Re: De Germaniis (was Re: Roumania...)

On 4-13-99, Fabian wrote: "I heard a rumour once taht slavs generally
referred to foreigners as 'those who dont speak (slavic)'. Presumably this
word is a derivative of taht - Germany being teh only non-slavic neighbour
to Poland. </unsubstantiated rumour>"

The word is often translated as 'dumb' ('unable to speak,' not 'stupid').
The Russian word for a German-speaker, for example, is 'nemoy' /n~i - MOY/.

Nemoy is an uncommon Ashkenazic Jewish surname, ie. Leonard Nimoy. German
Jews migrated to Russia via Poland and Lithuania and could not speak
Russian, so they were known as 'Nemoy' and somehow the name stuck!

BB

*********
Ther cam a privee theef men clepeth Deeth,
That in this contree al the peple sleeth,
And with his spere he smoot his herte atwo,
And wente his wey withouten wordes mo.
He hath a thousand slayn this pestilence.
- Geoffrey Chaucer, The Pardoner's Tale

James E Johnson, 1920-1999