Where does "Bravo!" come from? Etymology of the Italian word "BRAVO"

[@micheleparodi664]

The "Bravi" were hired assassins in the northern Italy in the 16th. By the way in the South of Piedmont (Italy) in dialect we also say BRAU as bravo! So interesting.

[@ManfredoStagnoGD]

More like goons than assassins... I was gonna say that too :) Stupidi promessi sposi, li odio

[@arilrasnical]

I spent a lot of time in Alessandria and heard this from older people.

[@R0swell5104]

Yes indeed, I always thought it was just a contraction where the V was not pronounced i.e. BRAO. I'm no language scholar so what do I know.

[@giorgiocolleoni5661]

I bravi de I Promessi Sposi del Manzoni. Vero!

[@MyronidesVideo]

Still used in Greece, meaning hired thugs. Borrowed from Itanlian, obviously.

[@uu7807]

In Italian there is also the verb "Bravare" Which could mean Bullying, Provoke, and also To challenge, but nowadays in the spoken language it's used only in the phrase "Notte brava" wich means to spend a night doing Party or doing not quite legal stuff.

[@AnemeTemenA]

Da non dimenticare anche i Bravi del Manzoni

[@giacomocasartelli5503]

"Fare bravate", "to behave savagely" is the broader example

[@gabrielpisciottano6077]

!!!!!!! Aqui en Uruguay tambien decimos "una noche brava!!!!!" en ese sentido

[@nicolapruccoli4685]

I don't know if you already know this, but still in the Nineteen century's book "I promessi sposi", by Alessandro Manzoni, there is the use of "bravo" for something bad, cruel: "i bravi" is used to indicate the henchmen of Don Rodrigo, the villan of the story.

[@larachellin68]

I was thinking the same. And "bravi" were unscrupulous outlaws, hired to be strong and "brave", like a private militia for people who could afford them. Terrible, but respected because of the fear they instilled.

[@fabianofonda6758]

Not only outlaws, they were skilled and bald.

[@cieldano1223]

anche la parola bravata tipo un azione pericolosa magari centra qualcosa

[@cieldano1223]

@Skain ciao skain 😁

[@Ariom76]

I think this meaning come from the Spanish language. In Spanish "bravo" is like "angry" and in that period the Spanish Empire dominated part of our Peninsula.

[@Ecolinguist]

That was terrific! Bravo, Mr. Picard! 👏🏼We do use the word 'brawo' in Polish but what's interesting is that we use the word "brawa" as the plural form of 'brawo' and it's an exclamation encouraging people to clap at the end of a performance, something like 'applause!' or 'give a round of applause!' 🤓

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

That’s very cool! And I’m so sorry I mispronounced mówić 🤦‍♂️ I know better...

[@Ecolinguist]

@@polyMATHY_Luke You were almost there with 'mówić.' I listened to it a few times to make sure and I think you pronounced 'ó' as long 'o' instead of just 'u'. :) But I think your Czech pronunciation is on point!! 😎

[@Weissenschenkel]

Norbert, same in Brazil (for bravo,) and I guess it has its roots in Italy. I also said in another comment that "bravo" in Portuguese can be translated as "angry" depending on the context. As most adjectives in Portuguese, "bravo" has a female form, which is "brava."

[@zmaja]

In Serbo-Croatian "bravo!" is also used as an exclamation at the end of a performance, with an encouraging tone, and in other contexts, to imply "bravoure", brilliance, greatness with which something was done. One specific usage (I only now see it's listed in dictionaries with a different accent!) is as a type of adverb, meaning "oh, right", "there you go", "riiiight" (and the accent also goes "braAavo" 😄, long-descending, exclamation has a short-descending accent).

[@Sefse311]

I was once explained that the word bravo got diffused in the world by the world of theater an it started because in Italy composers were a big thing and people were saying them bravo at the end. i have no reference for this. What i also recall, but i am not sure it is true, is that people were using in a bad way against the play and in this contest then changed meaning

[@alwantamalus3709]

In French "Brave" (from Occitan Brau) means good, vaillant and courageous person... "Bravo" is used only to make compliments and came from italian and was first used to thank and compliment the Italian artists who played in Paris during 16th century.

[@calina_c]

Being Romanian + having a small child = I say "bravo!" too many times during the day.

[@micheleparodi664]

But if it's female you still say bravO and not bravA, right?!

[@CrisSelene]

@@micheleparodi664 right. In Romanian Bravo! is an interjection. We don't decline it.

[@AngeloSemolic]

@@CrisSelene Same in Croatian.

[@atriyakoller136]

@@CrisSelene same in Russian

[@calina_c]

@@micheleparodi664 Yes, as @Cris05 said, we don't decline it :D

[@danieljaime9569]

In Spanish we often use the word 'bárbaro' to express admiration. E.g.: '¡Qué bárbaro!', meaning 'that's great, awesome!'.

[@rogeriopenna9014]

in portuguese too.

[@coletrickle4955]

wow this is intriguing, i wonder if it comes from the same root, because in italian 'barbaro' (pronounced 'bàrbaro') has only negative meaning (uncultered, uncivilized)

[@danieljaime9569]

@@coletrickle4955 we use however '¡Qué barbaridad!' meaning that something is brutal.

[@coletrickle4955]

@@danieljaime9569 ah! this exist also in italian, "una barbarie" (pronounced "barbàrie" means something really brutal, like the slaughter of innocents)

[@sikViduser]

In Mexico we typically use barbaro in the negative, just like barbarian, but at times it can be used as someone who is brave. "Ese hombre es bien barbaro! No tiene modales" or "Se animo y se echo el brinco como si nada"-"Que barbaro!" Barbaridad is used here when something is shocking. "Pues fijate que la estuvo engañando todo el tiempo"-"Que barbaridad!"

[@LauraTenora]

another Spanish speaker here: 1. angry, like other comments have already pointed out: "perro bravo", "Muñeca brava" (a once a popular soap opera); 2. Valiant, proud: "los bravos marineros", also used as a noun: "El general y 200 bravos"; 3. an expression of approval just like in Italian. Bravío: wild, indomitable. ( we have an excellent wine here in Argentina with that name!) I profoundly love your Channel. I love the correct way you pronounce our Latin languages, and I really really love your singing voice! please live forever!

[@DagorAngmar]

In Spanish too and also we can use it as an adjective for someone angry. Perro bravo = angry dog.

[@malster1239]

Same in Portuguese

[@Mtonazzi]

In some places it could mean dangerous or violent as well, still using Castillian. Perro bravo = dangerous/violent dog This makes it all much more interesting

[@davidcervantes9336]

In Spanish it’s more like “agressive”. “El perro es bien bravo” - “The dog is very agressive”

[@ccaddeo]

That’s correct!

[@francomiguelantonucci7783]

Also in argentina Spanish “bárbaro “ means excellent. And bravo means also good when used as an exclamation in theater 🎭 when the actors did a good job 👍🏻

[@jeromydoerksen2603]

My Greek friend says "μπράβο" to his son all the time. Another great video

[@danillo.eu.rodrigues]

In portuguese we have "bravo" as angry, when someone is "bravo" you better not come close because the person is pissed

[@zmaja]

Interesting!

[@marcusviniciusmagalhaesdea3779]

And the slang "brabo" that can be linked to the "sick" slang

[@VitorEmanuelOliver]

Maybe bravo or brabo comes from pravus if the meaning is angry

[@O_Tucano]

@Bad Horse It can be like saying "brave" in Portuguese too. Depends on the context

[@g.verardi3167]

bravo guerreiro nederland

[@georgios_5342]

We also use Bravo on the other side of the Ionian Sea. I'm Greek, we used to say Εύγε or Συγχαρητήρια (felicitations), but now we also use Μπράβο, more so dare I say than Εύγε. Εύγε comes from Ancient εύ which means well and γε which is added after some words for emphasis. So, Εύγε (=Nice!) For making this video!

[@Leptospirosi]

Does it not come from ἐΰ γενής?

[@hariszark7396]

@@Leptospirosi the word ευγενής means "coming from a good (ευ) lineage (γένος)". It has also the meaning of "polite" in modern Greek.

[@guritarasi8732]

Well then εύ=έ+ύ What does mean έ=? ύ=? Can you Greek explain it?🤔 έ ύ γέ=?🤔😂

[@georgios_5342]

@@Leptospirosi yeah it's what he said. εὐγενής is like εὐγε because they both start with a compound part εὐ, which means good. But γένος and γε aren't related as far as I know. γε is related to Latin "met", which is used with pronouns like in ancient Greek. So for example, ego means I in Latin, while egomet means "I! Not someone else", or "It's me who...". In modern Greek and Spanish, this same distinction is made by the existence or absence of pronouns, so γε and met were both lost. Only compound words remain. On the other hand, γένος is like genus in Latin, and they're both related to verbs meaning "I become/I'm born". For Greek I know that γίγνομαι shows its true colours in the aorist (simple past), where it becomes ἐγενόμην->ἐ-γεν-ό-μην. ε shows past, ο is to unite verb theme and suffix and μην shows first person singular aorist. The γεν part gives you the meaning of become/be born. So you know it means something like "I became". I'm born actually changed a bit and became γεννῶμαι and I was born is ἐγενήθην. So here the γεν is always visible. 👍

[@georgios_5342]

@@guritarasi8732 well can you explain what ' signifies? 😂 Then I'll tell you what each letter means

[@Alexis_Mos]

Yet another joyful gem! I love the way you get lost into languages, so mysterious!! In modern Greek, as already mentioned, we use the verb "βραβεύω" (vravevo), to award someone or to honor someone's methods or state, more often with the preposition epi => epi + vravevo, to reward. In ancient Greek it was more or less the same, adhering mostly to defining someone's results, to judge while putting to test. Considering that the most of the loaned words from Greek to Latin use the first Beta (Vita) letter with a pronunciation of Bee instead of Vee, the transfer to Latin should lead to "bravevo" and the noun "bravio". Quite close ;)

[@ichthysrattuserectus9447]

Years ago I've read somewhere: the roman citizens used to scream "pravus" to the fiercest gladiators, who were therefore the best ones. Could the connection be possible?

[@giadasacchi2736]

Utterly in love with your tone of voice and way of explaining 😍

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Aw thanks! I have an ASMR channel too if you like that sort of thing. Link is in the description ☺️

[@alexandrastorozhenko8012]

Thank you ,Luca! Bravo is my favourite word too, near умница, молодець,well done, super. There is no words too much to praise our children;)

[@spiritusIRATUS]

We use "bravo" (μπράβο) in greek all the time, I always thought that it came from italian but never of the possible connection with βραβείο! Another amazing episode and journey through so many languages..! Sanskrit looks very interesting indeed as well the celtic languages which trace back to PIE. Kudos!!

[@conejohh]

wanted to comment the same, I am not greek but I hear it all the time when I visit Grece

[@StergiosMekras]

Was about to comment that. If bravo comes from Greek, it is a case of a loan of a loan... Ain't languages fun?

[@enyalios316]

@@StergiosMekras Reborrowing aren't that unusual in Greek. For example we have the word "καρέκλα", "karekla" (chair) from venetian "charegla" from Latin "kathedra" from ancient Greek "καθέδρα", "kathedra". καθέδρα in modern Greek means "seat".

[@StergiosMekras]

@@enyalios316 Fair point, fellow thessalian.

[@guritarasi8732]

🤣🤣🤣🤣... Bravo=Br'+a'+vo' Pelasgian-Albanian!!

[@iandeseo489]

we use it in Greece as is (μπράβο) and less frequently the word εύγε (kudos, well done)

[@cezarstefanseghjucan]

Well that is funny, because "kudos" became a mainstream of Internet English.

[@ClaudioGrecoPhD]

Points for using Totò e Peppino as linguistic references. Bravo!

[@danielakresch]

In Portuguese, "bravo" can mean "angry" or "courageous" ("brave"). We also use "bravo" as "well done" sometimes. It seems to me that the first theory is the best one. Thank you for you your channel. Amazing content.

[@ryuko4478]

I recently learned of the name Brancato in Italian coming from Latin/Greek Pancratius, so I don't think p > b as a stretch

[@zmaja]

When you mentioned terrific, I remembered Greek δεινός.... as terrible, fearful but also mighty, wondrous and clever... 😊

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Yes! That's also a wonderful example. I should have mentioned it!

[@gioffritizio1842]

We do that in italian too it is rare tho

[@panayiotisgiannikos6337]

Also "φοβερός" can mean "terrifying" or "terribly good"

[@karolnowak6423]

Also: "Ива́н Гро́зный" as Ivan the Terrible or Ivan the Fearsome/ Ivan the Formidable would be a great example of duality of evoking terror, dread and fear, but also being mighty and awe-ful.

[@brendafierro7962]

The same with courage and coraje in Spanish

[@SebastianKulpok]

That's quite interesting, "braviti" is also very similar to the Polish word "prawić" which also means to speak/declaim. "Prawić" has also the same base as "prawo" which means law, so it's not far away from "judge".

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Fascinating!

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

yeah, ik praat - we praten in Dutch..

[@JackoPlacko]

That's exactly what I wanted to write! 🔥🔥🔥

[@italuswikiano1191]

A valiant effort, m'lord, to undergo such an etymological ordeal.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Haha thanks

[@subjectandpredicate7172]

Good show! Your etymological knowledge is deserving of "re-spect." That's why I watched it twice

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Thanks!

[@kathleenhensley5951]

I use it all the time ... Bravo!! Loved this study. I thought it was just some Italian word that dug into my soul so deeply it came back out when I was overjoyed by an event!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Haha same!

[@AmedeeVanGasse]

"bra" in Swedish (and Norwegian too I guess) means good. It's loaned from Low German brav, which is loaned from French brave, which is loaned from Italian bravo.

[@vlashante]

Maybe its not about loans but all originated from so called PIE In serbian Prav mens good too, bravo well dona and lot another similarities

[@XtremeDj1986]

Great video. As already mentioned in other comments, several Italian dialects (both North and South ones) use BRAU exactly as "Bravo". Considering the meaningful French and Provencal influence in Italians dialects I wouldn't be surprised that, for both French and Italian, that's the exact root of this nice word.

[@jlop985]

There are some really common Gallic words that made it into Latin, such as carrus, cervēsia, caballus, and braccae.

[@jamesamorimaraujo2939]

I could hear your voice for several hours. It's a kind of velvet voice. Bravo!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Thanks!

[@lorenzosavran]

Indeed you can find Bravo in "Promessi Sposi" of Manzoni (Italian writer from '800) where means "minion", someone that is man of a bad person (in this case man of a bad aristocrat).

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Fascinating!

[@jeupater1429]

When I read I promessi sposi years ago, I took the Bravi to mean something akin to "Good Fellas" as in the mafia gangster film. The term bravi itself didn't mean bad. But was used to cover up the truth by saying the opposite, like calling gangsters "good fellows"

[@lorenzosavran]

@@jeupater1429 ye something like the mafia: inded when we said "Hai fatto una bravata" (you made a bravata) we say that you made something bad against the rules

[@flaviospoleti8746]

Scusa ti ho copiato il commento per sbaglio, non lo avevo letto 😥

[@lorenzosavran]

@@flaviospoleti8746 tranquillo

[@chiarac2747]

Italian here, love your videos!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Grazie, Chiara!

[@guigobarros2892]

In Portuguese, "bravo" means ferocious (more common) or brave; then "bravura", courage (applied to people) and "braveza", ferociousness (applied mainly to dogs and certain animals). Bravo! EDIT: I'd always thought that "bravo" came from "barbarus".

[@RobertoDonatti]

In Spanish too

[@eduardocofrancesco4373]

Bravo>bravura>braveza Grazie per la spiegazione 🤙

[@valenesco45]

Bravura in italian is a quality of someone, like skillful. The root is the same but the meaning developed quite differently through countries.

[@davidparraserna6651]

I hate portuguese language because it is very similar to Spanish language,portuguese language seems to be a dialect derived from spanish language. Bravo in spanish meens angry too.

[@arilrasnical]

I also heard it had to do with “barbarus” long ago and just assumed that was the obvious answer. Loved the Celtic language connection idea!

[@vitalisspiridis6735]

We often use sarcastically in Greek "Θες και βραβείο;" or in Cyprus "Θέλεις τζαι βραβείον;" as in "And you want a prize?" and refrain from using Bravo lol. Thanks for the videos, keep up the great work!!! =D

[@Kaiser86]

Wtf?? I was just wondering about this yesterday while working on my Latin, and I had to translate bravo. You wizard you.

[@danielanto8832]

Complimenti per i contenuti che porti, ti seguo sempre volentieri!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Grazie mille!

[@privatkanal6572]

In German, we also have the word "bravo" and it means the Same Thing... Really cool and great video :)

[@ElColombre27360]

Normally I don't give a single f**k about languages, etimology or things like that (I'm interested in math and computer science), but your videos are always entertaining and very, very interesting. And your italian pronunciation is perfect. Good job!

[@KaliBoyinPDX]

In Spanish we can use Bravo as "good job" but if you describe someone or something as being bravo, it usually means angry, easily angered, hot tempered or spicy.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

How neat! Another doublet.

[@romangerstmayer2971]

What an incredible video! In Argentina, we can say "Bravo" or "Brava" to somebody who has a bad temper, but we can also say "Bravo" in the Italian way but it's a kind of an exclamation when something good happens, we don't say bravo, brava, brave or bravi to the person as the Italian people do. Thanks!

[@jeupater1429]

Interesting note, Italian for "Awesome" is "Da paura" where paura means fear.

[@martiniliyanov]

Wow, in bulgarian also awesome come from the word for fear - Strah-Strahotno (страх-страхотно).

[@ilFrancotti]

Italian for Awesome is "fantastico" or "eccezionale". "Da paura" is a slang form used almost exclusively by teenagers which translates more into "sick" like "that's sick bro".

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Esatto!

[@jeupater1429]

@@ilFrancotti ogni frase ha la sua sfumatura hai ragione, direi anche Awesome in inglese non è una parola utilizzata da persone molto serie. Una via di mezzo.

[@romansampo]

@@ilFrancotti teenagers 20 years ago

You seem to be having more fun in your videos lately and taking yourself less seriously, which is very nice. You have fun = we have fun.

[@giuvannicammora2821]

Bravo

[@monicacuellar5408]

Bravo, Luke!! Intriguing but awesome!

[@francescobravin4]

Hello! My surname is BRAVIN, so this topic has always been very interesting to me. I think that, by a semantic point of view, the "pravus" etymology is the most solid, because in middle age Italian the word "bravo" had a different meaning, that was closer to "pravus" than to modern "bravo": bold, courageous, BRAVE (testified by English "brave" that still preserves that meaning). Also, the mercenary troops were still called "bravi" during the Renaissance (the "tough guys"). And a "bravata" is still in modern italian something bad you do to show how bold you are. So I guess the semantic shift could have been this: bad -> tough -> bold -> good at his job (as a mercenary) -> good About the p>b passage, I must admit it is difficult to explain, but I have a theory. A lot of words in Italian were borrowed from ancient Lombardic, that was a High German language (with the typical second consonant rotation, so for example they said *panka while the Franks said *banka). Many of these borrowed words are related to war and fight. So, my guess is that the latin word "pravus" had been used by the ancient Lombards with the meaning "tough guy" and then it was borrowed into ancient Italian as "bravo" because of hyper-correction (in other words, the term *pravo would have souned very "Germanic" and they might have reinterpreted as "bravo"). Please, tell me your thoughts.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

An excellent thought!! It could very well be

[@francescobravin4]

@@polyMATHY_Luke thank you!

[@Brandon55638]

That's very plausible since, for example, Italian words like grotto came from the ancient Greek word κρύπτον (krýpton) through Latin "cryptum" in a similar way.

[@plakette26]

Superb video. I was smiling the whole time 😌☺️😍😊

[@PhiNics]

In German the word "Bravo" with the same meaning as in Italian exists, but we also have the adjective "brav" which means either "well behaved" or in a pejorative sense can mean "a little dowdy".

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Yes! Isn’t that odd? How did it get that meaning? Haha. It’s all the way from bravo en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/braaf#Etymology

[@3st3st77]

If I'm not mistaken, the word "brav" originally meant brave, but was later used sarcastically after a period of wars. I couldn't find any source for that, though.

[@timothyatwater]

Love your program! Bravo!

[@GvpVavaRomania]

Bravo! 😎 In Romanian we have "bravo" with the italian accent. It has the same meaning. But we also use it when you do a bad thing, only the tone is abit different in this case.

[@micheleparodi664]

Do you say bravA to a female or always bravO? This confuses me as I heard romanians saying bravO to females instead of bravA?

[@GvpVavaRomania]

@@micheleparodi664 we say just Bravo to all. We do not have brava/brave, or bravi. Sometimes we say bravos, but it is not that used.Also to not be confused with Brașov (Brashov) which is a big city in Romania.

[@charliesandoval9277]

I absolutely love your videos!

[@valentin-catalin1859]

As some already said in Romanian we use the Italian pronunciation. We also use the word in an ironical way. For example 'bravo mă (eyes rolling), te-ai găsit şi tu să faci asta" means something like "Way to go buddy, you had nothing else do to but". Fun fact: Mihai Viteazu (Michael the Brave) is considered one of Romania's greatest national heroes. He became ruler of all major areas where romanian was spoken for a short span in 1600. His family name was actually Pătraşcu. Viteazu (brave) is just a cognomen, but almost all Romanians knows him under this name. Due to the fact that viteaz is a slavic word and that our proto-fascists nut jobs have been arguing for centuries that latin = prestige and thus we should be replacing all Slavic "inferior" words with true mighty Latin words, you can find him under the name Mihai Bravu. There's even an avenue in Bucharest called Mihai Bravu. But almost nobody knows that Mihai Bravu = Mihai Viteazu. Also in Romanian, like Luke said, some words end up generating opposite meaning. Bravadă for example means either to respond (fight) with manly hood or basically to bluf."Doar bravează, nu se bazează pe nimic" means" He's just bluffing there is nothing to back him up".

[@stefan0ni]

Ohhhhh Luke. We could listen to you all day! 😀

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Thanks! Did I show you my ASMR channel? kzbin.info/aero/PLGUtYnRc-bNysUjT6nCcssYWxAx02n4xt

[@stefan0ni]

No, but you have now! ThanQ. 😀

[@Mephisteduardo]

Just to add, Scandinavian "bra" and Scots "braw" are most likely related to the Irish "bréa".

[@panayiotisgiannikos6337]

I was about to mention that. Good catch, maybe it can contribute to the ...conundrum :-)

[@laughingdaffodils5450]

Or maybe from low german braf?

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

@@laughingdaffodils5450 yeah and Dutch too braaf

[@janetmackinnon3411]

Many joys in this! Thank you.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Thanks for watching!

[@Changon]

I like the Bárbaro theory. In Mexico we call people Bárbaro when they are really good at something. “Qué bárbaro!” “Es un bárbaro!”

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Fascinating!

[@ParkerSGG]

Same in Portuguese in Brazil.

[@makisroumpas5512]

In Greek βάρβαρος means something else lol

[@arilrasnical]

So many layers to this onion! Great video again! I did not realise there was so much to the origins of bravo...wow.

[@markoDbogdanovic]

In some Slavic languages PRAV(O) means straight, good, on the right side, and it has PIE roots.

[@marcohuck3282]

Yeah, it means something like "correct", which could be linked to Bravo

[@tocororo]

In Spanish (in Cuba) "bravo" is often used for someone who is "angry, furious". It can also be used as in Italian, English and other languages to praise a performance at the theater, etc... and it can also mean "valiant, brave."

[@marrandino]

Put the like just for Totò, now i'll watch the rest

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Oh grazie! 😃🇮🇹

[@GregGreene000]

Beautiful video with beautiful contents! BRAVO!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Thanks so much! 🥰

[@astra5128]

In french we often use « bravo » with the same meaning as italian, but we use it much more ironically like « Ah bah bravo ! » when someone made a mistake or whatever bad.

[@mcroma65]

also in Italian you can use the term "bravo" with irony, when a person makes a mistake.

[@mcroma65]

also in Italian you can use the term "bravo" with irony, when a person makes a mistake.

[@Evagelopoulos862]

Συγχαρητήρια,compliments.You are a τέρας polymathy. Βραβεύω of course. Ιn modern Greek, βραβεύω means give a prize. P.S. *mlewH-(PIE)=Speak!!.In modern greek lew-λέω means speak! In ancient Greek λέγω and ομιλέω.

[@VV-xe4ym]

8:24 first thing I thought of was "I speak"/μιλαω. Finally my Duolingo comes in handy!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Right!!

[@enyalios316]

It does look like it. But it's from a different stem. μιλάω is the informal version of μιλῶ and ὁμιλῶ which is the contracted version of Ancient Greek ὁμιλέω from ὅμιλος (crowd). It comes from ὁμός (homos) "same" and ἴλη (íle) "unit".

[@jivasini3770]

Not that because of I'm a greek but I think that ancient greek is where it comes from. Great video man keep it going!!!!

[@jwisemanm]

In support of the "pravus" hypothesis, I'd like to point out that the word "Bravo" was used, at least in Northern Italy and as recently as 1827, as a noun to identify a certain type of "thug" or "enforcer" often employed buy local nobles. It is quite easy to spot the relation between the meaning of the latin "pravus" and the later Italian noun. As to how the meaning changed (and the word became an adj.) I can't say. (see "I Promessi Sposi" by A. Manzoni)

[@perseusarkouda]

In modern Greek we use bravo to congratulate someone but we also use bravos to refer to a bodyguard, usually illegal mafia's bodyguards. And also it's awesome to see protoindoeuropean being so similar to modern languages because in Greek besides μέλος (part) we have ομιλία (speech), μιλάω (I speak).

[@Pidakos]

The first word that came to my mind was "vravevo". Then again I am Greek, so yeah... But βραβευω at least in modern greeks doesn't mean "judge" but "well done" or "to give a prize". I don't know if in ancient greeks it had a different meaning.

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

Everything is Greek. Don't let the savages tell you difrent

[@juanluisgomar7640]

Smart, funny, accurate. Excelent series, dear Luke.

[@darshpatel3525]

Interesting, if somewhat confusing video! I think I learned a lot from watching it. As for the Sanskrit word that you mentioned, Sanskrit phonology has been reconstructed by modern scholars in much the same way that Classical Latin and Ancient Greek have been reconstructed, so while some aspects of the phonology are a matter of debate, we generally have a pretty good idea of how it would have been pronounced in ancient India. According to this information, the word ब्रवीति (written as bravīti in the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration) would have been pronounced as /bɾɐ.ˈʋiː.t̪i/. The rhotic is an alveolar flap. The short "a" vowel in the first syllable is what's known as an "a-schwa", which is sort of between the [a] vowel and the true schwa [ə]. The "v" sound is a voiced labiodental approximant, which is sort of between the English [w] and [v] sounds. The "t" sound is dental, rather than alveolar, and of course there is a phonemic vowel length distinction in Sanskrit. Also the penult is stressed as you can see. Despite all of this, I don't think that there is a direct equivalent to the word "bravo" in Sanskrit, at least not in the sense of approbation in which it's used in Italian and English. In Hindi however there is the word शाबाश (śābāś), which is often written as "shabash" in English, that does mean "good job", or "way to go", and it's very similar to the word "bravo" in this regard.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Thank you!

[@borislaczko1308]

These are the videos I like the most!!

[@NmLs42]

Some words are like David Lynch movies, they are meant to be enjoyed without us fully understanding them.

[@bigtimes1]

......I feel as if this is a direct shot at Dune.

[@PASTRAMIKick]

@@bigtimes1 Dune, Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, etc.

[@macduffhughes]

The vowels are.not what they seem!

[@magicsnaffo3661]

Your videos are really interesting! Keep it going!

[@PaddyOnaBike1]

Irish guy here. Breá can also mean love. Is breá liom -> I love.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Thanks so much, Patrick! Yeah, it's so odd how easily any of these explanations might be correct, including the Celtic origin.

[@mariapicciBeauty]

I'm reading the comments and all of them are soo interesting! I sometimes lose myself in finding the etymology of a word, mostly because I have a Polish bf and some words in Polish come from latin and I can straightaway tell by the pronunciation of a word. I found the video explanatory and I appreciated the enthusiasm you added :)

[@d0nutwaffle]

8:50 in Polish mówić the ó is pronounced somewhat like the english double oo eg zoo; It apparently did use to mean the "long o" instead way back however. cheers

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Oh I knew that! Darnit. How shameful of me. Sorry about that!

[@Olymus]

In russian we have молвить и молва́ тоже:)

[@BillB23]

Nicely done. Well struck. It's one of those tantalizing tidbits to be filed under "I just don't freakin' know."

[@kostaskazepis2534]

Interesting! In Greece we also call a security/body guard for a μπράβος (bravos) hence the ”big bad guy”

[@mauriziobrando5550]

Wow. Come i bravi del Manzoni

[@kostaskazepis2534]

@@mauriziobrando5550 hello my friend I don’t speak italian 😃

[@real_orestis_georgiou]

@@kostaskazepis2534 Λογικά come=όπως. Άρα όπως οι μπράβοι του Manzoni

[@kostaskazepis2534]

@@real_orestis_georgiou Αα τώρα κατάλαβα! 😃

[@guritarasi8732]

Of course cose came from Albanian language which mean (he is)put-standing as well...bravo...that's wy..😉...Kazepis you are Albanian too

[@gustavogonzalez8303]

Excellent show!

[@veuzou]

in Breton language "brav" pronounced "bra'o means "beautiful" too

[@skellagyook]

Interesting, since Breton (as a Brittonic/Brythonic/P-Celtic language) would likely be more closely related to Gaulish (assuming of course it's not a Gaulish borrowing into Breton).

[@guritarasi8732]

Cose Breto was a granchildren of Aenea Dardanian princ of Troy and he spoke Pelasgian-Albanian language. Bra'O=Br a O Br=verb in pass"done" a=that thing in phrase and same time the verb "it is" and O=symbolize the perfect one...the Sun All perfection thing which are riseing up in sky or sarrownd us,the nature and this is perfect.

[@konstantinospolitopoulos7878]

@@guritarasi8732 ahahahahaha 😋🐭🐭🐭🇦🇱🐭🐭🐭

[@micheledeguidi4343]

Bravo, sempre ottimi contenuti

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Grazie, Michele! 😃

[@GiulioIannella1]

The famous "Bravi" in Manzoni"s Promessi Sposi are in fact two mobsters ! in line with the latin meaning of Bravus

[@franciscafarfallina]

Bravo pour les références à Totò et p. e. Sophie's choice dans une vidéo... Seriously, your etymology vids are sooo interesting.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Merci beaucoup! 😃 Je suis ravi si tu les aimes.

[@sebastiancrenshaw851]

"Bravi" were mercenaries employed by rich people in italy during the XVI and XVII centuries. They were bodyguards and trustworthy agents, used to violence. Maybe the term comes from there.

[@rodrigofernandesgoncalves9564]

In Portuguese bravo means "angry", "upset", "disturbed"... Best regards from Brazil... Tu sei bravissimo direi... Você é ótimo diria... You are excellent I would like to say...

[@pietrocasablanca8500]

Just as a little curiosity, I looked up (the old CTRL+F) in the Divine Comedy if Dante could be of help, as often he is. The root "brav-" does not appear anywhere in the Canti, but I found a total of 5 references with the root "prav-" : in 4 accounts it is an adjective (anime prave; terra prava 2x; sollevando i pravi;) and from the context it clearly means evil/mean. It could very well be a latinism, but at least shows that "pravo" according to Dante had ratained the same meaning as in latin.

[@guritarasi8732]

The roots are wrrong Br'+a'+vo' This is Pelasgian-Albanian

[@weirdlanguageguy]

I love these, they are so well put together. Wonderful work!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

That’s so nice of you! Thanks!!

[@zmaja]

Hahahah, BRAVO, Luka! 😊Lexicon Latinitatis Medii aevi Iugoslaviae says: bravus, m. (ital. bravo) - inimicus, hostis (enemy). That meaning is completely new to me! Thank you. It's interesting, informative, makes you curious and it's fun! 🤩

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Delightful! Haha thank you. :)

[@MaxReese75]

Nice video 👍👍. E come sempre... BRAVO 😉

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Grazie mille!

[@randyyy2609]

Yes, in my native language, Dutch, we know the word "bravo" in exactly the same meaning. In my opinion, it's almost never used, though. Another word in Dutch that I think might be related is "braaf". It means something like 'well-behaving'. When you would say your dog is a good boy, you'd say he's "braaf". But I barely hear this word being used to describe people. Another thing that pops up in my mind is the Swedish word "bra", meaning "good". The meaning feels somewhat related to "bravo", but would the word itself be related, too?

[@KommentarSpaltenKrieger]

It's more or less the same with German "brav". A cognate of "braaf" and "brav" could have entered the Italian language/Late Italic Vulgar Latin at some point, as have words like "scherzo" (joke). It could be of Lombard or Gothic origin. But I think the somehow more convincing origin would be that "bravo" started as a Normannic word, given that "bra" means "good" in Swedish, which is one of the Scandinavian languages (just like the language the Normans spoke before they started speaking French), and "good" seems to fit the meaning of "bravo" the most of all the possible origin words listed in the video. The Normans occupied the south of Italy somewhen in the early middle ages, so it could be possible.

[@wijzijnwij]

Yes, "bra" in the Scandinavian languages ultimately comes from "bravo", after a detour through French and (low) German.

[@danieledaroma1446]

Very brilliant, as usual. Salvete!

[@zdenekdanko4729]

bravo is a very similar word to the Slovak words "pravo, vpravo" - right side (good side), etc., prÁvo also means law, justice (and to judge in greek? - "put justice on the right (good) side" :)) ) ... also in Spanish is derecho and derecho :)) bravo is simply good, right, ok :))

[@radumiron8247]

Ciao luke, anche in rumeno usiamo la parola "bravo", e, come in italiano, bravo può avere sia significato positivo che negativo. Per esempio Hai lavato la macchina! Bravissimo. (In italiano) Ai spalat masina! Bravo. (In limba română) Ai luat o notă rea! Bravo (in limba română) Hai preso un brutto voto! Bravo.

[@mejlaification]

See also another Czech verb - "praviti" = to say. Anyway, I would say the common Slavic translation of "Bravo!" could be our traditional "Sláva!" :D

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Right!

[@thepcmaster]

​@@polyMATHY_Luke An awesome video, keep them coming! :) Czech and Slovak pravit/praviť/praviti (the most archaic infinites are with -ti) also has another, older, related meaning in Slavic: to fix up, create, make something. In contemporary CZ/SK it's spravit/opravit with slightly shifted meanings (~to make better). I can't see, though, how is the PIE *mlewH related to "braviti" or "praviti". Is it via irregular inflection? "mluvit" (clearly from *mlewH) and "pravit" are related/synonyms, obviously, but the etymological connection isn't clear.

[@Angelfeather100]

Really interesting topic! It made me think at nowadays, some words have a negative meaning (or bad), but they are used in a positive sense... "this s**t is gooood!" or "brake a leg!" or "fais gaffe!"

[@stefanomagari6921]

I must add that in older Italian bravo meant courageous or brave

[@bilbohob7179]

In spanish is used in this way. Courageus, wild, indomit..

[@bikesandcampswithcats]

I immediately thought of "pravda" or "proverit" in Russian and thought you were going for that when you hit the Greek with "judge."

[@ndescruzur4378]

3:27 Isn't it like the word "sick"? Were in coloquial usage means something cool, awesome, incredible.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Absolutely! It's exactly like modern colloquial "that's sick!" = good! :D

[@jormungandr999]

@@polyMATHY_Luke hey! Italian here. I don't think that "bravo" translates to "it's sick!". Bravo is an exclamation you use when you compliment with the ABILITIES that the person in front of you have shown (es. Mom i got an A in math test! ...Bravo!). We translate "it's sick" with, again, a colloquial expression, and letteral transition "malato!" (es. Bro I got the front row seats of the last Lakers match!!... Malato!!!)

[@izeugirdor]

I like the connection of judge and prize insinuating a 'winner' of some kind. One who excels. So to give someone a Bravo, might mean like saying they have excelled at something, so they get an 'excellent', or 'Bravo'. :)

[@moisessanchez8099]

Bravo Luke! Another great video as always! 👌 In Spanish we say "Bravo" almost as in Italian: as a compliment for a great action, as a musical performance, etc... But as an interception, not as an adjective. Also we have "Bravo" as being angry, as an adjective: "Él está muy bravo" "He is very angry". "Ella está brava" "She is angry". Or in Venezuelan Spanish we can say "Bravo" also as an adjective but refering to someone dared, brave, strong, for instance, in Venezuelan Spanish we could say that John Wick is someone "Bravo" XD

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

So interesting!

[@iberius9937]

I'm really enjoying these etymological videos.