| Antonio Sciarretta's Toponymy |
Sardinia
Contents
Common remarks: the place-names have been put in the nominative case, an asterisk * means not attested, reconstructed form. The late place-names of probable Latin origin have not been included. The IE roots are in the form given by Pokorny's Indogermanische Wörterbuch. The links will be active when the single pages will be published, see the main page. For any comment, suggestion, email me.
The mainland
*Aesaronis
- Place: not identified, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: *Aesaronis from Aesaronenses (Ptol.)
- Etymology: It could be one of the names derived from the IE root *eis- 'to move rapidly', sometimes referred to as *ais- (UTET, Villar). Compare in Italy with Aesernia (Samnium), Aesontius fl. (Venetia), Aesula (Latium), Aesarus fl. (Bruttium). But, according to Pittau, the name mentioned by Ptolemy should be corrected as Pheronenses.
Biora
- Place: close to Serri, province Nuoro, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Biora (It. Ant.)
- Etymology: Pittau proposed to correct the name into Flora, since he founds no explaiantion for it with the Latin or the Sardian vocabulary.
Bithia
- Place: Chia di Domus de Maria, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Bithia (Ptol.) Bitia (Plin.)
- Etymology: It is considered by many a Punic foundation, since Punic material has been found in the site. The name should be therefore Punic ('house' ?). But for Pittau Bithia is a Sardian name, to be compared instead with Bitiae, the name of some Sardinian priestesses, and with Greek Pythiae, priestesses of Apollo. For the same author, the town existed prior to the Punic colonization.
Bosa
- Place: San Pietro di Bosa, province Nuoro, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Bosa (Ptol.)
- Etymology: Two Phoenician (Punic) inscriptions have been found near Bosa, one of them mentioning bsn. For Pittau, the name is Sardian and not Punic. For UTET, it compares with placenames in Northern Africa.
Caedrius fl.
- Place: river Cedrino, province Nuoro, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Caedrius fl. (Ptol.)
- Etymology: Unknown.
Caralis
- Place: Cagliari, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Caralis (Ptol., Plin., It. Ant., Peut.) Carales (Liv.) Calaris (Mel.)
- Etymology: For Pittau the name is Sardian and compares with local placenames in Sardinia and with ancient placenames in Asia Minor. The ultimate origin of the name Caralis is given by Pittau as the Sardian word for 'yellow', from the color of the rock that dominates the city. In Pittau's opinion, Sardian was an IE language and Caralis is related to Greek kholos 'bile', which is from the IE root *g'hel- 'to shine, green, gold, blue'. Other authors consider the placename as Phoenician.
Coracodes p.
- Place: s'Archittu di Cuglieri, province Oristano, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Coracodes p. (Ptol.)
- Etymology: The port of the Coracenses, mentioned by Ptolemy. The name is explained by Pittau as a Greek '(port shaped like a) raven's beak'.
Cornus
- Place: Columbaris di Cuglieri, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Cornus (Ptol., Liv.)
- Etymology: The city of the Cornenses. From this ethnical name, we can exclude that Cornus is a Latin translation of a pre-existing name. A pure speculation can be the following: if Caralis is a Sardian name derived ultimately from the IE root *g'hel-, then Cornus could be derived from a *ghordh-no and thus from the IE *gherdh- 'to encircle, enclose'.
Errebantium pr.
- Place: cape Testa, cape Falcone, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Errebantium pr. (Ptol.)
- Etymology: From an ethnical name ?
Feronia
- Place: close to Posada, province Nuoro, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Feronia (Ptol.)
- Etymology: Curiously, the place has the same name of Feronia (Etruria) and of an Italic goddess. Some scholars think the goddes was Etruscan, and this fact is often mentioned as a proof of an Etruscan settlement in Sardinia contemporarily or priorly than in Etruria.
Gorditanum pr.
- Place: region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Gorditanum pr. (Ptol., Plin.)
- Etymology: The typical suffix -itanum applies often to names of towns, so that it is possible to postulate a placename *Gordium. This reconstructed name have several counterparts, like Gordyniae (Macedonia), which reflect the IE root *gherdh- 'to encircle, enclose'. But for what seems to be the phonetic features of the Sardian language, it is more likely a derivation from the IE root *ger- 'to gather, put together'.
Gurulis Vetus, Gurulis Nova
- Place: Padria (Gurulis Vetus), province Sassari, Cuglieri (Gurulis Nova), province Oristano, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Gurulis Vetus (Ptol.) Gurulis Nova (Ptol.)
- Etymology: According to Pittau, the name Gurulis is to be compared with Sardian appellatives meaning 'saddle, gap', being an IE cognate of Latin curia 'district'. In UTET, the name is compared with a Cululis in Lybia and explained as Phoenician, maybe from an appellative gur 'estate'. If the name is Sardian, and Sardian was an IE language, tentatively the name could be reconducted to the IE root *gwer- 'mountain' and explained as a diminutive, *guro-lo.
Hafa
- Place: disputed, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Hafa (It. Ant.)
- Etymology: It should be corrected in Iafa according to Pittau.
Heraeum
- Place: probably Tempio Pausania, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Heraeum (Ptol.)
- Etymology: It means '(temple) of Hera', the Greek rendering of some local goddess.
*Hypsa, Aquae Hypsitanae
- Place: close to Fordongianus, province Oristano, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Aquae Hypsitanae (Ptol.)
- Etymology: The name *Hypsa is reconstructed from that of a near thermal bath, and has an exact counterpart in the hydronym Hypsa fl. (Sicilia).
Iuliola
- Place: not identified, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Iuliola (Ptol.)
- Etymology: It derives from Iulia, Caesar's gens.
Lesa, Aquae Lesitanae
- Place: possibly Benetutti (Lesa), San Saturnino di Benetutti (Aquae Lesitanae), province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Aquae Lesitanae (Ptol.) Lesa (Ptol.)
- Etymology: The name has an exact countepart in Lesa (Tarraconensis) which could be a Basque name. The correspondences between Hispania and Sardinia are numerous and it is not clear if this is simply due to the presence of Roman colonists originated from Hispania.
Luguido, Portus Liguidonis
- Place: Castro di Oschiri, province Sassari (Luguido), San Giovanni di Posada, province Nuoro (Portus Liguidonis), region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: *Lucuido (Ptol.) Luguido (It. Ant.) Portus Liguidonis (It. Ant.)
- Etymology: According to Pittau, the name is the basis of modern choronym Logudoro and it is related to Gaulish Lugdunum, but this is clearly a naive etymology.
Macopsissa
- Place: Macomer, province Nuoro, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Macopsissa (Ptol.)
- Etymology: The first part is usually considered the Phoenician word maqom 'town'. The second part could be compared with the Phoenician name of Panhormus (Sicilia), Sys, Ziz, that probably meant 'jewel'. Pittau neglects this possibility.
*Macomades
- Place: Magomadas, province Nuoro, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: inferred from the survival of the name
- Etymology: Usually explained (UTET) as a Phoenician name, maqom hadesh 'new town'. There were two towns with the same name on the coast of Numidia. For Pittau, the name is only the Phoenician translation of a pre-existing Sardian name. See also Macopsissa.
Neapolis, Aquae Neapolitanae
- Place: Santa Maria di Nabui di Guspini (Neapolis), Santa Maria de is Acquas di Sardara (Aquae Neapolitanae), province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Neapolis (Ptol., Plin., Peut.) Aquae Neapolitanae (Ptol., It. Ant.)
- Etymology: A Greek name meaning 'new city'. A famous thesis is that this is only a Greek translation of a pre-existing Punic name qart-hadasht, the same of Carthago. This thesis is decisely refused ba Pittau.
Nora
- Place: Nora di Pula, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Nora (Ptol., Plin.) Nura (Peut., It. Ant.)
- Etymology: Usually consiedered a Phoenician foundation, but not for Pittau that believes in a pre-existing Sardian settlement with a nuraghe. The same author recalls two cities named Nora in Asia Minor and refuses the thesis of Pausanias and Solinus that Nora took its name from its founder Norake.
Nurae
- Place: possibly Argentiera di Alghero, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Nurae (It. Ant.)
- Etymology: The name survives in the modern choronym Nurra. According to Pittau, it has the same origin as Nora.
Olbia
- Place: Olbia (Terranova), province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Olbia (Ptol.) Ulbia (It. Ant.)
- Etymology: Formally, the name could be the augural Greek name Olbia 'the lucky', found in other six places in the Mediterranean. The Sardinian Olbia could therefore have been founded by the Greek colonists of Marseille, like another Olbia (Narbonensis). According to some substratists, a Greek settlement in Sardinia is simply impossible, and the name Olbia has to be explained with a substrate stem *olb-, from which also the unclear Greek words olbos 'luck', olbios 'lucky'.
Othoca
- Place: Santa Giusta, province Oristano, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Othaea (Ptol.) Uttea (Peut.)
- Etymology: Usually explained as a Punic name meaning 'old town' and comparing with Utica in Africa. But Pittau discharges this hypothesis and believes that Othoca is a Sardian name.
Pupulum
- Place: probably Matzaccara di San Giovanni Suergiu, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Pupulum (Ptol.)
- Etymology: It may be compared with Populonium (Etruria) and with Latin populus, in the same Thyrrenian domain.
Saeprus fl.
- Place: river Flumendosa, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Saeprus fl. (Ptol.)
- Etymology: It may be compared with Saepinum (Samnium), Saepone (Baetica), and explained with the IE root *saip- 'stall, fence'. But the meaning is not clear for a hydronym. The Sardinian scholar Pittau believes that the name mentioned by Ptolemy should be corrected in *Sarrapos, from the survival of the name Sarrabus, an historical sub-region, and from the existence of a town at its mouth called probably Sarrapos.
Saralapis
- Place: Sarrala di Tertenia, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Saralapis (Ptol.) Sorabilis (It. Ant.)
- Etymology: Tentatively, it may be explained as a compound *saral-api-, where the second part is from the IE root *ap- 'water, river'. The first part could then be derived from the IE root *ser- 'to flow', as a diminuitive *sere-lo meaning possibly 'small stream'. This would not be in contrast with the phonetic features of the other placenames of probable IE origin in Sardinia. Any possible connection with the not so far Saeprus fl. and Sarrapos is unclear.
Sardopatoris fanum
- Place: Antas di Fluminimaggiore, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Sardopatoris fanum (Ptol.)
- Etymology: It was a temple of Sardus Pater, the eponymous hero.
Sarrapos
- Place: San Vito, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Sarrapos (It. Ant.) Sarcapos (It. Ant.) Sariapis (An. Rav.)
- Etymology: Pittau explains the name from a temple of the Egyptian god Serapis, whose cult was introduced in the Mediterranean by the king Ptolemy I.
*Scapum
*Siculum
- Place: not identified, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: *Siculum from Siculensi (Ptol.)
- Etymology: Formally, the name could mean '(settlement) of the Siculi'. The use of the suffix -lo- to derive placenames from ethnic names is attested in Latium (see Tusculum, Venetulani) where the Siculi are reported to settle before to move in Sicily.
Sorabile
- Place: Sorabile di Fonni, province Nuoro, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Sorabile (It. Ant.)
- Etymology: For Pittau it derives from the name of the God Serapide(m), like the other place-name Sarrapos.
Sulci
- Place: Sant'Antioco, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Solci (Ptol.) Sulci (Plin., Mel., It. Ant., Peut.) Sulchi (Strab.) Sylci (Paus., Steph.)
- Etymology: The explaination of the Sardinian scholar M. Pittau is that Sulci is the Latin translation of a pre-existing Sardian (or Punic) name meaning 'furrows'. These 'furrows' would have been the channels between the island of Sant'Antioco and the Sardinia, used by the sailors.
Tarrae
- Place: San Marco di Cabras, province Oristano, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Tarrae (Ptol.) Tharros ()
- Etymology: Pittau compares it with a city named Tarrha in Lydia. It can be compared with many others, e.g. Tarraco, Tarraga (Tarraconensis), Tarracina (Latium). A possible explaination could be from the IE root *ters- 'dry, thirst', in an A-language or from a zero-grade form, and with *rs>rr as assumed for different languages. More popular is a derivation from a Semitic language, namely the Phoenician. Comparisons with Tsur 'Tyros' or similar can be found in many authors.
Tegula
- Place: not proveably Porto Scudo di Teulada, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Tegula (It. Ant.)
- Etymology: Likely a late Latin name, meaning 'roofing tiles' or more in general 'cottages'.
Temus fl.
- Place: river Temo (Rio di Bosa), province Nuoro, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Temus fl. (Ptol.)
- Etymology: It can be derived from an hydronimic series *tei-m, which is possibly an extension of the IE root *tei- 'to melt, dissipate, decay'.
Thyrsus fl.
- Place: river Tirso (Rio di Oristano), region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Thyrsus fl.
- Etymology: According to Pittau, the hydronym is related to the Greek word thyrsos, designating the long stalk topped with ivy leaves of Bacchus. The relationship would be rather obscure in this case. Alternatively, the name could be analyzed as deriving from the IE root *dheu- 'to run', through a formation *dhur-so-, in a language where *dh>t.
Tibulae
- Place: disputed, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Tibulae (Ptol., It. Ant.)
- Etymology: Pittau derives the name from the Latin appellative tibulus 'a kind of pine-tree'. The plural form should have a collective meaning.
Tilium
- Place: Punta Giglio di Alghero, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Tilium (Ptol.)
- Etymology: For its present-day name (giglio is the Italian for 'lilac'), Pittau suggested that the name should be corrected as Lilium.
Turris Libisonis
- Place: Torres di Porto Torres, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Turris Libisonis (Ptol., Plin., It. Ant., Rav.)
- Etymology: Turris is the Latin appellative for 'tower', and was added to the original place-name when a Roman colony was founded. According to Pittau, this is a Latin translation of a Sardian appellative designating a 'nuraghe', while the second part may be compared with a town Libyssa in Bithynia.
Uselis
- Place: Santa Reparata di Usellus, province Oristano, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Usellis (Ptol.) Uselis (inscr.)
- Etymology: For Pittau, it is a Sardian name *us- related to the IE root *aues- 'to shine'.
Valentia
- Place: close to Nuragus, province Nuoro, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Valentia (Ptol., Plin.)
- Etymology: A Roman colony, it took its name from an augural appellative meaning 'wealth'.
Smaller isles
Accipitrum i.
- Place: island San Pietro, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Accipitrum i. (Ptol.) Enosim i. (Plin.) Hieracum i. (?)
- Etymology: The Punic name is Enosim, of unknown origin. The Greek name is Hierakon. The Latin name means 'island of the sparrows'.
Cuniculariae i.
- Place: Maddalena archipelago, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Cuniculariae i. (Plin.)
- Etymology: It means 'islands of the rabbits'.
Diabate i.
- Place: one of the small islands of the Maddalena archipelago, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Diabate i. (Ptol.)
- Etymology: Likely, a Greek word, from dia 'through'.
Ficaria i.
- Place: island dei Cavoli, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Ficaria i. (Ptol., Plin.)
- Etymology: From Latin '(island) of the figs'.
Fossae i.
- Place: small islands of the Maddalena archipelago, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Fossae i. (Plin.)
- Etymology: From Latin fossa 'valley, basin'.
Herculis i.
- Place: island Asinara, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Herculis i. (Ptol., Plin.)
- Etymology: It means 'island of Hercules'.
Hermaea i., Hermaeum pr.
- Place: island Molara (Hermaea i.), cape Marrargiu (Hermaeum pr.), province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Hermaea i. (Ptol.) Hermaeum pr. (Ptol.)
- Etymology: The island or the adjacent promontory were sacred to Hermes.
Ilva i.
- Place: island Maddalena, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Ilva i. (Ptol.)
- Etymology: The name has an exact counterpart in Ilva i. (Etruria), in the same Tyrrhenian domain. This is a further proof for whom, like Pittau, thinks the Etruscans settled in Sardinia and must be identified with the people of the Nuraghi, the Sardians. If we assume that (i) the Sardian language was IE and of the type "Liguro-Sicanian", (ii) in this language the initial *s is lost (compare other example in Sicily), then the name could be very tentatively explained from the IE root *seil- 'to be damp, to drip', probably through an appellative simply meaning 'island'.
Molibodes i.
- Place: island Sant'Antioco, province Cagliari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Molibodes i. (Ptol.) Plumbaria i. (?)
- Etymology: It means 'island of the lead'.
Nymphaea i., Nymphaeum p.
- Place: island Foradada (Nymphaea i.), Porto Conte di Alghero (Nymphaeum p.), province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Nymphaea i. (Ptol.)
- Etymology: Two Greek names meaning 'island (harbor) of the nymphs'.
Phintonis i.
- Place: island Caprera, province Sassari, region Sardegna, Italy
- Name: Phintonis i. (Ptol., Plin.)
- Etymology: Unknown.
Conclusions
The toponymy of ancient Sardinia seems to be fully IE, especially for that concerning the hydronyms, i.e., the oldest place-names. What is unclear is to which stratum these place-names should be attributed. A possibility is a language of the so-called Liguro-Sicanian stock, with its typical consonant shift.
A few place-names are traditionally attributed to the Punic superstratum, because of some North African counterparts or known appellatives.