Bragança Reconsidered: Documentation, Etymology, and Phylogeny

Abstract

The toponym Bragança has traditionally been interpreted as deriving from Celtic *brigantia. In this article, we demonstrate that the earliest documented forms of the toponym were instead bergancia and uergancia. We further analyze the historical development of the name leading to its present form, as well as its known analogues in historical toponymy. The difficulty of sustaining the traditional etymology is thus brought to light, and several alternative lexical and compositional explanations are assessed in the light of Celtic, Latin, and Germanic horizons. Finally, we consider the possibility that *bergantia may be cognate with *brigantia within an Indo-European system distinct from Celtic, such as Lusitanian.