Tò τοπωνύμιον Γαργαλιάνοι και ή ετυμολογία αύτού
Part of : Πλάτων : περιοδικό της Εταιρείας Ελλήνων Φιλολόγων ; Vol.ΛΖ, No.73-74, 1985, pages 173-184
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173-184
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Etymology of the name Γαργαλιάνοι
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Gargagliani is a town in Messenia. The original, and still commonly used form of the name is «του Γαργαλιάνου» which means Gargaliano's place. The plural form οί Γαργαλιάνοι came much later and it first appeared during the 1821 Revolution. A first explanation of the name then is that someone called Γαργαλιάνος owned land in this place or lived there (Γαργαλιάνος is the son of Γάργαλος. Γάργαλος, as an adjective means one with a bloated body and, metaphorically, a haughty man. It seems that somebody with these characteristics was given this nickname, which, with the passing of time, prevailed over the surname and finally replaced it to become, for one of his descendants, Γαργαλιάνος). However there is another explanation for the origin of the name of this town; it is necessary for us then to come back to this subject.
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