Editing Sark (section)

==Toponymy==

===Old records===
''Sark'' is probably first mentioned in the [[Antonine Itinerary]] (''Itinerarium Antonini Augusti'', part II: ''itinerarium maritimum'') 3rd – 4th century AD together with the other main [[Channel Islands]] as ''Sarnia'', ''Caesarea'', ''Barsa'', ''Silia'' and ''Andium'', but it is unclear to which it refers. It has been suggested that ''Silia'' referred to ''Sark''.<ref name=Lepelley>{{cite journal |first=René |last=Lepelley |title=Les Noms des îles anglo-normandes |journal=Nouvelle revue d'onomastique |trans-title=The Names of the Channel Islands |date=1995 |volume=25 |issue=25–26 |pages=119–142 |doi=10.3406/onoma.1995.1221 |language=fr |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/onoma_0755-7752_1995_num_25_1_1221}}</ref>{{rp|131–132}} The earliest record to evoke possibly the name of ''Sark'' are the ''Life of Saint Samson'' and the ''Life of Saint Magloire'', bishops of [[Dol-de-Bretagne]]. They spell it ''Sargia'',<ref name=Beaurepaire>{{cite journal |first=François |last=de Beaurepaire |title=Nouveaux regards sur la toponymie des îles normandes de la Manche |trans-title=New Perspectives on the Toponymy of the Norman Channel Islands |journal=Nouvelle revue d'onomastique |date=1994 |volume=23 |issue=23–24 |pages=31–44 |doi=10.3406/onoma.1994.1189 |language=fr |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/onoma_0755-7752_1994_num_23_1_1189}}</ref> with the neighbouring island ''Bissargia'',<ref name=Beaurepaire/>{{rp|41}} all the other documents are from the 11th to the 12th century and the forms are: ''Serc, Serch, Sercum, Serco''.<ref name=Lepelley/>{{rp|124}}

===Etymology===
[[Richard Coates]] has suggested that in the absence of a [[Proto-Indo-European]] etymology it may be worthwhile looking for a [[Proto-Semitic]] source for the name.<ref>{{cite book |title=The ancient and modern names of the Channel Islands: a linguistic history |last=Coates |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Coates |publisher=Paul Watkins |year=1991 |isbn=978-1871615166 |location=Stamford |pages=73–76}}</ref><ref name=glimpse>{{cite book |title=Names in Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural and Multi-Ethnic Contact: Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress of Onomastic Sciences: August 17‒22, York University, Toronto, Canada |last=Coates |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Coates |publisher=York University |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-55014-521-2 |location=Toronto |chapter=A Glimpse through a Dirty Window into an Unlit House: Names of Some North-West European Islands |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407205627/http://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10315/3642/icos23_228.pdf |archive-date=7 April 2015 |editor-last=Ahrens |editor-last2=Embleton |editor-first=Wolfgang |editor-first2=Sheila |editor-last3=Lapierre |editor-first3=André |chapter-url=http://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10315/3642/icos23_228.pdf |page=228}}</ref> He proposes a comparison between the probable root of Sark, ''*Sarg-'', and [[Proto-Semitic]] ''*śrq ''"redden; rise (as of the sun); east", noting Sark's position as the easternmost island of the [[Guernsey]] group.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Names in Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural and Multi-Ethnic Contact: Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress of Onomastic Sciences: August 17‒22, York University, Toronto, Canada |last=Coates |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Coates |publisher = York University|year = 2009|isbn = 978-1-55014-521-2 |location=Toronto |page=235 |chapter=A Glimpse through a Dirty Window into an Unlit House: Names of Some North-West European Islands |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407205627/http://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10315/3642/icos23_228.pdf#page=8 |archive-date=7 April 2015 |editor-last=Ahrens |editor-last2=Embleton |editor-first=Wolfgang |editor-first2=Sheila |editor-last3=Lapierre |editor-first3=André |chapter-url=http://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10315/3642/icos23_228.pdf#page=8}}</ref> His theory is based on the early medieval Latin records mentioning ''Sargia'', but many Islands more or less close to Sark have a Latin name ending with ''-gia'', such as ''Angia'' (Channel Island), [[Oye-Plage]] ([[Pas-de-Calais]], ''Ogia'' 8th century) and [[Île-d'Yeu]] ([[Vendée]], former ''Augia''). Later records all mention ''Serc-'' and not ''*Sark'', that seem to result from a later anglicising of the /er/ group (compare French {{Lang|fr|merveille}} > English ''marvel''; French {{Lang|fr|Clerc}} / English ''clerk'', ''clark'' cf. Clark). The traditional pronunciation of ''Sark'' in the native Norman language is ''sèr'' {{IPA|[sɛr]}}, with regular fall of final {{IPA|[k]}} like {{Lang|fr|clerc}} in French.<ref name=Lepelley/>{{rp|124}} Finally, no specialist ever identified any Proto-Semitic element in the French coastal toponymy, even on the French mediterranean side. [[René Lepelley]] suggests a Scandinavian etymology that would explain the regular and late records of the root ''Serc-'' in the documents, according to him, it could be Old Norse ''serkr'' "shirt".<ref name=Lepelley/>{{rp|124}} He compares with the name given to an island or a mountain by Vikings sailing from [[Norway]] to [[Greenland]]: ''Hvítserkr'' cf. [[Hvitserk]], maybe [[Mount Forel]],<ref name=Lepelley/>{{rp|124}} so [[Old Saxon]] ''*Serki'' or Old Norse {{Lang|non|Serkr}} > ''Serc'' could have been a descriptive [[landmark]] for Saxon or Scandinavian sailors. In addition [[Norman toponymy]] reveals a mixture of (Anglo-)Saxon and Old Norse (Old Danish) place name elements. The Old English form of {{Lang|ang|sark}} "shirt" (related to Old Norse {{Lang|non|serkr}}) is precisely ''serċ, syrċ'' > Middle English {{Lang|enm|serk}}, {{Lang|enm|serke}}, {{Lang|enm|sark}} (through the Anglian variant).