this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2024
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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Ah, got it.

The relevant root is Proto-Germanic *walhaz. If I got it right it was used by PG speakers first to refer to a specific Celtic tribe, then other non-Germanic Europeans. (Proto-Slavic borrowed the word but changed the meaning - from "any speaker of a foreign language" to "Latin/Romance speaker".)

Latin never borrowed that root because they simply called any non-Roman "barbarus".