Borrowing the proto-indo-european root barbar - , imitative of incomprehensible foreign babble , the greeks used the word barbaroi to refer to all non-citizens of their superior state , particularly medes and persians .

借鉴古印欧语词根barbar-（异乡人），并模仿含糊难懂的外来发音，希腊人用barbaroi代指所有非本邦人，尤指米提亚人和波斯人。