− | The [[word]] "'barbarian'" comes into [[English]] from Medieval Latin barbarinus, from [[Latin]] barbaria, from Latin barbarus, from the ancient [[Greek]] word βάρβαρος (bárbaros). The word is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopeia onomatopoeic], the bar-bar representing the impression of [[random]] hubbub produced by hearing a [[spoken]] [[language]] that one cannot [[understand]], similar to blah blah and babble in modern English. Related imitative forms are found in other [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages Indo-European languages], such as [[Sanskrit]] बर्बर barbara-, "stammering" or "curly-haired". The earliest attested [[form]] of the word is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenaean_Greek Mycenaean Greek] pa-pa-ro, written in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_B Linear B] syllabic script. Depending on its use, the term "barbarian" either described a foreign [[individual]] or [[tribe]] whose first [[language]] was not [[Greek]] or a Greek individual or tribe speaking Greek crudely. | + | The [[word]] "'barbarian'" comes into [[English]] from Medieval Latin barbarinus, from [[Latin]] barbaria, from Latin barbarus, from the ancient [[Greek]] word βάρβαρος (bárbaros). The word is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopeia onomatopoeic], the bar-bar representing the impression of [[random]] hubbub produced by hearing a [[spoken]] [[language]] that one cannot [[understand]], similar to blah blah and babble in modern English. Related imitative forms are found in other [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages Indo-European languages], such as [[Sanskrit]] बर्बर barbara-, "stammering" or "curly-haired". The earliest attested [[form]] of the word is the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenaean_Greek Mycenaean Greek] pa-pa-ro, written in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_B Linear B] syllabic script. Depending on its use, the term "barbarian" either described a foreign [[individual]] or [[tribe]] whose first [[language]] was not [[Greek]] or a Greek individual or tribe speaking Greek crudely. |
− | The Greeks used the term as they encountered scores of [[different]] foreign [[cultures]], including the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptians Egyptians], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_people Persians], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts Celts], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germania Germans], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicians Phoenicians], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_civilization Etruscans], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage Carthaginians]. It, in [[fact]], became a common term to refer to all foreigners. However in various occasions, the term was also used by Greeks, especially the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenians Athenians], to deride other [[Greek]] [[tribes]] and [[states]] (such as Epirotes, Eleans and Aeolic-speakers) in a pejorative and [[politically]] [[motivated]] [[manner]]. Of course, the term also carried a [[cultural]] [[dimension]] to its [[dual]] [[meaning]]. The verb βαρβαρίζειν (barbarízein) in ancient Greek meant imitating the [[linguistic]] sounds non-Greeks made or making [[grammatical]] errors in [[Greek]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarian] | + | The Greeks used the term as they encountered scores of [[different]] foreign [[cultures]], including the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptians Egyptians], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_people Persians], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts Celts], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germania Germans], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicians Phoenicians], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_civilization Etruscans], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage Carthaginians]. It, in [[fact]], became a common term to refer to all foreigners. However in various occasions, the term was also used by Greeks, especially the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenians Athenians], to deride other [[Greek]] [[tribes]] and [[states]] (such as Epirotes, Eleans and Aeolic-speakers) in a pejorative and [[politically]] [[motivated]] [[manner]]. Of course, the term also carried a [[cultural]] [[dimension]] to its [[dual]] [[meaning]]. The verb βαρβαρίζειν (barbarízein) in ancient Greek meant imitating the [[linguistic]] sounds non-Greeks made or making [[grammatical]] errors in [[Greek]].[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarian] |