Bibliotheca Polyglotta

▪ According to Rolland2014, Ar saqlab and var. ṣiqlāb (↗ṢQLB) are from ByzGrk sklábos (pl. skláboi) ‘Slav’. – The origin of the ByzGrk ethnonym is a matter of controversial scholarly discussion. Some authors trace it back to proto-Slavonic *slava ‘glory, fame’; others regard it as ultimately from prot-Slav *slovo ‘word, speech’, used by the Slavs to mark themselves as *‘the speaking ones, those with clear language’, as opposed to *‘the dumb ones’, cf. oChSlav Nemici ‘Germans’; see below, section WEST.
▪ The var. ↗ṣaqlab is prob. from saqlab, with partly retrograde assimilation (ṣ‑ < s‑ under the influence of following q).
▪ Rolland2014: The var. sulāf seems to be a transcription of the Fr or Engl terms (slave, Slav).
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▪ Due to the association of Slavs with slave trade, the ethnonym later also took the meaning of ‘slave’, a notion that seems to have reached Arabic, too (at least for the var. with initial ṣ‑ instead of sa-, see ↗ṣaqlab): BK1860 mentions the expr. ^†ṣaqālibaẗ al-zanǧ, lit., *‘the negro\black Slavs’, for the ‘Ethiopians’, a meaning that must have emerged due to the fact that, for Arab slave traders, East Africa fulfilled a similar function as a reservoir of slaves as the Balkans and its hinterlands did in the North.¹ . Cf. also Golden [et al.] in EI²: »The Ṣaḳāliba lands and peoples were intimately associated [...] with the slave trade, so much so that their name became synonymous with it. Slaving raids aimed at the Ṣaḳāliba were largely carried out by the Hungarians and the Rūs. Ibn Rusta [C10], [Kitāb al-ʔaʕlāq al-nafīsaẗ, ed. de Goeje, Leiden: Brill, 1892] 142, has a particularly full notice. He reports that the “Maǧġariyya” [Magyar] rule over their Ṣaḳāliba neighbours. “They require of them raw materials (muʔan ġalīẓa) (as tribute)” and treat them like prisoners of war. They raid them regularly and take their captives to “Karǧ” (Kerč) in the Crimea. This, presumably, was their point of entry into the Byzantine world.«²
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1. Cf. art. »ʿAbd«, in EI² (R. Brunschvig). 2. Art. »al-Ṣaḳāliba« in EI² (P.B. Golden, C.E. Bosworth,P. Guichard, and M. Meouak).

west

▪ Not from Ar saqlab but from the same source, ByzGrk Skláboi, are Eur words for ‘Slavs’, such as Engl Slav, Fr slave, Ge Slawe, etc. – Sources disagree on the origin of the etymon itself, the ByzGrk ethnonym Skláboi. Rolland2014 follows those who think it is an emic term based on Slavonic *slava ‘glory, fame’ (< IE *kleu‑ ‘to hear, reknown’), an idea that, accord. to EtymOnline, is explicitly rejected by »Max Vasmer, the authority for Slavic etymologies«.¹ Pfeiffer1993 (in DWDS), too, does not trace ByzGrk Skláboi (var. Stʰláboi) back to prot-Slav *slava ‘glory, fame’; rather, he thinks that it is shortened from ByzGrk Sklavēnoí (older also *Stʰlabēnoí) ‘Slavs from the Balkanic hinterland’, from the prot-Slav *slověne (pl.) ‘Slavs’ (sg. *slověninъ), accord. to EtymOnline prob. an emic ethnonym related to prot-Slav *slovo ‘word, speech’, which suggests that the name originally identified a member of a speech community (compare oChSlav Nemici ‘Germans’, related to nemu ‘dumb’, > Ar ↗nimsā, today ‘Austria’). – Some scholars also hold that, in Europe, ByzGrk Stʰlábos > Sklábos later also gave the words for ‘slave’: > medLat Sclavus ‘slave’ > oFr (C13) esclave > Engl (c. 1300) sclave, esclave ‘person who is the chattel or property of another’ (also mHGe slave ‘Unfreier, Knecht’, cf. DWDS). The same scholars think that the secondary sense is due to the fact that »many Slavs [were] sold into slavery by conquering peoples« (EtymOnline). In contrast, Kluge2002 proposes a different etymology for ‘slave’ (C13 Ge Sklave ‘slave’ < mHGe sklafe, slave, from mLat sclavus < *scylavus, akin to Grk skyleúō, skyláō ‘to make war-booty’, from skŷlon ‘war-booty’² ), adding, however, that this word later merged with the Grk ethnonym for the ‘Slavs’, mGrk sklabēnói, which gave rise to »inappropriate etymological speculation«.
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1. Accord. to Vasmer, Slavonic *slava ‘glory, fame’ may have influenced Slav only »via folk etymology«. *slava ‘glory, fame’ (perh. from prot-IE root *kleu- ‘to hear’) is the ‑slav in personal names, such as Ru Miro‑slav, lit. ‘peaceful fame’, Msti‑slav ‘vengeful fame’, Jaro‑slav ‘famed for fury’, Cz Bohu‑slav ‘God’s glory’, Latinized Wence‑slas ‘having greater glory’ – EtymOnline. 2. Beekes2016: Grk skŷla (n.pl.) ‘war-booty, esp. weapons’, also skŷlon ‘spoil, booty’. > Denom. vb. skyleúō ‘to rob a slain enemy of his weapons’. Etym: »The root specifically refers to the stripping of a slain enemy of his weapons and armor. Probably a derivative of the root of skýllō ‘to lacerate, tear up, flay’, even though the meaning of skŷla may have influenced the aorist skŷlai ‘to plunder’. Other etymlologies [...] are less attractive.«

deriv

For other values attached to the root, cf. ↗saqlaba as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗SQLB. See also ↗ṣaqlab.

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