Abstract
The author took up the problem of reconstructing ancient languages in the Balkans, which, apart from Greek and Albanian, have survived only in a rudimentary form. The aim of the article is to organize knowledge about Paleo-Balkan languages and determine the possibilities of their classification. The author used the method of historical and comparative linguistics. He analysed onomastic material, accounts of ancient authors, inscriptions, geographical names and comparative data from the Albanian, Greek, Phrygian and Messapian languages. He characterized the Mesapian language in detail, discussing its phonetic system, the development of vowels and consonants, changes in diphthongs and the most important features of inflection. The text shows that the comparison of linguistic material allows to identify similarities and differences between Paleo-Balkan languages, but the problem is the small number of reliable sources. Most proper names remain uncertainly interpreted, which makes it difficult to reconstruct the main directions of phonetic changes and determine the degree of relatedness of the studied languages.
References
Alföldi G., Die Personennamen in der römischen Provinz Dalmatien, Heidelberg 1968.
Bednarczuk L., Zagadnienie przedsłowiańskiej hydronimii Karpat, „Prace Językoznawcze WSP” 1972, t. 3, s. 19–30.
Cimochowski W., Stanowisko języka Ilirów bałkańskich w indoeuropejskiej rodzinie językowej, „Lingua Posnaniensis” 1975, t. 18, s. 9–28.
Daicoviciu H., Dakowie, Warszawa 1969.
Detschev D., Die thrakische Sprachreste, Wien 1957.
Duridanov I., Die Hydronymie des Var dar Systems als Geschichtsquelle, Köln-Wien 1975.
Georgiev V., Trakite i tehnijat ezik, Sofija 1977.
Haas O., Die phrygischen Sprachdenkmäler, „Linguistique Balkanique” 1966, t. 10, s. 139–209.
Kalléris J., Les anciens macédoniens, Athènes 1976.
Katičić R., Ancient languages of the Balkans, Hague 1976. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111568874
Krahe H., Die Sprache der Illyrier, Wiesbaden 1955.
Mayer A., Die Sprache der alten Illyrier, Wien 1957–1959.
Milewski T., The relation of the Messapic within the Indo-European family [w:] Symbolae linguisticae in honorem G. Kuryłowicz, red. A. Heinz, Wrocław 1965, s. 204–219.
Milewski T., Ludy starożytnych Bałkanów, „Etnografia Polska” 1966, t. 10, s. 95–116.
Neroznak V., Paleobałkańskie języki, Moskva 1978.
Pisani V., Le lingue dell’Italia antica oltre il Latino, Torino 1964.
Polomé E., Balkan languages (Illyrian, Thracian, and Daco-Moesian) [w:] The Cambridge Ancient History 3/1: The Prehistory of the Balkans; and the Middle East and the Aegean world, tenth to eighth centuries B.C., red. J. Boardman, Cambridge 1982, s. 866–876. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521224963.026
Reczek J., Alföldi G., Die Personennamen in der römischen Provinz Dalmatien, Heidelberg 1968, „Onomastica” 1975, t. 20, s. 298–304.
Russu I., Die Sprache der Thrako-Daker, București 1969.
Russu I., Elemente autohtone in limba română, București 1970.
Scherer A., Fremdsprachliche Personennamen im alten Griechenland [w:] Symbolae linguisticae in honorem G. Kuryłowicz, red. A. Heinz, Wrocław 1965, s. 254–264.
Simone de C., Die messapischen Inschriften [w:] Die Sprache der Illyrier II, red. H. Krähe, Wiesbaden 1964, s. 1–153.
Untermann J., Die messapischen Personennamen [w:] Die Sprache der Illyrier II, red. H. Krähe, Wiesbaden 1964, s. 155–213.
Vlahov K., 1976, Trakijski licni imena, Sofija 1976.
License
Copyright
© by Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of History, Poznań, 1984
OPEN ACCESS