Dar viena Ukmergės vardo kilmės galimybė

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Ukmergė; Vilkamergė; Vietovardžiai; Ukmergė; Vilkamergė; Toponyms.

ENIt is generally believed that the former name of Ukmergė town was Vilkamergė. It originated from the name of the Ukmergėlė rivulet flowing through the town whose old form was also Vilkamergė. The basis for this version is the names of the town recorded in the old historical sources: Vilkenberge, Vielkemirgen, Wilkamergen, Wilkemerge, Vylkumyrya, Volkomaria, Wilkomiriensis, з Вилкомира, etc. The name Vilkamergė is a compound noun. Its first root, vilk-, is usually associated with the appellative vilkas, which is very popular in the hydronymy of Lithuania and other European nations. The second root, merg-, is associated with words from various Indo-European languages meaning a sea, small rain, etc. All of the above names mentioned in historical sources were recorded by non-Lithuanian authors. Yet none of the linguists has paid attention to the fact that an oath from a judgement of the court of Ukmergė written in the Lithuanian language in 1675 contains the form Wilkamirgies (gen. sg.) of Ukmergė town. Most likely, the old name of the town was namely Vilkamirgė. A clerk of Ukmergė town court could not be unaware of the name of his own town. The root mirg- is easiest to associate with the verb mirgėti "to glimmer". [From the publication]