L'alfabeto venetico

Parallel to the on-going analysis of the Venetic inscriptions, a thorough search must be undertaken throughout the Balkan Peninsula for all extant lapidary evidence of its former presence there.  Foremost - and I have called attention to this elsewhere - an investigation must be made of all inscriptions associated with the age of Philip of Macedon preceding the Hellenization of his son, Alexander, under the tutelage of Aristotle.  The close collaboration of Macedonian and Greek scholars must be solicited and sustained for this effort.  We are encouraged in this direction by the findings of Anton Ambrozic who has successfully demonstrated Venetic presence in the Hellenistic city, Dura-Europos, founded by Alexander in the Syrian desert and destroyed by the Sassanids in AD 256, some 400 years before the supposed first penetration of Slavs into the Balkan Peninsula.⁸   These Venetic inscriptions from Dura-Europos lend weighty if still circumstantial evidence to my original conjecture that Alexander and his Macedonian people may very well have been Veneti.  If this does prove to be the case, then the Macedonian people today will have every justifiable reason to reclaim their own linguistic patrimony.

To clarify some problems with this one-sided view, I would like to quote from the book Veneti: First Builders of European Community: Tracing the History and Language of Early Ancestors of Slovenes by Jozko Savli, Matej Bor, and Ivan Tomazic.  This book very much supports the opposite view, namely, that Slovenians were/are indigenous in their traditional lands, and that their language did not just suddenly materialize for the convenience of historians and linguists.  Slovenian has ancient roots going back to Vedic Sanskrit, the oldest of Indo-European languages.  Aside from Vedic Sanskrit, only Slovenian and the Lusatian in eastern Germany have preserved the dual grammatical form.  This, too, is generally avoided by establishment historians and linguists.

Carantania has been the thorn in the side of German and Austrian historians.  They could not accept the fact that it was Slovenians who had one of the first nation states in central Europe.  And this was not because they had just arrived from Trans-Carpathia, but because they were indigenous to the Alpine regions of central Europe.  The investiture of Carantanian princes and dukes was always carried out in the Slovenian language.  On page 522 of Veneti:  "When the Hapsburgs came to power in 1335 in the East Frankish Kingdom to which Carantania then belonged, they took over its legacy, but still had to be invested as Dukes of Carantania.  The famous ceremony on the Prince's Stone (now in the museum in Klagenfurt) continued to be performed in the Slovene language.  When after 1414 the ceremony ceased (under German pressure), the occasion was limited to presentation before the Ducal Throne (the two seat stone throne stands in the field at Gospa Sveta).  This ceremony was also performed in the Slovene language and remained unchanged until the modification of the Constitution at the time of Empress Maria Theresa's ascendance to the Austrian throne in 1740.  At that time the presentation before the Ducal Throne ended, and the Carantanian legacy was incorporated into the Austrian Constitution."

Dr. Stih also bypasses the problem of presumed settlement of Slavs in central Europe in the 6th century by introducing his personal views on the subject.  "Today we try to explain this phenomenon . . . with identity transference."  In his opinion, the indigenous population, which had been under Roman rule for several centuries and was therefore on a considerably higher cultural level, had without battles (there is no documentary evidence of such battles), accepted the Trans-Carpathian newcomers as their new ruling class, adopted their language and customs, and ceded to them the entire territory from the Danube to the Adriatic.  Something of this sort could have happened only in Dr. Stih's dreams.  To take the most beautiful territories in the centre of Europe without major battles is unthinkable.  Yet, not one historian mentions battles.  Why?  Because they did not happen.  The indigenous Alpine population was not the Latinized Celts as we are told – they were the indigenous West Slavic Slovenians, or rather, their ancestors.  The Germans called them the Windische (as our people are at times still called by German speakers); to Latin speakers, they were Veneti.  Fredegarii Chronicon from 623 uses the name Vinedos for Slovenians:  "Sclavi coinomento Vinedos."  Their land is "marca Winedorum." Slovenian Prince Valuk is "Walucus dux Winedorum."  We find the same in Vitae S. Columbani where the author writes about "the land of the Veneti who are also known as Slavs" [Termini Venetiorum qui et Sclavi dicuntur].

On page 520 of Veneti we read:  "We can conclude that after the departure of the Byzantines [in 568], the indigenous people of Inner Noricum [the approximate southern half of present-day Austria] proclaimed themselves independent.  Naturally, only the people inhabiting an area can found a state through an administrative act of this kind.  It is obvious that the native people of Inner Noricum were Slavs because the village population of the area had not changed since pre-Roman times."

The Slovenian toponyms in northern Italy and eastern Switzerland (where the presumed Slavic settlement in the 6th century did not happen) are ignored by Dr. Stih, although they clearly prove that West Slavs were present in these regions much before the settlement of South Slavs in the Balkans.  The fact that Slovenian names exist also in the upper levels of the Alpine chains (see Veneti pages 18-47) shows that these names were not left by some transient people, but were a bequest of the indigenous population residing in the areas in question from time immemorial.

Russian professor Pavel V. Tulajev is of the same opinion. In his book Venety: predki Slavyan / Veneti: Ancestors of Slavs, Moscow 2000, p. 59, we read about the settlement of the ancestors of Slovenians in the eastern Alps:  "After reading the book Veneti there is no doubt about this.  Slavs did not come here across the Danube in the 6th century, but much earlier."

In the meantime, Dr. Stih and his coworkers in Ljubljana are preparing yet another official history of Slovenia, which will include, if his recent article is any indication, more of the same old myths and inventions.

Veneti: First Builders of European Community: Tracing the History and Language of Early Ancestors of Slovenes is without doubt still the best book in the English language regarding the history and origin of Slovenians.  If anyone is interested, the price is 29 USD, postage is included.  Write to:  Anton Skerbinc, Site 1, Box 17, Boswell, B.C., V0B 1A0 Canada anton@kootenay.com

Slovenian Names from Romans, Indians

Editor,

    On February 7 you printed an interesting article "Kranj's Khislstein Castle."  The article tells us about the archeological findings which tell us when the area was first settled.  The settlement goes way back into history, all the way to the Old Stone Age.

    The article, however, claims that . . .  Its name (Carnium), as well as the name of the region (Carniola) and its inhabitants, and some rivers like the Sava (Savus) or the Kokra (Corkas) originate from the times of the Roman settlement.  A reader could conclude from these examples that the names were brought by Romans and are of Latin origin, and may attempt to look for their meanings in a Latin dictionary.  Unfortunately, the reader will be disappointed because no meaningful interpretation of these names will be found there.

    To the above mentioned names, additional names that were also recorded during the Roman occupation about 2000 years ago, can be added.  Let us look at the names of some of the rivers:  Drava (Dravus), Kolpa (Kolapis), Mura (Murius), Nadrza (Natiso), Soca (Sontius), and city names such as Trst (Tergeste), and Ptuj (Poetovio) and mountains:  Karavanke (Caravanca Mons) and Karniške Alpe (Alpes Carnicae).

    Archeologists tell us that Slovenia was inhabited continuously for thousands of years.  Even during the Ice Age, it provided a refuge for the inhabitants.  After the Ice Age, the inhabitants spread north and east, according to geneticists who have studied the genetic makeup of peoples around the world.  Later when the territory of the present day Slovenia became part of the Roman empire about 2000 years ago, the land was already inhabited.  The inhabitants would have had names for the rivers, towns and mountains.  In North America we are made aware of the indigenous peoples by the names of the rivers that they gave them and that have not been renamed by the white man.  Names like Niagara, Mississauga, Ontario, Toronto, Canada, Mississippi, Temagami, etc., tell us that previous inhabitants were Indians.  The present inhabitants for the most part do not understand the meanings of these names, but the North American Indians still do.

    Many present day Slovenian names recorded by the Romans have no real meaning in Latin, but are meaningful, for the most part, in Slovenian.  But if we cannot decipher the meaning of a name using Slovenian, the name can usually be deciphered using Sanskrit – the ancient language of India.

    This may be surprising to some, but new studies have revealed that there are definite genetic and linguistic affinities between Slavs, especially Slovenians, in Europe and Indo-Aryans on the Indian sub-continent.

    Let us see what the names, as transcribed by the Romans, mean by using Slovenian and Sanskrit by starting with the river names, since these are usually the most ancient:

    Drava (Dravus) – Slo:  drveša  flowing fast.  In Skt:  running fast.

    Kolpa (Colapis) – Skt:  kala  of a dark color & apas water.

    Krka (Colapis) – Skt:  krka  white (the Krka is known for its white rapids; Karkari is a river in India).

    Mura (Murius) – Skt:  mura  rushing, impetuous.

    Nadiza (Natissa) – Slo:  large spring; Skt:  queen of rivers (Nadiza was once the largest river of the region in Venezia, until an earthquake changed the course of its tributaries, see Verbovšek).

    Sava (Savus) – Skt:  sava:  water, juice of flowers, libation.

    Savinja – Skt:  savini  a river.

    Soča (Sontius) – Slo:  sočna  luscious; Skt:  suca:  pure, clear, clean.

    Similarly, place names that date to Roman and pre-Roman times have meaning in Slovenian and Sanskrit, but not in Latin:

    Kranj (Carnium) – Slo:  krn mountain top, ship's end; Skt:  karna  the ear, helm of a ship.

    The old part of the city is built at the confluence of the rivers Sava and Kokra.  This part of the city is built on a triangular rock formation above the confluence, and this rock does resemble an end of a ship.  The mountain to the west of the city resembles an ear when looking at it from Senčur, situated east of Kranj.

    Ptuj (Poetovino) – Slo:  potovje  crossroads; Skt:  patha  road, vaya branch.  (In Roman days, one road split to go north, while the other continued southeast).

    Trst (Tergeste) – Slo:  trzišče  market place; Skt:  durga  citadel.

    The names of the mountains were also recorded by the Romans, but their meanings are best deciphered with the use of Slovenian and Sanskrit.  For example:

    Karniske Alpe (Alpes Carnicare) – Slo:  krn  mountain top; Skt:  karnika  central mountain.

    (Karnika is also another name for Meru.  Meru is a name of a fabulous mountain regarded as Olympus of Hindu mythology and said to form the central point; all the planets revolve around it, and it is compared to the cup or seed vessel of a lotus.  The river Ganges falls from heaven on its summit and flows thence to the surrounding worlds in four streams.  The regents of the four quarters of the compass occupy the corresponding faces of the mountain, the whole of which consists of gold and gems.  Its summit is the residence of Brahma and a place of meeting for the gods.)

    For more information on the meaning of place names in and around Slovenia and the pre-history of Slovenia, I recommend for English readers:  VENETI:  First Builders of European Community by Šavli, Bor and Tomažič, which can be purchased from Mr. Anton Skerbinc, Site 1, Box 17, RR1, Boswell, BC, Canada V0B-1A0.  Slovenian readers will find KOMU (NI)SMO TUJCI by Leopold Verbovšek and V SENCI ZGODOVINE by Davorin Zunkovič very informative.  They can be purchased from JUTRO Crnuška c3, pp4986, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia or by phone 386 1 374 334

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INDIAN POPULATIONS AND EUROPEANS

Joseph Skulj, Jagdish C. Sharda, Snejina Sonina, Petr Jandacek

Hindu Institute of Learning

Abstract:
In India as well as in Europe, there are ongoing debates between scholars regarding the original settlers in the respective lands. What ethnic group is indigenous to a particular country and who arrived later and when did the historical event occur; this is being re-examined in the light of new discoveries. Scholars have formulated many theories, based on archaeological finds, historical records and linguistic hypotheses in an attempt to explain the presence of various languages and ethnic groups in particular countries. Now, scientists are applying another scientific tool--genetics-- which is currently used to help the researchers in their quests for knowledge about the historical past.

In Slovenia, there is a debate whether the Slovenians are indigenous to the country or, whether, they arrived 1500 years ago (Savli, 1996). Similarly, on the Indian sub-continent, there is a question whether the Aryans (Indo-European speakers) are autochthonous (Rajaram & Frawley, 1997) (Ghosh, 1988), or whether they arrived after the Dravidian speakers, just 3,500 years ago (Chatterji, 1988) or even much earlier, possibly 10,000 years ago (Kivisild, 1999). There are reasonable arguments to support the debate (Ghosh, 1988). However, in such debates the scholars do not consider the close linguistic relationship between Sanskrit, the language of the Aryans and the Slavic languages of Europe and also of the present day genetic relationship of Aryans on the Indian sub-continent and the Slavs of Europe. This applies particularly to the Slovenian which is relatively little known, but along with Czech, is the most westerly Slavic language.

The main feature of Indian society is caste and scholars speculate that something very like castes were in India even before the Aryan speakers entered India (Majumder 2001). Now, Geneticists have discovered that the upper castes are more similar to Europeans, particularly East Europeans, whereas lower castes are more similar to Asians. The higher the caste, the closer they are to East Europeans (Bamshad et. al., 2001).

In this paper, we will demonstrate the linguistic and genetic relationship between Aryans of the Indian sub-continent and Slavs of Europe.

INTRODUCTION:
Well known Indian scholar Navaratna S. Rajaram, has noted that there is evidence in the Indian epic literature pointing to connections between Vedic and Puranic records on the one hand, and the languages and mythologies of prehistoric Europe on the other. This suggests linkages between Vedic India and prehistoric Europe, that have long been suspected, but insufficiently explored (Rajaram & Frawley, 1997).

It is for this reason that an attempt will be made to explore the linguistic and the genetic linkages between Slavs in Europe and the Aryans (Indo-European speakers) on the Indian sub-continent and to determine when in history the separation between Slavs and Aryans occurred.

DISCUSSION:
S. Srikanta Sastri has noted that a number of scholars have advocated a theory that the Aryans are indigenous to the Indian sub-continent and that the expansion or migration of the Aryans started from the Indian sub-continent. Some of the arguments to support this theory are as follows:
--There is no evidence to show that the Vedic Aryans were foreigners or that they migrated into India within traditional memory. There are literary materials available to indicate that they regarded Sapta-Sindhu as their original home. The Vedic Aryans, if at all they came from outside, must have lived in Sapta-Sindhu so many centuries before the Vedic period that they had lost all memory of the original home.
--The linguistic affinities are not positive proofs of Aryan immigration. Other Aryan languages may have come into existence as a result of the contact between migrating Aryans and non-Aryans outside India and Persia.
--Aryans migrated from India, but they were superfluous population of roving tribes and did not leave literary records (Ghosh, 1988).

Rajaram cites Shrikant Talagari who proposed that the presence of Indo-European speakers from India to Ireland going back to prehistoric times may be ascribed to a combination of political and ecological disturbances in the Rigvedic heartland that seem to have taken place in the fifth millennium B.C. (Rajaram & Frawley, 1997).

The Roma (Gypsies) are an example of the out of India immigration. Linguistic evidence suggests, that they are of diverse Indian origin. They became one of the peoples of Europe, when they arrived in the Byzantine Empire 900-1,100 years ago (Gresham et. al., 2001).

Prof. B. K. Ghosh, on the other hand, presents arguments, which indicate that India was not the original home of the Aryans:
--The fact that the whole of South India and some parts of North India too are to this day non-Aryan in speech is the strongest single argument against the Indian-home hypothesis, especially as the existence of a Dravidian speech-pocket in Baluchistan suggests, that the whole or at least a considerable part of India was non-Aryan in speech. It may reasonably be argued, that had India been the original home of the Aryans, they would have certainly tried to Aryanize the whole of the sub-continent, before crossing the frontier barriers in quest of adventure.
--The cerebral sounds of Sanskrit which sharply distinguishes it from all other Indo-European speech-families including Iranian, are best explained as the result of Austric and Dravidian influences on the language of the incoming Aryans.
--Some scholars have assumed that blond hair was chief characteristic of the Indo-Europeans. Blond hair was also known in India. The grammarian Patanjali declared blond hair to be one of the essential qualities in a Brahmana. True Brahmanas, therefore should have been blondes in the pre-Christian era (Ghosh, 1988).

Within the known historical times, the riches of India have been like a magnet that attracted numerous armies to the sub-continent to plunder the wealth, beginning with the Persians. Herodotus wrote almost 2 500 years ago, that the Indians are more numerous than any other nation and they paid to the Persian king Darius, a tribute exceeding that of every other people (Herodotus). The Persians, were followed by the invasion of the Alexander the Great with his Macedonian and Greek army, then by Mongols and last by the British. This underlines the fact, that India was the goal of many and shows the usual path taken by the plundering armies.

Caste and Indian Society:
The main feature of Indian society, seen at its strongest in the rural areas, is caste. A caste is a collection of people who share similar cultural and religious values and practices. Members within a caste generally marry among themselves; inter-caste marriages are a cultural taboo (Majumder, 2001).

Contemporary India is a land of enormous human genetic, cultural and linguistic diversity. The social structure of the Indian population is dominated by the Hindu caste system. Most of the population is hierarchically arranged into four main caste classes: Brahmin (priestly class), Kshatriya (warrior class), Vysya (business class) and Sudra (menial labour class). Indian culture and society are also known to have been affected, by multiple waves of migration, that took place in historic and prehistoric times.....The contemporary tribal population are largely Dravidian or Austro-Asiatic speakers....In view of the persistent survival of Dravidian languages in the pockets of Iran, Baluchistan and Afghanistan, some linguists believe that Dravidian speakers came from outside. Others, however, believe that since Dravidian speakers are largely restricted to India, these languages may have developed within India (Roychoudhury et. al., 2000).

The Aryan world comprised three classes (varnas): priests, nobles and commoners. Aryans placed their three classes on the indigenous Indian society. The varna organization is hierarchical. Initially, the system had names for two ranks, Brahma and Kshatra, Brahmin being socially higher rank than Kshatriya. The third rank was made of Vis, that is, all the subjects. To this society, a fourth rank was added: Shudra, who had no right to Aryan ritual. In southern India, the menial workers, the so-called “untouchables” were placed in a new varna, Panchama (fifth) (Majumder, 2001).

GENETIC INFORMATION:
The recognition of new Y-chromosome markers represents a major leap in the investigation of human genetic diversity (in male lineages, complementing the information from female lineages derived from mitochondrial DNA). The resulting phylogeny supports out-of-Africa origins of our species and opens the way to further insights into prehistoric demography and world prehistory (Renfrew, 2000). Applying molecular genetics to questions of early human population history, and hence to major issues in prehistoric archaeology, is becoming so fruitful an enterprise that a new discipline—archaeogenetics—has recently come into being. That many of its applications have so far related to prehistoric Europe is due in part to the detailed archaeological attention devoted to Europe by a series of 19th and 20th century scholars. It is also due in part to the early application of a specific demographic model, the “wave of advance” to explain the chronological patterning that emerged as farming spread across Europe at the onset of the Neolithic period (Renfrew, 2001).

Based on the genetic information compiled by Semino and 16 co-authors, they suggest that the present European population arose from the merging of local Paleolithic groups and Neolithic farmers arriving from the Near East after the invention of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent. Two lineages, those characterized by M170 and M173 appear to have been present in Europe since Paleolithic times (Semino et. al., 2000).

M173 Lineage—Distribution and Age:
Semino proposes that M173 is an ancient Eurasiatic marker that was brought by or arose in the group of Homo sapiens sapiens who entered Europe and it diffused from east to west 40,000 to 35,000 years ago spreading the Aurignac culture. M 173 lineage is shared by haplotypes Eu18 and Eu19, which characterize about 50% of the European Y chromosomes (Semino et. al., 2000).

The frequency of Eu18 is at its highest in the Basques at 90%, 81% in the Irish ( Rosser, 2000) and decreases from west to east. On the Indian sub-continent it is present at 11% and 12% in Pathan and Sindhi ethnic groups speaking Indo-European languages (Semino et. al., 2000, Qamar et. al., 2002).

In contrast, haplotype Eu19, which is also derived from M173 and is distinguished by M17 mutation, is virtually absent from Western Europe. Its frequency increases eastward and reaches 54% Ukraine, where Eu18 is virtually absent (Semino et. al., 2000). Haplotype Eu19 is also found on the Indian sub-continent at 45% and 49% in Pathan and Sindhi language groups (Qamar et. al., 2002).

Semino interprets the differentiation and the distribution of haplotypes Eu18 and Eu19 as signature of expansion from isolated population nuclei in the Iberian peninsula for Eu18 and the present Ukraine for Eu19, following the Last Glacial Maximum. In fact, during this glacial period 20,000 to 13,000 years ago, human groups were forced to vacate Central Europe, with the exception of a refuge in northern Balkans (Semino et. al., 2000).

In the study by Rosser and 61 co-authors, HG1 which is analogous to Eu18, is found at ~80% in the Celtic speakers (not tested by Semino), confirming that the trend is similar, decreasing from west to east. Haplogroup HG3 which is analogous to Eu19 is not unique to Eastern Europe but is also found in northern Sweden at 19% and in Norway at 31% (Rosser et. al., 2000).

Genetic research and studies of the peoples of India show, that when the whole Indian sub-continent is considered, Indians show considerably more genetic similarities with the Caucasoids than with the Negroids (Majumder, 1998). To be more precise, a number of researchers have found that Indians share many genetic similarities with the Europeans. Underhill has noted that haplogroups derived from M170 and M173 lineages are found mostly in Europe and the Indus Valley (Underhill et. al., 2000). Semino observes that haplogroup Eu19, which appears at the highest concentration in Eastern Europe at between 29%-60%, is also present at substantial frequency in northern India and Pakistan (Semino, 2000); calculated at 32% (from information provided in Table 1, Underhill, 2000). Some geneticists interpret this as marking the movement of the Kurgan people, from north of the Caspian Sea, dated to ~7,000 years ago (Rosser et. al., 2000).

Semino estimates the age of M173 to be ~30,000 years, which appears consistent with the hypothesis that M173 marks the Aurignac settlement in Europe or, at least, predates the Last Glacial Maximum (Semino et. al., 2000).

M170 Lineage—Distribution and Age:
Semino proposes that M170 originated in Europe in descendants of men that arrived from the Middle East 20,000 to 25,000 years ago, who have been associated with the Gravettian culture. It has been suggested that Gravettian and Aurignac coexisted for a few thousand years. When human groups were forced to vacate Central Europe, during the Last Glacial Maximum with the exception of a refuge in the northern Balkans, Western Europe was isolated from Central Europe. However, an Epi-Gravettian culture persisted in the area of present-day Austria, the Czech Republic and the northern Balkans. After climatic improvement, this culture spread north and east (Semino et. al., 2000).

Semino proposes that the polymorphism M170 from which haplotype Eu7 is derived represents another putative Paleolithic mutation whose age has been estimated to be ~22,000 years. The mutation is most frequent in central Eastern Europe, at 45 % in Croats and 49% in Yugoslavs (Rosser et. al., 2000) and also occurs in the Basques that have accumulated a subsequent mutation (M26) that distinguishes Eu8 (Semino et. al., 2000). It is also present on the Indian sub-continent; Pathan and Sindhi in Pakistan show a frequency of 16% and 9% (Qamar et. al., 2002).

Indo-Aryan and European Genetic Affinity:
Indian culture and society are known to have been affected by multiple waves of migration that took place in historic and prehistoric times. A section of Aryan speakers are believed to have migrated first to Iran and from there to north-west of India where they encountered the indigenous people who spoke non-Aryan languages (Roychoudhury et. al., 2000).

It is conceivable that the Aryan speakers had greater contact, including genetic admixture, with the Brahmins, who were professionally the torchbearers and promoters of Aryan rituals. The Aryan contact should have been progressively less as one descended the varna ladder. The genetic expectation, therefore, is that the proportion of those genes (or genomic features, such as haplotypes or haplogroups), that “characterized” the Aryan speakers should progressively decline from the highest varna to the lowest and a reverse trend should be observed with respect to those genes that “characterized” the indigenous Indians (Majumder, 2001).

From the historically prevalent social structure of Indian populations, it may be predicted, that there has been very little male gene flow across ethnic boundaries. The analysis of DNA samples indicates that there has been virtually no male gene flow among ethnic groups, whereas, there is considerably more female gene flow. The upper castes, while sharing haplotypes with the middle and lower castes, do not share any haplotypes with the tribes (Bhattacharyya et. al., 1999).

A close affinity, based on Y chromosome, has been reported between Hindi speaking (Aryan) Indians and Europeans (Quintana-Murci et. al., 1999). Bamshad has gone a step further and compared the affinities between the castes and also between the Europeans. He has found that the affinity to Europeans is proportionate to caste rank; the upper castes being most similar to Europeans particularly East Europeans. These findings are consistent with greater West Eurasian male admixture with castes of higher rank. The lower castes, on the other hand, are more similar to Asians. For this comparison, Eastern European samples from Russia and Romania were used (Bamshad et. al., 2001).

LANGUAGE AFFINITIES:
The well known geneticist Barbujani observes that humans do not tend to easily cross language boundaries when choosing a partner. This gives languages a great evolutionary significance, because linguistic affinities are also clues to population history. He cites Sokal who has noted that a common language frequently reflects a common origin, and a related language indicates a common origin too, but farther back in time. He was also one of the first to make an intriguing observation that the partial correlations with the language are stronger for the Y chromosome than for mtDNA and suggests that when women were incorporated into a group speaking a different language, they passed to the future generations, their husbands’ language (Barbujani, 2000).

DATING THE SETTLEMENTS OF PEOPLES:
Dating of the Separation of Europeans and Indians: Barbujani & Bertorelle propose that in the Upper Paleolithic, around 40,000 years ago, Neanderthal people were replaced by anatomically modern humans, who moved in from Levant, and settled in many areas of the continent. At the latest Glacial Maximum, some 18,000 years ago, Northern and Central Europe were largely covered with glaciers. Human presence then seems restricted to the warmest regions or refugia, and only later reappears more to the North, accompanying the retreat of the ice sheet (Barbujani & Bertorelle, 2001).

Adams and Otte propose that the climatic instability led to the language spread. They postulate that any one population group that acquired both the general cultural traits that caused it to spread rapidly out of a refugium and the technology to enable it to do so, would have experienced a rapid population growth. There is a possibility that the population increase causing the spread of Indo-European languages occurred at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum about 14,500 years ago. However, another event that might have affected the spread was the widespread cold, dry event that occurred 8,200 years ago (Adams & Otte, 1999).

Roychoudhury et al. have found, that on the basis of the analyses of mtDNA of the ethnic populations of India, a higher Caucasoid admixture in the northern Indian populations and that there is evidence that western Eurasian specific haplogroups and subclusters were introduced into India with the entry of Aryan speakers from western and central Asia (Roychoudhury, 2001).

Based on genetic data Kivisild disagrees with a commonly held hypothesis which suggests a massive Indo-Aryan invasion into India some 4,000 years ago. Based on the investigations of the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA, he estimates that the divergence between Europeans and Indians took place some of 9,300+/- 3,000 years ago. However, the investigation is not able distinguish whether there were one or many migration waves, or whether there was a continuous long lasting gradual admixture. The results, nevertheless, do not support a recent massive Aryan invasion into India, nor do the results support Indian penetration into western Eurasia (Kivisild, 1999).

Richards et. al. estimate that based on mtDNA results over 90% of the present European populations were in their present locations prior to the Bronze Age. Only 7% of the population came to the Alps and 8% to Southeastern Europe since the Bronze Age. Most of the populations were present in their present locations in Europe since the Lower Upper Paleolithic ~14,000 years ago. About10% of the lineages, date to the first colonization of Europe, by anatomically modern humans during the Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) (Richards, 2000).

About 20% of the lineages arrived during the Neolithic. Most of the other lineages seem most likely to have arrived during the Middle Upper Paleolithic (MUP) and to have re-expanded during the Lower Upper Paleolithic (LUP) (Richards, 2000).

Despite numerous similarities between Sanskrit and Slovenian, there is no common recognizable terminology for metals. The discovery and dating of the “Ice Man” in the South Tyrol with his copper axe, indicates that metals were known 5,200 years ago. This could also be construed as an indication that the Slavic and Aryan languages separated before metallurgy was discovered.

OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS:
There is a significant correlation between linguistics and genetics in the Slavs and the Aryans on the Indian sub-continent. This is particularly true when the genetic comparison is made on the basis of paternally inherited DNA haplogroups on the Y chromosome. The genetic profiles of the Slavic speakers resemble rather closely those of the Aryan speakers. There is also a notable linguistic similarity between the Slavic languages and the Aryan languages such as Hindi and Punjabi, despite the fact that Aryan languages have been profoundly influenced by Dravidian neighbors and the invaders that have come to India over the millennia.

Slavic languages preserve many grammatical and lexical similarities that they share with Sanskrit that are no longer found in modern Indian languages such as Hindi and Punjabi. Slovenian in particular appears to be very archaic, because it still preserves a number of grammatical and lexical forms that are no longer present in some other Slavic languages nor in the Aryan languages.

Slovenian and Sanskrit have more grammatical and lexical similarities than, say, Slovenian and Germanic languages, despite the geographic proximity. Approximately 20% of Slovenian vocabulary corresponds to the ancient Vedic Sanskrit in sound and meaning and 10% to Classical Sanskrit, but considerably less in Hindi and Punjabi. This indicates that the older the language, the greater is the similarity. This would also indicate that there has been little linguistic interaction since the Vedas have been written between the Slavs and the Aryans.

The linguistic similarity of about 20% between Slovenian and Vedic Sanskrit is significant, because the present day similarity between Slovenian language and the neighboring German is only about 6%. On the other hand, Slovenian has about 80% of the vocabulary that is similar to Russian, in sound and meaning, despite much greater geographical separation.

Populations with genetic similarities as defined by haplotypes Eu7 and Eu19 show a greater linguistic similarity, even when geographically separated, than the neighbors with lesser genetic correlation.

Genetics does not support any massive population changes during the last 3,000 years. The bulk of the population both in Europe and on the Indian sub-continent can be considered to be indigenous to the lands they now occupy, despite some language replacements.

References:
Adams, J., Otte M. (1999). Did Indo-European Languages spread before farming? Current Anthropology 40: 73-77.

Bamshad, M., Kivisild, T., Watkins, W.S., et. al., (2001). Genetic Evidence on the Origins of Indian Caste Populations. Genome Research Vol. 11, 6: 994-1004.

Barbujani, G. (1997). DNA Variation and Language Affinities. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 61:1011-1014.

Barbujani, G., Bertorelle, G. (2001). Genetics and the population history of Europe. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98: 23-25.

Bhattacharyya, N. P. (1999). Negligible Male Gene Flow Across Ethnic Boundaries in India, Revealed by Analysis of Z-Chromosomal DNA Polymorphisms. Genome Research Vol. 9, Issue 8, 711-719.

Chatterji, S. K. (1988).”Race Movements and Prehistoric Culture,” in The Vedic Age: The History and Culture of the Indian People, ed. Majumdar R. C., Bombay. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p 143-171.

Ghosh, B. K. (1988).”The Aryan Problem,” in The Vedic Age: The History and Culture of the Indian People, ed. Majumdar, R. C., Bombay. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.205-221.

Gresham, D., Morar, B., Underhill, P. A., et. al. (2001). Origins and Divergence of the Roma (Gypsies). Am. J. Hum. Genet. 69:1314-1331.

Herodotus, The Persian Wars, trans. George Rawlinson (Toronto: Random House Inc.1942), p.259.

Kivisild, T., Bamshad, M. J., Kaldma, K., et. al. (1999). Deep common ancestry of Indian and western Eurasian mitochondrial DNA lineages. Current Biology 9:1331-1334.

Majumder, P.P. (1998). People of India: Biological diversity and affinities. Evol.Anthropol. 6: 100-110.

Majumder, P.P. (2001). Indian Caste Origins: Genomic Insights and Future Outlook. Genome Research 11:931-932.

Qamar, R., Ayub, Q., Mohyuddin, A., et. al. (2002). Y-Chromosomal DNA Variation in Pakistan. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 70:1107-1124.

Quintana-Murci, L., Semino, O., Poloni, E.S., et. al. (1999). Y-Chromosome specific YCAII, DYS19 and YAP polymorphisms in human populations: A comparative study. Am. Hum. Genet. 63: 153-166.

Rajaram, S.R., Frawley, D. (1997). Vedic Aryans and the Origins of Civilization. New Delhi. Voice of India. ISBN 81 85990 36 0

Renfrew, C., Forster, P., Hurles, M. (2000). The past is within us. Nature Genetics-volume 26-November: 253-254.

Renfrew, C.(2001). From molecular genetics to archaeogenetics. Proceedings National Academy of Sciences. April 24, vol. 98, no. 9: 4830-4832.

Rosser, Z.H., Zerjal, T., Hurles, M.E., et al. (2000). Y-Chromosomal Diversity in Europe is Clinal and Influenced Primarily by Geography, Rather than by Language. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 67:1526-1543.

Roychoudhury, S., Roy, S., Dey, B., et al. (2000). Fundamental genomic unity of ethnic India is revealed by analysis of mitochondrial DNA. Current Science Vol. 79, No.9, 10. November: 1182-1192.

Roychoudhury, S., Roy, S., Basu, A., et al. (2001). Genomic structures and population histories of linguistically distinct tribal groups of India. Hum. Genet. 109: 339-350.

Savli, J., Bor, M., Tomazic, I., trans. Skerbinc, A.(1996). Veneti: First builders of European community- Tracing the history and language of early ancestors of Slovenes. Wien. Boswell: Editiones Veneti. ISBN 0 9681 236 0 0

Semino, O., Passarino, G., Oefner, P., et al. (2000). The Genetic Legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in Extant Europeans: A Y Chromosome Perspective. Science Vol. 290, 10. November: 1155-1159.

Underhill, P.A., Shen, P., Lin, A.A., et al. (2000). Y chromosome sequence variation and the history of human populations. Nature Genetics volume 26, November, 2000.

Place Names

not only a question concerning the ancient Veneti and Slavs

by Jožko Šavli

In my study Veneti, naši davni predniki (Veneti, Our Remote Ancestors, Vienna 1985), I explained the meaning of many place names which are still used today all over Central Europe, using the Slovenian (Slavic) language as a basis.  Since according to traditional history the Slavs never settled the majority of this territory, the question arose as to which people left behind these names.  Through an interdisciplinary study it was possible to find out that the people in question were the Veneti, the bearers of the Urnfield culture (after 1200 BC) and of the Hallstatt culture (after 800 BC).  They obviously spoke a language, which was close to the modern Slavic languages, particularly the Slovenian language.

The study, through which the Veneti have been given their individuality, showed clearly that the modern Slavic peoples are not an ethnic group, but only a linguistic one, and that they could not have originated from the supposed "ancient Slavs" whose homeland has been searched behind the Carpathian mountains and never found even unto today.  Thus, the "ancient Slavs" never existed as an ethnic group, and they must be regarded as an academic and ideologic construct only.

This ascertainment is very important for the correct explanation of the meaning of place names.  Still today, this explanation is appropriated in the first line by the linguists and Slavists.  They took the question under their exclusive competence, and they interpreted the meaning of the place names on the basis of linguistics only.  There may be adduced several linguistic works as example.  I have in hand the very interesting work called Die Slawen in Griechenland (The Slavs in Greece), written by Max Vasmer, the well-known German linguist and Slavist.  The work was published by the Academy of Science (Berlin, 1941).  Nevertheless, the place names examined in this study were explained mostly in the sense of the morphological forms of the superficies, i.e., after their visual appearance.

This Vasmer's work is an interesting study.  The author reveals a very great number of place names found over a territory which extends from the Epirus region of northwestern Greece and Macedonia into the Peloponnesus.  On the basis of these names the author supposes the settlements of the Slavs, which should have been carried out during the early Middle Ages.  At the same time, he decisively rejects the possibility, that the Slavs in Greece, which he supposedly individuated, have been an autochthonous people there.

However, the density of the names in question, which are of a Slavic nature, is so great, that there is no possibility that they could have been a legacy of the supposed sporadic Slav incursions and settlements in this territory.  The names could only pertain to an autochthonous people, very probably to the Pelasgians, who in the period of the ancient Greeks settled the inside of the Greek peninsula.  Thus, it is not about the Slavic names as such, but of the names pertaining to a language, which after my studies was also spoken by the ancient Illyrians, Thracians, Dacians, as well as by the Veneti and the (continental) Celts, etc.

I think this language must have been, more or less, a continuity of the Indo-European and pre-Indo-European, and it was spoken by ethnologically very different peoples.  The vocabulary of the modern Slavic languages, in particular the archaic Slovenian, is very close to this ancient language.  But this fact does not predispose the existence of a common ancestral people, in this case the existence of the "ancient Slavs".

Explanation of Names

Indeed, Max Vasmer worked diligently collecting a great number of names in Greece which he considered to be of Slavic origin.  In several cases his explanations are senseful and instructive.  For example, I cite Provlakas, the name of the one-time Xerxes canal (Athos).  Even today this name still says that at one time the ships were drawing through the canal (cf. pro-vleci, in Slav languages:  draw through).  A similar case is represented by the name Prevesa (preveza, Überfahrt, crossing) found at the sea strait in Aetolia.  The name Volos is explained as "golos" (from gol, nude, i.e., an area with very scarce vegetation) which is a senseful explanation, and so on.

However, a problem of incorrect understanding arises in cases of place names which Max Vasmer interprets only in a linguistical way, i.e., by the meaning of an apparently closely related Slav etymon.  For example, the name Avarikos (p. 10) should derive from Avorne, Ahorn-ort (in Slavic languages:  javor) meaning a maple tree.  In fact, it can only be explained with aur (sun) > jaur, i.e., a sunny site.  It is only a coincidence, that the name is so similar to that of the maple tree. - The name Berstia (p. 146) does not derive from berst, in Slovenian:  brest (Ulme, elm).  It is certainly a form of the Indo-European *bhers (to rise sheerly). - The name Varen (cf. Varna, in Bulgaria, p. 234) certainly does not derive from vrana (Krähe, crow).  It can be explained sensefully only through the Slovenian "v' ravnah" (in the plains).

Further on, Orehovo (p. 96) is not a Nußort (a place of nut trees), but evidently connected with "vrh" (summit, top). - The name Visentekon (p. 23) certainly is not connected with "višnja" (Kirsche, in fact Weichselkirsche, i.e., marasca ), but it derives from "visok, višji" (high, higher).  The explaining of the name Misina (p. 94) as Mäuserort (from miš, Maus, mouse) is certainly wrong.  I put near the name of Meißen - Mišin and its possible meaning, connected with its position in the valley chiselled in by the Elbe River.  Thus, from meißeln (chisel).  The name Svina (p. 172) Vasmer explained as Schweineort (a site of pigs).  But it derives very probably from "zviti" (to fold) and means very possibly a curved crest . . .

Linguists are making a great mistake when they imagine that the nomenclature is only a linguistic question.  Also the most important Slovenian linguist, France Bezlaj, in spite of his great knowledge, provided several wrong explanations concerning the meaning of the hydronyms and toponyms.  I adduce an example, of which I was advised by Vojko Rutar (Dobrovo, Slovenia).

It is about the name of the village Vipolže (close to Dobrovo), the meaning of which Bezlaj explains with the help of the Russian:  vypolzkovskije žiteli, i.e., "freemen", and he states:  »It is about the ancient-Slav dialectal juridical term, which was brought to us (i.e., in Slovenia) by the same migration wave, which formed the nucleus of Novgorod Russia« (Fr. Bezlaj, Eseji... p. 104).  But it is certainly that Fr. Bezlaj never saw the geographical position of Vipolže, a village situated on an incline which arises from the plain.  The meaning "vy polje" (out of the plain, field), in the older form "vy poljane" pl. (j > ž).  The supposed migration wave might have occurred, but the name Vipolže certainly is not a proof of it.

An interdisciplinary approach is needed

The existence of a one-time ethnic group in a certain territory cannot be individuated only on the basis of the preserved place names.  For this purpose an interdisiplinary method must be used.

So when I, for the first time, encountered in Swiss and other areas of Central Europe a multitude of place names, the meaning of which could have been clearly explained on the basis of the Slovenian language, I did not venture to say that one time this territory was populated by the Slovenians or Slavs.  From the interdisciplinary point of view, I searched to individuate the ethnic appurtenances of the people who left behind the aforesaid names.

So, I found out the presence of the linden as the tree of life in the villages (like in Slovenia), and not the oak, the tree of life of the Celts and Germans.  In the preserved social structure there were no traces of the Celtic clan or German kinship, but only the tradition of the village community.  This is the same community which has been preserved by the Slovenians and the other peoples of Central Europe, but not by other Slavs, the social organization of which was the great family (zadruga, rod).

The archaeological studies and finds showed that this population was the successor to the bearers of the Urnfield (after 1200 BC) and Halstatt cultures (ca. 800 – 400 BC), which many sholars like, G. Devoto, individuated as the ancient Veneti.  Their statement was confirmed by many names based upon Venet- or Wend- which still today are to be found in Tyrol, Switzerland, Germany, etc.  All these elements did not bear witness to the presence of the »ancient Slavs«, as a linguist would have concluded on the basis of the Slovenian or Slavic names preserved in this territory.

It was clear that these people were of an autonomous ethnicon whose name was Veneti (ancient).  I think they were clearly individuated as the bearers of the Urnfield and of the Hallstatt cultures for the first time.  Of course, scholars had already encountered this people.  But because of the names they would have had to have called them »Slavs«.  They could not have imagined them as such, and so in the scientific literature the Veneti appear only as »bearers« (of Urnfield and Hallstatt cultures).  In contrast to this, the later Celts, the bearers of the La Téne culture (ca. 400 – 15 BC), are called by their very name without any problem.

The very remote heritage

On the basis of the aforesaid facts, it is clear that the question of language must be considered apart from the question of ethnicity.  To illustrate, I would like to adduce some »Slovenian« names, which one can still encounter in Northern Africa to this day.

So, we find in Morocco the city called Zagora, which in Slovenian means »beyond the mountains«.  Indeed, this city is found beyond the Atlas mountain ridge.  In Algeria, we encounter the city Brèzina, in Slovenian meaning a »gentle incline of the mountain«.  It really has just such a position.  South of Tripoli, in Libya, the site Garian (717 m) is found at the edge of a plateau.  The corresponding Slovenian name (a > o) is Gorjane, a site on a higher position.  In the great desert, a lot of names with the root of Bir appear, like Bir Tarsin, Bir Iar . . .   In Slovenian the word »vir« (b > v, betatism) actually means a 'source'.

The famous oasis between Libya and Egypt is called Siwa, and it expresses the same meaning like in Slovenian »živa« for a source of fresh water.  Indeed, the oasis is full of such sources.  Near the Suez canal we find the name Gharib (1751 m), in Slovenian »hrib« means a middle high mountain.  The name Tabor in Palestine is equal to many Slovenian names, which mean a »fortress on a higher place«.  The name is also found in Ethiopia.  There, we encounter among other names also Gara Mullata (3381 m).  In Slovenian »gora« (a > o) means mountain, and the dialectal word »mulast« means nude.  Etc, etc.

In the sense of the method used until now by the linguists and Slavists, one must have concluded, that one-time the territory of Northern Africa was populated by Slovenians, too.  No one can imagine this, and he is right.  But the »Slovenian« names found there require an explication.

The only connection I find between North Africa and Slovenia is as follows.  In pre-Indo-European times during the mesolithic period, the same shepherd cultures extended from North Africa over to Europe up to the Ural mountains and over.  In this period, in Central Europe the agriculture of Band ceramics (ca. 4200 – before 2000 BC) arose.  It was based on the matriarchate.  The incursions from the east ca. 2000 BC brought the so-called Indo-Europeanization of Europe based on the patriarchate, in which the Band Ceramic people survived only as a substrate.  From this substrate, as one can conclude, the culture of Lusatia (after 1500 BC) arose followed by the Urnfield culture (after 1200 BC), in which the people of the Veneti were formed.

More elements can be adduced as proof of the cultural heritage, which followed from the Band Ceramics until the Urnfield culture and its Venetic people.  For example, the equipartite position of the wife in the social structure of the Veneti, which must be considered a heritage of the ancient matriarchate.  Such an equipartite position was characteristic also for the ancient family tradition of the Slovenians, that I consider to be the heirs of the Veneti.  In this way, the existence of »Slovenian« names in Northern Africa can be explained.  Anyway, their original Slovenian forms certainly present a significant surprise today!

Selected Bibliography:
Max Vasmer:  Die Slaven in Griechenland, Berlin 1941
France Bezlaj:  Slovenska vodna imena / Slovenian Water Names /, Lublana I (1956), II (1961)
France Bezlaj:  Eseji o slovenskem jeziku / Essays about the Slovenian Language /, Lublana 1967
Jožko Šavli:  Imena v Afriki / Names in Africa /, in: V nova slovenska obzorja z Veneti v Evropi 2000, Tretji venetski zbornik, Vienna 2000, p. 50 ff.
Jožko Šavli:  Veneti in vprašanje podstati / Veneti and the substrate Question /, in:  Veneti in Etruščani, Drugi venetski zbornik, Vienna 1995, p. 85 ff. (based on the Pokorny's substrate studies

SLOVENIAN ROOTS:  WHAT GENES REVEAL

(Korenine Slovencev:  Kaj razodevajo geni)

(J. Skulj (P. Eng.) The Hindu Institute of Learning, Toronto, Canada – 2004-3-30)

(Translation from Slovenian by Lillian Centa -- 8/04)

Summary:
In the year 2003, Malyarchuk et al. in collaboration with a Slovenian, Dr. K. Drobnic (M), published their research paper “Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Bosnians and Slovenians.”  The results made it possible for Slovenians to compare themselves, genetically, with other nations through genetic markers (haplogroups) inherited from the mother – mtDNA. – as was possible from the year 2000 with genetic markers from the Y-chromosome inherited from the father (SS).  From literature, I summarized the genetic data of various nationalities that would be of interest to Slovenians.  It is evident from the comparison that 90% of Slovenians have the mtDNA genetic markers that originated before or during the last ice age; whereas, only 75% of the 4,000 to 5,000 year old skeletons, excavated in the Basque country have genetic markers that are now that old; and the Basques of today have 70% of the genetic markers that originated before or during the last ice age.  Only 1% of the Slovenians have genetic groups 6,000 to 13,000 years old; their other genetic groups are all much older.

Archaeological finds:
Archaeologists maintain that man has lived in Europe for at least 800,000 years.  This early man was given the name Neanderthal, after the Neanderthal gorge near Dusseldorf in Germany where his bones were first discovered.  Even older bones, resembling human, believed to be 1.75 million years old, were discovered by archaeologists in Dmanisi in today’s Republic of Georgia(G).  The oldest remnants of tools were found by archaeologists in 1995 in Spain.  They estimate that these tools are about 789,000 years old.

Slovenia is also an interesting place for archaeologists.  The oldest trace of pre-historic man in Slovenia was found in Divje babe (“wild women”) above the Idrijca River in 1996, when a whistle made of bone was found dating from the period prior to 45,000 years ago, which they ascribed to the Neanderthal man.(TM)  As an engineer, I was surprised by the elaborate whistle on account of the workmanship involved in its production.  There is evidence that a drilling technique was used in its manufacture.  Of the four holes, two are not damaged, but all four show signs of drilling, since they are very symmetrical.  It is possible that even then, the Neanderthals used the same drilling techniques that were used by the Eskimos who used a bow and stone-tipped arrows for drilling, even after the arrival of Europeans.  Another sign of the developed primitive technological skill is the oldest, more than 5,000 years old, wooden wheel with an axle that was found in the swamplands near Ljubljana.  To make this wheel and transverse axle, the craftsmen had to use axes and probably also saws.  It is interesting that the wheel did not turn on the axle, but the axle with the wheel turned on bearings, similar to a system used, even today, on modern railway cars.  We are able to take the wheel with the integral axle as evidence of a relatively highly developed woodworking technology and also as a sign of metallurgy, since a mold for copper axes was found not far from the site of the pre-historic wheel.

Recently, in Croatian Zagorje, at Vindija and Velika Pecina, bone and stone tools were found.  It is believed that they belonged to Neanderthals who may have lived there more than 29,000 years ago.  Nearby, tools of stone and bone were also found, characteristic of modern man.  It may be that the Neanderthals made the tools themselves or acquired them through trade.  It was previously believed that the Neanderthal man became extinct more than 34,000 years ago.  This new evidence compelled scientists to change their theories.  Fred Smith, an anthropologist from Northern Illinois University, says that it is possible that the Neanderthal man and modern man lived in close proximity in central Europe for many thousands of years.  Erik Trinkhaus, an anthropologist from Washington State University, thinks that modern man in some places superseded the Neanderthals, elsewhere, he intermarried with them.  Between these two races, Trinkhaus sees very small distinctions.  In 1999, he announced that he found, in Portugal, the bones of a child from 24,500 years ago, which showed characteristics similar to those of both the Neanderthal man and of modern man.  Trinkhaus and Smith thus raised the new, controversial, hypothesis that Neanderthal man and homo sapiens intermarried.(NP)

Genetic data:
Geneticists such as Ridley and others, who are extremely interested in the study of human genes, have discovered that for the last four billion years, the human genome has been recording significant events in our biography.  There are genes with the help of which it is possible to track man’s migration during the last thousands of years.(RM)  Gutierrez and others theorize about the possibility, that some of the Neanderthal genes are also represented in the genetic structure of Europeans.  Gutierrez proved that genetically some Africans are more distant from Europeans, than three Neanderthals to whom they were compared using genetic technology.(G)  Calafell has observed that in today’s populations, there are more genetic distinctions in populations whose ancestors had a possible contact with Neanderthals in prehistoric times.(C)  Thus some geneticists also agree with anthropologists.

The year 2003 was a new milestone for Slovenian historical research, when a Russian geneticist, Dr. Boris A. Malyarchuk published his paper, “Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Bosnians and Slovenians”.  This paper shows the genetic profile of Slovenians based on genetic markers inherited on the mother’s side-the mtDNA.  This is a big step forward, since we now have the possibility of genetically comparing Slovenians with other nations, not only on the basis of genetic groups from the Y-chromosome inherited from the father, but also on the basis of ancestral groups inherited on the mother’s side.  This will have far-reaching consequences for the re-writing of Slovenian prehistory, because this is additional, unbiased evidence, that Slovenians are an ancient people, living in their own land continuously for thousands of years.

In the tabulated list below, I took the mtDNA haplogroup data from literature of other nations and their ages, and compared them with Slovenians.  Included in this comparison, in addition to contemporary people, are also genetic groups from people, who 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, lived in the Basque region of Spain.(BSK1)  If we statistically analyze data from the tabulated list and consider the weighted averages, we see that the average genetic age of Europeans is 26,710 years.  With Slovenians, the average calculated age of mtDNA genetic groups is about 750 years older at – 27,460 years.

Abbreviations:
In the Hg column are the haplogroups: ‘Other’ means other non-enumerated genetic markers; (α) indicates a source in the references below; BSK1 is mtDNA from teeth and skeletons – 4,000 to 5,000 years old from the Basque country; BSK2 is mtDNA of present-day Basques; VEN are Italians from the province of Veneto; SLO are Slovenians; POL are Polish; RUS are Russians; SWE are Swedes; EU avg. is the European average; IND are East Indians.

Genetic comparison:
Geneticists have, with the help of mtDNA, an insight into prehistory, past the ice age, to the first settlements in Europe 50,000 years ago.  From the tabulated list, it is evident that 90% of Slovenians carry the mtDNA haplogroups (inherited from the mother) averaging 20,000 years old or more.  These genetic markers originated before the ice age.  Carriers of these genetic markers survived the ice age and later spread out from the ice age shelters as the climatic conditions permitted.  If we genetically compare Slovenians with the Basques of 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, we see that the Basques had only 75% of genetic markers that are now 20,000 years of age or older.  This means that Slovenians not only speak an archaic language (SS), but also are genetically very old.

Genetic markers, haplogroups H, I, J, K, T, U, V, W and X, are present in all Europeans at relatively high percentages.  Geneticists believe that they originated after the Caucasians separated themselves from Africans, since they are mostly found in Europeans.  They are also found in India, although the percentages are considerably smaller than in Europe; people there have these ‘European’ haplogroups, except for V (K).  Nevertheless, in India, there are more than 200,000,000 people who have the European genetic markers.  Also, in Africa, and even in North America, an occasional specimen of these genetic markers is found in the original inhabitants. (T1)  These specimens are challenges for archaeologists, linguists, and historians to search for the reasons as to how, why and when the carriers of these genetic markers arrived there.

Torroni postulated that haplogroups H and preV, originated before the ice age in Europe and later spread out, from the east towards the west (T2).  In his study, Malyarchuk studied haplogroup H and resolved it into subhaplogroups (haplotypes and lineages) for a more precise comparison of populations.  Thus he ascertained that H lineage 16189-16356, present in all European populations that he analyzed, was not present in the Slovenian sample.  On another hand, Slovenians have a relatively high percentage, at 5%, of H lineage 16162 that is found in central and eastern Europe.  However, in the Bosnian sample it is not present.  In people from Veneto it is also present at 6%.  Rare H lineage 16263 is present only in Slovenian, German and French speaking inhabitants.  H lineage 16223 is present in Slovenians, in southern Germans, and in Ukrainians, but not in Bosnians. (M)  However, it has also been found in the 2,500 year old Venetic skeletal remains from Adria located in the Roman province of Venetia et Histria (V).

Groups J and T may have originated in the Middle East and were later brought to Europe.  Thus, 25% of Bedouins in Arabia have the genetic group J (R).  If we compare the 5,000-year-old Basques, we see that the percentage in these Basques is close to people from Veneto, Slovenians, and other Slavs.  It is very unlikely that Romans brought this genetic group into Eastern Europe.  Inhabitants from the Italian province of Veneto have an extraordinarily high percentage of the T genetic group – 22% -- while Slovenians have only 6%.  However, Swedes also have 22%; and it is possible to make an inference that this is also a legacy of the arrival of ancient people from the Middle East, before the Roman era, since the Romans stopped in central Europe and did not conquer Scandinavia.  The Tuscans, who now live in the territory of historic Etruscans, have 10% of this genetic group T, which is close to the Slav average.  Malyarchuk ascertains that the sequence 16069-16126 of genetic group J, is present in 8% of Slovenians.  This could also be a sign of migratory people from the Middle East during the Stone Age (M).

Haplogroup U, which is very frequent in Europe and India, is also found in Africans south of the Sahara.  Geneticists ascertain that it is 51,000 to 67,000 years old. (T)  This haplogroup U is very frequently found in Slovenians at 20%.  The European average is 16%.  British geneticist Martin Richards has concluded that the U haplogroup has been present in the Balkans for 44,000 years, since it is the only one that is as old as archaeological finds which, in Europe, area the oldest in the Balkans and in the central river basin of the Danube, which are, more than 44,000 years old (R1).

Malyarchuk ascertains that the U5 subhalogroup lineage 16114A is relatively frequent in Slovenians, at almost 4%.  Until now, such a high percentage was found only in the Finns.  In Bosnians, he did not detect this subgroup.  As he compared the genetics of Bosnians and Slovenians, he noticed the differences, and ponders that perhaps this may be a sign of two different Slavic migrations (M).

This hypothesis is in agreement with the results of analyses of genetic markers on the Y-chromosome, which is inherited on the father’s side.  Semino et al., are of the opinion that the Y-chromosome haplogroup Eu7, is presently very frequent in Croatians and Serbs; Rootsi et al. find it almost equally frequent in Slovenians at 38%, with the Slovenians having a higher percentage of the older lineages particularly M170 and M253 mutations comprising the haplogroup.  This haplogroup is to have originated in the territory of Epi-Gravettian culture in the territory of present-day Austria, the Czech Republic and northern Balkans 20,000 to 25,000 years ago in the descendants of people who came from the Near East.  Another genetic group, Eu19, which is the most frequent in Slavs, then in northern India, and in Pakistan, probably originated in the ice age refuge in the Ukraine and spread out after the ice age (SO), (RZ), (Y), (RO).

Certainly, during the last 50,000 years, there must have been many military comings and goings.  This has occurred many times even in the last 200 years; French were in Moscow under Napoleon and then Russians in Paris under the czar; Germans near Moscow under Hitler and then Russians in central Europe under Stalin.  And, if we consider human nature, such as it is, surely there were some genetic exchanges along the way.  However, the majority of people wanted “stati inu obstati” i.e., to stay and remain in their own homelands.

MtDNA haplogroup K was very frequent in 4,000 to 5,000 year old Basque skeletons, at 20%.  This haplogroup K is now present in Swedes at 16%; in Slovenians with 4%.  This genetic marker is also carried by the 5,300 year old mummy Oetzi – the man from the glacier.  Thus, Slovenians or Slavs cannot be excluded when attempting to determine to what language group Oetzi belonged.  Perhaps, with time, it may be possible to get Y-chromosome data, which would enable the researchers to determine to what present-day language family he would belong.

In North Africa, in Morocco, on the south side of the Atlas Mountains, is the town of Zagora; nearby the river Draa runs when it rains.  The Berbers living there have more than 25% of genetic groups V, H, U, and X, which point to European origin (RA).  Genetic lineage 16298, which falls under genetic group V, is present in Berbers in Morocco (RA).  This 16298 lineage is also present in Slovenians and Bosnians (M).  Types 16343 and 16390 are present in Morocco (DA); type 16390 is also present in Slovenia (M).  The question is how did these genetic types come into Africa?  Torroni speculates that European genetic influx may be from the Neolithic age, or may be due to the influenced of the Vandals, Portuguese, and Spaniards (RA), (T).  Here, surely, the Vandals come into consideration, since they, in the years 428-429 AD, under the leadership of Genserik, invaded northern Africa.  Although some defend the view that the Vandals were of Germanic origin, it is unlikely that Germans would give Slavic names to those Berber regions of Africa where Vandals were present.  Canadian anthropologist, Satiroff, with the help of linguistics and old historical sources, finds Slavic origins of the Vandals (SG).  Also, a Russian historian and linguist, Tulajev, cites historical sources which show that Vandals were Slavs (TP).  Now genetic research also shows that predecessors of some Berbers could have been Slavs.

On the basis of their research, geneticists speculate that central Europe was the cradle of the eastern Slavs (M), (B).

MtDNA lineages 16189, 16192, 16270, 16230, belonging to European subhaplogroup U5, are found here and there in inhabitants south of the Sahara.  Senegal type 16145, 16222, and 16311, belong to haplogroup H (RA).  Lineage 16311 is more frequent in Bosnians than in Slovenians (M).

Indians of North America have of the principal genetic groups, groups A, B, C, D; only the Ojibwa Indians also have group X (T), which is very frequently found in the inhabitants of the Veneto province and is present also in Slovenians.  Dennis Stanford, paleoarchaeologist at the Smithsonian Institute of America, is of the opinion that group X was brought across the North Atlantic more than 15,000 years ago.

Conclusion:
From the genetic studies, it is evident that Slovenians and other Slavs have ancient genetic roots.

Direction of new research:
Presented here is some new data that should be a challenge to Slovenian anthropologists, archaeologists, ethnologists, linguists, and historians.  They should not glibly dismiss the genetic evidence as coincidence, as it is their tendency, when presented with new evidence which does not fit into the framework of their outdated theories.  They should get to work and answer some pertinent questions:
          1.   Why is there linguistic affinity between the languages of Basques and Slovenians? (TM)

          2.   Who named the toponyms in North Africa that are understood by the Slovenians and when did this take place?

          3.   How and when did genetic groups present in Slavs come to Africa?

References:
(B) Belyaeva, O., et al. (2003).  Mitochondrial DNA Variations in Russian and Belorussian Populations. Human Biology October, v.75, no.5, pp. 647-660.
(C) Calafell, F., et al. (1996).  From Asia to Europe: Mitochondrial DNA sequence variability in Bulgarians and Turks. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 60:35-49.
(G) Gutierrez, G., et al. (2002).  A Reanalysis of the Ancient Mitochondrial DNA Sequences Recovered from Neandertal Bones. Mol. Biol. Evol. 19(8):1359-1366.
(I) Izagirre, N., et al. (1999).  An mtDNA Analysis in Ancient Basque Populations:  Implications for Haplogroup V as a Marker for a major Paleolithic Expansion from Southwestern Europe. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 65:199-207.
(K) Kivisild, T., et al. (1999).  Deep common ancestry of Indian and western-Eurasian mitochondrial DNA lineages. Current Biology 9:1331-1334.
(MM) Maca-Mayer, N., et al. (2003).  Molecular Characterization of Pasiegos from Cantabria (Spain). Annals of Human Genetics 67:312-328.
(M) Malyarchuk, B.A., et al. (2003).  Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Bosnians and Slovenians. Annals of Human Genetics 67:412-425.
(P) Poloni, E. S., et al. (1997).  Human Genetic Affinities for Y-Chromosome P49a, f/Taql Haplotypes Show Strong Correspondence with Linguistics. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 61:1015-1035.
(RA) Rando, J.C., et al. (1998).  Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Northwest African populations reveals genetic exchange with European, Near-Eastern, and sub-Saharan populations. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 62: 531-250.
(R) Richards, M., et al. (2000).  Tracing European Founder Lineages in the Near Eastern mtDNA Pool. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 67:1251-1276.
(R1) Richards, M., et al. (1997).  Reply to Cavalli-Sforza and Minch. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 61:251-254.
(RM) Ridley, M. (2002) trans. Pajer, U. GENOM: Biografija človeške vrste (Tržič, Slovenija, Učila International) p.16.
(RO) Rootsi, S. et al. (2004).  Phylogeography of Y-Chromosome Haplogroup I Reveals Distinct Domains of Prehistoric Gene Flow in Europe. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 75:128-137.
(RZ) Rosser, Z. et al., (2000).  Y-Chromosomal Diversity in Europe Is Clinal and Influenced Primarily by Geography, Rather than by Language. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 67:1526-1543.
(S) Smith, F.H., et al. (1999).  Direct radiocarbon dates for Vindija G1 and Velika Pećina Late Pleistocene hominid remains. PNAS October 26, 1999 vol. 96 no. 22:12281-12286.
(Š) Škof, L. (2003). STA. Glasilo Kanadskih Slovencev
(ŠS) Škulj, J., Sharda, J.C. (2001).  Indo-Aryan and Slavic Affinities. Zbornik prve mednarodne konference: Veneti v etnogenezi srednjeevropskega prebivalstva. ed. Perdih A.& Rant J. (Ljubljana, Slovenija, Jutro) pp.112-121. ISBN 961-6433-06-7
(SG) Sotiroff, G., (1971).  Phoenicians, Vencyans, Heneti, Veneti and Wendi. Anthropological Journal of Canada. Vol. 9, No. 4: 5-10
(SO) Semino, O., et al. (2000).  The Genetic Legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in Extant Europeans. Science vol. 290 10 November 1156-1159.
(TM) Tomažič, I., (1999).  Sledovi iz davne preteklosti. Slovenci: Kdo smo? Od kdaj in odkod izviramo? ( Ljubljana, Slovenija, Editiones Veneti) pp. 11-12.
(T1) Torroni, A., et al. (1996).  Classification of European mtDNAs From an Analysis of three European populations. Genetics 144:1835-1850 (December, 1996).
(T2) Torroni, A., et al. (2001).  A Signal, from Human mtDNA, of Postglacial Recolonization in Europe. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 69:844-852.
(T3) Torroni, A., et al. (1998).  mtDNA Analysis Reveals a Major Late Paleolithic Population Expansion from Southwestern to Northeastern Europe. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 62:1137-1152.
(TP) Tulajev, P., (2000).  Vandali. Veneti:  Predki Slavyan / Veneti:  Predniki Slovanov (Moskva, Beliye al’vy) pp. 155-157 ISBN 5-7619-0111-0.
(V) Vernesi C., et al. (2004).  The Etruscans:  A Population Genetic Study. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 74: 694-704.
(Y) The Y-Chromosome Consortium (2001).  A Nomenclature System for the Tree of Human Y-Chromosomal Binary Haplogroups.

Od kod ime Slovenci?     Ali imamo Slovenci Venetske korenine?   Izvor izrazov Winden, Wenden, Windische, wendisch, windisch izhaja iz germanskega izraza za staroevropske prebivalce Evrope, Venete. Nekateri zatrjujejo, da so Germani izraz prenesli na zahodne Slovane, potem ko so se slednji doselili na ta ozemlja. Najbolj nenavadno je to, da selitev na območja med Baltikom in Jadranom (razen delno za južni  in osrednji Balkan) v zgodovini ni nikjer omenjena in da kronisti in pisci o tem nič ne vedo vse do začetka 19. stol., ko se pojavi nemški nacionalizem. Ta Germane predstavlja kot raso nosilcev kulture in napredka ter jim v zgodovini pripisuje poselitev celotne srednje Evrope do meja Belorusije, medtem ko naj bi bile  zahodne meje Germanov pred 1600 leti tam, kjer se še danes in kjer se začne francoski jezik. Zelo drzne trditve za znanstven pristop k preučevanju zgodovine in lingvistike.         Karta Sklavonije (Slovenije) ali dežele Wendov, Bosne in Hrvaške iz leta 1549. Avtor A. Hirschvogel.       Ko se Nemcem pomrači um...   Pred nemškim nacionalnim zgodovinopisjem 19. stol. so Germani z izrazi Winden, Wenden označevali staroselsko prebivalstvo! Po nemškem nacionalnem zgodovinopisju pa menda zahodno Slovansko prebivalstvo, ki so mu brez znanstvene podlage določili, da se je moralo tja priseliti, če ga prej ni bilo. In seveda tudi pove od kod je bilo to prebivalstvo priseljeno (pripjatska močvirja) in kdaj. Vse brez kakršnekoli resne znanstvene podlage, saj noben zgodovinski vir  tega ne potrjuje. Če Germani Slovane imenujejo Wendi, potem so morali to ime enkrat v preteklosti prenesti nanje sodijo, kar je spet zelo nenavadno in nova znanstvena ugotovitev, saj se dejansko v zgodovinski praksi na novo doseljena ljudstva niso prenašala imena starega poraženega, pregnanega ali asimiliranega ljudstva, obratno pač. O tem, da je ta trditev neumnost je še mnogo drugih dokazov in dejstev, vendar bomo na tej strani ostali pri začrtani temi.       Starost Slovenščine   Preden se spustimo v nadaljnje pojasnjevanje, je potrebno pogledati v dalno preteklost, ko je nastal izraz Slovenec, Slovenci. Ta beseda je vsekakor nastala mnogo prej kot v 6. stol., ko nekateri hlapčevski zgodovinarji, ki le prepisujejo tuje zablode, vidijo prihod Slovencev v vzhodne Alpe! Izvor besede Sloven, Sloveni oz. Slovenec Slovenci, sega več tisočletij daleč, a glede na izredno bogastvo jezika bolj verjetno nekaj desettisočletij v preteklost. Danes imajo le redki jeziki dvojino: Dvojina in druge zapletene slovnične oblike kažejo, da se je tisti jezik, ki jo premore, oblikoval zelo dolgo časa. Neverjetne so razlage tistih redkih "strokovnjakov" zadnjih dveh stoletij, ki ugotavljajo, da dvojina kaže na to, da je jezik mlad in nerazvit. Take trditve so nevredne papirja na katerem so zapisane, saj so v temeljnem nasprotju z osnovnimi naravnimi zakonitostmi. Če bi bilo to res, bi se otrok najprej naučil izgovarjati zapletene stavčne oblike, kasneje z leti pa bi prešel na lažje in bolj enostavne?! Tujci, ki so se učili našega jezika vedo, da je Slovenščina vse prej kot enostavna in lahka za učenje. Zanimiva je primerjava Slovenščine z drugimi velikimi, imperialnimi jeziki, kot so Angleščina, Francoščina, ... Če uporabimo naprimer angleška slovnična pravila, a se izražamo s slovenskimi besedami, nam Slovencem taka slovenščina zveni zelo ubogo, omejeno, da ne rečem kar naravnost primitivno. Na starost Slovenščine kaže tudi velika podobnost Sanskrta s Slovenščino. Še kako desetletje nazaj so izvor sanskrtskega jezika (star indijski jezik) iskali v Litvanščini. Toda ko so nekateri domoljubni Slovenci (Jožef Škulj, Kanada) opozorili, da je Slovenščina mnogo bolj sorodna Sanskrtu kot Litvanščina, so bili osupli, saj Slovenščine, kot primerjalnega jezika sploh nihče ni preučeval. Sanskrt se je skozi stoletja dokaj spreminjal, verjetno zaradi tega, ker se je s časoma pomešal s staroselskimi besedami indijskega podkontinenta. Zanimivo pa je, da starejši ko je Sanskrt, večja je njegova sorodnost s Slovenščino. Novejše študije ugotavljajo, da se je Sanskrt, od takrat glavnega Evropskega jezika, Slovenščine, ločil pred najmanj 8.000 leti. Genske študije pa so pokazale še, da se genska slika v srednji Evropi, v zadnjih 20.000 letih, praktično ni spremenila, saj je v vsem tem dolgem času novih genov le 7 %. Bolj ko se raziskuje izvor Slovenščine in njeno relacijo do drugih jezikov, bolj rezultati kažejo, da je Slovenščina najstarejši jezik Evrope, ki so ga nekdaj govorili v veliki večini Evrope. Kot kaže je neznan jezik, ki so ga pred 200 leti označili za indo-evropski jezik, ali celo nesramno za indo-germanski jezik, prav Slovenščina. Seveda pa se moramo zavedati, da današnja Slovenščina ni povsem enaka slovenščini izpred nekaj tisoč let, saj je bila ravno tako podvržena spremembam, kot drugi jeziki, a ta sprememba je bila neprimerno manjša. Še najbolj močno se je Slovenščina spremenila v zadnjih 200 letih. Začelo se je z Ilirizmom oz. balkanizacijo (lj in nj) ter mladoslovenci. Posilstvo nad Slovenščino pa so nadaljevali prav tisti, ki naj bi skrbeli za slovenski jezik, to pa so naši slavisti. Tisoče starodavnih slovenskih besed so označili kot germanizme ali manjvredne besede (štiglic, varžet, tišlar, ...) in jih največkrat nadomeščali z balkanskimi. Kljub zavednemu ali nezavednemu uničevanju Slovenščine, naš jezik od vseh evropskih jezikov, še vedno kaže najbolj pristno sorodnost s prastarim jezikom Evrope, ki se je zelo verjetno imenovala Slovenščina, kot splošen pojem za ljudi istega jezika.       Izvor imena Slovenci (Vendi)   Takrat beseda Slovenec ni pomenila pripadnika našega naroda kot ga razumevamo dandanes, pač pa tistega, ki govori jezik ali dialekt jezika, katerega razumemo tudi sami. Torej Slovenec je bil tisti, ki govori isti jezik, iste besede (slove, slova). Od tod izvor imena (Slove)nec. Na enaki pomenski osnovi je bil nem tisti čigar jezik je bil nerazumljiv. Od tod izraz Nemec. Jezik tistega torej katerega slove ne razumemo. Veneti oz. Vendi je bil izraz, ki so ga drugi (Grki, Latini, Germani) uporabljali za sloVendce, nikoli pa oni sami zase, saj so si rekli Slovenci.Vendi ali Veneti pa je le okrajšava od sloVendci, brez predpone slo. Zakaj tudi Lahom Slovenci niso rekli Nemci? Obstaja tehten razlog, ki pa ga tu ne bomo obravnavali. Obstaja mnenje, da ime Slovenci izhaja iz besede slaven, sloveti, slaviti (praznovati) itd. Toda če bi to držalo, bi bili Slovenci vsi tisti ljudje, ki bi praznovali ali bi bili znani po slavnih dejanjih. Tu pa je zelo težko postaviti jasno mejo, saj bi v tem primeru lahko šteli, da so bili Slovenci vsi tisti, ki so praznovali, to pa so bili praktično vsi ljudje v takrat znanem svetu. Problematično pa v tem primeru postane še razmerje do besede nemec, ki jasno kaže na nekoga katerega slovo (govorico) ne razumeš, medtem ko so Slovani tisti, katerih slovo (govorico) razumeš. Ko zgodovinarji govorijo o keltskih plemenih (Japodih, Tavriskih, Karnih, Istrih, ...) na našem ozemlju, pri tem ne uporabljajo prav velikih intelektualnih kapacitet. Vemo, da so Rimljani zapisali tudi imena Ambisonti, Ambidravi (Posočani, Podravčani). Le po zapisanem imenu sklepati, da gre za različno pleme ali bognedaj celo za različen jezik, je velika neumnost, ki jo lahko stori le tisti, ki pri zadevah, ki jih preučuje ne upošteva naravnih zakonitosti. Tudi danes se v Sloveniji ljudje delijo po geografsko ali politično zaokroženih enotah. Po zapisanih imenih Posočani, Primorci, Kraševci, Korošci, Savinčani, Zasavci, Lublančani, Prleki, ... bi v letu 3000, po logiki naših zgodovinarjev kaj lahko sklepali, da so pred tisoč leti na naših tleh živela premena s temi imeni. Kdor bi tako stališče zastopal danes, pa bi ga imeli za blazneža. Po vsem svetu se ljudje združujemo ali delimo po določenih naravnih zakonitostih. Če vas nekdo na drugem koncu sveta sprašuje od kod ste, mu lahko ponosno odgovorite, da ste Prlek, a mu ta podatek ne bo čisto nič povedal. Če odgovorite, da ste iz Evrope, bo večina vedela najmanj, da je to nekje daleč. Toda ko ste v Evropi, ne morete odgovoriti, da ste iz Evrope, saj smo vsi Evropejci iz Evrope in ta podatek ne pove čisto nič. Če rečete, da ste iz Slovenije, bo v današnjem času vsaj večina približno vedela kje je to. V Evropi se zaradi jasnosti ljudje delimo po državah. Podobno je v Sloveniji. Tu se Slovenci delimo po pokrajinah, območjih ali krajih. Če Promorc vpraša Gorenca od kod je, bi bil odgovor, da je iz Slovenije neprimeren. Ko pa Krančan vpraša Bohinca od kod da je, bi odgovor, da je iz Gorenjske ne povedal prav nič. Prav tako želi Bohinc izvedeti od nekoga iz bohinjskega kota, iz katerega kraja je. Taka delitev med ljudmi vse do imena domačije in imena posameznega človeka, je povsem naraven pojav. Kot vidimo je delitev in združevanje med ljudmi, po različnih teritorialnih enotah odvisna od tega, iz katerega nivoja ali zornega kota gledamo na to teritorialno enoto. Zato tudi imena Japodi, Tavriski, Karni, Istri, Noričani, ... ne povedo prav nič o njihovem poreklu, pač pa le o o njihovi delitvi med seboj. Na višjem nivoju, pa je bila skupna točka, ki jih je združevala jezik. Vsi so bili Slovenci, saj so govorili isti jezik. Na isti jezik v času rimske okupacije kažejo zapisana imena krajev in rek, ki so vsa po vrsti slovenska.       Zgodovinski zapisi   Izjemno dragocen je zapis iz turških virov. Turki so bili zelo dobro seznanjeni s situacijo v sosedščini, tako na podeželju kot na dvoru. Prav gotovo pa je, da niso imeli razloga, da bi bili nemško navdihnjeni. Takrat Avstrija niti ni imela značaja nemštva, pač pa je bila wendska dežela, prav tako precejšen del Ogrske. V bitki med Ogri in Turki pri Mohaču leta 1526 je bi ogrski kralj Ludvik II. umorjen. Tako je po vzajemni nasledstveni pogodbi novi ogrski kralj postal avstrijski nadvojvoda Ferdinand. Leta 1527 je kot kralj Avstrije in Ogrske poslal v Carigrad dva odposlanca, da bi se s turškim sultanom dogovorila za premirje. Po nekaj mesecih dogovarjanj ju je sultan Sulejman odslovil z besedami, ki so pomenile napoved nove vojne in jima izročil pismo, naslovljeno na "Ferdinanda, kralja Wendov".         Karta Krasa, Kranjske dežele, Istre in Wendske marke iz leta 1589. Avtor nizozemski kartograf Mercator (Gerard Kremer). Wendska marka zajema ozemlja današnje Dolenjske, Bele krajine, širšega obkolpja, in Gorskega kotarja do kvarnerske obale pred otokom Krkom (kasnejša Kranjska). Nemški politiki 20. stoletja so z namenom razbitja in okupacije slovenskega ozemlja trdili, da Wendi niso  Slovenci, tako kot so Kranjci in da gre za povsem drug narod.     Pisci tudi v 17. stol. še poznajo izraz Wenden, Winden za Slovane nasploh. Megister v svojih Anales Carinthiae iz leta 1612, uporablja "Windische Voelker" kot sinonim za "Sclavonische Voelker", "Windischen" kot sinonim za "Sclavi". Winden, Wenden ali Windische mu še pomeni Slovane. Prav tako Schoenleben v svoji latinski Carniola antiqua et nova, iz leta 1681, in Valvasor v svoji nemški Ehre des Herzogthumus Crain iz leta 1689, označujeta Slovane včasih kot Slavi, Sclavi, Slaven, spet drugič kot Vendi, Vindi, Wenden.   Že Linhart je ugotovil, da izrazi Winden, Wenden itd. pomenijo sicer Slovane, a nikdar ne v njihovem jeziku, temveč kot oznaka drugih narodov zanje. Slovenski protestanti uporabljajo v svojih slovenskih tekstih izraze Slovenec, slovenski, v nemških tekstih pa izraze Windischer, windisch. Ta ugotovitev velja čisto na splošno vse do danes še vedno za Slovence.   V srednjem veku pomeni beseda Karantanec izraz za Slovenca za razliko od drugih Slovanov in sicer tudi za Slovenca izven današnje Koroške, Karantanija je pa tedaj Slovenija. Ob pojavu fevdalizma in razpadu Karantanije na razne dežele je ta izraz izginil. Slovenci pa se odslej označujejo kot Slovenci oz. kasneje kot Kranjci, Korošci, Štajerci, itd pač po deželi v kateri so živeli. Še v 20. stol. je izraz Kranjec, kranjski pomenil Slovenec, slovenski spričo močno prevladujoče večine Slovencev v tej deželi. Koroški in štajerski, po nazivu dežele, pa že nekaj stoletij ni več pomenil le slovenski zaradi doselitve nemških kmetov med Slovence in posledično napredujočega germaniziranja Slovencev od severa proti jugu.         Karta iz leta 1846, ki prikazuje pripadnost posameznemu narodu v takratni Avstro-Ogrski monarhiji. Rezultat popisa je močno pretiran v nemško korist. Avtor Karl Czoernig (po slov. prednikih Černik). Avstrijske Slovence sredi 19. stol. jasno poimenuje Slovenci ali Wendi. Zanimiva so tudi razmerja med narodoma na Hrvaškem. Hrvaški Slovenci živijo na območju severno od reke Kolpe, Karlovca in reke Save pa vse do reke Drave. Hrvaški Srbi pa južno od Slovencev.     Naslednji dokument, ki priča o izrazu wendski je prošnja kranjskega stanovskega odbora cesarju Jožefu II. za obnovo ljubljanskega filozofskega študija 27. maja 1786, kjer je bil brez dvoma od Linharta formuliran stavek, ki se v prevodu glasi: "Vaše Veličanstvo naj blagoslovi milostljivo upoštevati, da imajo ljubljanska, goriška in tržaška škofija, kakor tudi deli škofij Pičen, Pulj in Poreč, torej ne le Kranjska in Istra, ampak tudi goriško in tržaško ozemlje, znaten del Koroške in Štajerske skoraj do Mure, ozemlje, na katerem živi več kakor milijon ljudi, svoj poseben slovanski ali vendski (windisch) jezik in da dobiva večino in najbolj uporabne duhovnike iz Kranjske, ker na vsem tem ozemlju velja večinoma prav kranjski dialekt za lastni cerkveni jezik".   Že prej pa je Linhart v prospektu za svojo zgodovino v Leibacher Zeitung 17. avgusta 1786 jasno povedal, da živi med Dravo in Jadranskim morjem en sam narod, ki spada k velikemu ljudskemu deblu Slovanov in ga le slučajno, čeprav zgodovinsko ne točno dele v Kranjce in Vende (Wenden) in izrazil namen, da poda zgodovino tega naroda v celoti. Linhart nato leta 1791 v svojem delu "Poskus zgodovine Kranjske in drugih dežel Južnih Slovanov Avstrije", opozarja na nacionalni pomen Karantanije, ki je presegala okvir današnje Koroške in opozarja, da je delitev na dežele (Kranjsko, Koroško in Štajersko) posledica kasnejše politične ustave. Odslej območje enotnega slovenskega jezika med slovenskimi preporoditelji ni več sporna. Med enotno jezikovno območje uvrstijo še Prekmurce in Beneške Slovence, Kopitar pa si je močno prizadeval, da bi v ta kulturni krog pritegnil še hrvaške kajkavce.         Zemljevid iz leta 1545, ki prikazuje Wendsko marko na območju današnje Dolenjske in deželo Wendov vzhodno od Štajerske dežele nad Zagrebom in ob reki Krapini. Takrat so tam nedvomno živeli Slovenci. Govorili so jezik, ki je bil domala enak današnjemu slovenskemu panonskemu narečju. Hrvatje so v 18. st. začeli širiti neresnico, o kajkavskih Hrvatih, kar trdijo še danes, čeprav zgodovinski viri izrecno govorijo o Slovencih.       Rojevanje narodnega imena   Pojmovanje naroda preko ozkih deželnih meja pa zahteva tudi spremembo terminologije. Linhart si je prizadeval, da bi se kot skupno ime tega naroda uporabljal izraz Karantanci, včasih tudi Kranjci, kar mu je le sinonim za Karantance. Tudi Kopitar je večkrat izrazil simpatije za karantanski naziv, ki pa se spričo ne več živega imena za ta narod, znanega le še iz srednjeveških virov in mogel močno uveljaviti kot oznaka za živo narodno enoto. Do odločilnega preobrata pride med leti 1802 in 1812, ko začnejo Vodnik, Primc in tudi Kopitar za naš narod prvič uporabljati izraz Slovenec, slovenski za vse Slovence, tudi Kranjce. V tem času nastane tudi izraz Slovenija, izrazi Karantanija, Karantanci, karantanski pa počasi ponovno potonejo v pozabo. Avtorja si iz Češčine izposodita izraz Slovan in slovanski, tako da obstojita odslej v slovenščini za Slovane in Slovence dva različna izraza.   Slovenski preporoditelji, kadar pišejo v nemščini, začno namesto dosedanjih izrazov Wenden, Winden, Windische, windisch uporabljati izraze Slowenzen, slowenzisch, Slowenziche, Slowenen, slovenisch. Med nemškimi pisatelji pa se novi izrazi pojavijo zelo počasi saj nekateri še v začetku 20. stol. uporabljajo stare izraze.       Navodila za izpolnitev popisnega lista, objavljena v Uradnem listu za šolstvo na avstrijskem Koroškem leta 1951. V njih je izrecno zahtevano, naj se pri slovenskih šolarjih v rubriko o materinem jeziku vpiše slovenščina in ne windisch. Izraz windisch je Deželni šolski svet Koroške prepovedal 1946.       Zakaj toliko zadreg s poimenovanjem - Slovenci?   Takrat so bili Sloveni tudi narod v Panoniji in Istri (dejansko Slovenci), Zagorci, Slavonci, Dalmatinci, "Bosanci", Slovaki, Moravci, Čehi, ...  vsekakor tisti, katerih jezik je bil med seboj razumljiv. Slovenci kot ta izraz razumemo danes smo živeli v različnih državah in pokrajinah, med drugim v Karantaniji, Panoniji, Istri; kasneje pa v Kranjski, Štajerski, Koroški, Goroški, ... Imenovali so se pač po državi ali deželi v kateri smo bivali ter se tako ločevali po ozemeljsko zaokroženih celotah.  Izraz Karantanec, ali Kranjec je na istem pomenskem nivoju kot Hrvat, Čeh, Slovak, ... Izraz Slovenec je preširoko označeval sorodne narode. Da to pravilo poimenovanja še danes drži je razvidno iz naslednjega dejstva. Ko so se združili tako različni narodi kot so Slovenci, Hrvati, Srbi, Črnogorci in Makedonci v enotno državo so iskali poimenovanje v nekem skupnem, širšem imenovalcu in so ga našli v besedi Sloveni kar ni daleč ob besede Sloven(c)i. Vendar je bil tudi za te narode Sloven(c)i preširok izraz zato so nedvoumno določili, da gre za južne Sloven(c)e torej Jugosloven(c)e.          Prevod celotne Biblije v Slovenščino (Slovenski tolmačena), Jurij Dalmatin 1584. V nemščini je Windisch enako Slovenski.         Kaj pa naš Primož Trubar, ali nas ni že v letu 1551  nagovoril z "Lubi Slouenzi ..." Trubar je res uporabil besedo Slovenci, vendar je v tistem času ta izraz označeval vse Slovene oz. Slovence v kolikor niso bili poimenovani z drugimi, lokalnimi imeni kot npr. Krajnci, Čehi, Moravci, Morlaki, Ličani, itd. Tako je Trubar z besedo Slovenci najverjetneje naslavljal le Slovene v Notranji Avstriji, torej tudi Istri, znotraj državnih meja, katerim je pripadal. Takrat narodne zavesti, kot jo poznamo danes ni bilo. Obstajala pa je zavest o pripadnosti deželi in državi. Zato Trubar zelo verjetno ni nagovarjal Slovencev v Ogrski, Benečiji in Slovenjeh (danes Slavonija), čeprav ni nobenega dvoma, da so se takrat zavedali, da Zagorci, Medmurci in drugi Slovenci (kajkavci), ki so bili onstran Avstrijske meje govorijo isti, naš jezik, ne pa srbskega .   V tistih časih nam beseda Slovani še ni bila poznana. Tako pojmovanje Slovencev se je ohranilo do začetka 19. stol., ko so preporoditelji iskali ime za narod med vzhodnimi Alpami, panonsko nižino in Jadranom. Ta narod so poimenovali Slovenci. Težko je jasno reči ali jim je ta izraz še pomenil popolnoma enako kot Slovani, zgovorno dejstvo pa je, da so si preporoditelji za ostale Slovene iz češčine izposodili izraz Slovani. To poimenovanje in razlikovanje je v veljavi še danes. Če bi se takrat odločili za narodno ime Karantanci bi te dileme ne bilo. Vsi ostali sorodni narodi bi ostali Slovenci ali Sloveni.   Zanimiv je primer pisatelja Janeza Trdine (1830-1905), ki je kot zemljepisec in zgodovinar služboval v Varaždinu in na Reki in je torej dobro poznal Slovence na ogrskem. Sredi 19. stoletja kljub že uporabljanima izrazoma Slovenci / Slovani, on pri pisanju za oba dva pojma uporablja le besedo Slovenci.     nazaj