On discarding the word "tribalism" because it might be offensive. Important concepts need a crisp, consistent and memorable lexicon. We should consider when the benefits of ease of communication are likely to be greater than the harms of potential offense. https://twitter.com/dylanmatt/status/985657630273261568 …
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I think we do—the application to the Israelite tribes is derived from be generic sense of the word, which is common in both ancient Latin and medieval vernacular languages
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I'm still not sure how that counters my statement that the English word has its origins in Latin but was used in sense of tribes mostly for Hebrew tribes in a Christian context and then applied to ancient Britons. Do you not think it was?
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I don't disagree strongly, I just don't think it's safe to overemphasize the word's semantic connection to the tribes of Israel; nor to sever the Latin word too cleanly from the English
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I don't think that's the point here tho. Americans have the word 'tribe' from the English who have used it historically primarily to describe the tribes of Israel & then ancient Britons. Therefore it is not the property of Native Americans. The end. Your point can also be true.
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I buy your conclusion (obviously no word is any set of people's property) regardless of my quibbles with your premisses
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But what is the premise you are quibbling with? I want to know if you think I am wrong about historical use of the word in English because I might be. I study English Christian history 1300-1700 and there could be contexts I don't know.
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That is the only claim I have made and if you disagree with it, you are quibbling with the point I made. If you are pointing out it was used differently in Rome where it is derived from that is not a quibble but an additional tangential fact which I also know to be true.
End of conversation
New conversation -
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