Talk:Balkan Mountains

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[edit] Not identical to Balkan mountains

"Balkan mountains" does not seem to be used synonymously with "Stara Planina". I have tried to disambiguate the two. A clear separation into several articles may be warranted at some point, but at the moment the article is still reasonably short. I'm not sure if I got the attribution of the individual peaks right, that was just a websearch... dab (ᛏ) 10:32, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I've amended this to exclude the far west and far south mountains from the definition because AFAIK they are "Balkan mountains" only in the sense that they are "mountains" in a region called "the Balkans". Which reminds me, I'll add others, too. --Joy [shallot] 11:45, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

that's right. Maybe Balkan mountains should be a disambiguation page. dab (ᛏ)

[edit] Haemus

I cannot find a Greek word Haimon or Saimon. I think the Haemus part is somehow broken. Also the meaning 'chain' is dubitable. What are the sources for these statements? dab (ᛏ) 12:55, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

It is indeed dubious. What I know of the etymology is that the Greek name for the mountain range, 'Aimos , has been interpreted by 2oth century Thracologists as deriving from an earlier unattested Thracian *saimon form (which has cognates in Sanskrit) meaning 'ridge', 'mountain range'. That may be true, but I never heard of the different story told in this article, of a supposed connection to those other words/names mentioned. I erased the dubious tale, and unless somebody comes with acceptable references, it will stay erased. Alexander 007 00:24, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Different ranges?

While translating this article into Arabic i became confused. Stara Planina and Balkan mountains seems to be different mountain ranges then why its put in one article. I think Stara Planina and Balkan mountains must be in separated articles. --Marquez 03:32, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

Stara planina is the new name of the mountain. During the turkish rule the name of the mountain was "Balkan" from a Turkish word meaning "a chain of wooded mountains". In the modern bulgarian the word "Balkan" is used like synonym of word "planina" (mountain). There is no such thing like "Balkan mountains".

I knew a Bulgarian once. I can tell you this much, he did not like the turks. And from what I've read, his views seem to be shared by many Bulgarians, and I think any historian can tell you why. I think calling these Bulgarian mountains by their Turkish name would be highly offensive to Bulgarians and other non-turkish people whose country has this mountain range within these borders. It's strange that there hasn't been more of a dispute around this article. Joffeloff 22:15, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I am Bulgarian and I can positively tell that no sane person will be offended if you call Stara Planina "Balkan Mountains". Stara Planina s just the canonical name and "Balkan" has become more often a common noun, meaning 'mountain', rather than a proper noun. Balkan is used as the root for many toponyms related to Stara Planina, though. Petar Donchev —Preceding comment was added at 22:06, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Moving

I propose moving to Balkan Mountains. This is the term used in other English-language reference works, including in encyclopedias such as Encarta or Britannica (both 1911 and 2005). bogdan 22:28, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree with this proposed move, if using the name Balkan mountains is indeed the English encyclopedic practice, and if Stara Planina is in fact identical to Balkan mountains. Alexander 007 12:18, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

From Britannica 2006 (DVD edition):

Balkan Mountains, Bulgarian: Stara Planina ("Old Mountains"), Latin: Haemus chief range of the Balkan Peninsula and Bulgaria and an extension of the Alpine-Carpathian folds. [...]

bogdan 13:00, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Looks good. Anybody have a contradictory source? I notice dab, Marquez and Joy all believe that they are not synonymous. Alexander 007 13:03, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Since no one protested yet, I moved it. bogdan 22:31, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Perhaps some annotation might be needed

Course of the Danube

Would it be possible to add markup to the illustrations so that we can tell the location of Stara Planina. As an example, here is a map with annotation, with some guides for the uninitiated, like me. --Ancheta Wis 15:28, 3 June 2006 (UTC)