Talk:Upper Macedonia

Comments

Interesting isn't it, that such names are found in upper Macedon, as well as just south of Macedon (>Perrhaibon, a district that can be said to have been between Macedon and Thessaly); and even in Macedon "proper" (>Cyrrhus). Hmm ... maybe that's because these forms were Macedonian forms after all. Alexander 007 08:01, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

How do you define "non-Hellenic"? All the Greek -os islands have pre-IE (i.e. "non-Greek") names.--Theathenae 12:31, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

Wrong. Andros and Delos are at least two Indo-European exceptions. Alexander 007 04:42, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Non-Hellenic, as far as I can tell, is defined according to whether a given element has a Greek Indo-European etymology or not. For instance, Pyrrhus can be said to be Hellenic. Cyrrhus, until it has an agreed upon Greek etymology, cannot be said to be Hellenic. So, at present, such terms are in a kind of "limbo", until new research gives them etymologies, demonstrating that they are Greek or non-Greek. Alexander 007 20:41, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

There are countless examples of Greek names that have no Greek etymology. What does Naxos mean in Greek? Or Zakynthos, Mykonos, etc.?--Theathenae 20:47, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

Exactly, so those terms are generally considered pre-Greek or "non-Greek" (though they have become Greek). Those Macedonian examples may also be from a pre-Greek substratum, but they may all be native (which would have interesting implications if they can't be given Greek etymologies), or they may be from an adstratum (late loans). Alexander 007 20:51, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

Any scenario is possible, of course, but having pre-Greek or "non-Greek" names in and of itself is not sufficient evidence to argue that they themselves weren't Greek.--Theathenae 21:04, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

Don't worry, the way Decius keeps moving further North, soon enough he will move past the Danube: which was his intention all along Chronographos 21:18, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

No, I'm not trying to connect Macedonians to Dacians or Getae. This information from Upper Macedonia fits in with the idea of Macedonians being Highlanders (Makedones), and perhaps these Highlanders were the original Macedonians. Alexander 007 21:25, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

Why, of course they were! It's interesting how you keep moving the goalposts until you find something no one can disprove. Chronographos 21:28, 18 July 2005 (UTC)