Editing Black Sea (section)

== Name ==
[[File:OrduSeaside.jpg|thumb|Coast of the Black Sea at [[Ordu]]]]
[[File:View to the Kapchik Cape in Crimea (2).jpg|thumb|Kapchik Cape in Crimea]]
[[File:The Black Sea near Constanţa, Romania.JPG|thumb|The Black Sea near [[Constanța]], Romania]]
[[File:Burgas Bridge, Бургаският мост.jpg|thumb|Coast of the Black Sea at [[Burgas]]]]

=== Modern names ===
Current names of the sea are usually equivalents of the English name "Black Sea", including these given in the countries bordering the sea:<ref>{{cite book|author=Özhan Öztürk|url=http://www.karalahana.com/makaleler/karadeniz/karadeniz-ozhan-ozturk.htm|title=Karadeniz Ansiklopedik Sözlük|publisher=Heyamola Yayınları|year=2005|place=İstanbul|pages=617–620|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015182227/http://www.karalahana.com/makaleler/karadeniz/karadeniz-ozhan-ozturk.htm|archive-date=15 October 2012}}</ref>
* {{langx|ab|Амшын Еиқәа|translit=Amŝən Ejkʷa}}, {{IPA|ab|ɑmʂɨn ɛjkʷʰɑ|IPA}}
* {{langx|ady|Хы Шӏуцӏэ|translit=Xə Šʷʼucʼɛ}}, {{IPA|ady|xɘ ʃʷʼtsʼɜ|IPA}}
* {{langx|hy|Սեւ ծով|translit=Sev cov}}, {{IPA|hy|sɛv t͡sɔv|IPA|audio=}}
* {{langx|az|Qara dəniz}}, {{IPA|az|ɡɑˈɾɑ dæniz|IPA}}
* {{langx|bg|Чeрно морe|translit=Čérno moré}}, {{IPA|bg|ˈt͡ʃɛrno moˈrɛ|IPA}}
* {{crh|Qara deñiz|Къара денъиз}}, {{IPA|crh|qɑrɑ deŋiz|IPA}}
* {{langx|gag|Kara deniz}}
* {{langx|ka|შავი ზღვა|tr}}, {{IPA|ka|ʃavi zʁʷa|IPA}}
* [[Laz language|Laz]] and {{langx|xmf|უჩა ზუღა|translit=Ucha Zugha}}, {{IPA|xmf|ˈutʃä ˈzuɣä|IPA}}, or simply {{lang|xmf|ზუღა}}, {{Transliteration|xmf|Zugha}}, {{IPA|xmf|ˈzuɣä|IPA}}, "Sea"
* {{langx|ro|Marea Neagră}}, {{IPA|ro|ˈmare̯a ˈne̯aɡrə|pron|Ro-Marea Neagră.ogg}}
* {{langx|ru|Чёрное мо́ре|Čórnoje móre}}, {{IPA|ru|ˈt͡ɕɵrnəjə ˈmorʲe|IPA}}
* {{langx|tr|Karadeniz}}, {{IPA|tr|kaˈɾadeniz|IPA}}
* {{langx|uk|Чо́рне мо́ре|translit=Čórne móre}}, {{IPA|uk|ˈt͡ʃɔrne ˈmɔre|IPA}}

Such names have not yet been shown conclusively to predate the 13th{{spaces}}century.{{sfn|Schmitt|1989|pages=310–313}}

In [[Greece]], the historical name "Euxine Sea", which holds a different literal meaning (see below), is still widely used:
* {{langx|el|Εύξεινος Πόντος|translit=Éfxinos Póndos|lit=Hospitable Sea}}, {{IPA|el|ˈefksinos ˈpondos|}}; the name {{langx|el|Μαύρη Θάλασσα|Mávri Thálassa|Black Sea|label=none}}, {{IPA|el|ˈmavɾi ˈθalasa|}}, is used, but is much less common.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

The Black Sea is one of four seas named in English after common [[color term]]s – the others being the [[Red Sea]], the [[White Sea]] and the [[Yellow Sea]].

=== Historical names and etymology ===
The earliest known name of the Black Sea is the Sea of Zalpa, so called by both the [[Hattians]]<ref>The Journal of Indo-European Studies, p.79. United States, n.p, 1985. [https://books.google.com/books?id=QaMYAAAAYAAJ Google Books]</ref> and their conquerors, the [[Hittites]]. The Hattic city of [[Zalpuwa|Zalpa]] was "situated probably at or near the estuary of the Marrassantiya River, the modern [[Kızılırmak River|Kızıl Irmak]], on the Black Sea coast."<ref>Burney, Charles. Historical Dictionary of the Hittites, p.333. United States, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2018. [https://books.google.com/books?id=YRhbDwAAQBAJ Google Books]. Accessed 26 February 2024.</ref>

The principal [[Greek language|Greek]] name ''Póntos Áxeinos'' is generally accepted to be a rendering of the [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] word {{lang|ira|*axšaina-}} ("dark colored").{{sfn|Schmitt|1989|pages=310–313}} Ancient Greek voyagers adopted the name as {{lang|grc-Latn|Á-xe(i)nos}}, identified with the Greek word {{lang|grc-Latn|áxeinos}} (inhospitable).{{sfn|Schmitt|1989|pages=310–313}} The name {{lang|grc|Πόντος Ἄξεινος}} {{transliteration|grc|ISO|''Póntos Áxeinos''}} (Inhospitable Sea), first attested in [[Pindar]] ({{c.|475 BC}}), was considered an ill omen and was euphemized to its opposite, {{lang|grc|Εὔξεινος Πόντος}} {{transliteration|grc|ISO|''Eúxeinos Póntos''}} (Hospitable Sea), also first attested in Pindar. This became the commonly used designation in Greek, although in mythological contexts the "true" name {{lang|grc-Latn|Póntos Áxeinos}} remained favored.{{sfn|Schmitt|1989|pages=310–313}}

[[Strabo]]'s ''[[Geographica]]'' (1.2.10) reports that in antiquity, the Black Sea was often simply called "the Sea" ({{lang|grc|ὁ πόντος}} {{transliteration|grc|ISO|''ho Pontos''}}).<ref name="Geographica vol.I">{{cite book|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/strabo/home.html|title=Strabo: Geography, Volume I: Books 1–2|date=1917|publisher=Harvard University Press|editor1-last=Jones|editor1-first=Horace Leonard|location=Cambridge, MA|access-date=26 November 2021}}</ref> He thought that the sea was called the "Inhospitable Sea" {{lang|grc|Πόντος Ἄξεινος}} {{transliteration|grc|ISO|''Póntos Áxeinos''}} by the inhabitants of the [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]] region of the southern shoreline before Greek colonization due to its difficult navigation and hostile barbarian natives (7.3.6), and that the name was changed to "hospitable" after the [[Milesians (Greek)|Milesians]] [[Greek colonisation|colonized]] the region, bringing it into the Greek world.<ref name="Geographica vol.III">{{cite book|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/strabo/home.html|title=Strabo: Geography, Volume III: Books 6–7|date=1924|publisher=Harvard University Press|editor1-last=Jones|editor1-first=Horace Leonard|location=Cambridge, MA|access-date=26 November 2021}}</ref>

Popular supposition derives "Black Sea" from the dark color of the water or climatic conditions. Some scholars understand the name to be derived from a system of [[Cardinal direction#Cultural variations|color symbolism representing the cardinal directions]], with black or dark for north, red for south, white for west, and green or light blue for east.{{sfn|Schmitt|1989|pages=310–313}} Hence, "Black Sea" meant "Northern Sea". According to this scheme, the name could only have originated with a people living between the northern (black) and southern [[Red Sea|(red) sea]]s: this points to the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenids]] (550–330 BC).{{sfn|Schmitt|1989|pages=310–313}} This interpretation has been labeled as [[folk etymology]]<ref>Karatay, Osman. (2011). "On the origins of the name for the 'Black Sea'." Journal of Historical Geography, Volume 37, Issue 1, Pages 1–11.</ref> and may reflect a primitive historical understanding of the "P/Bla" [[phoneme]] originally associated with the name.<ref name="Beekes">Beekes, R. S. P. (2002). "The Origin of the Etruscans." Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen,Amsterdam. [https://www.robertbeekes.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/b110.pdf Robert Beekes]</ref>

In the [[Bundahishn|Greater Bundahishn]], a [[Middle Persian]] [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] scripture, the Black Sea is called {{lang|pal-Latn|Siyābun}}.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Peterson|first=Joseph H.|title=Greater Bundahishn|url=http://www.avesta.org/mp/grb1.htm#chap8|access-date=1 July 2017|website=www.avesta.org}}</ref> In the tenth-century Persian geography book {{lang|fa-Latn|[[Hudud al-'Alam]]|italic=yes}}, the Black Sea is called ''Georgian Sea'' ({{lang|fa-Latn|daryā-yi Gurz}}).<ref>[http://www.kroraina.com/hudud/hud_42.html § 42. Discourse on the Country of Rūm, its Provinces and Towns] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225152115/http://www.kroraina.com/hudud/hud_42.html |date=25 February 2021 }} Hudud al-'Alam</ref> ''[[The Georgian Chronicles]]'' use the name {{lang|oge-Latn|zğua sperisa}} {{lang|oge|ზღუა სპერისა}} (Sea of Speri) after the [[Kartvelian peoples|Kartvelian]] tribe of Speris or [[Saspers]].<ref>[http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/cauc/ageo/kcx1/kcx1.htm?kcx1002.htm Part II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628200934/http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/cauc/ageo/kcx1/kcx1.htm?kcx1002.htm |date=28 June 2020 }} Georgian Chronicles, Line of ed: 14</ref> Other modern names such as {{lang|ru-Latn|Chyornoye more}} and {{lang|tr|Karadeniz}} (both meaning Black Sea) originated during the 13th century.{{sfn|Schmitt|1989|pages=310–313}} A 1570 map {{lang|la|Asiae Nova Descriptio|italic=yes}} from [[Abraham Ortelius]]'s {{lang|la|[[Theatrum Orbis Terrarum]]}} labels the sea {{lang|la|Mar Maggior}} (Great Sea), compare Latin {{lang|la|Mare major}}.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Central Asia and Dravidan Connection – Revealed – Part 6|url=http://drannadurai.com/His_Central%20Asia%20and%20Dravidan%20Connection%20-%20Revealed%20-%20Part%206.htm|access-date=15 June 2020}}</ref>

English writers of the 18th century often used ''Euxine Sea'' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|uː|k|s|ᵻ|n}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|uː|k|ˌ|s|aɪ|n}}).<ref>{{cite book|last=Gibbon|first=Edward|title=The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire|publisher=Everyman's Library|year=1993|isbn=0-679-42308-7|orig-date=1910}}</ref> During the [[Ottoman Empire]], it was called either {{lang|ota-Latn|Bahr-e Siyah}} ([[Perso-Arabic]]) or {{lang|ota-Latn|Karadeniz}} ([[Ottoman Turkish]]), both meaning "Black Sea".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-11 |title=Black Sea {{!}} Location, Region, Map, Countries, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Black-Sea |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>