Messapic language
Messapic is an extinct Indo-European language of the southeastern Italian Peninsula, once spoken in Apulia by the three Iapygian tribes of the region: the Messapians, the Peucetians and the Daunians. Messapic became extinct following the Roman conquest of the region. It has been preserved in about 600 inscriptions written in an alphabet derived from a Western Greek model and dating from the mid-6th to the late-2nd century BC.
Name
The term 'Messapic' or 'Messapian' is traditionally used to refer to a group of languages spoken by the Iapygians, a "relatively homogeneous linguistic community" of non-Italic-speaking tribes dwelling in the region of Apulia before the Roman conquest.However, some scholars have argued that the term 'Iapygian languages' should be preferred to refer to the grouping of languages, and the term 'Messapic' reserved to the inscriptions found in the Salento peninsula, where the specific tribe of the Messapians had been living in the pre-Roman era.
The name Apulia derives from Iapygia after passing from Greek to Oscan to Latin and undergoing morphological shifts.
Classification
Messapic was a non-Italic Indo-European language. Modern archeologists and ancient sources hold that the ancestors of Messapic speakers came to Southeastern Italy from Illyria, in the Western Balkans, in the early first millennium BC.Paleo-Balkanic
Linguistic evidence suggest that Messapic could have been the descendant of an unattested paleo-Balkanic language distinct from Illyrian, although closely related to it, and that the shared featured with Albanian may have emerged as a result of linguistic contacts between proto-Messapic and pre-proto-Albanian within the Balkan peninsula in prehistoric times. If Messapic had developed from a dialect of pre-Illyrian, it would have diverged substantially from the Illyrian of the Balkans by the 5th century BC.Illyrian languages
The Messapic language is generally considered similar to the Illyrian languages, although the Illyrian languages are too scarcely attested to allow for an extensive linguistic comparison. The Illyro-Messapic theory is supported by a series of common personal and place names from both sides of the Adriatic Sea. Proposed cognates in Illyrian and Messapic, respectively, include: 'Bardylis/Barzidihi', 'Teuta/Teutā', 'Dazios/Dazes', 'Laidias/Ladi-', 'Platōr/Plator-', 'Iapydes/Iapyges', 'Apulus/Apuli', 'Dalmata/Dalmathus', 'Peucetioe/Peucetii', 'Ana/Ana', 'Beuzas/Bozat', 'Thana/Thana', 'Dei-paturos/Da-matura'.Albanian
The linguistic data of Albanian can be used to compensate for the lack of fundamental information on Illyrian, since Proto-Albanian was likewise an Indo-European language almost certainly spoken in the Balkans in ancient times. A number of linguistic cognates with Albanian are proposed, such as Messap. aran and Alb. arë, biliā and bijë, menza- and mëz. The toponomy points to a link between the two languages, as some towns in Apulia have no etymological forms outside Albanian linguistic sources. Other linguistic elements such as particles, prepositions, suffixes, lexicon, but also toponyms, anthroponyms and theonyms of the Messapic language find singular affinities with Albanian. Some phonological data can also be compared between the two languages, and it seems likely that Messapic belongs, like Albanian, to a specific subgroup of the Indo-European languages that shows distinct reflections of all the three dorsal consonant rows. In the nominal context, both Messapic and Albanian continue, in the masculine terms in -o-, the Indo-European ending *-osyo.Regarding the verbal system, both Messapic and Albanian have formally and semantically preserved the two Indo-European subjunctive and optative moods. If the reconstructions are correct, we can find in the preterital system of Messapic reflections of a formation in *-s-, as in the 3rd sg. hipades/opades and in the 3rd pl. stahan. In Albanian, this formation was likewise featured in the category of aorists formed with the suffix -v-. However, except for the dorsal consonant rows, these similarities do not provide elements exclusively relating Messapic and Albanian, and only a few morphological data are comparable.
Oscan theory
An older theory, rejected by modern linguists, supposed that all Iapygian languoids were nothing more than Oscan dialects. This hypothesis was mainly suggested by a sentence of Aulus Gellius stating that Ennius used to speak the Oscan language together with Greek and Latin without mentioning Messapic, a phrase still difficult to explain today. Some scholars wonder whether Gellius knew that Messapic was a language separate from Oscan; if not, he may have simply used Osce instead of Messape. According to a tradition reported by Servius, Ennius claimed to descend from Messapus, the eponymous legendary founder of Messapia, which may suggest that Ennius' third "heart" and language reported by Gellius was not Oscan but Messapic. According to scholar James N. Adams, "Ennius might have known Messapic as well as Oscan, but continued speculation in the absence of any hard evidence is pointless."History
The development of a distinct Iapygian culture in southeastern Italy is widely considered to be the result of a confluence of Balkanic traditions with local cultures existing in the region prior to cross-Adriatic migrations in the early first millennium BC.The Iapygians most likely left the eastern coasts of the Adriatic for Italy from the 11th century BC onwards, merging with pre-existing Italic and Mycenean cultures and providing a decisive cultural and linguistic imprint. Throughout the second half of the 8th century, contacts between Messapians and Greeks must have been intense and continuous, although Taras was only founded about the end of the century by Spartan colonists. Despite its proximity with Greece, Iapygia was generally not encompassed in Greek colonial territories, and with the exception of Taras, the inhabitants were evidently able to avoid other Greek colonies in the region. During the 6th century BC Messapia, and more marginally Peucetia, underwent Hellenizing cultural influences, mainly from the nearby Taras. The use of writing systems was introduced in this period, with the acquisition of the Laconian-Tarantine alphabet and its adaptation to the Messapic language.
, 1911.
The relationship between Messapians and Tarantines deteriorated over time, resulting in a series of clashes between the two peoples from the beginning of the 5th century BC. After two victories of the Tarentines, the Iapygians inflicted a decisive defeat on them, causing the fall of the aristocratic government and the implementation of a democratic one in Taras. It also froze relations between Greeks and the indigenous people for about half a century. Only in the late-5th and 6th centuries did they re-establish relationships. The second great Hellenizing wave occurred during the 4th century BC, this time also involving Daunia and marking the beginning of Peucetian and Daunian epigraphic records, in a local variant of the Hellenistic alphabet that replaced the older Messapic script.
Along with Messapic, Greek and Oscan were spoken and written during the Romanization period all over Apulia, and bilingualism in Greek and Messapic was probably common in southern Apulia. Based upon the legends of the local currencies promoted by Rome, Messapic appears to have been written in the southern zone, Oscan in the northern area, while the central sector was a trilingual area where Messapic, Greek and Oscan co-existed in inscriptions. Messapic epigraphic records seem to have ended by the late-2nd century BC.
Phonology
A characteristic feature of Messapic is the absence of a phonological opposition between the vowels /u/ and /o/, the language featuring only an o/u phoneme. Consequently, the superfluous letter /u/ was not taken over following the initial period of adaption of the Archaic Greek alphabet. The 'o/u' phoneme existed in opposition to an 'a/o' phoneme formed after phonological distinction between *o and *a was abandoned. The Proto-Indo-European vowel /o/ regularly appears as /a/ in inscriptions. The original PIE phonological opposition between ō and o is still perceptible in Messapic. The diphthong *ou, itself reflecting the merged diphthongs *ou and eu, underwent sound change to develop into ao, then into ō.The dental affricate or spirant written Θ is frequently used before the sounds ao- or o-, where it is most likely a replacement for the older letter. Another special letter,, occurs almost exclusively in Archaic inscriptions from the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Multiple palatalizations have also taken place, as in 'Zis' < *dyēs, 'Artorres' < *Artōryos, or 'Blaθes' < *Blatyos.
The Proto-Indo-Europan voiced aspirates *bh and *dh are certainly represented by the simple unaspirated voiced obstruents /b/ and /d/ in Messapic. On the other hand, the outcomes of the Indo-European palatal, velar, and labiovelar stops remains unclear, with slender evidence.
Proto-Indo-European *s was rather clearly reflected in initial and intervocalic positions as Messapic h, with notable examples including klaohi and hipa, but note Venas with *s in final position.
Alphabet
The Messapic alphabet is an adaptation of the Western Greek scripts, specifically the Laconian-Tarantinian version. The actual Messapic inscriptions are attested from the 6th century BC onward, while the Peucetian and Daunian epigraphic record only begins in the 4th century BC.Messapic
The Greek letter Φ was not adopted, because it would have been superfluous for Messapic. While zeta "normally" represented the voiced counterpart to /s/, it may have been an affricate in some cases. The value of Θ is unclear, but is clearly dental; it may be an affricate or a spirant. In any case it appears to have arisen partly as the reflex of the segment *ty.Apulian
The script used in northern Apulia was rather peculiar, and some consider it to be a distinct writing system named Apulian. A notable difference between the Apulian alphabet and the Laconian-Tarentinian Messapic alphabet was the use of Η for /ē/ rather than /h/.Inscriptions
The Messapic language is a 'fragmentary language', preserved only in about 600 inscriptions from the mid-6th up until the late-2nd century BC. Many of them consist of personal names of deceased engraved in burial sites, and only a few inscriptions have been definitely deciphered. Some longer texts are also available, including those recently found in the Grotta della Poesia, although they have not been fully exploited by scholars yet. Most of the Messapic inscriptions are accessible in the Monumenta Linguae Messapicae, published in print in 2002.| Messapic inscription | English translation | Source |
| Staboos Šonetθihi Dazimaihi beileihi | 'of Stabuas Šonetius, son of Dazimas' | |
| Dazoimihi Balehi Daštas bilihi | 'of Dazimas Bales, son of Dazet' | |
| tabarā Damatras; tabarā Aproditia | 'priestess of Demeter'; 'priestess of Aphrodite' | |
| klahi Zis Venas | 'listen, Zis Venas' | |
| klohi Zis den θavan | 'listen, Zis, the public voice' | |
| θotoria marta pido vastei basta venian aran | 'ϴotoria Marta handed her field to the city of Basta' | |
| plastas moldatθehiai bilia etθeta hipades aprodta | 'Etθeta, the daughter of Plazet Moldatθes, dedicated to Aphrodite' |
Lexicon
Inherited
Only Messapic words regarded as 'inherited' are hereunder listed, thus excluding loanwords from either Greek, Latin or other languages.| Messapic lexical item | English translation | Proto-Messapic form | Proposed cognates | Sources |
| ana | mother | *annā | a Lallwort: Albanian: nënë/nana ; ëmë/âmë Hittite: annaš, Latin: amma, Greek: ámma | |
| anda | in and, as well | <*en-do: Albanian: ëndë ; Hittite: anda; Latin: endo < *h₂énti: Albanian: edhe/ênde ; Latin: ante | ||
| apa | from | *apo | Albanian: për-apë < *apo ; Albanian : pi or pa Greek: apó; Sanskrit: ápa | |
| atabulus | sirocco | Albanian: avull | ||
| aran | field | < *h₂r°h₃ā-: Albanian: arë, ara Hittite: arba- ; Latvian: ara | ||
| bàrka | belly | Albanian: bark | ||
| Barzidihi | ' | Illyrian: Bardylis; Albanian: bardh/bardhi, | ||
| bennan | ' | *benna | Gaulish: benna | |
| biles/bilihi | son | Albanian: bir, pl. bilj - bij Latin: fīlius | ||
| biliā/bilina | daughter | *bhu-lyā | Albanian: bijë - bija ; older dialect bilë - bila Latin: fīlia | |
| bréndon; bréntion | stag; stag's head | Albanian: bri, brî Lithuanian: briedis, ; Swedish: brinde The Messapic word is at the origin of Brendésion, Brentḗsion > Brindisi | ||
| Damatura | Mother Earth ' | *dʰǵʰm- matura | Albanian: dhe Latvian: Zemes Māte Whether the Illyrian form is at the origin of the Greek goddess Demeter or the contrary is unclear. | |
| deiva; dīva | god; goddess | Sanskrit: devá ; Lithuanian Diēvas; Old Norse: Týr | ||
| den | voice | *ghen | Albanian: zë/zâ, zër/zân | |
| hazavaθi | to offer | ha- is a prefix, zav- is the same root as in Greek: χεών, Sanskrit ju-hô-ti and Avestan: zaotar- | ||
| hipades | he/she/it offers, dedicates, sets up | *supo dhē-s-t | Albanian: hip and dha/dhash | |
| hipakaθi | offer, set up | Albanian: hip and ka/kam > hip-ka- | ||
| klaohi/klohi | hear, listen | *kleu-s- | Albanian: kluoj/kluaj/kluhem Greek: klythí ; Sanskrit: śrudhí ; Slavic: slušati ; Lithuanian: klausyti | |
| kos | someone | *qwo | Albanian: kush | |
| ma | not | *meh₁ | Albanian: ma, me, mos Greek: mē; Sanskrit: mā | |
| menza | foal | *mendyo | Albanian: mëz - maz ; mend ; Romanian mînz Gaulish: mandus | |
| ner | man | *ner- | Albanian: njer Greek: ανηρ ; Sanskrit: nar- | |
| penkaheh | five | Albanian: pesë Lithuanian: penki | ||
| rhīnós | fog, mist, cloud | Albanian: re, rê, rên | ||
| tabarā; tabaras | priestess; priest | *to-bhorā; *to-bhoros | Albanian: të bie/të bar, bjer/bar Greek: ϕορός ; Latin: ferō | |
| teutā Taotor | community, people ' | *Toutor | Illyrian: Teuta Oscan: touto ; Old Irish: túath ; Lithuanian: tautà ; Gothic þiuda 'folk' | |
| veinan | his; one's | Albanian: vetë Sanskrit: svayàm | ||
| Venas | desire | *wenos | Latin: Venus; Old Indic: vánas | |
| Zis | sky-god | *dyēs | Illyrian: dei- or -dí ; Albanian Zojz Hittite: šīuš ; Sanskrit: Dyáuṣ; Greek: Zeus; Latin: Jove |