Kozak/Cossack

[Francoise Rosset]

On Sun, 7 Dec 2008 01:01:33 -0500
  "Paul B. Gallagher" <paulbg at PBG-TRANSLATIONS.COM> wrote:
> nataliek at UALBERTA.CA wrote:
  
> This is all very confusing. If the Cossacks were in fact Turkic 
>people as per the Oxford English Dictionary, what difference does it 
>make to the Ukrainians how we spell their name in English? If they 
>were Ukrainians, I could understand the Ukrainians wanting to lionize 
>them as some sort of national heroes. But if they were an offshoot of 
>the Qazaqs, that's (forgive me) a horse of a different color.

>This is all very confusing. If the Cossacks were in fact Turkic 
>people as per the Oxford English Dictionary, 

OK, now I'm confused.
I had learned (mistakenly perhaps, it happens) that Cossacks/Kozaks 
were not an ethnic group at all, but a group that established itself 
historically from "outlier" types (runaway serfs, "incorrigibles," 
various freedom-seekers) and then developed a loosely defined society.
Is it the appellation that's Turkic, or the actual group?

Please correct me.
I should be writing exams instead or responding to the thread about 
p.c., but one is no fun and the other one would be, well, angry 
frustration.
This is an actual opportunity to learn something ...
-FR


Francoise Rosset, Associate Professor
Chair, Russian and Russian Studies
Coordinator, German and Russian
Wheaton College
Norton, Massachusetts 02766
Office: (508) 285-3696
FAX:   (508) 286-3640

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------