Mala Račna (; ''Intelligenzblatt zur Laibacher Zeitung'', no. 141. 24 November 1849, p. 28.) is a settlement in the

Municipality of Grosuplje The Municipality of Grosuplje (; ) is a municipality in central Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Grosuplje. It lies just south of the capital Ljubljana in the traditional region of Lower Carniola. It is now included in the C ...

in central

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. The area is part of the historical region of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south an ...

. The municipality is now included in the

Central Slovenia Statistical Region The Central Slovenia Statistical Region () is a Statistical regions of Slovenia, statistical region in central Slovenia. Geography This is the second-largest region in terms of territory. It has a total area of 2,555 km2, with a central po ...

Name

The name ''Mala Račna'' literally means 'little Račna', distinguishing it from neighboring '' Velika Račna'' (literally, 'big Račna'). Mala Račna was first attested in written sources in 1313–1315 as ''in dem wenigern Ratek''. The name ''Račna'' was also attested as ''Radnickh'' in 1436, ''Rednigk'' in 1454, and ''Raditschin'' in 1458. The modern name is a contraction of *''Radičina'', ultimately derived from the

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

''Radiťь'', based on the

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also ''hypocoristic''), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for Isabel or ''Bob (given name), Bob'' fo ...

''Rado''. The name thus originally means 'Rado's village'. The local adjective form ''radenski'' (cf. ''Radensko polje'' '

Račna Karst Field The Račna Karst Field (; ) is a karst field in the northern edge of the Lower Carniolan karst area, south of Grosuplje, Slovenia. It has rich natural and cultural value. Because of its ecological significance, it is anticipated that a nature par ...

') and the

demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...

''Radenc'' are based on the older form of the name. Popular imagination connects the name ''Račna'' with the Slovene common noun ''raca'' 'duck', of which there are many in the Račna Karst Field. In the past, the settlement was known as ''Kleinratschna'' in German.

Religious heritage

A small

chapel-shrine A wayside shrine is a religious image, usually in some sort of small shelter, placed by a road or pathway, sometimes in a settlement or at a crossroads, but often in the middle of an empty stretch of country road, or at the top of a hill or mount ...

in the settlement dates to the early 20th century.

References

External links

*
Mala Račna on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Grosuplje {{Grosuplje-geo-stub