By Dragutin Kostic. Albanian translation by Skënder Latifi. English translation Petrit Latifi.
Among the considerable and dominant number of Serbian names, the name Miloš is very rarely encountered. It appears only in Blace (near Suhareka): Miloš Marković; then in Pinushinci (near Rahovec): Miloš with his sons; and in Dragoljevci near Istog (also in Drenica). In the chrysobull of the Banjska monastery (1313–14), two decades older, the name Miloš does not appear at all.
From the beginning of the 13th century to the middle of the 14th century, in the territory covered by the chrysobeads of Žiča, Hilandar, Banjska and Dečani – that is, in Stari Vllah, in Fushë Kosovë, in Dukagjin and Drenica – we have mainly a peasant and pastoral population of mixed ethnicity.
The pastoralists were “Albanians” and “Vlachs” formed by Serbian colonists and the old “Albanian-Vlach” natives. From the much higher percentage of foreign names at the beginning of this period it results that the “Serbian” population during a century increased not only through new colonization, but – apparently – even more through direct Serbization and assimilation of the old foreign natives, as happened in general during the formation of the Dinaric type, the Serbian Dinarics
The absence of the name Miloš in medieval documents
The formation of a mixed “Balkan” population with a tendency towards Serbization, as impressively described by K. Jireceku (“On the Romans in the Cities of Dalmatia”), is illustrated through many examples from the first Decani chrisobula, such as the following: Preljub, the sons Bogoje, Brajko and Milislav, grandfather Bukur (p. 5); Bogdan, brother Rajko, grandfather Shin (13); Bogdan, son Radoslav, grandfather Vllah (21); Rajko, Bogdan, Bratovan and grandfather Sharul (31); Tvrdoje, grandfather Goç (37); Miloje, Doljko, grandfather Bulzur (38) and others. The opposite is a much rarer phenomenon: Drolkzun, brother Bulin, grandfather Dobroje (5) and others.
The most interesting are the cases where the name of the hero of Kosovo that is preoccupying us here appears. In both Decani chrysobeads, the name Milosh appears almost the most frequently: in the first 177 times, in the second (which is six years younger, damaged and lacking) 189 times. In the first it is surpassed only by the name Rajko (192 times).
According to generations, the name Miloš appears: in the third generation (born around 1310) with the note “and his son” in 75% of cases. In the middle generation (born around 1290) as the name of the head of the household or his brothers in 25% of cases.
In the first generation (born around 1270), the name Millosh as a grandfather’s name appears only twice in total: in the village of Babjan (p. 99 and 103), where Millosh is mentioned as Rajko’s father; and in the village of Serosh (p. 48), as a surname (Millaç Milošević).
Other interesting examples: Lubushe village (near Peja): Hllap, sons Bogoje, Milloshi and Dobroslav. (p. 8) In Gramaçel: Altomani, sons Milloshi, Voihna and Gjurica; Rajko, sons Millosh, Milan, grandfather Dudal. (p. 66). In the village of Çabiq (near Rahovec): Dragija with sons Rajko and Milloshi, grandfather Shaprani. (24, 91) In the village of Soshan: Milloshi, grandfather Zhani (34). In the village of Bunjan: Kalota with sons Negojen, Milloshi and Bogdan, grandfather Teperigun. (55, 104). In the village of Reziniq (near Gjakova): Milloshi and son Milleshi (54), and others.
In the Banjska monastery chrysobull (1313–14), two decades older, the name Miloš does not appear at all. However, there are many Serbian names with the suffix -osh such as: Rutoš, Dragosh, Vikoš, Bellosh, etc. This shows that the root mil- (of the name Miloš) was used, but the specific name “Miloš” was not yet in fashion. Alongside Serbian names (78%), we find quite a few foreign names (22%) such as: Kustodija, Sharban, Bukur, Pelegrin, Mikul, Guber, etc.
In the first chrysobull of Hilandar (1293–1302), the name Milosh again does not appear at all. There are a considerable number of foreign names (Albanian, Vlach or Bulgarian) such as: Dud, Baç, Kukor, Dod, G(j)on and others.
In the chrysobull of the monastery of Žiča (around 1210), which is a century older than that of Banjska, the name Miloš is not known at all. There are names like Mirosh, Gërdosh, Dragosh, but derivatives from the root mil- are missing. Foreign names are numerous: Bun, Tudor, Kuman, Çuç, Mik, Bukur, Doda, Tus, Sharban; Vlach names reduced to their root form, like Stan, Neg, Lev, Rad, Rug, Plen, Nezh, Vlad and others.
To these examples, which limit the time of the appearance of the name Miloš, we are adding examples precisely from the last quarter of the 13th century, but from another region, outside the Nemanjić state: from Bosnia, Herzegovina, the Coast and Zeta. These are also names of Serbian peasants, whose owners – slaves and servants – were sold in Dubrovnik, so their names are preserved in the city archive (Gregor Cremošnik: Chancery and Notary Documents from 1278 to 1301).
The names appear here in Latin transcription, but it is not difficult to return to the original Serbian form. The name Miloš is missing, although derivatives with the suffix -osh are not uncommon, such as: Medosh (Medossius), Mirosh (Mirosius), Prvosh (Pervossius), Radosh (Radossius), Vidosh (Vidossius), as well as those with -ush: Gerdush (Gerdussius) and Dragush (Dragus).
In addition to the numerous derivatives from the roots drag- and rad-, those from the root mil- also appear quite frequently: Mildrag, Mile, Milec, Milovan, Millobrat, Milloje, Milorad, Mioslav. The name Miloš is also missing in the register of Dalmatian citizens of Jireček, where derivatives with the suffix -osh (the oldest Përvosh, year 1170) and those from the root mil- (the oldest Mildrag, year 1283) are not that rare.
For the local limitation of the name Miloš, in addition to the data from Ovče Polje, the later chrysobulae of Dušan (mid-14th century) for the monastery of the Archangels can also serve. Its territory extends mainly from Prizren to the southeast and south of Skopje and Tetovo. Among the considerable and dominant number of Serbian names, the name Miloš is very rarely encountered.
It appears only in Blace (near Suhareka): Miloš Marković; then in Pinushinci (near Rahovec): Miloš me želja; and in Dragoljevci near Istog (also in Drenica): Miloš Pribisaliqi. Otherwise, the name Miles is often encountered, along with other derivatives from the root mil- and derivatives with the suffix -osh (such as Pinosh, Inosh and others), as well as those in -ush (such as the surname Tanushević). This last suffix also appears in place names (toponyms), such as Dobrushinac and Pinushinac.
The mixed population of medieval Kosovo
According to the above overview, we conclude that from the beginning of the 13th century to the middle of the 14th century, in the territory covered by the chrysobeads of Žiča, Hilandar, Banjska and Dečani – that is, in Stari Vllah, in Fushë Kosovë, in Dukagjin and Drenica – we have mainly an ethnically mixed peasant and pastoral population. The pastoralists were “Albanians” and “Vlachs” formed by Serbian colonists and the old “Albanian-Vlach” locals.
From the much higher percentage of foreign names at the beginning of this period (Zhiça 151 Serbian: 54 foreign; Hilandari 103: 46; Banjska 444: 117), it results that the “Serbian” population over the course of a century has increased not only through new colonization, but – apparently – even more through direct Serbization and assimilation of the old foreign natives, as has generally happened during the formation of the Dinaric type, the Serbian Dinarics.
Consequently, we can assume that after the passage of another century, namely at the end of the 14th century, when the most disastrous events for the old Serbian state and the Serbian people would take place in this territory, the peasant population of different ethnic origins was already so much assimilated that it felt like a single people, and specifically as a Serbian people, to the extent that this could be possible as a concept at that time.
Miloš and the process of Serbization
Regarding the name Miloš, which illustrates this process of Serbization – since it does not appear in the chrysobull of Žiča (around 1210), nor in that of Hilandar (1293–1302), nor in that of Banjska (1313–1314), nor among the villagers of Hrelja in Ovče Polje or in the acts of the Dubrovnik archive; while in the chrysobull of Krye-đengjjev it appears rarely and in those of Dečani it appears very rarely among the older generation (born around 1270) – it must be assumed that this name was formed during the 13th century, alongside forms that appear to be older such as Mile (Monastery of Mileseva, rebuilt around 1230) and Millush.
The name was formed with the suffix -osh, which at that time was very productive not only in Serbian, but also in other Balkan languages, especially in Albanian in people’s names, as is often found in the cases of Kanjosh and Reposh (the latter the son of Gjon Kastrioti, buried in Hilandar).
Two documents in Latin (published by I. Radonić, 1934) – the confirmation of the peace concluded between Dubrovnik and Omiš in 1235, repeated in 1245 – point towards Dalmatia as the territory where the Serbian element, as a result of symbiosis with the old Albanian-Romani “Dalmatian” natives, was able to form masculine names with the suffix -osh for the first time. The corresponding names mentioned by Jireček (“Romans in the Cities of Dalmatia”) also point towards this conclusion.
In both acts, a large number of citizens from Omiš take an oath to preserve peace. In addition to the few religious names (Petrus, Juan, Jacobus, etc.), mainly Serbian folk names appear. Among them, names ending in -osh are quite common:
In the first act: Radosh, Mlladosh, Bellosh and – while other derivatives from the root mil – are absent, the names Milosh (p. 26) and Millosh (p. 27) are also encountered.
In the second act: Radosh, Bratosh and Bellosh, as well as the names Milen and Milessa, Millosh is also encountered (p. 36).
The fact that these Serbian personal names were formed precisely in dependence on the old Dalmatian natives is confirmed by the well-known “Vlach” and Vlachized names that occur in the same register, specifically: In the first document: Arcer, Sharban, Desirat; in the second: Ceperna, Desirad, Mica (Mika?), Zancul.
Although in Slavic languages the suffix -osh is less productive than -esh and -ush in the formation of common nouns and adjectives (see Miklošić, Daničić, Belić), it has surpassed them by a wide margin in the formation of masculine proper nouns and place names (toponyms).
The Serbian language not only preserved an equal number of these derivatives (such as Bratesh in Ulcinj 1242, Bratush and Bratosh in the Decani chrysobull 1330; Belus and Bellosh, ibid.; Milesh-Millush-Millosh, also Millash, ibid.), but it has significantly increased this number through new names (such as Medosh, Mlladosh, Lallosh and others). In addition, this suffix, along with -ush, has also strongly included the field of toponyms (in addition to villages such as Pinushinci, Dobrushinac, we also find Dobrosh, Serosh, Vermosh, Vetoshevica, all in the Drin area in Dukagjin).
This suffix has not only served for the assimilation of foreign names (such as Petrosh in Split 1190, or Dminosha and Androsh), but has also served quite often among neighboring Albanians for the formation of masculine personal names (see the aforementioned case of Reposh and many others).
Consequently, the suffix -osh would be one of those suffixes that served among neighboring peoples to form new word derivatives, specifically for the names of people and places. Jireçek mentions these suffixes with examples, as does Miklošić in his works on Slavic elements in Romanian and Albanian.
For all these transitional and borrowing suffixes in the field of Albanian-Serbo-Romance symbiosis (such as the Slavic -nik, -ic(a), -ishte and the Romanian -ul), it cannot be claimed that they belong only to the language of one people (the one where they initially appear). On the contrary, given the area of symbiosis that interests us here, they belong to the common Balkan language, which is also distinguished by many other unique features.
Thus, the suffix -osh, and with it the suffix -us, can be called Balkan. This is especially true considering their wide distribution outside the southern area of the Albanian-Romanian-Serbian symbiosis (Dukagjin and the Coast), and therefore also in the northern area of the Serbo-Albanian symbiosis.
In the Albanian-Serbian symbiosis, its productivity in the formation of proper nouns, especially in the exchange with the suffix -us, has been supported and reinforced in the Albanian language also due to the common exchange of ou (according to Miklošić, “Alb. Forschungen” II, 77), as well as by the development of the sound sh from s, Serbian: Tomash, Krvash-by Gervassius; further Prijemush in the Serbian variant of “Aleksandridës”, which was certainly translated from a Roman elaboration around the middle of the 14th century; Albanian: Tanush, still from the Roman form Tanussius, according to Jireçek, Rom. 59, for the first time in 1290 in Debar, also in the chrysobull of the monastery of Deçan 1330, pp. 34 and 44, and in the later one (1336) pp. 108, 118, 120.
The second part of the text published in German in the journal “Revue internationale des études balkaniques” in 1934.
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