Топонимът Опака – опит за етимология
The Bulgarian toponym Oпака (Opaka) – Attempt for Etymology

Summary/Abstract: The article offers a new etymology of the Bulgarian toponym Опака (Opaka) by the means of phonetic and semantic reconstruction. The etymologies previously given by different scholars are critically reconsidered. The derivation of Opaka from the Latin opacus is rejected as unconvincing for two reasons: it is highly improbable that the phonetic structure of the Latin world is preserved for centuries virtually unchanged in Bulgarian; and opacus in Latin is learned and poetic, thus not belonging to the common vocabulary that is usually used in naming places. Secondly, the derivation of the name from the Bulgarian опак (opak, ‘opposite’) is considered. It is not rejected on synchronic level, but, diachronically, the toponym is associated with the Thracian root *ap- ‘water’ and the hypothesis is built that the later Slavic-speaking population of the region gave a new meaning, through vulgar etymology, to a previous Thracian toponym connected with the local river that had become obscure.

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