βάρβαρος Ancient Greek · revision 2212

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=onomatopoeia, reduplication|attested=6th–5th century BC, Heraclitus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /bár.ba.ros/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈβar.βa.ros/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈvar.va.ros/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''βᾰ́ρβᾰρος''' (bárbaros) ''m'' or f (neuter βᾰ́ρβᾰρον); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an onomatopoeic reduplicated formation, imitating speech that cannot be understood, and at first referred to the language of foreigners.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary) It matches post-Vedic Sanskrit [[m|sa|बर्बर|tr=barbara|t=stammering]], also a name for non-Aryan peoples.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Comparable formations exist in other Indo-European languages, such as Latin [[m|la|balbus|t=stammering]] and Lithuanian [[m|lt|balbėti|alt=balbė́ti|t=to babble]].^(Wiktionary)^(Beekes 2010) The Mycenaean name or word [[m|gmy|pa-pa-ro]] may be the same word.^(DGE)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ A Sumerian or Babylonian origin, from Sumerian [[m|sux|barbar|t=foreigner]] or Akkadian [[m|akk|barbaru]], has been proposed,^(Frisk 1960) but Beekes rejects it, and Rosół points out that the Akkadian word means “wolf” and that no Sumerian word for “foreigner” of this form exists.^(Beekes 2010)^(Rosół 2013)

+

+ Latin borrowed it as [[m|la|barbarus]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Πάπυρος)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer does not have the simple word, but he calls the Carians βαρβαρόφωνοι, “of barbarous speech”.^(LSJ 1940)^(Frisk 1960)^(Beekes 2010) The simple word is first found in Heraclitus, who speaks of “barbarian souls”.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It first meant anyone who did not speak Greek, and after the Persian Wars especially the Medes and Persians, as in Aeschylus' ''Persians'' and Herodotus.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Thucydides, Plato and Aristotle set Greeks against barbarians;^(LSJ 1940) Aristotle holds that barbarian and slave are by nature the same.^(LSJ 1940) Of speech it means foreign and unintelligible, and Aristophanes uses it of the twitter of birds.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) As a feminine noun, ἡ βάρβαρος, it is the barbarian land.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) From the Classical period it also meant uncultured, rude and brutal, as in Aristophanes and Demosthenes.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Grammarians used it of incorrect Greek, whence [[βαρβαρισμός|tr=barbarismós]].^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ In later Greek it could mean non-Roman as well as non-Greek, in Polybius and Plutarch,^(CGL 2021) and Jewish writers in the Septuagint call the Greeks barbarians.^(LSJ 1940)^(Lust 2003) Paul uses it of a speaker whose language is not understood, and pairs “Greeks and barbarians” as all mankind;^(BDAG 2000) BDAG warns that English ''barbarian'' is too negative a rendering there.^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ Medieval vernacular Greek used it for uncouth, cruel people and especially for the Turks.^(Kriaras)^(Πάπυρος) In Modern Greek [[m|el|βάρβαρος|tr=várvaros]] means uncivilized, crude and cruel, and, of antiquity, non-Greek.^(Triantafyllidis 1998) Through Latin ''barbarus'' it gave the European words, including English ''barbarian'';^(Πάπυρος) Arabic ''barbar'', the source of English ''Berber'', may also come from it.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' calls the Carians βαρβαρόφωνοι.^(LSJ 1940)^(Frisk 1960)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Heraclitus speaks of “barbarian souls”.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of the Persians.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for rude and uncultured.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle says barbarian and slave are the same by nature.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of peoples who are neither Greek nor Roman.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – Paul pairs “Greeks and barbarians”.^(BDAG 2000)

+ * 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek uses it of the Turks.^(Kriaras)

+ * 1820 – English ''Berber'' is first recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Non-Greek, [[m|en|foreign]]; as a noun, οἱ βάρβαροι, the [[m|en|barbarian|alt=barbarians]], especially the Persians.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Of speech: foreign, unintelligible.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ # ''(feminine noun)'' ἡ βάρβαρος, the barbarian land.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Uncultured, [[m|en|rude]], [[m|en|brutal]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(grammar)'' Of Greek: incorrect.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ # ''(Koine)'' Neither Greek nor Roman; in Jewish writers, Greek.^(CGL 2021)^(Lust 2003)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A name for several plasters.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[βαρβαρίζω|tr=barbarízō]]

+ * [[βαρβαρικός|tr=barbarikós]]

+ * [[βαρβαρισμός|tr=barbarismós]]

+ * [[βαρβαρόομαι|tr=barbaróomai]]

+ * [[βαρβαρόφωνος|tr=barbaróphōnos]]

+ * [[ἐκβαρβαρόω|tr=ekbarbaróō]]

+ * [[μιξοβάρβαρος|tr=mixobárbaros]]

+ * [[ὑποβάρβαρος|tr=hupobárbaros]]

+ * [[φιλοβάρβαρος|tr=philobárbaros]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|barbarus]]

+ * [[en|barbarian]]

+ * [[en|Berber]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}