White Carniola - Name

Name

The name Bela krajina literally means 'white region'. The noun krajina 'region' refers to a border territory organized for military defense. The adjective bela 'white' may refer to the deciduous trees (especially birch trees) in the area in comparison to "black" (i.e., coniferous) trees in the neighboring Kočevje area. It may also be an old designation for 'west', referring to the western location of the region in comparison to the Croatian Military Frontier (Slovene: Vojna krajina). Non-linguistic explanations connect the designation bela with the traditional white linen clothing of the population. The German designation Weißkrain (and in turn the English name White Carniola) is the result of a hypercorrection based on the adjective belokrajnski (understood as a dialect metathesis of *belokranjski) (cf. also German Dürrenkrain, English: Dry Carniola, for Slovene Suha krajina, literally 'dry region').