Why is wo followed by a noun?


So I've got this sentence:
日本【にほん】の古【ふる】くから言【い】い伝【つた】われている話【はな】しを昔話【むかしばなし】と言【い】います。

Now 昔話【むかしばなし】 is supposed to be a noun, and を should be followed by a verb,
but why is を followed by a noun in this case?




It all depends on what arguments the verb takes. The verb in your sentence is
いう ( _iu_ ) and it can be used in this pattern.

> ＡをＢという ( _A wo B to iu_ )  
>  to call A B

There aren't many verbs that take this kind of と (not the kind that means
"with") as an argument.

