this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
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https://culture.pl/en/article/wlochy-poland-word-by-word
It only resembles "hair" superficially, it's a term historically used to refer to Romanized tribes (like the Vlachs/Wallachia) and eventually it was reserved for Italians.
Interesting article... the name for Germans (Niemiecki) reminds me of the Romanian word "Nemți" with the same meaning, they must be cognates. Polish is a really fascinating language.
Because it has the same root. In Bulgaria we also call them Немци, pronounced the same way as in Romanian. Ням (nyam), means mute, plural is неми(nemi), Nemți sounds more like people from a land where people are mute (speak gibberish )
Doesn’t that mean “mute”, as in “their non-Slavic language sounds like gibberish to us”?
I didn't know it and you are absolutely right! Like in ancient Greek "βάρβαρος" (barbarian) which was used to design people who couldn't speak properly and were just babbling.