The Dugi otok nesonym

Abstract

Dugi otok is the only large inhabited Adriatic island both with a name composed of two words, with a Croatian name and with a noun island (Croat. otok) in it. Almost all of the linguists and historians agree that the island was first mentioned by Constantine the Porphyrogenitus (10th cent.) as Pizych, which can nowadays be recognised in place names Čuh and Čuh Polje on Dugi otok near Proversa. By the disappearance of that settlement the name was forgotten, but none of the names of newly founded settlements did not became the nesonym, as frequently occurred elsewhere in Croatian nesonymy. In the archival documents and historical maps the island is usually identified by the Romance compound word: geographical term insula/isola + determinant Magna, Maiori, Grossa, Grande, Longa. The island was named Dugi only in the latter half of the 19th century. Neither the nesonym Dugi otok, the ethnic Dugootočanin nor the ktetic dugootočki are used outside the official usage.