Editing Dalmatia (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Delmatae in Illyricum 40BC.png|thumb|[[Delmatae]] in [[Illyria]], {{circa}} 40 BC.]]
The regional name Dalmatia originates from [[Dalmatae]], the name of the [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] tribe who were the original inhabitants of the region, and from which the later toponym, [[Delminium]], is derived.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilkes|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Nv6SPRKqs8C|title=The Illyrians|date=1996|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0-631-19807-9|pages=188|language=en|quote=The coast and hinterland of central Dalmatia up to and beyond the Dinaric mountains was inhabited by the Delmatae, after whom the Roman province Dalmatia was named, their own name being derived from their principal settlement Delminium near Duvno.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Stipcevic|first1=Aleksandar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLcWAQAAIAAJ&q=Delminium|title=The Illyrians: History and Culture|last2=Stipčević|first2=Aleksandar|date=1977|publisher=Noyes Press|isbn=978-0-8155-5052-5|pages=197|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Šimunović|first=Petar|author-link=Petar Šimunović|date=2013|title=Predantički toponimi u današnjoj (i povijesnoj) Hrvatskoj|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/118625|journal=Folia onomastica Croatica|language=hr|volume=|issue=22|pages=164|issn=1330-0695}}</ref> It is considered by various academics to be connected to the [[Albanian language|Albanian]] ''[[:wikt:dele#Albanian|dele]]'' and its variants which include the [[Gheg Albanian|Gheg]] form ''[[:wikt:delmë#Albanian|delmë]]'', meaning "sheep", and to the Albanian term ''delmer'', "shepherd".<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilkes|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l8q0QgAACAAJ&q=Wilkes%20the%20illyrians|title=The Illyrians|publisher=Wiley|year=1996|isbn=9780631146711|pages=244|quote=The name of the Delmatae appears connected with the Albanian word for 'sheep' (delmë)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Duridanov|first1=Ivan|url=https://eeo.aau.at/wwwg.uni-klu.ac.at/eeo/Illyrisch.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706113053/https://eeo.aau.at/wwwg.uni-klu.ac.at/eeo/Illyrisch.pdf |archive-date=2020-07-06 |url-status=live|title=Lexikon der Sprachen des europäischen Ostens|date=2002|publisher=Wieser Verlag|isbn=978-3-85129-510-8|editor1-last=Bister|editor1-first=Feliks J.|pages=952|language=de|chapter=Illyrisch|quote=Δάλμιον, Δελμίνιον (Ptolemäus) zu alb. delmë|editor2-last=Gramshammer-Hohl|editor2-first=Dagmar|editor3-last=Heynoldt|editor3-first=Anke}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Šašel Kos|first=Marjeta|year=1993|title=Cadmus and Harmonia in Illyria|url=https://www.academia.edu/489633|journal=Arheološki Vestnik|volume=44|pages=113–136|quote=In the prehistoric and classical periods it was not at all unusual for peoples to have names derived from animals, such that the name of the Delmatae is considered to be related to Albanian delme, sheep}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite book|last=Schütz|first=István|url=https://mek.oszk.hu/03500/03577/03577.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224231005/http://mek.oszk.hu/03500/03577/03577.pdf |archive-date=2009-02-24 |url-status=live|title=Fehér foltok a Balkánon|publisher=Balassi Kiadó|year=2006|isbn=9635064721|place=Budapest|pages=127|language=hu|quote=A dalmata/delmata illír törzs, Dalmatia/Delmatia terület, Delminium/Dalmion illír város neve, továbbá a mai Delvinë és Delvinaqi földrajzi tájegység neve az albán dele (többese delme) ‘juh’, delmer ‘juhpásztor’ szavakhoz kapcsolódik. Strabon Delmion illír város nevéhez ezt az éretelmezést fűzi „...πεδιον µελωβοτον...”, azaz „juhokat tápláló síkság”}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Morić|first=Ivana|date=2012|title=Običaji Delmata|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/169386|journal=Rostra: Časopis studenata povijesti Sveučilišta u Zadru|language=hr|volume=5|issue=5|pages=63|issn=1846-7768|quote=danas još uvijek prevladava tumačenje kako korijen njihova imena potječe od riječi koja je srodna albanskom delë, delmë odnosno „ovca“}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Duridanov|first=Ivan|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/12037585.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111162100/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/12037585.pdf |archive-date=2017-11-11 |url-status=live|title=Die Hydronymie des Vardarsystems als Geschichtsquelle|publisher=[[Böhlau Verlag]]|year=1975|isbn=3412839736|pages=25}}</ref> [[Vladimir Orel]] argues that the Gheg form ''delmë'' hardly has anything in common with the name of ''Dalmatia'' because it represents a variant of ''dele'' with ''*-mā'', which is ultimately from [[Proto-Albanian language|proto-Albanian]] ''*dailā''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Orel|first=Vladimir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJQYAQAAIAAJ&q=Albanian+Etymological+Dictionary|title=Albanian Etymological Dictionary|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|year=1998|isbn=978-9004110243|pages=58–59|quote='''dele''' f, pl dele, dhen, dhën ‘sheep’. The Geg variant delme represents a formation in *-mā (and hardly has anything in common with the name of Dalmatia pace MEYER Wb. 63 and ÇABEJ St. I 111). The word is based on PAlb *dailā ‘sheep’ < ‘suckling’ and related to various l-derivatives from IE *dhē(i)- ‘to suckle’ (MEYER Wb. 63, Alb. St. Ill 29 operates with *dailjā < IE *dhailiā or *dhoiliā), cf., in particular, Arm dayl ‘colostrum’ < IE *dhailo-.}}</ref> According to Danilo Savić, an argument against that connection is the lack of compelling evidence in ancient literary sources that Delmatae is derived from a word meaning "sheep".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Savić |first=Danilo |date=2022 |title=Some Illyrian Ethnonyms and Their Supposed Albanian Cognates: Taulantii , Delmatae , Dardani |url=https://hal.science/hal-04057012 |journal=BeLiDa 1 - Thematic Collection of Papers |language=en |volume=1 |pages=449–463 |doi=10.18485/belida.2022.1.ch18|isbn=978-86-6153-695-3 |doi-access=free |hdl=21.15107/rcub_dais_13349 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The ancient name ''Dalmana'', derived from the same root, testifies to the advance of the [[Illyrians]] into the middle [[Vardar]], between the ancient towns of [[Bylazora]] and [[Stobi]].<ref name=":3" /> The medieval [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] toponym [[Ovče Pole]] ("plain of sheep" in [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]]) in the nearby region represents a related later development.<ref name=":3" /> According to István Schütz, in Albania, [[Delvinë]] represents a toponym linked to the root ''*dele''.<ref name=":2" /> 

The form of the regional name ''Dalmatia'' and the respective tribal name ''Dalmatae'' are later variants as was already noted by [[Appian]] (2nd century AD). His contemporary grammarian [[Velius Longus]] highlights in his treatise about orthography that the correct form of ''Dalmatia'' is ''Delmatia'', and notes that [[Marcus Terentius Varro]] who lived about two centuries prior to Appian and Velius Longius, used the form ''Delmatia'' as it corresponded to the chief settlement of the tribe, ''Delminium''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kos|first=Marjeta Šašel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=opBpAAAAMAAJ|title=Appian and Illyricum|date=2005|publisher=Narodni muzej Slovenije|isbn=978-961-6169-36-3|language=en}}</ref> The toponym [[Tomislavgrad|Duvno]] is a derivation from ''Delminium'' in Croatian via an intermediate form ''*Delminio'' in late antiquity.<ref name=":1" /> Its [[Latin]] form ''Dalmatia'' gave rise to its current [[English language|English]] name. In the [[Venetian language]], once dominant in the area, it is spelled ''Dalmàssia'', and in modern [[Italian language|Italian]] ''Dalmazia''. The modern [[Croatian language|Croatian]] [[Gaj's Latin alphabet|spelling]] is ''Dalmacija'', and the modern [[Serbian language in Croatia|Serbian]] [[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic spelling]] is Далмација ({{IPA|sh|dǎlmaːt͡sija|pron}}).