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TRANSYLVANIA

The first document in which the term "Ultra siluam" is used referring to the area dates from 1075 , its meaning is "beyond the forest". The terms "Partes Transsylvanæ" ("parts beyond the forest") dates from the same century (in ''Legenda Sancti Gerhardi'') and after that becomes the term used in the Latin documents of the Kingdom Of Hungary (as "Transsilvania").

The name ''Transylvania'' (, meaning "beyond the forest" ("trans" = beyond and "silva" = forest).


ARDEAL/ERDéLY

The names of ''Ardeal'' in Romanian and ''Erdély'' in Hungarian are believāed to be linked one to another. The original source and meaning are disputed and claimed by both Romanians and Hungarians. The first Hungarian form recorded was "Erdeuelu" in the 12th century Gesta Hungarorum , while the first Romanian form recorded was in 1432 as "Ardeliu". The initial a/e difference between the names can be found in other words common to Romanian and Hungarian, such as ''agriş / egres'' ( Gooseberry ). Another possibility is that its origins lie in the Roman province name of
Dacia Aureliana ( e g Aureliana = Ardeal, Erdély) which was set up by Roman Emperor Aurelian in the third century.


Hungarian View

The consensus of Hungarian linguists and Hungarian historians on the etymology of both Erdély and Transylvania is as follows:

  • Erdély is derived from the Hungarian ''Erdõ-elve'' meaning "beyond the forest". The earliest written evidence of this form is the Gesta Hungarorum where it is written as ''Erdeuelu''.

  • The Latin form Ultrasylvnia (1077), later Transylvania was most likely a direct translation from the Hungarian form (rather than the Hungarian being derived from the Latin)

  • The Romanian form Ardeal was probably derived from an old Hungarian form, Ardó/Erdő (forest) (eg Végardó ).

  • Romanians in Transylvania were organized in small comunities including several villages, in which population was more ethnically pure. They called this lands Ţāri (which literally means Countries and came from the Latin Terra, eg Terra Blacorum). Examples: Ţara Pādurenilor (Woodlanders Country - in Poiana Rusca Mountains), Ţara Moţilor (Country of the People of Apuseni Mountains), Ţara Crişului (Country of Criş Rivers), Ţara Zarandului, Ţara Haţegului, etc. This was a common fact for Romanian people. The soutern medieval Romanian political entity Wallachia was called Ţara Romaneascā. As they lacked political representation, they probably did not feel the need for their own name and just used the official name of the most important ruling class, i.e. the Hungarian name Erdély - but addapted to fit the language. As an interesting note, people in Moldavia and Wallachia sometimes used to refer to Transylvania as Ţara Ungureascā (translated as Country of the Hungarians). However this does not imply that the people were magyars, but rather referred to all inhabitants of Kingdom Of Hungary , irrespective of their ethnicity (see Historic Meaning Of Hungarian ).



Romanian View


The ending '-eal' in Romanian suggests that it was not borrowed in Romanian from Hungarian, because as we know from parallel examples, Hungarian '-ely' becomes '-ei' in Romanian (Hungarian ''Udvarhely'' → Romanian ''Odorhei'').

The actual meaning is yet unknown, there have been suggested several possible etymologies:

  • ''arde'' appears to be an Indo-European word meaning "forest" (akin to Forest of Arden, England and Belgian Ardennes Woods).

  • ''deal'' means "hill" in Romanian, while ''arde'' means "to burn": it has been suggested that it could mean "the land of the burning hills" after the fires started by Romanian shepherds to warn the invaders of their presence.

  • '' Arderich '', the king of the Germanic Gepid s once ruled Transylvania in the 5th Century and it is possible that the name of Arderich's land was passed on ever since.



SIEBENBüRGEN

Siebenbürgen ("seven castles" or "seven boroughs"), the German name for Transylvania, refers to the seven principal fortified towns of the Transylvanian Saxons . The name first appeared in a document from 1296 . An alternate Latin version, "Septem Castra" ("Seven fortresses") was also used in medieval documents.

Another theory for the name Siebenbürgen is that, as Saxon settlement began in Sibiu , an early German name for the town was Cibinburg (from the Roman name of the area Cibiniensis). The name Cibinburg was corrupted into Siebenbürgen and became the name for the whole region.

The Slavic name of the region (''Sedmigradsko'' or ''Sedmogradsko'' in Bulgarian , ''Sedmohradsko'' in Slovak , ''Siedmiogród'' in Polish ) is a translation of the German one.