John writes:
Coins provide better sets. I spent about fifteen years studying and
writing about one tribe (Coriosolite) who have left us many tens of
thousands of coins.
Okay, but it is exactly the connections between, say, a well-documented
"tribe" or administrative unit, and any kind of "ethnic" entity, not to
mention the modern essence of Celticness, that I (and apparently others)
have a hard time pinpointing. And I don't think it's politically nefarious
to question the intellectual history of our field(s), or even whether we
should make the "ethnic" connection at all.
Still wondering what makes an "ethnic " Albanian ethnic. Here's the OED, I
think illuminatingly, on "Ethnic" (examples deleted):
ethnic e.ynik'enIk, a. and sb. Forms: 4-6 ethnyke, 5-7 ethnik(e, 6-8
ethnick(e, (6 æth-, ethenicke, etneke), 7 ethnique, (ethnycke), 6- ethnic.
[ad; Gr. eynik-oj heathen, f. eqnoj nation; in the LXX, hence in N.T. and
the Fathers, ta eynh = the nations, Gentiles (rendering Heb. goyim, pl. of
goy, nation, esp. non-Israelitish or `Gentile' nation). The Gr. eynoj was
formerly often imagined to be the source of Eng. heathen; hence the
confused forms hethnic, heathenic, which might be regarded as corrupt
variants of this word. ]
A. adj.
1. Pertaining to nations not Christian or Jewish; Gentile, heathen, pagan.
2.
a. Pertaining to race; peculiar to a race or nation; ethnological. Also,
pertaining to or having common racial, cultural, religious, or linguistic
characteristics, esp. designating a racial or other group within a larger
system; hence (U.S. colloq.), foreign, exotic.
b. ethnic minority (group), a group of people differentiated from the rest
of the community by racial origins or cultural background, and usu.
claiming or enjoying official recognition of their group identity. Also
attrib.
B. sb.
1. One who is not a Christian or a Jew; a Gentile, heathen, pagan. Obs.
2. Greek Antiq. An epithet denoting nationality, derived from or
corresponding to the name of a people or city = eynikon (Steph. Byz.). Also
gen.
3. A member of an ethnic group or minority. orig. U.S.
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Constanze Witt
Instructional Technology Specialist
UT Austin Classics Dept; Waggener Hall 17, C3400
Austin TX 78712
[log in to unmask], (512) 471 8684, fax (512) 471-4111
http://www.utexas.edu/depts/classics/
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