Editing Balaur (section)

=== Etymology ===
The term ''Balaur'' ([[Aromanian language|Aromanian]] ''bul'ar'') is of unknown etymology. It has been linked with [[Albanian language|Albanian]] ''boljë''/''bollë'' ("snake") and ''buljar'' ("water snake").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rosetti |first=Alexandru |author-link=Alexandru Rosetti |chapter=La situation du romain parmi les langues balkaniques|title=Linguistica |pages=216–225 [222] |location=Berlin, Boston |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |date=1965 |doi=10.1515/9783111349039-037 |isbn=978-3-11-134903-9 |quote=Voici l'énumération du fonds de vocabulaire que le roumain et l'albanais possèdent en commun: ... ''balaur'' s. m. "dragon, hydre; monstre": alb. ''bollë'' "grosse Schlange", g. ''bullar'' "Wasserschlange"...  |trans-quote=The following is a list of shared words between Romanian and Albanian: ... ''balaur'' s. m. "dragon, hydra; monster": alb. ''bollë'' "large snake", g. ''bullar'' "water-snake"... |lang=FR}}</ref><ref name=nandris/> The [[Transylvanian Saxon dialect|Transylvanian Saxon]] ''balaur'' "dragon", and ''balaura'', an insult term in Serbia, are borrowed from Romanian.<ref name="cioranescu"/><ref name="skok"/>

The Albanian and Romanian terms possibly stem from the same [[Thracian language|Thracian]] root, ''*bell-'' or ''*ber-'' "beast, monster",<ref>"... elementelor grevate de incertitudinea si confuzia divergentelor de opinii: (I) [first hypothesis] face parte din fondul prelatin, autohton a) din substratul comun român-albanez ... descinde, probabil, dintr-un radical tracic ''*bell-'' sau ''*ber'' - 'fiara'...". Rusnac, George. "Balaur (etimologii)". In: ''Analele ştiinţifice ale Universităţii «Alexandru Ioan Cuza» din Iaşi'' (Serie nouă, Secţiunea III, e. Lingvistică) vol. XXXVII-XXXVIII, 1991-1992, Omul şi limbajul său. Studia linguistica in honorem Eugenio Coseriu. Iasi: Editura Universitatii Al. I Cuza, 1992. pp. 351-360 [351].</ref> the traces of which can also be found in the name of the Greek mythological hero [[Bellerophon]] ("the beast killer").<ref name=corominas/><ref name="cioranescu"/> Skok traces its appearance in Slavic to a possible "[[Thraco-Illyrian|Illyrio-Thracian]]" word ''*bolauras'' > ''blavor''.<ref>{{Cite book| last=Skok| first=Petar| author-link=Petar Skok| year=1988| orig-year=1971| title=Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika| volume=3| publisher=Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti| place=Zagreb| language=Croatian| isbn=86-407-0064-8| page=538 }}</ref> However, Matasovic discards a Thracian source and considers the word to be ultimately of [[Illyrian languages|Illyrian]] origin, with the form ''*bulauras'', leading to an ancient [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] borrowing with the form ''*bъla(v)ur''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Matasović |first=Ranko |title=Skokove 'ilirske' etimologije |trans-title=Skok's "Illyrian" etymologies |pages=89–101 [94] |journal=Folia onomastica Croatica |date=1995 |issue=4 |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/158643| lang=Croatian}}</ref>