This brief article deals with the etymology of few Paeonian toponyms, anthroponyms and lemmas. Their etymology can be determined with some certainty, since one can recognize obvious cognates in the Greek language.
Dysoron
Dysoron (Δύσωρον) is the name of a mountain in Paeonia, which is today located in Kilkis ¹. Dysoron can be easily connected to Greek δυσ-, "bad" and ὄρος, "mountain"
(< PIE *dus- , "bad" + *h₃eros , "mountain").
Agriānes
Agriānes (Ἀγριᾶνες) were an ancient Paeonian tribe inhabiting the upper Strymon valley in modern Bulgaria ². The ethnonym is derived from *agro- , "field", comparable to Greek ἀγρός. The suffix -ānes is common to North-Western Greek tribal names such as Akarnānes, Arktānes, Athamānes, Atintānes, Dymānes (one of the main Doric tribes), Eurytānes. The non-Ionic form Hellānes of the ethnonym "Hellenes" also bears the same suffix Ἕλλᾱνες.
(< PIE *h₂eǵros, "field" + -ānes, West Greek ethnonymic suffix ).
Lyppeios
Lyppeios (Λυππειος) was an ancient Paeonian king ³ . His name also appears as Lykpeios ⁴ and Lykkeios ⁵. (Λυκπειος/Λυκκειος). Thus, the name should have originated from an earlier *lukʷ- . This shows relation to Greek λύκος and Latin lupus, which can easily explain the etymology of the Paeonian name.
(<PIE *wĺ̥kʷos, "wolf").
monapos/monops
Aristotle wrote that Paeonians called the bison "monapos" («ὁ δὲ βόνασος γίνεται μὲν ἐν Παιονίᾳ ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ Μεσσαπίῳ ὃ ὁρίζει τὴν Παιονικὴν καὶ τὴν Μαιδικὴν χώραν· καλοῦσι δ᾿ αὐτὸν οἱ Παίονες μόναπον») ⁶. Aelian records the Paeonian term as "monops" (μονωψ) ⁷. The latter could be the Greek translation of the first. Based on μονωψ the etymology could be μον- , "single"/"small" + ὤψ, "eye". Therefore, monapos/monops could have the meaning of "single-eyed", or more probably "small-eyed".
(< PIE *men- "small" + *h₃okʷs, "eye" ).
Dyalos
According to Hesychius of Alexandria, Δυαλος was the Paeonian equivalent of god Dionysus ⁸. The theonym is plausibly compared to Greek θύω ⁹ and the Greek Thyadai/Thyiadai (women who worshipped Dionysus).
(<PIE *dʰewH- , "to shake")
Messapion
Messapion was a mountain that seperated the Paeonians from the Mædi ⁶. Messapion is related to mountain Messapion in Boeotia ¹⁰ and to the Greek exonym for the Iapyges of South Italy (Messapioi). Thus, the name is interpreted as messos, "middle" and -apia, "waterland" ("land amid waters") ¹¹.
(<PIE *medʰyos , "between" + *h₂ep- , "water").
Amydōn/Abydōn
Amydon (also attested as Abydon) was the Paeonian capital city. Due to the variants with -m- and -b-, Georgiev supposes an original -mb- and a proto-form
*ambʰi-udōn , "around water" ¹².
Some Notes
Although the etymology of the previous words is somewhat clear, we cannot be sure they are purely Paeonian. For example, "Messapion" is a common Greek toponym and could be easily be a name given by the Greeks as in the case of Iapyges. If we accept Messapion as a Paeonian term, we must admit an exclusively Greek phonological change:
PIE *-dʰy- → EPGr. *-tʰy- LPGr. *-ts- →ss ¹³. The terms Dysoron and Agriānes could also be Greek terms, as the do not show any trait that does not belong to Greek.
The terms Lyppeios and monapos/monops show that Paeonian changed PIE labiovelar *kʷ → p. The variant Lykkeios shows *kʷ → kk as in Macedonian Ikkotās ¹⁴ (PIE *h₁ekʷos → *ikkos , "horse"). The variant Lykpeios shows *kʷ → kp. The name Lyppeios indicates that Paeonian did not follow the "boukolos rule", which basically states that a labiovelar stop (*kʷ, *gʷ, *gʷʰ) dissimilates to an ordinary velar stop (*k, *g, *gʰ) next to the vowel *u or its corresponding glide *w (e.g. PIE *gʷou-kʷolos →Gr. bou-kolos).
The theonym Dyalos indicates that Paeonian deaspirated PIE *dʰ → d. If Georgiev's proposed etymology of Amydōn/Abydōn is correct, then in Paeonian PIE *bʰ → b (*ambʰ → αμβι- ). There is no indication about the fate of PIE *gʰ in Paeonian.
____________________
Sources/References:
¹ Herodotus 5.17
² Thucydides 2.96
⁵ Hyman Montagu, The Montagu Collection of Coins, p.32
⁹ Radoslav Katičić, The Ancient Languages of the Balkans, p. 115
¹⁰ Thucydides, 3.101
¹¹ Joachim Matzinger, Einführung ins Messapische, p.2
¹² Vladimir Georgiev, Introduction to the history of the Indo-European languages, pp.171-172
