Arnaut

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Turkish arnavut, from Ottoman Turkish آرناوود (arnavut, “an Albanian”). Entered Ottoman Turkish from the Byzantine Greek ethnonym Arvanitis (Αρβανίτης) after the syllable cluster van was rearranged through metathesis to nav giving the final Turkish forms as Arnavut and Arnaut. Meanwhile in Greek the name Arvanitis was derived from the original term Alvanitis (Άλβάνίτης) as a process of rhotacism Alv- into Arv-. In return Alvanitis stems from the name Alvanos (Άλβάνος) Albanian, from Ancient Greek Ἀλβανοί (Albanoí).[1][2]

Pronunciation
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɑɹˌnaʊt/

Noun

Arnaut (plural Arnauts)

  1. (historical) An inhabitant of Albania and neighboring mountainous regions, especially an Albanian serving in the Turkish army.
  2. (historical, military) A Greek, Albanian, Bulgarian or Serbian soldier, recruited to serve as body-guard to officials in the 18th-19th c. Wallachia and Moldavia. Greek militia units formed in Crimea, 1769.[3]
    • 1844, Thomas Gordon, History of the Greek Revolution‎, 2nd edition, volume 1, page 1:
      Included under the generic name of Arnauts, it was recruited from Roumeliote Greeks, Albanians, Bulgarians, and Servians, who acted as body-guards to the princes, the great functionaries, and eve the simple Boyards [in Danubian Principalities, early 19th c.]

Translations

References
  1. Theißen, Ulrich (2007), p. 90. "Der ursprüngliche Name Άλβανίτης (abgeleitet von Άλβάνος) wurde im Neugriechischen zu Άρβανίτης… In türkischer Vermittlung erfuhr die Silbe -van- eine Metathese zu -nav-, so dass die türkische Form des Namens für die Albaner arnavut bzw. arnaut Lautet. In dieser Form gelangte das Wort ins Bulgarische (BER I/1971: 15). [The original name Άλβανίτης (derived from Άλβάνος) was established in Modern Greek to Άρβανίτης .... In Turkish the syllable was experienced and mediated as -van- and by metathesis to -nav- so that the Turkish form of the name for the Albanians became respectively Arnavut or Arnaut. In this form, the word came into Bulgarian (BER I / 1971: 15).]"
  2. Malcolm, Noel. "Kosovo, a short history". London: Macmillan, 1998, p.29 "The name used in all these references is, allowing for linguistic variations, the same: 'Albanenses' or 'Arbanenses' in Latin, 'Albanoi' or 'Arbanitai' in Byzantine Greek. (The last of these, with an internal switching of consonants, gave rise to the Turkish form 'Arnavud', from which 'Arnaut' was later derived.)"
  3. Nouveau Dictionnaire Militaire. Paris, 1892, p. 56. ARNAUTES ou ARNOUTS.: "Milice grecque, créée en 1769, pour garder les côtes de la Crimée."

Anagrams
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