Editing Croats (section)

== Etymology ==
{{main|Names of the Croats and Croatia}}
The foreign [[ethnonym]] variation "Croats" of the [[Names of the Croats and Croatia|native name]] "Hrvati" derives from [[Medieval Latin]] {{lang|la-x-medieval|Croāt}}, itself a derivation of [[West Slavic languages|North-West Slavic]] {{lang|zlw|*Xərwate}}, by [[Slavic liquid metathesis and pleophony|liquid metathesis]] from Common Slavic period ''*Xorvat'', from proposed [[Proto-Slavic language|Proto-Slavic]] ''[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/xъrvatъ|*Xъrvátъ]]'' which possibly comes from the 3rd-century [[Scythian languages|Scytho-Sarmatian]] form attested in the [[Tanais Tablets]] as {{lang|grc|Χοροάθος|italic=no}} (''{{lang|grc-latn|Khoroáthos}}'', alternate forms comprise {{Lang|grc-latn|Khoróatos}} and ''{{lang|grc-latn|Khoroúathos}}'').<ref name="Gluhak-1993">{{cite book|first=Alemko|last=Gluhak|title=Hrvatski etimološki rječnik|trans-title=Croatian Etymological Dictionary|language=hr|publisher=August Cesarec|year=1993|isbn=953-162-000-8}}</ref> The origin of the ethnonym is uncertain, but most probably is from [[Ossetian language|Proto-Ossetian]] / [[Scythian languages#Alanian|Alanian]] *''xurvæt-'' or *''xurvāt-'', in the meaning of "one who guards" ("guardian, protector").<ref>{{citation |first=Ranko |last=Matasović |author-link=Ranko Matasović |title=Ime Hrvata |trans-title=The Name of Croats |journal=Jezik (Croatian Philological Society) |location=Zagreb |year=2019 |volume=66 |issue=3 |pages=81–97 |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/228825?lang=en |language=hr |access-date=4 April 2023 |archive-date=12 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212011805/https://hrcak.srce.hr/228825?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref> The earliest preserved mentions of the ethnonym in stone inscriptions and written documents in the territory of Croatia are dated to the 8th-9th century (e.g. ''Dux Croatorum'' on [[Branimir inscription]] and ''Dux Chroatorum'' on [[Charter of Duke Trpimir]]),<ref>{{cite journal |title=Kulturna kronika: Dvanaest hrvatskih stoljeća |url=http://www.matica.hr/vijenac/291/hrvatski-nacionalni-dan-na-expou-u-japanu-9037/ |journal=[[Vijenac]] |publisher=[[Matica hrvatska]] |location=Zagreb |issue=291 |date=28 April 2005 |access-date=10 June 2019 |language=hr}}</ref> while in native Croatian language the earliest writing is from the [[Baška tablet]] ({{Circa|1100}}), which in [[Glagolitic script]] reads: {{lang|cu|zvъnъmirъ kralъ xrъvatъskъ}} ("Zvonimir, king of Croats").<ref name="Fučić-1971">{{cite journal |url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=21348 |first=Branko | last = Fučić | author-link = Branko Fučić |title=Najstariji hrvatski glagoljski natpisi |trans-title=The Oldest Croatian Glagolitic Inscriptions |journal=[[Slovo (Zagreb)|Slovo]] |publisher=[[Old Church Slavonic Institute]] |volume=21 |date=September 1971 |language=hr |pages=227–254 |access-date=14 October 2011}}</ref>