Subiect: ZALĂU / ZĂLAU
The author supposes that the toponymal Zalău could possibly originate in some Slavic appellatives like „zaláy”, a geographical term meaning „depression between to hills” or „place subject to floods”. He also discusses the Slavic „zolá”, „soil subsequent to the burning of a forest”, a method used in land clearing. The word „zalóv”, denoting a certain amount of game or fish, a catch, is also mentioned. All the variants being proposed have the stress on the second syllable as in Zalău/Zălau.
BABA/ BABA
The author rejects the thesis according to which the appellative baba could be traced back to a repetition of syllables in children's speech, and admits, for the sense „old woman, grandmother etc.”, the Indo-European form *Bhabha (*abhbha). For „Babă” as a toponym he proposes „baba(nic)e” ”mountain, hill, rock” from the Urartu language, and „paba(u)”, with an identical meaning, from Hurrian.
