The toponymy of Gornji Kosinj

Abstract

On the basis of archival data, relevant literature, and field research, the author analyses the toponymy of the settlement Gornji Kosinj. The oikonym Kosinj was first attested in a text of Bishop Nicholas of Modruš in 1461. In this text, dični knez Lacko od Kosinja (the Glorious Lord Lacko of Kosinj) is mentioned as the builder of the two altars dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The name Kosin was first recorded in 1528 on the Tabula Hungariae map. Later, in the 16th and 17th centuries and the first half of the 18th century, various other forms appeared: Cosin (1559), Khesin (1572), Rhesin (1595), Rheisin (1613), Rusin (around 1650), Rheissin (1686), Kusin (1709), Cossin (1738), and Cuchin (1738). As Bishop Glavinić recorded in 1696, there were three oikonyms Kosinj: Gornje Selo, Donje Selo, and Srednje Selo (Kosinj) (Upper, Lower and Middle Village /Kosinj/). In the 1730s, the forms Cuchin Superior, Kosin Valach/Mitter, and Kossin Inferior were recorded, designating Gornji Kosinj, Srednji Kosinj, and Donji Kosinj, respectively. This is what Nicholas Pohmajević, the Bishop of Senj and Modruš, called them in 1728. Until then, Donji Kosinj was recorded on historical maps as Gornji Kosinj and vice versa, as noted by Mile Bogović (2014: 76). Since that time Gornji Kosinj was recorded on historical maps as Ober Koʃzin, O. Kossinj, Gorny Kasin, and finally Gornji Kosinj. Srednje Selo or Srednji Kosinj, which was settled by Orthodox inhabitants after the liberation from Ottoman rule, changed its name to Zamost. In the Kosinj area, the following settlements were mentioned in the Middle Ages: Buci (today the centre of Gornji Kosinj, the area near the church of St Anthony of Padua), Botuci (today Podjelar in Gornji Kosinj), Hotilja Vas (today around Mance-Draga and Klobučarev Klanac in Gornji Kosinj) and Gorenja Vas (the settlement is not yet ubicated, it was probably located in Bočać). The analysed area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, as evidenced by the archaeological sites Panos – Žegarova glavica and Grčko groblje / Plešina glavica. The mediaeval settlement of the studied areas is confirmed by the historical oikonyms Buci, Botuci, Gorenja Vas, and Hotilja Vas, which have as yet not been precisely ubicated. From contemporary toponymy, the toponyms Grič (< grič »rocky elevation«) and Brina (cf. brinje »a place by the water or stream«) stand out, reflecting relatively rarely attested toponomastic appellatives. The local toponymy also reflects the historical (Middle Chakavian substrate) and contemporary dialectological picture (Shtokavian Ikavian with an adstratum influence from Gorski Kotar dialects) of the analysed area.