Re: [tied] Re: Check out Origin of Ancient Languages

--- tgpedersen <tgpedersen@...> wrote:

> > (GK:) Here is the passage from Strabo
> (VII.1.2):
> >
> > "Now the parts beyond the Rhenus, immediately
> after
> > the country of the Celti, slope towards the east
> and
> > are occupied by the Germans, who, though they vary
> > slightly from the Celtic stock in that they are
> > wilder, taller, and have yellower hair, are in all
> > other respects similar, for in build, habits, and
> > modes of life they are such as I have said the
> Celti
> > are. And I also think that it was for this reason
> that
> > the Romans assigned to them the name "Germani," as
> > though they wished to indicate thereby that they
> were
> > "genuine" Galatae, for in the language of the
> Romans
> > "germani" means "genuine.""
> >
> >
> I must have had a stroke in the comprehension center
> of my brain. I
> get the impression that Strabo says the difference
> is quantitative,
> not qualitative (pardon my language).

******GK: Well if you just rely on him, you'd think
that linguistic differences were not significant
between Celts and Germans, and that the latter were
simply "wilder, taller etc etc" Celts... We know
differently of course. That's why I didn't think that
Tacitus' remark about the
"Aestii" speaking a language like Britonic needed to
be taken at face value. Maybe Baltic and Celtic
"sounded" similar to his informant. At least, unlike
Strabo above, Tacitus DID distinguish Germanic from
Celtic.******


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