On the Ambiguity of the Word Haiduc
On the Ambiguity of the Word Haiduc

Summary/Abstract: In this article, we will analyse the term haiduc, common to Albanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian and Serbian, as it is described in the thesaurus-dictionaries of these languages. In order to emphasize its different chronological stratigraphy and status in the lexical and semantic systems of the languages mentioned, the situation in Hungarian and Turkish, as sources of penetration of the term haiduc, will also be discussed. There will pointed out the fundamental meanings of a distinctive semantic opposition, “hoţ, bandit, tâlhar de drumul mare”, the meaning having mainly the social connotation of “a man (usually a peasant) who, revolting against oppressing, left his home and lived in the woods, alone or in bands, plundering the reach people and helping the poor”, leading to “a defender, a fighter for national liberation during the Othman oppression”. There will also be revealed the specialized meanings preserved in the popular aspects and in onomastics, whose ambiguity is contextually annulled.

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