Re: Etymology of "barbarian"


Robert Bannister wrote:
...
I believe it originally came from Greek, and the Greeks may well have
said "varvar" rather than "baabaa", so I think the poor sheep have been
slandered. I won't mention "black sheep" in case I upset Ray Wise.

Obviously it did, and to Greeks of today the word is varvarous. Back
then, though, that "b" definitely was a stop but the sheep have been
slandered anyway. Greek has never been non-rhotic; no Greek sheep was
ever caught sounding "barr-barr" like Romans, Scythians and other
furriners when singing their scandalous version of the National Anthem.

But when that word became a name it was already Varvára, as you noted.

.

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