Thracian language

Thracian
Region Bulgaria, European Turkey, parts of the region of Macedonia (including Paeonia), parts of Northern Greece, parts of Bithynia in Anatolia. Probably also spoken in parts of Dardania
Extinct Fifth century[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 txh
txh
Glottolog thra1250[2]

The Thracian language (/ˈθrʃən/) was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times in Southeast Europe by the Thracians, the northern neighbors of the Ancient Greeks. The Thracian language exhibits satemization: it either belonged to the satem group of Indo-European languages or it was strongly influenced by satem languages. The language was still in use at least until the sixth century AD. In 570, Antoninus of Piacenza said that in the valleys of Mount Sinai there was a monastery in which the monks spoke Greek, Latin, Syriac, Egyptian and Bessian, the language of the Bessi, one of the most prominent Thracian tribes. The origin of the monasteries is explained in a mediaeval hagiography written by Symeon the Metaphrast in Vita Sancti Theodosii Coenobiarchae, in which he wrote that Saint Theodosius founded on the shore of the Dead Sea a monastery with four churches, in each being spoken a different language, among which Bessian was found. The place where the monasteries were founded was called "Cutila", which may be a Thracian name. The further fate of the Thracian language is a matter of dispute. Some authors like Schramm derived the Albanians from the Christian Bessi, or Bessians, an early Thracian people who were pushed westwards into Albania, thus making Albanian language descendant from Thracian, however this is one of many theories with mainstream historians supporting the Illyrian theory.[3] Some authors like Harvey Mayer group Thracian and Dacian into a southern Baltic linguistic family.[4]

Geographic distribution

The Thracian language was spoken in what is now Bulgaria,[5][6] eastern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Greece, European Turkey and in parts of Bithynia (North-Western Asiatic Turkey).

Eastern Serbia is usually considered by paleolinguists to have been a Daco-Moesian language area. Moesian (after Vladimir Georgiev et al.) is grouped with Dacian.

Remnants of the Thracian language

Little is known for certain about the Thracian language, since no phrase beyond a few words in length has been satisfactorily deciphered, and the sounder decipherments given for the shorter phrases may not be completely accurate. Some of the longer inscriptions may indeed be Thracian in origin but they may not reflect actual Thracian language sentences, but rather jumbles of names or magical formulas.[7]

Enough Thracian lexical items have survived to show that Thracian was a member of the Indo-European language family and that it was a satemized language by the time it is attested. Besides the aforementioned inscriptions, Thracian is attested through personal names, toponyms, hydronyms, phytonyms, divine names, etc. and by a small number of words cited in Ancient Greek texts as being specifically Thracian.[8]

Other ancient Greek lexical items were not specifically identified as Thracian by the ancient Greeks but are hypothesized by paleolinguists as being or probably being of Thracian origin. Other lexical items are hypothesized on the basis of local anthroponyms, toponyms, hydronyms, oronyms, etc. mentioned in primary sources (see also List of ancient cities in Thrace and Dacia, List of Dacian plant names) .

Below is a table showing both words cited as being Thracian in classical sources, and lexical elements that have been extracted by paleolinguists from Thracian anthroponyms, toponyms, etc. In this table the closest cognates are shown, with an emphasis on cognates in Bulgarian, Albanian, Baltic, Slavic, Greek, and substratum and/or old-layer words in the Eastern Romance languages: Romanian, Aromanian, et cetera. See also the List of reconstructed Dacian words.

Significant cognates from any Indo-European language are listed. However, not all lexical items in Thracian are assumed to be from the Proto-Indo-European language, some non-IE lexical items in Thracian are to be expected.

There are 23 words mentioned by ancient sources considered explicitly of Thracian origin and known meaning[9]

Word Meaning Attested by Cognates
asa colt’s foot (Bessi) Dioskurides Lit. dial. asỹs ‘horse-tail, Equisetum’, Latv. aši, ašas ‘horse-tail, sedge, rush’, Latv. ašs, ass ‘sharp'
bólinthos wild bull, bison Aristotle
bria town
briza spelt, rye Galen Old-Ind. vrihi-h, Pers. birinj, Afg. vriže ‘rice’, Greek orinda=óryza ‘rice’, Bulg. oriz., Lith. brizdis ‘ling', brigzti ‘to be torn, to get unraveled’
brynchós guitar Pol. brzęk ‘a ringing, a tinkle’, Ukr. brjak ‘a ringing, a sound’
brytos beer (Thracian, Paeonian and Phrygian) many Anglo-Saxon brod, Old High German prod ‘broth’
dinupula, si/nupyla wild pumpkin Pseudoapuleus IE kunābolā, Lith. šùnobuolas ‘dog’s apple’
génton meat Herodian., Suid., Hesych Old-Ind. hata’- ‘hit, killed’
kalamíndar plane-tree (Edoni) Hesych.
kemos a kind of fruit with follicle Phot. Lex.
ktístai monks Strabo
midne village inscription from Rome Latv. mitne ‘a place of stay, a dwelling, a shelter'
póltym(bria) board fence, a board tower Old-Icel. spjald ‘a board’, Anglo-Saxon speld ‘wood, log’, German spalten ‘to chop, to splinter’
rhompháia a spear, a sword many Bulg. roféja, rufja ‘a thunderbolt’, Alb. rrufë, Latin rumpo ‘to break'
skálmē knife, a sword Soph. y Pollux, Marcus Anton., Hesych., Phot. L Old-Icel. skolm ‘a short sword, a knife’
skárke silver coin Hesych., Phot. Lex. Old Norse skark ‘a nois'
spínos a kind of stone Arist.
torélle a refrain of lament mourn song Hesych.
zalmós a hide Porphyr. Old Pruss. salmis ‘helm’, Lith. sálmas
zeirá, zirá a type of upper garment Hdt., Xen., Hesych.
zelâs wine many Lith. žalas ‘rufous’, Latv. zals ‘bright red, brown’, Bret. gell ‘reddish, brown’, Greek chális ‘pure wine’, Mac. kálithos ‘wine'
zetráia a pot Pollux
zibythides the noble, most holy one Hesych. Lith. žibeti (žibù) ‘to shine, to light’, Lith. žibute ‘a fire, light’

An additional 180 Thracian words have been reconstructed.[9]

The proposed Thracian words in the Ancient Greek lexicon are not numerous. They include the parth- element in Parthenon; balios ("dappled"; < PIE *bhel-, "to shine"; Pokorny also cites Illyrian as a possible source, the non-Greek origin is argued on phonological grounds), bounos, "hill, mound".[10]

The Thracian horseman hero was an important figure in Thracian religion, mythology, and culture. Depictions of the Thracian Horseman are found in numerous archaeological remains and artifacts from Thracian regions. From the Duvanli ring and from cognates in numerous Indo-European languages, mezēna is seen to be a Thracian word for "horse", deriving from PIE *mend-. Another Thracian word for "horse" is hypothesized, but it looks certain, there is no disagreement among Thracologists: aspios, esvas, asb- (and some other variants; < PIE *ekwo , the Thracian showing a satem form similar to Sanskrit áśva-, "horse", Avestan aspa, "horse", Ossetic jäfs, Prussian aswinan ‘mare milk’, Lithuanian ašvíenis ‘stallion’, ašvà, dial. ešvà ‘mare’[11]), from Outaspios, Utaspios, an inscription associated with the Thracian horseman. Ut- based on the PIE root word ud- (meaning "up") and based on several Thracic items, would have meant "upon", "up", and Utaspios is theorized to have meant "On horse(back)", parallel to ancient Greek epi-hippos.[12]

The early Indo-European languages had more than one word for horse; for example Latin had equus from PIE *ekwo- and mannus ("a pony") from another IE root, later receiving cabalus as a loanword.

In many cases in current Thracology, there is more than one etymology for a Thracian lexical item. For example, Thracian Diana Germetitha (Diana is from Latin while the epithet Germetitha is from Thracian) has two different proposed etymologies, "Diana of the warm bosom" (Olteanu; et al.?) or "Diana of the warm radiance" (Georgiev; et al.?). In other cases, etymologies for the Thracian lexical items may be sound, but some of the proposed cognates are not actually cognates, thus confusing the affinity of Thracian.

Inscriptions

Limits of the (southern) Thracian linguistic territory according to Ivan Duridanov,1985

Ezerovo inscription

Only four Thracian inscriptions of any length have been found. The first is a gold ring found in 1912 in the town of Ezerovo, Bulgaria; the ring was dated to the 5th century BC. On the ring an inscription is found written in a Greek script and consisting of 8 lines, the eighth of which is located on the edge, the rim, of the rotating disk; it reads:

ΡΟΛΙΣΤΕΝΕΑΣΝ / ΕΡΕΝΕΑΤΙΛ / ΤΕΑΝΗΣΚΟΑ / ΡΑΖΕΑΔΟΜ / ΕΑΝΤΙΛΕΖΥ / ΠΤΑΜΙΗΕ / ΡΑΖ // ΗΛΤΑ

Dimitar Dechev (Germanised as D. Detschew) separates the words thus[13][14]

ΡΟΛΙΣΤΕΝΕΑΣ ΝΕΡΕΝΕΑ ΤΙΛΤΕΑΝ ΗΣΚΟ ΑΡΑΖΕΑ ΔΟΜΕΑΝ ΤΙΛΕΖΥΠΤΑ ΜΙΗ ΕΡΑ ΖΗΛΤΑ

i.e.

Rolisteneas Nerenea tiltean ēsko Arazea domean Tilezypta miē era zēlta

proposing the following translation

I am Rolisteneas, a descendant of Nereneas; Tilezypta, an Arazian woman, delivered me to the ground.

Kyolmen inscription

A second inscription, hitherto undeciphered, was found in 1965 near the village of Kyolmen, Veliki Preslav, dating to the sixth century BC. Written in a Greek alphabet variant, it is possibly a tomb stele inscription similar to the Phrygian ones; Peter A. Dimitrov's transcription thereof is:[15]

ΙΛΑΣΝΛΕΤΕΔΝΛΕΔΝΕΝΙΔΑΚΑΤΡΟΣΟ[16]
ΕΒΑ·ΡΟΖΕΣΑΣΝΗΝΕΤΕΣΑΙΓΕΚΟΑ[17]
ΝΒΛΑΒΑΗΓΝ[16]

i.e.

ilasnletednlednenidakatroso
eba·rozesasnēnetesaigekoa
nblabaēgn

Duvanli inscription

A third inscription is again on a ring, found in Duvanli, Plovdiv district, next to the left hand of a skeleton. It dates to the 5th century BC. The ring has the image of a horseman with the inscription surrounding the image. It is only partly legible (16 out of the initial 21)

ΗΥΖΙΗ.....ΔΕΛΕ / ΜΕΖΗΝΑΙ

i.e.

ēuziē.....dele / mezēnai

The meaning of the inscription is 'Horseman Eusie protect!'

These are the longest inscriptions preserved. The remaining ones are mostly single words or names on vessels and other artifacts.

A Thracian or Thraco-Dacian branch of Indo-European

The Thracian language in linguistic textbooks is usually treated either as its own branch of Indo-European, or is grouped with Dacian, together forming a Daco-Thracian branch of IE. Older textbooks often grouped it also with Illyrian or Phrygian. The belief that Thracian was close to Phrygian is no longer popular and has mostly been discarded.[18] The Thraco-Illyrian grouping has also been called into question. Daco-Thracian or Thraco-Dacian is the main hypothesis.

No definite evidence has yet been found that demonstrates that Thracian or Daco-Thracian belonged on the same branch as Albanian or Baltic or Balto-Slavic or Greco-Macedonian or Phrygian or any other IE branch. For this reason textbooks still treat Thracian as its own branch of Indo-European, or as a Daco-Thracian/Thraco-Dacian branch.

The generally accepted clades branched from the Proto-Indo-European language are, in alphabetical order, the Proto-Albanian language, Proto-Anatolian language, Proto-Armenian language, Proto-Balto-Slavic language, Proto-Celtic language, Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Greek language, Proto-Indo-Iranian language, Proto-Italic language, and the Proto-Tocharian language. Thracian, Dacian, Phrygian, Illyrian, Venetic, and Paeonian are fragmentarily attested and cannot be reliably categorized.

Language/difference according to Duridanov (1985)
Change o > a r > ir, ur (or)
l > il, ul (ol)
m > im, um (om)
n > in, un (on)
kʷ, gʷ, gʷʰ
> k, g (k), g
ḱ, ǵ, ǵʰ
> s (p), z (d)
p, t, k
> pʰ, tʰ, kʰ
b, d, g
> p, t, k
bʰ, dʰ, gʰ
> b, d, g
sr > str tt, dt > st
Thracian + + + + + + + + + +
Dacian + + + + + - - + + -
Balto-Slavic + + + + + - - + -/+ +
Pelasgian + + + + + + + + ? ?
German + + + - - - + + + -
Indo-Iranian + - - +/- + - - +/- - +/-
Greek - - - - - - - - - +
Phrygian - - - - + + + + - ?
Armenian - - - - + + + - - ?
Italic - + - - - - - - - -
Celtic - - - - - - - + - -
Hittite + - - - - - + + ? ?
Tocharian +/- - - - - - + + - ?
Divergent sound-changes in Paleo-Balkan languages according to Georgiev (1977)[19]
Proto-Indo-European Dacian Thracian Phrygian
*o a a o
*e ie e e
*ew e eu eu
*aw a au
*r̥, *l̥ ri ur (or), ur (ol) al
*n̥, *m̥ a un an
*M M T T
*T T TA (aspirated) TA
*s s s
*sw s s w
*sr str str br

Note: Asterisk indicates reconstructed IE sound. M is a cover symbol for the row of voiced stops (mediae), T for unvoiced stops (tenues) and TA for aspirated stops (tenues aspiratae). ∅ indicates zero, a sound that has been lost.

Divergent sound-changes in Dacian and Thracian according to Duridanov (1985)[20]
Indo-European Dacian Thracian
*b, *d, *g b, d, g p, t, k
*p, *t, *k p, t, k ph, th, kh
ä (a) ē
*e (after consonant) ie e
*ai a ai
*ei e ei
*dt (*tt) s st

Thraco-Dacian has been hypothesized as forming a branch of Indo-European along with Baltic.[21]

For a big number of the 300 Thracian geographic names there are cognates within the Baltic toponymy, most similarities between Thracian and Balto-Slavic personal and geographic names were found, especially Baltic. According to Duridinov the "most important impression make the geographic cognates of Baltic and Thracian" "the similarity of these parallels stretching frequently on the main element and the suffix simultaneously, which makes a strong impression". According to him there are occasional similarities between Slavic and Thracian because Slavic is related to Baltic, while almost no lexical similarities within Thracian and Phrygian were found.[22] This significant relatedness show close affinity and kinship of Thracian with Baltic. The following table shows the cognates:

Cognates of Thracian and Baltic place names[9]

Thracian place Lithuanian place Latvian place Old Prussian place cognates
AlaaiabriaAlajà Lith. aléti ‘to be flooded’
AltosAltis
Antisara Sarija Sarape
Armonia Armona, Armenà Lith. armuõ, -eñs ‘a swamp, bog’, arma ‘the same’
Armula Armuliškis lit. arma ‘mud’
Arpessas Varpe, Varputỹs, Várpapievis Warpen, WarpunenLatv. vārpats ‘whirlpool’, the Lith. varpýti (-pa, -pia) ‘to dig’
Arsela Arsen Arsio, Arse
Aspynthos Latv. apse, the Old-Pruss. abse, the Lith. apušẽ
Atlas Adula
Asamus aśman- ‘stone’, Lit. ašmuo, ašmenys,
Vairos Vaira Lit. vairus ‘diverse’
Baktunion Batkunu kaimas
Beres Bẽrė, Bėrẽ, Bėr-upis, Bėrupė Bēr-upe, Berēka Lit. bėras, Lat. bęrs ‘brown, swarthy’
Bersamae Lith. béržas, the Latv. bẽrzs, Old-Pruss. berse
VelekaVelėkas Lit. velėklės ‘place in the water’
Bolba bria Balvi, Bàlvis, Bolva Lith. Bálvis 'a lake', the Old-Pruss. Balweniken
Brenipara Mesapian brendon, Lat. briedis ‘deer’
Calsus Kalsi, Kalsiņš, Kals-Strauts ‘dry stream’ Lat. kalst, kaltēt ‘dry’
Chalastra Lith. sravà ‘a stream’, the Latv. strava ‘stream, torrent’
Daphabae Lith. dãpas ‘a flood’ , Old-Pruss. ape ‘river’
Dingion Dingas, Dindze, Dingupite Dinge Latv. dinga ‘a plant’ and ‘fertile place’
DimaeDūmė Dūmis Dumen Lit. dūmas ‘dark (for beef)’, Latv. dūms ‘dark-brown’
Egerica Vegerė Vedzere
Ereta Veretà
Gesia GesavàDzêsiensGesawLat. dzēse ‘heron’
Ginula Ginuļi Ginulle Latv. g'inis, g'inst ‘to spoil’
ArmoniaArmona Lit. armuo, -ens ‘quagmire’
Iuras Jūra Jūrė, Jūrupis Lit. jūra ‘sea’
Kabyle Cabula
Kallindia Galindo, Galinden, Galynde Galindai, Lit. galas ‘end’
Kapisturia Kaplava Kapas-gals Kappegalin

Latv. kãpa, kãpe ‘long mountainous strip, dune, slope’, the Lith. kopà ‘sandy hill’

Kurpisos Kurpų kámas, Kurpulaukis Kazūkurpe, Kurpesgrāvis, Kurpkalns Lit. kurpti ‘to dig'
Kersula Keršuliškių kaimas Lit. keršulis ‘pigeon’
Knishava Knisà Knīsi, Knīši, Knīsukalns Lith. knìsti ‘to dig, to rummage’
Kypsela Kupšeliai Kupšeļi
Kourpissos Kurpų kaimas Kazu-kurpe
Lingos Lingė, Lingenai Lingas, Lingi, Lingasdikis Lingwar Lit. lengė 'valley’
Markellai Markẽlis, Markelỹne MarkenLit. marka ‘pit’, merkti ‘dunk’
MeldiaMeldė, MeldínisMeldine, Meldini Mildio, Mildie Zhemait. Melьdəikvirshe, Melьdəinəi, Lith. meldà, méldas ‘marsh reed’ , the Latv. meldi ‘reed’
Mygdonia Mūkė Mukas Zhemait. river Muka, Mukja
OstophosUõstas, Ũstas Uostupe, Ũostup Lit. pušynas ‘spurs forest’
PaisulaPaišeliai PaissynLit. paišai ‘soot’
Palae Palà Lit. palios ‘swamp'
Palnma Palminỹs, Palmajos káimas Paļmuota Lit. palios ‘swamp'
Panion Old-Pruss. pannean ‘swamp, quagmire’
Pannas PanyenOld Pruss. pannean ‘quagmire’, Gothic fani
Pautalia Paũtupis Pauteļi, Pautupīte, PautustrautsPauta, PautenLith. putà, pl. pùtos ‘foam, froth’, putóti ‘to foam’, the Latv. putas ‘foam’
Pizos Pisa ęzęrs Pissa, Pissen, Pisse, Pysekaym, Piselauk Lat. pīsa ‘swamp’
Praizes Limne Praustuvė Lith. praũsti (prausiù, -siaũ) ‘to wash’, prausỹnės ‘washing’, the Latv. prauslât ‘to spray, to sprinkle’
Purdae Purdyakasnis Porden, Purde
PusinonPusyne, Pušinė, Pušyno káimasPušinė Lit. pušynas ‘spurs forest’, Zhemait. Pushina 'a stream', Pushine 'meadows'
Pupensis vicus(village)Pupių káimas, Pupinė Pupa Pupkaym, Paupayn Latinized vicus for ‘village', Lit. and Latv. pupa 'beans', kaimas 'village'(cf. Bobov Dol)
Purdae Porden, PurdeZhemait. Purdjaknisə Popelьki
Raimula Raimoche Lith. ráimas ‘motley, particoloured’
Rhakule Rãkija, Rakavos káimas Roklawken, Rocke Lith. ràkti, rankù, rakiaũ ‘to dig out, unearth’, Latv. rakt, rùoku ‘to dig’, rakņât ‘to dig’
Rhamae Rãmis, Ramùne Ramio, Rammenflys Lit. ramus ‘quiet’
Rhodope Mountains Rudupe Zhemait. Rudupja, Rudupə, Rudupi, Lith. rùdas ‘reddish, ruddy, dark yellow’, Lith. ùpė ‘river’
Rhusion Russe, Russien, Rusemoter Lith. rūsỹs (and rúsas) ‘a pit for potatoes; cellar, basement’, the Latv. rūsa ‘a pit’
Rumbodona Rum̃ba, Rum̃ba, Rum̃b, Rum̃bas, Rumbai Latv. rum̃ba ‘waterfall, river rapids’, Lith. rum̃bas, rùmbas, rumbà ‘periphery’
SarteSar̃tė, Sartà Sār̃te, Sārtupe Zhemait. Sarta, Sarti, Lit. sartas ‘red (horse)’, Lat. sarts ‘ruddy’
Scretisca Skretiškė Lit. skretė ‘circle’
Seietovia Sietuvà, Siẽtuvas Zhemait. Setuva, Lit. sietuva ‘whirlpool’
SekinaŠėkinė Lith. šėkas ‘recently mowed down grass, hay’, Latv. sêks ‘the same’
Serme Sermas
Silta Šiltupis Siltie, Siltums, Siltine Lit. šiltas ‘warm, nice’ , Latv. sìlts ‘warm’
Skaptopara, Skalpenos, Skaplizo Skalbupis, Skalbýnupis, Skalbstas, Skaptotai, Skaptùtis Lith. skãplis ‘a type of axe’, Lith. skaptúoti ‘to cut, to carve'
Skarsa Skarsin, Skarsaw Lith. sker̃sas ‘transverse, oblique, slanting’, Sker̃sė, Sker̃s-upỹs, Sker̃sravi
Scombros Lith. kumbrỹs, kum̃bris ‘hill, top of a mountain; small mountain’, Latv. kum̃bris ‘hump, hunch’
Spindea Spindžių káimas, SpindžiùsSpindags Lit. spindžius, spindis, 'clearing', Lat. spindis ‘spark’
Stambai Strũobas, StruõbasLit. stramblys ‘cob’, Old-Pruss. strambo ‘stubble-field’
StrauneilonStrūnelė, Strūnà Lit. sr(i)ūti ‘flow’
Strymon Lit. sraumuo ‘stream’
Strauos Lat. strava, Lit. srava ‘course’
Suitula Svite Lit. švitulys ‘light’
SourasSūris, Sūrupė, Sūupis SureLit. sūras ‘salty’
SucciŠukis Sukas, Sucis
Tarpodizos Tárpija Târpi, Tārpu pļava Lith. tárpas ‘an interstice’ and ‘a gap, a crack’, Zhemait. Tarpu kalьne, Tarpdovdəi
Tarporon Lith. tárpas ‘an interstice’
Tarpyllos Terpìnė, Tárpija
Tirsai Tirskaymen Lith. tir̃štis ‘density, thickness’ and ‘thicket, brush-wood’
TranouparaTranỹs Trani, Tranava Lit. tranas ‘hornet’
TrauosTraũšupis Lith. traũšti ‘to break, to crumble’, traušus ‘brittle’, Latv. traušs, trausls ‘brittle, fragile’
Tynta Tunti, Tunte Thuntlawken Lit. tumtas, tuntas ‘flock'
Urda, Urdaus Ùrdupis, Urdenà Urdava Zhemait. Urdishki, Lit. urdulys ‘mount stream’, virti ‘spring’
Veleka Velėkas Lith. velėkles ‘a place, used for washing’
Verzela Vérža, Véržas Lith. váržas ‘a basket for fish’, Latv. varza ‘dam’
Vevocasenus Vàive Woywe, Wewa, Waywe Latin vicus
Zburulus Žiburių káimas Lit. žiburỹs ‘a fire, a light, something burning; a torch’
Zilmissus Žilmà, Žilmas Latv. zelme ‘green grass or wheat’
Zyakozeron Žvakùtė Zvakūž Lith. žvãkė ‘a light, a candle’

Fate of the Thracians and their language

According to Skordelis, when Thracians were subjected by Alexander the Great they finally assimilated to Greek culture and became as Greek as Spartans and Athenians, although he considered the Thracian language as a form of Greek.[23] According to Crampton (1997) most Thracians were eventually Hellenized or Romanized, with the last remnants surviving in remote areas until the 5th century.[24] According to Marinov the Thracians were likely completely Romanized and Hellenized after the last contemporary references to them of the 6th century.[25] This theory holds as the main factor of immediate assimilation the Christianization of the Roman Empire.

A quick extinction would intensely contrast the avoidance of Hellenization at least by Albanian and Aromanian till the present, possibly with the help of isolated mountanious areas.

Another author considers that the interior of Thrace have never been Romanized or Hellenized (Trever, 1939).[26] This was followed also by Slavonization. According to Weithmann (1978) when the Slavs migrated, they encountered only a very superficially Romanized Thracian and Dacian population, which had not strongly identified itself with Imperial Rome, while Greek and Roman populations (mostly soldiers, officials, merchants) abandoned the land or were killed.[27] Because Pulpudeva survived as Plovdiv in Slavic languages, not under Philippopolis, some authors suggest that Thracian was not completely obliterated in the 7th century.[28]

The latest known use described by Symeon the Metaphrast in a biography of Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch (423-529), where he claimed that Thracian language was spoken in a monastery, build on Mount Sinai just then, when Theodosius was there:[29] "There were four churches belonging to it, one for each of the three several nations of which his community was chiefly composed, each speaking a different language; the fourth was for the use of such as were in a state of penance, which those that recovered from their lunatic or possessed condition before-mentioned, were put into, and detained till they had expiated their fault. The nations into which his community was divided were the Greeks, which was by far the most numerous, and consisted of all those that came from any provinces of the empire; the Armenians, with whom were joined the Arabians and Persians; and, thirdly, the Bessi, who comprehended all the northern nations below Thrace, or all who used the Runic or Sclavonian tongue. Each nation sung the first part of the mass to the end of the gospel in their own church, but after the gospel all met in the church of the Greeks, where they celebrated the essential part of the sacrifice in Greek, and communicated all together..."

See also

References

  1. Thracian at MultiTree on the Linguist List
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Thracian". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. 1994 Gottfried Schramm: A New Approach to Albanian History
  4. Harvey E. Mayer. DACIAN AND THRACIAN AS SOUTHERN BALTOIDIC LITUANUS. LITHUANIAN QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. Volume 38, No.2 - Summer 1992. Editor of this issue: Antanas Klimas, University of Rochester . ISSN 0024-5089. 1992 LITUANUS Foundation, Inc.
  5. Encyclopedia of European peoples, Carl Waldman, Catherine Mason, Infobase Publishing, 2006, ISBN 0-8160-4964-5, p. 205.
  6. Archaeology and language: the puzzle of Indo-European origins, Colin Renfrew, CUP Archive, 1990, ISBN 0-521-38675-6, p. 71.
  7. Olteanu et al.
  8. Duridanov, Ivan. "The Language of the Thracians". Retrieved 2007-01-14.
  9. 1 2 3 Duridanov, I. (1976). The Language of the Thracians (An abridged translation of Ezikyt na trakite, Ivan Duridanov, Nauka i izkustvo, Sofia, 1976. (c) Ivan Duridanov).
  10. Olteanu hypothesizes that the Thracian toponym Basibounon may contain bouno(n), a Greek word for "hill" that may also be a Thracian word
  11. In Old Church Slavonic is found ehu, which may be a loan from Germanic ; otherwise the Slavic word for horse from ekwo- was lost, due perhaps to the lack of equestrianism among the early Slavs
  12. Georgiev, Olteanu et al.
  13. Duridanov, Ivan (1985). Die Sprache der Thraker. Bulgarische Sammlung (in German). 5. Hieronymus Verlag. ISBN 3-88893-031-6. Ich bin Rolisteneas, Sprößling des Nereneas; Tilezypta, Arazerin nach ihrer Heimat, hat mich der Erde übergeben (d.h. begraben).
  14. Russu, Ion I. (1969). Die Sprache der Thrako-Daker (in German). Ed. Ştiinţificā.
  15. Dimitrov, Peter A. (2009). "The Kyolmen Stone Inscription". Thracian Language and Greek and Thracian Epigraphy. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-4438-1325-9.
  16. 1 2 Written from right to left.
  17. Written from left to right.
  18. See C. Brixhe - Ancient languages of Asia Minor, Cambridge University Press, 2008
    We will dismiss, at least temporarily, the idea of a Thraco-Phrygian unity. Thraco-Dacian (or Thracian and Daco-Mysian) seems to belong to the eastern (satem) group of Indo-European languages and its (their) phonetic system is far less conservative than that of Phrygian (see Brixhe and Panayotou 1994, §§3ff.)
  19. Georgiev 1977, p. 63, 128, 282.
  20. Duridanov, 1985 & ch. VIII.
  21. Holst (2009):66.
  22. (Duridanov 1978: с. 128)
  23. Daskalov, Roumen; Vezenkov, Alexander. Entangled Histories of the Balkans - Volume Three: Shared Pasts, Disputed Legacies. BRILL. p. 51. ISBN 9789004290365.
  24. R.J. Crampton (1997). A Concise History of Bulgaria. Cambridge University Press. p. 4. ISBN 0-521-56719-X.
  25. Daskalov, Roumen; Vezenkov, Alexander. Entangled Histories of the Balkans - Volume Three: Shared Pasts, Disputed Legacies. BRILL. p. 10. ISBN 9789004290365.
  26. Trever, Albert Augustus. History of Ancient Civilization. Harcourt, Brace. p. 571
  27. Michael W. Weithmann, Die slawische Bevolkerung auf der griechischen Halbinsel (Munich 1978)
  28. Mallory, J. P.; Adams, Douglas Q. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 576. ISBN 9781884964985.
  29. "St Theodosius". www.ewtn.com.

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