User:Daesitiates/Ardian

Ardian is a given name, used in Albania and other places. The Albanian name Ardian (also Ardjan) is associated with the name of ancient Illyrian people known as Ardiaei. The Ardiaei were an ancient Illyrian people whose original settlement is said to have been on the right bank of the Neretva river (ancient Narona/Narenta) valley, in present day Bosnia and Herzegovina, "who were later to play one of the most important roles in the struggle against Romans, but had to move on under the pressure from the oncoming Celts".

Ardian is one of many Albanian names using the Illyrian elements that are popular among Albanians, along with Albanian national names like Bardh/Bardha, ('white', 'pure', 'fair'), Hyll ('star'), Bora ('snow'), Dita ('daylight'), Drita ('light', 'illumination'), Gonxhe ('rosebud'; first name of Mother Teresa), Lule ('flower'), Pellumb ('dove'), etc., and names that have been identified in Illyrian-related literature as Illyrian. Indeed, there are some obvious similarities between the supposed Illyrian words (names of persons, places and things) and Albanian ones, such as the name of Illyrian king Bardylis and Albanian word for white, 'bardh', the name of Illyrian king Hyllus and Albanian "(h)yll", for 'star', Illyrian deity Bindo and Albanian 'bind' ('convince', 'make believe').

Several philologists have confidently proclaimed that Albanian language derives from Illyrian. .Albania was once home to ancient Illyrians (along with parts of some other modern Balkan states). One of the most popular among Albanians themselves is a theory according to which Ardiaei is connected with Albanian word "ardhja", meaning "arrival"/"descent",practically making the Ard(h)iei the "Descendants".

Ardiaei is also similar to Latin "Ardea", meaning "Heron". A small town located in the area adjacent to Neretva river, which was precisely the original homeland of ancient Illyrian community of Ardiaei is called Čapljina, deriving from čaplja, which in former Serbo-Croatian language (nowadays divided into Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin and Serbian) means precisely "heron". This theory opens up many possibilities for the interpretation of the origin of this name, such as heron being present in significant numbers in that area since prehistory, and thus influencing the etymology, for example. However, this theory is challanged by the fact that the Ardiaei (although in a different form, Ardiaioi) were mentioned long before Romans conquered Illyrian lands, like, for example by Theopompus in the fourth century B.C., or in reference to their warfare agianst Phillip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. Vardaei, one other variant of Ardiaei bears similarity with Greek word word ‘vardia’, meaning ‘watch/duty/shift’ (‘guard’ implicit), and if we allow for a possibility of Ardiaioi being some corrupt version (misspelling) of 'Vardaei', this may seem as a plausible explanation.

However, further research is undoubtedly necessary in order to reach any tangible conclusion.

Vardei also bears similarity with the name of the Vardar river in Macedonia, so this could be yet another area to explore pertaining to the etymology of Ardiaei.