ON THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE OLD BULGARIAN LEXEME СЫНЪ AND MIDDLE BULGARIAN LEXEME КОУЛА.

The present article addresses the etymology of the Old Bulgarian сынъ (synъ) ‘tower’, ‘stronghold’ and the Middle Bulgarian коула (kula) ‘tower’. Two different attempts at etymologizing сынъ (synъ) based on Turkic origins have been critically considered and refuted because of phonetic and semantic discrepancies. The word perhaps derives from the absolute state of the Aramaic *hson ‘tower’, ‘fortress’. The possible mediation of another language in the borrowing process has been discussed, too. The other word, коула (kula) ‘tower’, is used in all Balkan languages. The popular hypothesis of Turkish mediation in the borrowing of the Arabic qalla ‘peak’ has been challenged because the word was found in Byzantine and Middle Bulgarian records centuries before the first inscription of the Turkish kule in 1360. Moreover, unlike Byzantine Greek and Middle Bulgarian records of kula ‘tower’, the Turkish word was initially used in the sense of ‘peak’. Two possible hypotheses of a direct penetration of the word from Arabic into the Balkan languages have been suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]