The name Phillip
Phillip's name was written in Greek as ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΣ, and it has the Greek etymology of φίλος phílos, "friend" and ἵππος híppos, "horse". However, how reliable is this? It is a well-know fact that the ancient Greeks Hellenized all foreign names to make them sound more Greek. Take for example:
Original name Greek name
Dārayava(h)uš : Dareios
Arbaku : Harapagus
Purushottama : Porus
All of these names have etymologies in Greek; Dareios (areios=soldier), Porus (porus=resource, plenty), Harapagus (harpage=plunderer).
After conquering the Thracians, Phillip established the city Phillippopolis/Φιλιππούπολη in Thrace. In the Thracian language it was translated as Pulpudeva. Pulpu, being the genitive (possessive) case of Phillip, and -deva meaning city. Most scholars tend to place Macedonian as being closer to the neighboring Illyrian and Thracian languages than Greek (John Shea, Macedonia and Greece. pp.23-35 ). Future posts will show the relation between ancient Thracian and Macedonian compared to modern Slavic languages. If we assume the languages were at least related (like Spanish and Portugese), the use of the name Pulpu indicates that the name “Phillippos” might have been different in the native Macedonian language.
Phillip's name was written in Greek as ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΣ, and it has the Greek etymology of φίλος phílos, "friend" and ἵππος híppos, "horse". However, how reliable is this? It is a well-know fact that the ancient Greeks Hellenized all foreign names to make them sound more Greek. Take for example:
Original name Greek name
Dārayava(h)uš : Dareios
Arbaku : Harapagus
Purushottama : Porus
All of these names have etymologies in Greek; Dareios (areios=soldier), Porus (porus=resource, plenty), Harapagus (harpage=plunderer).
After conquering the Thracians, Phillip established the city Phillippopolis/Φιλιππούπολη in Thrace. In the Thracian language it was translated as Pulpudeva. Pulpu, being the genitive (possessive) case of Phillip, and -deva meaning city. Most scholars tend to place Macedonian as being closer to the neighboring Illyrian and Thracian languages than Greek (John Shea, Macedonia and Greece. pp.23-35 ). Future posts will show the relation between ancient Thracian and Macedonian compared to modern Slavic languages. If we assume the languages were at least related (like Spanish and Portugese), the use of the name Pulpu indicates that the name “Phillippos” might have been different in the native Macedonian language.
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