Milosh, from Dukagjini to the "hero of Kosovo"

It is quite possible that as a result of his popularity, the name of Miloš Vojinov also became even more popular, even more widespread among the people in Dukagjin, which partly belonged to the possessions of his father, Vojin, and his personal possessions. If he was born perhaps at the end of the 13th century, the time of his popularity in the second decade of the 14th century would coincide with the time of that widespread use of the name Miloš. However, one of his later compatriots, to whom he probably owes his name, expelled him to some extent from the chronicle of folk songs through his own popularity, which he gained through a greater heroic deed and heroic death in Kosovo in 1389.

Transcription of names

Latin notaries in coastal areas rarely transcribed pure Serbian names with -us (Dragus for both Drago and Dragush) or with -usus (Garduso for Gërdush or Gërdosh) or with -osus (Prvosus for Prvosh), but usually with -us(s)ius (Bellussius for Bellu or Bello) and, adhering even more closely to Serbian pronunciation, with the suffix -os(s)ius (Urossius for Urosh, Gerdossius for Gërdosh, Pervossius for Prvosh and others; all examples according to Jireçek.

The names of the cited persons are formed a) from a verb: Glkosh(?); b) from general nouns: Medosh, perhaps also Urosh (Turkish: ur-prijës, sir); c) from existing proper nouns, usually through nicknames, and specifically: from the Serbo-Croatian language, e.g.: Vikosh, Bogosh (Bogoje), Bratosh (Bratoje), Njegosh (Njegoje), Vidosh (Vidoje), Milosh (Miroslav), Branosh (Branislav), Ninosh (Ninoslav); here should be added from Daničić's "Osnove" (p. 360): Cvetllosh (Cvetko) and Petosh (Petoje); more often from foreign names: Androsh, Petrosh, Dinosh and, according to Elezović ("Dictionary of the dialect of Kosovo and Metohija"), Janesh (end of the 18th century); also from foreign extra-calendar names: Llallo (Lale), Lajosh(?) and, appearing later, Jagosh; according to Elezović (ibid.) from today's Vushtrri: Matosh and Mitosh (two brothers from Toplica, Drenica); d) however, in the vast majority of cases, from descriptive adjectives, in the form of simple nominative adjectives: Bellash, Gradosh, Pinosh, Mlladosh, Radosh (from rad – happy/ready), Dragosh, Milosh, Vitosh, Rutosh, further also Prvosh and Inosh.

The names of persons are also attached to: e) names of places (toponyms), with the exception of older feminine names, e.g.: V(ë)rmosh (today Vrmesha – a river that originates in Kom) and Serosh; from those recorded later in Vuku (Dictionary), Elezovići (Dictionary) and Danići (Osnove): Bellosh, Budosh, Vinosh (mountains in Montenegro and on the coast), Malosh (castle in folk songs), Tvrdoš (monastery), Divosh (village in Srem), Mukosh (mountain in Southern Serbia) and others.

Gjelosh as a human name, Balosh as a name for horses and oxen

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As for the two main groups of proper nouns under c) and d), to which even the rare examples from a) and b can be reduced, we see that the suffix -osh does not give the derivatives any other meaning, so that its function in group c) almost falls to the level of an ordinary particle, or, in group d), simply gives the adjectival roots a noun form.

Could these, taken separately and regardless of the time of their creation, serve as a model for the formation of Serbian proper nouns with -osh? Such an explanation would be acceptable if it were a purely Serbian or generally Slavic suffix. However, it is also widely used in the languages ​​of the peoples with whom the Yugoslavs have lived in symbiosis since early times, especially among the Hungarians and Romanians in the north, as well as among the Albanians and Aromanians (Vlachs) in the Balkans.

Do we dare to limit ourselves to Hungarian influence alone in explaining the formation of Serbian place names and persons with -osh of the Miloš group, given the fact that the northern and especially western parts of the Serbian people have long been in close relations with the Hungarians? However, given the terrain where the suffix -osh is most productive in the formation of toponyms and especially the names of people of the Miloš group – in the vast Dukagjini region, which is quite far from the northern and middle Drina region (where Hungarian influence would be understandable due to the long administrative affiliation to Hungary) – this is not possible.

Despite this review, it remains to be investigated in the closest Balkan languages ​​whether and to what extent any of them have influenced the Serbian language in this regard. Especially based on the research results of J.G. Hahn (Alb. Studien I, - Wiener Denkschriften 1853) and G. Meyer (Alb. Stud. I-VII, Wiener Sitzungsberichte; same: Kurzgef. alb. Gramm., Leipzig 1888, and Etymol. Wörterbuch der alb. Sprache, Strassburg 1891), it turns out that the formant -osh in the language of the Albanians, with whom the Serbian people in the territory of Dukagjin have coexisted for a long time (this symbiosis has been documented since the 13th-14th centuries; cf. also Jireçek, “Die Romanen” p. 41-42), is still very productive, especially frequent in the names of colors, as G. Meyer points out (Et. Wörterb. in the section on balosh, and earlier on Alb. Stud. I, 294).

Of the words mentioned there, Gjelosh is used as a human name, while Balosh is used as a name for horses and oxen that have a white forehead, or more precisely, a white spot on the forehead. For the Serbian of Kosovo and Dukagjini, this is also confirmed by Elezović (his dictionary) under baljosh-baljast vo (has a spot on the forehead); in addition, also in a figurative sense. According to the Albanian roots bal- and balosh-, which derive from the Serbian bel- (white), in the dialect of Kosovo and Dukagjini the adjectives baljast and baljos-ast have been formed again.

Finally, in the Albanian language there are not only derogatory and mocking names, but also real names of people attested since ancient times with the suffixes -osh or -ush, such as Reposh (Repossius, frequent among representatives of the Kastriot dynasty), or Tanush (Tanussius). For this reason, among the proper names in the Dukagjini chrysobels we also find Serbian names, the root of which cannot be determined with certainty, such as Lalosh, Lagosh, Kanjosh (from Canisius or in connection with kanjushë “stork”, according to G. Meyer), then also Mirosh, for which – in addition to the interpretation already given as a shortened hypocoristic of the name Miroslav – a second interpretation is imposed in connection with the Albanian adjective mirë (Serbian milo), according to which Mirosh could be the Albanian correspondence of the Serbian name Milosh.

Miloš – a popular name at the beginning of the 14th century

The common (Albanian and Serbian) part in the formation of proper nouns with -osh in the territory of Dukagjini in the Middle Ages is now beyond doubt, due to the completely identical dual function of this suffix in both languages: a) naming of adjectives: balos, verbos - junos, zeljosh etc., b) the development of such adjectival nouns into mocking, exclamatory and real names of persons: Millosh - Mirosh etc. This union would be even more striking if we were to include the formations with -esh and especially those with -as.

From the root mil-, which, along with the older roots rad- and drag-, has been growing more and more in the 13th century, formed with the help of the Balkan suffix -osh, the name Milosh immediately became very popular in Serbian peasant families, so much so that at the beginning of the 14th century it surpassed all other formations with the same suffix in frequency. In the first Decani chrysobull, after the name Milosh (177 times), the most frequent are also the names Dragosh (56), Pinosh and Radosh (each 13), Bratosh (12), along with Bratush (4), Prvosh (10), Njegosh (5) along with Njegush, Bellosh (4), along with Bellush, Medosh and Bogosh (each 3), Gikosh and Vidosh (each 2), Mlladosh, Mirosh, Llagosh, Llalosh, Ninosh, also Petrosh, Androsh. Also, the name Millosh surpasses almost all other derivatives from the root mil-, for which the 13th-century Žica and Hilandar chrysobeads do not provide any examples: e.g. Millovan (61), Millko (39), Millesh(a) (27), Miloslav and Millota (22), Milloje (20), Millac (18), Millsha (10), Millman and Millten (9), Millan (7), Milladin and Millen (6), Miljak and Milcin (5), Millash (3), Millak and Millutin (2), Millush, Miljan, Milleta, Millenko, Milltosh, Millkun, Millkus, Millcuj.

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Among these peasant names, only rarely are the well-known “ruler” names that Serbian rulers bore mixed in – contrary to today’s custom –; of these, the completely popular names such as Radoslav and Vladislav appear more frequently, then Dragutin and Milutin, then names of foreign origin such as Urosh and also Stevan (in the Banjska chrysobull 6 times), but only once the name of the monk Sava (Deç. p. 47) and the name Dushan (ibid. p. 37 in the third generation, also in the form Dushull p. 52). Of these peasant names, which, like Millman, Milkun, Millkus, Milčuj, are clearly formed with foreign suffixes, the mixed-form name Milosh stands out particularly in terms of its frequency.

This name appears, however, quickly, although initially rarely, as a name of “ruler”, because it is precisely at the time of the Deçan chrysobulls that we encounter it in the names of princely witnesses, such as in the years 1332–1333 in the chrysobull of the Bosnian ban Stevan: Miloš Vukasić or Vuokasić (Mon. Serb. LXXXV and LXXXIX) alongside Dino and Brano, then again in 1333 in the chrysobull of Dušan’s Ston: Miloš Vojnić (ibid. LXXXVII). The memory of Miloš Vojnić of Dušan is also preserved in the oral folk tradition, in the song “Oklada” (No. 123) published by S. Milutinović (Pjevanija p. 192), an older variant of Vuk’s song “Miloš u Lalinima”, namely in the most famous character Miloš Vojinović from Vuk’s song “Martesa e car Stjepanit”. This longer surname is probably developed from the full form Vojinić, that is, the son of Vojin (Dushan's brother-in-law). This Miloš Vojinović, the oral folk tradition – which basically gives a striking characteristic of real heroes (Vukašin – fox, Marku – noble, a knight and bohemian, Lazar – pious, Christian hero, Vuku – insincere, Uroshi – a weak man, etc.) – presents as a generous semi-peasant, who deals with his economy, as a “shepherd”, who does not mind turning into a “black Bulgarian” even without the shepherd’s coat. This Miloš, the oral chronicle in verse, as mentioned, contrasts with the high court aristocracy of Dushan. Likewise, the historical Miloš Vojinić in the royal chrysobull has the lowest title and appears at the end; Before him come the treasurer Baldovin, voivode Gradislav, the county governor Vratko, and the "prince" Grgur (MS 104).

The most common name in Dukagjin

Another Miloš is known to us from historical monuments, although not a representative of the high aristocracy, but a small nobleman, the “chief” of Uroš, who in 1367 was sent to Dubrovnik to receive the tribute of Saint Demetrius. This is Miloš Povika, who probably had kinship ties with the local family of citizens and merchants Dižić (Longo), perhaps even with the Povika family (K. Jireček, Spomenik XI).

The aforementioned Miloš Voj(i)nić-Vojinović, Dušan's nephew (sister's son), about whom we are also informed by the two aforementioned folk songs and who is perhaps identical with Miloš Vojinov (Milutinović, “Pjevanija” No. 120), must have been very popular with the singers of his time – the creators of the feudal folk poetry of that time. It is quite possible that as a result of his popularity, his name also became even more popular, even more widespread among the people in Dukagjin, which partly belonged to the possessions of his father, Vojin, and his personal possessions. If he was born perhaps at the end of the 13th century, the time of his popularity in the second decade of the 14th century would coincide with the time of that widespread use of the name Miloš, as we find attested through the third generation of the Decani chrysobulls. However, one of his later compatriots, to whom he perhaps owes his name, expelled him to some extent from the chronicle of folk songs through his own popularity, which he gained through a greater heroic feat and heroic death in Kosovo in 1389; perhaps also through a closer connection with the people, who began to participate more and more strongly in the creation of the oral chronicle, the folk epic.

The hero of Kosovo is also connected to the Dukagjini region and its rural population through his surname. The same appears in the form Kobilla (only in Ashik-pasha Zade), truncated to Kobić (Mikaeli from Ostrovica), while in other evidence as Kobiliq-Kobillović or Kopili-q-Kopillovi-q.

If this surname is interpreted as a derogatory name, regardless of whether it was given to him personally or inherited from his ancestors, then the form with -k-, in connection with the word kobilla (mare), could also be considered original. Thus, in Dubrovnik a courier was called Radosta Kobilla (Kov., 80). From such a derogatory name, the surname of Vukosav Kobilacić (1397 and 1430) may have been formed. In the same way, in any case, the surname of Bartul Kobiliq in Jezero (Bosnia) 1544 (Kov., 80) should be explained.

In the case of the connection with the word kobilla, which in the old language also meant “mare” in general, our Millosh could be more closely related to the “Vlachs”, who in the monastery chrysobulae were specifically charged with taking care of the horses (kobillas – mares). However, since the surnames of almost all the villagers listed in the chrysobulae are patronymics derived from the father’s name, we have no reason to interpret our Millosh’s surname differently.

The third part of the text published in German in the journal "Revue internationale des études balkaniques" in 1934. 

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To be continued in the next issue of the Culture Supplement

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