–X centuries]. Leningrad: Leningrad State University Press, 1979.
Gagloity 1962
Yu. Gagloity. Tualtæ æmæ alanty ragon istoriiy iuæi-iu farstytæ [Tualians and some questions of the ancient history of Alans]. Fidiuæg. 1962. No. 3. P. 79–86.
Gagloity 1969
Yu. S. Gagloiti. Erti k’ontseptsiis shesakheb [On the one conception]. Sabtchota Oseti (newspaper), 09.08.1969.
Gagloity 1996
Yu. S. Gagloiti. Problemy etnicheskoy istorii yuzhnykh osetin [Some problems of the history of Southern Ossetians]. Tskhinval: s.e., 1996.
Gamrekeli 1958
V. Gamrekeli. Dvaletis toponimikis analizisatvis [On the analysis of the toponymy of Dvalethi]. Trudy Instituta istorii im. I. A. Dzhavakhishvili AN GSSR. 1958. Vol. IV. No. 1. P. 45–70.
Gamrekeli 1961
V. N. Gamrekeli. Dvaly i Dvaletiya v I–XV vv. n. e. [Dvalians and Dvaleti in I–XV centuries]. Tbilisi: JSSR Academy’s of Sciences Press, 1961.
Kuznetsov 1990
V. A. Kuznetsov. Rekom, Nuzal i Tsarazonta [The Rekom, Nuzal and Tsarazonta clan]. Vladikavkaz: Ir, 1990.
Kuznetsov 1992
V. A. Kuznetsov. Ocherki istorii alan [Essays on the history of the Alans]. 2nd revised edition, Vladikavkaz: Ir, 1992.
Kuznetsov 2016
V. A. Kuznetsov. Drevnosti Alagirskogo ushchelya [Antiquities of the Alagir Gorge]. Vladikavkaz: Proekt-Press, 2016.
Lavrov 1982
L. I. Lavrov. Etnografiya Kavkaza [An ethnography of Caucasus]. Leningrad: Nauka, 1982.
Matveev 2006
A. K. Matveev. Onomatologiya [Onomathology]. Moscow: Nauka, 2006.
Melikishvili 1959
G. A. Melikishvili. K istorii Drevney Gruzii [On the history of Ancient Georgia]. Tbilisi: JSSR Academy’s of Sciences Publishing House, 1959.
Napo’skikh 2012
V. V. Napolskikh. «Spisok narodov Germanarixa» — gotskiy put ot Ladogi do Kubani [Ermanarichs list of peoples — a Gothic path from Ladoga to Kuban river]. Uralskiy istoricheskiy vestnik. 2012. No. 2 (35). P. 21–31.
Napol’skich 2016
V. Napolskich. Ermanarichs arctoi gentes (Jordanes Getica, 116). Ancient civilizations from Scythia to Siberia. 2016. Vol. 22. P. 26–54.
Napol’skikh 2018
V. V. Napol’skikh. Etnolingvisticheskaya situatsiya v lesnoy zone Vostochnoy Evropy v pervye veka nashey ery i dannye «Getiki» Iordana [Ethno-linguistic situation in the forest zone of Eastern Europe in the first centuries AD and the data of Jordanes’ Getica]. Voprosy onomastiki. 2018. Vol. 15. No. 1. P. 7–29.
Pakhalina 2002
T. N. Pakhalina. Skifo-osetinskie etimologii [Scytho-Ossetian etymologies]. Nartamongæ. 2002. Vol. I. No. 1. P. 101–106.
Teush 2019
O. A. Teush. Metody etimologicheskikh issledovaniy: uchebnoye posobiye [Methods of etymological studies: A tutorial]. Moscow: INFRA-M, 2019.
Thordarson 1989
F. Thordarson. Sibilanten und Affrikaten im Ossetischen. Georgica. 1989. Heft 12. S. 14–17.
Tmenov 1989
V. Kh. Tmenov. Neskolko stranits iz etnicheskoy istorii osetin [Pages from the ethnic history of Ossetians]. V. Kh. Tmenov (ed.). Problemy etnografii osetin [The problems of Ossetian ethnography]. Ordzhonikidze: Ir, 1989. P. 113–134.
Tskhovrebova 1979
Z. D. Tskhovrebova. Toponimiya Yuzhnoy Osetii v pismennykh istochnikakh [The toponymy of South Ossetia in written sources]. Tbilisi: Metsniereba, 1979.
Tuallagov 2008
A. A. Tuallagov. Nakhoyazychnye skify i alany — realnost’ ili mif? [The Nakh speaking Scythes and Alans — is it a real history or a myth?]. Vladikavkaz: Ir, 2008.
Tybylty 1988
A. Tybylty. Uatsmysty æmbyrdgond [Selected works]. Tskhinval: Iryston, 1988.
Vaneev 1989
Z. N. Vaneev. Izbrannye raboty po istorii osetinskogo naroda [Selected works on the history of Ossetians]. Vol. I. Tskhinval: Iryston, 1989.
Volkova 1973
N. G. Volkova. Etnonimy i plemennye nazvaniya Severnogo Kavkaza [Ethnic and tribal names of the North Caucasus]. Moscow: Nauka, 1973.
Zhuravlev 2007
A. F. Zhuravlev. Iz nablyudeniy nad slavyano-iranskimi semanticheskimi parallelyami (Slavo-Ossetica) [An observation of Slavo-Iranian semantic parallels]. Zh. Zh. Varbot, A. F. Zhuravlev, L. V. Kurkina, I. P. Petleva, V. N. Toporov (eds.). Etimologiya—2003–2005. Moscow: Nauka, 2007. P. 86–108.
Keywords
toponymy, etymology, ethnogenesis, the Tuals, Ossetia
ScopusSCImago Journal & Country RankE-Library.ruCrossRefCyberLeninkaVAKERIH Plus