Names of the Serbs and Serbia
Names of the Serbs and Serbia are terms and other designations referring to general terminology and nomenclature on the Serbs and Serbia. Throughout history, various endonyms and exonyms have been used in reference to ethnic Serbs and their lands. Basic terms, used in Serbian language, were introduced via classical languages into other languages, including English. The process of interlingual transmission began during the early medieval period, and continued up to the modern times, being finalized in major international languages at the beginning of the 20th century.
Autonym
The earliest found mention of the Serbs is from Einhard's Royal Frankish Annals, written in 822, when prince Ljudevit went from his seat at Sisak to the Serbs, with Einhard mentioning "the Serbs, a people that is said to hold a large part of Dalmatia". De Administrando Imperio, written by Constantine VII in the mid-10th century, tells of the early history of the Serbs, whose polity he called "Serblia", and whose ruler he called "Prince of the Serbs". He mentions White Serbia. Furthermore, he says that the town of Servia received its name from the Serbs who once lived there.According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the first Russian chronicle, Serbs are among the first five Slav peoples who were enumerated by their names. Al-Masudi called them Sarabin. In Latin, it was transcribed as Sorabi, Serbi, Serbii, Serbli, Surbi, Seruiani, Serviani etc.
Theories
;Etymological origin- The root *sъrbъ has been variously connected with Russian paserb, Ukrainian priserbitisya, Old Indic sarbh-, Latin sero, and Greek siro.
- Polish linguist Stanisław Rospond derived the denomination of Srb from srbati. German-Sorbian scholar Heinz Schuster-Šewc listed the *srъb- / *sьrb- roots in Slavic words meaning "to sip, munch", found in Polish serbać, Russian сербать, etc., and also cognates in non-Slavic languages, such as Lithuanian suřbti, Middle German sürfen, which all derive from Indo-European onomatopoeic roots *serbh- / *sirbh- / *surbh- meaning "to sip, to breast-feed, to flow". According to him, the basis of the ethnonym lays in "kinship by milk" and "brotherhood in milk" which was widespread in early ethnic groups and thus carried the secondary meanings of "those who belong to the same family, kinsman"; "member of the same kin, tribe"; and finally an ethnonym.
Some scholars argue that the Serb ethnonym is antique. According to this theory, it is connected to the mentions of Tacitus in 50 AD, Pliny the Elder in 77 AD and Ptolemy in his Geography 2nd century AD, of the Sarmatian tribe of Serboi of the North Caucasus and Lower Volga. One theory is that it is of ultimately Iranian origin. Oleg Trubachyov derived it from Indo-Aryan *sar- and *bai-.
- Đorđe Branković, in his Chronicles, wrote: "The Serbian name comes from the Savromat name, as Philipp Melanchthon testifies... According to a second version the Serbian name comes from the Sires people who used to live in the Asian part of Scythia. Among the Sires, wool grew in the same way as silk". In 1878, Henry Hoyle Howorth connected Ptolemy's mention of the town of Serbinum, modern Gradiška, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the Serbs, and also found the Serb ethnonym in the works of Vibius Sequester.
- In De Bello Gothico Procopius uses the name Sporoi as an umbrella term for the Slavic tribes of Antes and Sclaveni, it is however not known whether the Slavs used this designation for themselves or he himself coined the term. It has been theorized however that the name is a corruption of the ethnonym Serbs, as Sporoi may be identical with 'Sorpi=Serpi=Serbi' and 'Sclavini'.
Exonyms
Rascia
The term "Rascia", with several variants, was used as an exonym for Serbia in Latin sources since the late 12th century, along with other names such as Servia, Dalmatia and Slavonia. It was derived from the town of Ras, a royal estate, and seat of an eparchy. The first attestation is in a charter from Kotor dated to 1186, in which Stefan Nemanja, the Grand Prince, is mentioned as "župan of Rascia". It was one of the common names for Serbia in western sources, often in conjunction with Serbia. "Rascia" was never used in Byzantine works.The term is often used in modern historiography to refer to the medieval "Serbian hinterland" or "inner Serbia", that is, the inland territories in relation to the maritime principalities at the Adriatic. The term is attested since the late 12th century, but in historiography, the early medieval Serbian Principality is sometimes also called Raška, erroneously. In DAI, the Serbian hinterland is called "baptized Serbia", while Ras is only mentioned as a border town. The misconceptions arose from the much later Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, that projected later terminology on earlier periods. In historical reality of the early medieval period, the city of Ras became a local administrative center only in 970-975, when Byzantines created a short-lived Catepanate of Ras. In 1019, the Eparchy of Ras was organized, with jurisdiction over eastern parts of inner Serbia, and thus the foundation was laid for gradual emergence of a regional name, derived from Ras. Retaking the city of Ras from Byzantines, local Serbian rulers made it one of their main seats, and since it was also a seat of a local bishop of Ras, it gradually became the most important center of inner Serbia. By the end of the 12th century, term Raška became common designation for central parts of inner Serbia, and it was also used to designate the state centered in that region, namely the Serbian state of the Nemanjić dynasty.
Between the 15th and 18th centuries, the term was used to designate the southern Pannonian Plain inhabited by Serbs, or "Rascians", who had settled there following the Ottoman conquests and Great Serb migrations.
Other
;Medieval- The Serbs were often called "Triballi" in Byzantine works. The Triballi was an ancient Thracian tribe that inhabited the area of the Morava Valley in southern Serbia. They were last mentioned in the 3rd century. The educated Byzantine authors sought an ancient name for the Serbs, and adopted it as the most likely. It was in use between the 11th and 15th century.
- In the Byzantine chronicle Alexiad, covering the 11th century, Anna Komnene mentions the Serbs by the names Sklaveni and Dalmati, with Dalmatia starting from Kosovo and Metohija. John Kinnamos, in his work covering 1118–76, wrote: "the Serbs, a Dalmatic tribe", thus using "Dalmats" or "Dalmatic people" in the context of the Serbs, and "Dalmatia" in the context of Serbia. There are numerous other, less prominent, instances, poetic for example — Theodore Prodromus, Michael Italicus and the typikon of the Pantokrator monastery, among others.
- "Vlachs", referring to pastoralists, was a common exonym for Serbs in the Ottoman Empire and later. The term "Vlachs" was also used for Slavs who shared lifestyle with Romance peoples ; it was used for the Serbs who settled the Military Frontier. Documents from 13th to the 15th century show that Vlachs Serbs considered as "others" i.e. different from themselves. Croatian nationalist historiography claim that the settlers were not Serbs, but Vlachs; that Serbs of Croatia are not Serbs. All South Slavic ethnic groups had some Romance ingredient, although there is no evidence that all or most Serbs in Croatia were of Vlach origin. In Bosnia, Orthodox Christians were called "Vlachs", actually used as a synonym of "Serbs". It was used as a derogatory term, and as a common name for Orthodox Serbs in Catholic lands, and lesser in the Ottoman Empire. Tihomir Đorđević, as did other academics, stressed that the name "Vlach" did not only refer to genuine Vlachs, but also to cattle breeders in general. Serbs that took refuge in the Habsburg Military Frontier were called "Vlachs" by the Croats. In the work About the Vlachs, Metropolitan Stevan Stratimirović stated that Roman Catholics from Croatia and Slavonia scornfully used the name "Vlach" for "the Slovenians and Serbs, who are of our, Eastern confession", and that "the Turks in Bosnia and Serbia also call every Bosnian or Serbian Christian a Vlach". That the name "Vlach" used to signify the Serbs is testified by Vuk Karadžić in his many recorded proverbs. The term may have originated from Stari Vlah, from where refugees arrived in what was then the Holy Roman Empire.
- In Dalmatia, terms used for Serbs were: "Morlachs", "Vlachs", Rkaći, Rkači, "Greek Dalmatians", or "Greek people". The Catholics used the pejorative word rkać, derived from Venetian, for Orthodox people. The terms Rišćani, Rkaći, Morlaci, were used for primitive shepherds, Serbs, who moved in Bukovica, and mountain pastures on the border of Lika and Bosnia.
- "Schismatics"
- Illyri and Natio Illyrica, in official Habsburg documents. The Rescriptum Declaratorium Illyricae Nationis from 1779, declared by Maria Theresa, officially established the position of Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Habsburg Monarchy.
Misnaming
- by the major regional names of: Bosnians, Herzegovinians, Krajishniks and Slavonians.
Pejorative
- Serbomans, Serbs in Macedonia
- Raci, Serbs in Austro-Hungary
- Tschusch, Serbs in Austria
- Vlah, Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia
- Chetniks
- Shkije, in Kosovo and Albania
Anthroponymy
Srba, Srbislav, Srbivoje, Srbko, Srboje, Srbomir, Srborad, Srbomil, Srboljub, Srbobran.
;Female given names
Srbijanka, Srbinka, and others.
;Surnames
Srbinac, Srbinić, Srbinov, Srbinovac, Srbinović, Srbinovski, Srbić, Srbović, Srbljanović, Srbljanin, Srbljak, Srpčić, Serban, and others.
Toponomy
Connected to Serbs
;Balkans- Sârbi, village in Budeşti, Romania
- Servia, village in Kozani, Greece
- Serviana, village in Ioannina, Greece
- Srb, town and municipality in Croatia
- Srbac, town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Srbica, town and municipality in Kosovo
- Srbinci, village in Serbia
- Srbinjak, village in Istria, Croatia
- Srbinovo, village in R. Macedonia
- Srbjani, village in R. Macedonia
- Srbljani, village in Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Srbovac, village in Kosovo
- Srbovo, village in Serbia
- Srpska Mahala, village in Montenegro
- Srbeč, in Czech Republic
- Srbsko, in Czech Republic
- Srbska, in Czech Republic
- Srbská Kamenice, in Czech Republic, connected to Sorbs
- Serbinów, several villages in Poland
Connected to Raška, Raci
- Raska, two places, Serbia
- Raskaj, Kosovo, Serbia
- Raskovo, Kosovo, Serbia
- Rashkovo, in Sofia, Bulgaria
- Rašćani, in Tomislavgrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Rašeljke, in Tomislavgrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Raško Polje, in Tomislavgrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Rasna, in Brestovac, Croatia
- Raszków, several toponyms in Poland
- Raszów, several toponyms in Poland
- Raszowa, several toponyms in Poland
- Raszyn, several toponyms in Poland
- Rașcov, in Transnistria
- Račice, in Czech Republic
- Račje Selo, in Slovenia
Historical
- Gordoservon/Servochoria, in Phrygia of Anatolia
- Nova Serbiya, military province in Imperial Russia
- Slavyanoserbiya, military province in Imperial Russia
- Republic of Serbian Krajina
Renderings in other languages
- Servii, Latin rendering.
- *Serviani/Servians, medieval French and English rendering of the Serbs.
- Macedonian, Slovak and Slovene: Srbi
- Сербы, Сърби, Serbi, Serbi, Серби, Serbi : Serbi
- صرب
- Simplified
- Traditional
- Srbové
- Serbiaid
- Serben
- Serblased
- Σέρβοι
- Serbios
- Serboj
- Serbes
- 세르비아인
- סרבים
- सर्ब लोग
- Сербаг адæм
- სერბები
- Serbai
- Szerbek
- Serviërs / Serven"
- セルビア人
- Serbere
- Serbowie
- Sérvios
- Sârbi
- Сербы
- Serbët
- Срь́би
- Serbit
- Serber
- Серблар
- Sırplar