Ferry Vermeer
Gjakova/Dakovica, Kosovo/Serbia
Đakovica or Gjakova (see names) is a city and municipality in western Kosovo. It is also the administrative centre of the homonymous district. The municipality's population in 2011 stood at 94,556.
The name 'Đakovica' is Serbian, which can be easily distinguished by the -vica suffix, which means "little". The Albanian name for the town is Gjakova. It is hard to tell which of the two names influenced the other. There are a number of theories concerning the name of the town: that it derives from the Serbian word đak (pupil) from earlier d(i)jak; or that it derives from the Albanian word for "blood" (gjak). Around 1594 or 1595, Hadum Suleiman Aga Hadum Efendia-built mosque[vague], which also bears the name of the donor-sponsors of the facility in town. Hadum Mosque, according to tradition, was built in property of Jakë Vula, a landlord with obviously an Albanian name and surname, hence the name would become the city – Jakovë. Furthermore, it is also plausible to conclude that the initial town name, Jakovë, may in fact represent an Albanian way of pronouncing the otherwise south Slavic (Serbian) genitive case 'Jakova', as in "(zemlja) Jakova", meaning "(the land) of Jakov", as is the case with many other place names in Kosovo, including the word Kosovë itself (the defintite article form being Kosova). which might easily have been one word within a full name - polje kosova (the field of blackbirds).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakovica
Gjakova/Dakovica, Kosovo/Serbia
Đakovica or Gjakova (see names) is a city and municipality in western Kosovo. It is also the administrative centre of the homonymous district. The municipality's population in 2011 stood at 94,556.
The name 'Đakovica' is Serbian, which can be easily distinguished by the -vica suffix, which means "little". The Albanian name for the town is Gjakova. It is hard to tell which of the two names influenced the other. There are a number of theories concerning the name of the town: that it derives from the Serbian word đak (pupil) from earlier d(i)jak; or that it derives from the Albanian word for "blood" (gjak). Around 1594 or 1595, Hadum Suleiman Aga Hadum Efendia-built mosque[vague], which also bears the name of the donor-sponsors of the facility in town. Hadum Mosque, according to tradition, was built in property of Jakë Vula, a landlord with obviously an Albanian name and surname, hence the name would become the city – Jakovë. Furthermore, it is also plausible to conclude that the initial town name, Jakovë, may in fact represent an Albanian way of pronouncing the otherwise south Slavic (Serbian) genitive case 'Jakova', as in "(zemlja) Jakova", meaning "(the land) of Jakov", as is the case with many other place names in Kosovo, including the word Kosovë itself (the defintite article form being Kosova). which might easily have been one word within a full name - polje kosova (the field of blackbirds).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakovica