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Barbara

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Joachim Pense

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Jan 6, 2008, 8:45:16 AM1/6/08
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There's a Sanskrit word "barbara" meaning "stammering" or "foreigner" just
like the Greek "barbaros". Could the word be a loan from Greek, or is it
thought to be a cognate?

Joachim

Richard Wordingham

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Jan 6, 2008, 11:38:36 AM1/6/08
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Delving into the cyba-cave, I found the following nuggets (c.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/14590 ). Possibly an
independent coining, cf. English blah-blah and Latin _balbus_ 'stammering'.
There are also Sumerian _barbar_ 'foreigner' and Akkadian _barbaru_
'stranger'.

I must say I find the idea of a possible BEL-GON connection appealing -
bel-bel 'talk nonsense'? Thematicisation would immediately give Sanskrit
_barbara_!

Richard.

Dušan Vukotić

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Jan 6, 2008, 3:42:09 PM1/6/08
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On Jan 6, 5:38 pm, "Richard Wordingham" <jrw0...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> "Joachim Pense" <s...@pense-mainz.eu> wrote:
> > There's a Sanskrit word "barbara" meaning "stammering" or "foreigner" just
> > like the Greek "barbaros". Could the word be a loan from Greek, or is it
> > thought to be a cognate?
>
> Delving into the cyba-cave, I found the following nuggets (c.http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/14590).  Possibly an

> independent coining, cf. English blah-blah and Latin _balbus_ 'stammering'.
> There are also Sumerian _barbar_ 'foreigner' and Akkadian _barbaru_
> 'stranger'.
>
> I must say I find the idea of a possible BEL-GON connection appealing -
> bel-bel 'talk nonsense'?  Thematicisation would immediately give Sanskrit
> _barbara_!
>
> Richard.

Have you been ordered to cite your master's "theorem"? ;-)

Latin balbus is probably of onomatopoeic origin; baby's bla-bla;
Serbian blebetanje (babble; from bla-ble-gon; Greek λαλαγεω) ;-)

It demands a more profound psychological and philosophical "delving";
i.e. your bla-bla or ble-ble "nonsensical talking" (beside gn-gn and
gr-gr) might be the one of the key stones for the understanding of the
development of human speech.

βαρβαρος was a common name for the all non-Greek-speaking peoples;
similar to the Slavonic name for the Germans Nemci (the dumb, mutes).
In those kind of words l <=> r sound alteration is quite a common
phenomenon.
Therefore, even in Serbian we have blebetabje/lupetanje and brbljanje/
brbljarija/brbljati all with the meaning "talking nonsense, babble";
cf. Spanish barbullar/balbucir (babble), balbuceo (stammer, babble);
Italian balbettamento (stammer); Russian лепетать; German plappern;
French babillage etc.

DV

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