Die Etymologie einiger rumänischer Fischnamen
The Etymology of Romanian Fish Names

Summary/Abstract: Southeast-European fish exploitation began in ancient times, probably in the Mesolithic, as evidenced by numerous ritual objects depicting fish. Later, it was a common subsistence strategy for the Neolithic population of the area. Zooarchaeological, archaeomythological, and historical linguistic data help analyze the etymologies of some Romanian fish names. Some can be linked etymologically to fish names in modern Slavic languages. In addition, some can be linked with fish names from the surrounding areas, or with old Common Slavic fish names. As for the inventory of these old Slavic fish names, a certain feature is prominent: the lack of Proto-Slavic names for saltwater fishes. This fact allows us to locate the ancient settling places of Proto-Slavic speakers distant from the shores of the saltwater sea, in a continentally area on the shores of rivers and lakes (Филин / Filin 1962: 117-118). The etymology of the designation *ryba ‘fish’ in Proto-Slavic is not easy to determine: several etymological attempts have been made, as shown in Blažek (2021). We aim here to shed some more light on the etymologies of Romanian fish names, which have a high level of phonetic variability, based on lexicographical data from (Antipa 1909, Коломиец / Kolomiec 1983, Vinja 1986 and Усачева / Usacheva 2003).

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