About "Paper" in Russian: Pahl. pambag, Rus. bumaga

The name of the paper in Russian is different from that of all other Slavic languages and has long attracted the attention of scholars. The term used in Russian is bumaga. According to Vasmer, this word should be connected to Italian bambagia, term of Eastern origin that would come from the MPers pambag “cotton”. The export of “western” paper to Russia would be at the basis of the acquisition of the term. However, the term is initially attested in Russian precisely with the meaning of “cotton”, therefore there is also the possibility of a direct loan, or its arrival through the mediation of the Armenian communities of Crimea (see Armenian bambak “cotton” also coming from MPers). In this discussion some scholars of Byzantine Greek also took part. They think that Greek χάρτης βομβύκινος would be connected to the name of Hierapolis Bambyce, a city famous for the production of “oriental” paper. The article presents the current state of the art and proposes some new reflections on this topic.