History of The Serbs - Name

Name

There are several theories on the etymology of the ethnonym Serbs. (< *serb-) is the root of the Proto-Slavic word for "same" (as in "same people"), found in Russian and Ukrainian (сербать), Belarussian (сербаць), Slovak (srbati), Bulgarian (сърбам), Old Russian (серебати). Scholars have also suggested an origin in the Indo-European root *ser- 'to watch over, protect', akin to Latin servare 'to keep, guard, protect, preserve, observe'.

Scholars have noted the mention of Serbs by Tacitus in 50 AD, Pliny the Elder in 77 AD (Naturalis Historia) and Ptolemy in his Geography 2nd century AD, in connection with a Sarmatian tribe of Serboi of the North Caucasus and Lower Volga. Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (325–391) referred to the Carpathians as "Montes Serrorum" in his works, which Croatian scholars Zupanic and Ivo Vukcevich treated as an early mention of the Serbs (Serri). The works of Vibius Sequester (4th or 5th century) also mention Serbs. Procopius (500-565) used the name Sporoi as an umbrella term for the Slavic tribes of Antes and Sclaveni, it is however not known whether the Slavs used this designation for themselves or he himself coined the term, it has been theorized however that the name is corruption of the ethnonym Serbs.

The Serb ethnonym is written as Σερβοι (Servoi), Sorabos, Surbi, Sorabi in early medieval sources. De Administrando Imperio mentions the realm of the Vlastimirović dynasty as Serbia, with several tribes going under the designation Serbs. The work mentions a mythological homeland as White Serbia or Boiki (derived from Proto-Slavic *bojь. = battle, war, fight), also, the town of Servia received its name from its temporary inhabitants – the Serbs. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the first Russian chronicle, Serbs are among the first five Slav peoples who were enumerated by their names.