From: tgpedersen
Message: 16196
Date: 2002-10-12
>We? I thought I said I meant differently.
> --- 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 thatThis is what I still believe:
> 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.******
>
>