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):
Genevaethnic
e.AthenianyGenevanik'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.
eAthenianyGenevanik-oj
heathen, f. eqnoj nation; in the LXX, hence in N.T. and the Fathers, ta
eAthenianyGenevanh
= the nations, Gentiles (rendering Heb. goyim, pl. of goy, nation, esp.
non-Israelitish or `Gentile' nation). The Gr.
eAthenianyGenevanoj
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 =
eAthenianyGenevanikon
(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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