βάρβαρος
Ancient Greek
Etymology
Onomatopoeic: from the perceived βαρ-βαρ (bar-bar) sounds incomprehensible to Ancient Greeks and spoken by foreigners.[1] As an onomatopoeic construction, βαρ-βαρ is similar to modern English blah blah, but meaning gibberish, gabble; compare also babble from Proto-Indo-European *bʰa-bʰa-. Cognate to Mycenaean Greek 𐀞𐀞𐀫 (pa-pa-ro) and Sanskrit बर्बर (barbara, “barbarian, non-Aryan, stammering, blockhead”).
Possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *balb-, *balbal- (“tongue-tied”). Compare with Latin balbus (“stammering, stuttering”), Russian болтать (boltatʹ, “to chatter, babble”), Lithuanian balbė́ti (“to talk, babble”), Sanskrit बल्बला (balbalā, “stammering”).
For the semantic development, compare Arabic عَجَم (ʕajam, “non-Arab; Persian”), from the root ع ج م (ʕ-j-m), referring to people who speak unclearly.
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /bár.ba.ros/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈbar.ba.ros/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈβar.βa.ros/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈvar.va.ros/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈvar.va.ros/
Adjective
βᾰ́ρβᾰρος • (bárbaros) m or f (neuter βᾰ́ρβᾰρον); second declension (Attic, Ionic, Koine)
- non-Greek-speaking, foreign
- (in the plural) non-Greek peoples
- Medes or Persians
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 1.2.14:
- καὶ λέγεται δεηθῆναι ἡ Κίλισσα Κύρου ἐπιδεῖξαι τὸ στράτευμα αὐτῇ: βουλόμενος οὖν ἐπιδεῖξαι ἐξέτασιν ποιεῖται ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων.
- kaì légetai deēthênai hē Kílissa Kúrou epideîxai tò stráteuma autêi: boulómenos oûn epideîxai exétasin poieîtai en tôi pedíōi tôn Hellḗnōn kaì tôn barbárōn.
- And it is said that the Cilician [queen] asked Cyrus to show her his troops. So since he wanted to show them to her, he held a review of the Greeks and Persians in the field.
- καὶ λέγεται δεηθῆναι ἡ Κίλισσα Κύρου ἐπιδεῖξαι τὸ στράτευμα αὐτῇ: βουλόμενος οὖν ἐπιδεῖξαι ἐξέτασιν ποιεῖται ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων.
- Medes or Persians
- (in the plural) non-Greek peoples
- barbaric, brutal, rude
Inflection
Number | Singular | Dual | Plural | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case/Gender | Masculine / Feminine | Neuter | Masculine / Feminine | Neuter | Masculine / Feminine | Neuter | ||||||||
Nominative | βᾰ́ρβᾰρος bárbaros |
βᾰ́ρβᾰρον bárbaron |
βᾰρβᾰ́ρω barbárō |
βᾰρβᾰ́ρω barbárō |
βᾰ́ρβᾰροι bárbaroi |
βᾰ́ρβᾰρᾰ bárbara | ||||||||
Genitive | βᾰρβᾰ́ρου barbárou |
βᾰρβᾰ́ρου barbárou |
βᾰρβᾰ́ροιν barbároin |
βᾰρβᾰ́ροιν barbároin |
βᾰρβᾰ́ρων barbárōn |
βᾰρβᾰ́ρων barbárōn | ||||||||
Dative | βᾰρβᾰ́ρῳ barbárōi |
βᾰρβᾰ́ρῳ barbárōi |
βᾰρβᾰ́ροιν barbároin |
βᾰρβᾰ́ροιν barbároin |
βᾰρβᾰ́ροις barbárois |
βᾰρβᾰ́ροις barbárois | ||||||||
Accusative | βᾰ́ρβᾰρον bárbaron |
βᾰ́ρβᾰρον bárbaron |
βᾰρβᾰ́ρω barbárō |
βᾰρβᾰ́ρω barbárō |
βᾰρβᾰ́ρους barbárous |
βᾰ́ρβᾰρᾰ bárbara | ||||||||
Vocative | βᾰ́ρβᾰρε bárbare |
βᾰ́ρβᾰρον bárbaron |
βᾰρβᾰ́ρω barbárō |
βᾰρβᾰ́ρω barbárō |
βᾰ́ρβᾰροι bárbaroi |
βᾰ́ρβᾰρᾰ bárbara | ||||||||
Derived forms | Adverb | Comparative | Superlative | |||||||||||
βᾰρβᾰ́ρως barbárōs |
βᾰρβᾰρώτερος barbarṓteros |
βᾰρβᾰρώτᾰτος barbarṓtatos | ||||||||||||
Notes: |
|
Derived terms
- βᾰρβᾰρῐκός (barbarikós)
- βᾰρβᾰρῐστῐ́ (barbaristí)
- βᾰρβᾰρῐ́ζω (barbarízō)
- βᾰρβᾰρῐσμός (barbarismós)
- ῠ̔ποβᾰρβᾰρῐ́ζω (hupobarbarízō)
- βᾰρβᾰρόφωνος (barbaróphōnos)
- βᾰρβᾰροφωνέω (barbarophōnéō)
- βᾰρβᾰρόομαι (barbaróomai)
- ἐκβᾰρβᾰρόω (ekbarbaróō)
- μιξοβᾰ́ρβᾰρος (mixobárbaros)
- μῑσοβᾰ́ρβᾰρος (mīsobárbaros)
Descendants
- Greek: βάρβαρος m (várvaros)
- Arabic: بَرْبَر (barbar)
- English: Berber
- Old Armenian: բարբարոս (barbaros)
- Armenian: բարբարոս (barbaros)
- French: barbare
- Georgian: ბარბაროსი (barbarosi), ბარბარიზმი (barbarizmi)
- Latin: barbarus m / barbara f
- Portuguese: bárbaro m / bárbara f
- Russian: ва́рвар m (várvar)
References
- ^ βάρβαρος - Babiniotis, Georgios (2008) Λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας: […] [Dictionary of Modern Greek (language)] (in Greek), 3rd edition, Athens: Kentro Lexikologias [Lexicology Centre], 1st edition 1998, →ISBN.
- “βάρβᾰρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “βάρβαρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- βάρβαρος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
- βάρβαρος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
- “βάρβαρος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
- G915 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
- βάρβαρος in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- alien idem, page 22.
- barbarian idem, page 62.
- barbaric idem, page 62.
- barbarous idem, page 62.
- eastern idem, page 260.
- fanatical idem, page 306.
- foreign idem, page 336.
- orient idem, page 579.
- oriental idem, page 579.
- outlandish idem, page 582.
- rude idem, page 724.
- savage idem, page 735.
- strange idem, page 823.
- uncivilised idem, page 909.
- uncouth idem, page 911.
- wild idem, page 979.
Greek
Etymology
From Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros)
Pronunciation
Noun
βάρβαρος • (várvaros) m (plural βάρβαροι)
- barbarian
- Τι περιμένουμε στην αγορά συναθροισμένοι;
Είναι οι βάρβαροι να φθάσουν σήμερα.- Ti periménoume stin agorá synathroisménoi?
Eínai oi várvaroi na fthásoun símera. - What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?
The barbarians are due here today.
Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933), Poem: Περιμένοντας τους Bαρβάρους [Waiting for the Barbarians] and audio at The official website of the Cavafy Archive
- Ti periménoume stin agorá synathroisménoi?
Declension
Adjective
βάρβαρος • (várvaros) m (feminine βάρβαρη, neuter βάρβαρο)
- barbarous, barbaric, uncivilised
- Τι βάρβαρος άνθρωπος! Χτυπάει τη γυναίκα του.
- Ti várvaros ánthropos! Chtypáei ti gynaíka tou.
- What a barbaric man he is! He hits his wife.
Declension
number case \ gender |
singular | plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
nominative | βάρβαρος • | βάρβαρη • | βάρβαρο • | βάρβαροι • | βάρβαρες • | βάρβαρα • |
genitive | βάρβαρου • | βάρβαρης • | βάρβαρου • | βάρβαρων • | βάρβαρων • | βάρβαρων • |
accusative | βάρβαρο • | βάρβαρη • | βάρβαρο • | βάρβαρους • | βάρβαρες • | βάρβαρα • |
vocative | βάρβαρε • | βάρβαρη • | βάρβαρο • | βάρβαροι • | βάρβαρες • | βάρβαρα • |
derivations | Comparative: πιο + positive forms (e.g. πιο βάρβαρος, etc.) Relative superlative: definite article + πιο + positive forms (e.g. ο πιο βάρβαρος, etc.) |
Synonyms
- απολίτιστος (apolítistos, “uncivilised”)
Antonyms
- πολιτισμένος (politisménos, “civilised”, participle)
Related terms
- βαρβαρικός (varvarikós, “barbaric”)
- βαρβαρισμός m (varvarismós, “grammatical mistake in the use of language”)
- βαρβαριστί (varvaristí, “in foreign language, or with grammatical mistakes”, adverb)
- βαρβαρότητα f (varvarótita, “barbarity”)
- εκβαρβαρίζω (ekvarvarízo, “barbarize”)
- εκβαρβαρισμός m (ekvarvarismós, “barbarization”)
- εκβαρβαρώνω (ekvarvaróno, “barbarize”)
- εκβαρβάρωση f (ekvarvárosi, “barbarization”)
- μειξοβάρβαρος (meixovárvaros, “mixed, not genuine Greek”)
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