Editing Carpathian Mountains (section)

===Etymology===

The etymology of the Carpathians is not clearly established, but the name "Carpates" is highly associated with the old [[Dacians|Dacian]] tribes called "[[Carpes]]" or "[[Carpi (people)|Carpi]]" who lived in an area to the east of the Carpathians, from the east, northeast of the Black Sea to the [[Transylvanian Plain]] in the present day Romania and Moldova.

====Potential root words====
[[File:2 Східні гуцули.jpg|thumb|[[Hutsuls|Hutsul]] people, living in the Carpathian mountains, {{circa|1872}}]]

''Karpates'' is considered a [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan]] name, with evidence provided by the [[Albanian language|Albanian]] ''kárpë / kárpa'', pl. ''kárpa / kárpat'' ('rock, stiff'), and the [[Messapic language|Messapic]] ''karpa'' '[[tuff]] (rock), [[limestone]]' (preserved as ''càrpë'' 'tuff' in [[Bitonto]] dialect and ''càrparu'' 'limestone' in [[Salentino dialect|Salentino]]).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Matasović|first=Ranko|title=Skokove 'ilirske' etimologije|pages=89–101|journal=Folia onomastica Croatica|year=1995|issue=4|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/158643|language=Croatian}} p. 96</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Demiraj|first=Bardhyl|title=Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz|series=Leiden Studies in Indo-European|volume=7|year=1997|language=de|place=Amsterdam, Atlanta|publisher=Rodopi|page=213}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cortelazzo|first1=Manlio|last2=Marcato|first2=Carla|title=I dialetti italiani: dizionario etimologico, Volume 1|editor=Manlio Cortelazzo|chapter=càrpë|publisher=UTET|year=1998|isbn=978-88-02-05211-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obQKAQAAMAAJ|page=120}}</ref><ref name=Çabej1972/><ref name=Çabej1985/>{{sfn|Buza|2011|p=24}} This connection is further supported by the fact that also the oronym ''[[Beskids|Beskydy]]'', a series of mountain ranges in the Carpathians, has a meaning in Albanian: ''bjeshkë / bjeshkët'' 'high mountains, mountain pastures' (cf. also the Albanian oronym ''Bjeshkët e Namuna'', the [[Accursed Mountains|Accursed Mountains / Albanian Alps]]).<ref name=Çabej1972>Çabej, Eqrem. (1972). Studime Filologjike. universiteti shtetëror i Tiranës.</ref><ref name=Çabej1985>{{cite book|last=Çabej|first=Eqrem|chapter=The Problem of the Place of Formation of the Albanian Language|title=The Albanians and their Territories|series=Academy of Sciences of Albania|year=1985|location=Tiranë|publisher=8 Nëntori|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gtFBAAAAYAAJ|pages=63–99}} p. 67.</ref>

The name ''Carpates'' may ultimately be from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto Indo-European]] root ''*sker-''/''*ker-'', which meant mountain, rock, or rugged (cf. Albanian ''kárpë'', Germanic root ''*skerp-'', Old Norse {{lang|non|harfr}} "harrow", Gothic ''skarpo'', Middle Low German ''scharf'' "potsherd", and Modern High German ''Scherbe'' "shard", Lithuanian ''kar~pas'' "cut, hack, notch", Latvian ''cìrpt'' "to shear, clip").<ref name="Room, Adrian 1997">{{cite book |first=Adrian |last=Room |title=Placenames of the World |publisher=MacFarland and Co |location= |date=1997 |isbn=0-7864-0172-9 |oclc=36045929}}</ref>  The archaic Polish word ''karpa'' meant 'rugged irregularities, underwater obstacles/rocks, rugged roots, or trunks'. The more common word ''skarpa'' means a sharp cliff or other vertical terrain, cf. Old English {{lang|ang|scearp}} and English ''sharp''. The name may instead come from Indo-European *{{Transliteration|ine|kwerp}} 'to turn', akin to Old English {{lang|ang|hweorfan}} 'to turn, change' (English ''warp'') and Greek {{lang|grc|καρπός}} {{Transliteration|grc|karpós}} 'wrist', perhaps referring to the way the mountain range bends or veers in an L-shape.<ref name="Room, Adrian 1997"/>