Talk:Šar Mountains

Latest comment: 7 months ago by Βατο in topic Etymology

The Name of the Article

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The name is currently Šar Mountains as it is in macedonian, but it only makes sense that the name should be Sharr Mountains as it is in albanian instead. Take a moment and think about it, the etymology of the name came from Albanian roots, its literally in the page, and the people that live around the range are albanian speaking people, that refer to the range as Sharr Mountains/Malet e Sharrit. Also, it would be the more recognisable name for the english language. Agon Latifi (talk) 13:05, 16 December 2023 (UTC)Reply

We determine the common name based on the number of English-language reliable sources that use it, which means it's more recognizable under that name in English. It's not a statement about its roots or anything like that. Even Encyclopedia Britannica uses this name currently. There are more sources about the name in the discussion above. By the way, you are not obliged to believe me, but this is a Wikipedia policy. If you actually had read WP: COMMONNAME, you'd know. StephenMacky1 (talk) 13:18, 16 December 2023 (UTC)Reply

Etymology

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There is no recorded toponym with the name Serra in which supposedly the Albanian Sharr could of developed from, so obviously the Albanian Sharr developed from the ancient name Scardus and not Serra, something that has never been recorded and is rather a hypothetical theory. The source you have used is a Matzinger, a man that has made countless of unproven claims. Does not matter weather the source I used is old, it's from Radoslav Katicic who studied ancient Balkan languages. Matzingers sources are from old sources too. His claims remain unproven so I suggest to not write them like they are a fact. So that should be changed. TheCreatorOne (talk) 23:23, 18 April 2024 (UTC)Reply

The etymology from the Albanian sharrë, which ultimately comes from Latin serra, is supported by Genc Lafe too, which is cited as well into the article. The etymology of Sharr from ancient Scardus is impossible through the Albanian phonetic development, because in Albanian sk never changed into sh. That's a basic information of Albanian sound laws currently held by Albanian historical linguists. If you want to restore that outdated material, don't use outdated scholarship, but provide quotes from current linguists that show some examples of the development sk > sh. – Βατο (talk) 23:40, 18 April 2024 (UTC)Reply