Editing Morlachs (section)

==Etymology==
The word ''Morlach'' is derived from the [[Italian language|Italian]] ''Morlacco'' ({{plural abbr|''Morlacchi''}}),{{sfn|Cosma|2011|p=121}} used by the [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]] to refer to the [[Vlachs in the history of Croatia|Vlachs]] from [[Dalmatia]] since the 15th century.{{sfn|Caciur|2020|p=30}} The name ''Morovlah'' appears in [[Dubrovnik]] records in the mid-14th century, while in the 15th century, the abbreviated form ''Morlah'', ''Morlak'' or ''Murlak'' is found in both Dubrovnik and Venice archives.{{sfn|Mirdita|2001|p=18}} Two main theories have been put forward to explain the origin of the term.{{sfn|Caciur|2020|p=30}}

The first one has initially been proposed by the 17th-century Dalmatian historian [[Johannes Lucius]], who suggested that Morlach would have been derived from the [[Byzantine Greek]] Μαυροβλάχοι, ''Maurovlachoi'', meaning "Black Latins" (from {{langx|el|μαύρο}}, ''mauro'', meaning "dark", "black"), that is "Black Vlachs".{{sfn|Mirdita|2001|pp=17-18}}{{sfn|Caciur|2020|p=30}} Lucius based his theory on the ''[[Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja|Doclean Chronicle]]'', which he published and promoted. He explained that the choice made by the Venetians to use this name was made to distinguish the Morlachs from the ''White Latins'', who would  have been the inhabitants of the former [[Roman Empire|Roman]] coastal cities of Dalmatia.{{sfn|Caciur|2020|p=30}} This theory has had a strong echo in [[Romanians|Romanian]] historiography,{{sfn|Caciur|2020|p=30}} and Romanian scholars such as {{ill|Cicerone Poghirc|ro}} and Ela Cosma have suggested that the term "Morlachs" also meant "Northern Vlachs", derived from the Indo-European practice of indicating [[Cardinal direction#The Colors in world cultures of the Cardinal directions|cardinal directions]] by colors.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Romanisation linguistique et culturelle dans les Balkans. Survivance et évolution |trans-chapter=Linguistic and cultural Romanization in the Balkans. Survival and evolution |title=Les Aroumains |trans-title=The Aromanians |last=Poghirc |first=Cicerone |publisher=[[Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales|INALCO]]| location=Paris| year=1989 |page=23}}</ref>{{sfn|Cosma|2011|p=124}} [[Petar Skok]] suggested that while the [[Latin]] ''maurus'' is derived from the Greek ''μαύρος'' ("dark"), the diphthongs ''au'' > ''av'' indicates a specific [[Dalmatian language|Dalmato-Romanian]] lexical remnant.<ref>{{cite book |last=Skok |first=Petar |author-link=Petar Skok |title=Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika |trans-title=Etymological dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian language |publisher=[[Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts]] |location=Zagreb |volume=II |year=1972| pages=392–393}}</ref>

The other theory, mostly suggested by [[Croatian historiography]] of the previous centuries, states that ''Morlachs'' means "Vlachs near the sea", from the [[Serbo-Croatian]] ''more'' ("sea"), and ''vlah'' ("vlach").{{sfn|Caciur|2020|p=31}} The first reference to this theory comes from the 18th-century priest [[Alberto Fortis]], who wrote extensively about the Morlachs in his book ''[[Viaggio in Dalmazia]]'' ("Journey to Dalmatia", 1774).{{cn|date=July 2024}}