Pre-Indo-European Languagesof Western and Southern Europe

18.11.2014

Oliver Simkin

Types of Evidence

• 1. Living Language (Basque)

• 2. Inscriptions in Extinct Languages

• 3. Substratum loanwords

4 Pre-Indo-European Languages

• Basque

• Iberian

• Etruscan

• Eteocretan

Basque

• Basque names in Roman, Iberian inscriptions: 100 BC – 300 AD

• First texts in Basque: 1040

Where does Basque come from?

A Problem of Prehistory

Near-Eastern DNA in Europe

Basque Consonant System

p t c k

b d Ɉ g

m n ɲ

l ʎ

s; s< ʃ

ts; ts< tʃ

f ʝ h

ɾ

r

Proto-Basque Phonemic Inventory

Lenis b d g n l r s ś h

Fortis (p) t k N L R ts tś

a e i o u

Proto-Basque Phonotactics

• No initial r-

• No CR clusters: CVRSC syllabic template

• No initial d- except in finite verb-forms

• Restricted distribution of Fortis consonants

(Proto-)Basque Morphology

• Agglutinative

• Polysynthetic

• Ergative

• Nouns – cases formed by suffixes

• Verbs – prefixes and suffixes

ikas< i learn irakats< i teach

is; eki burn iras; eki set fire to

Iberian Morphology

• Agglutinative

• Polysynthetic

• Ergative ???

• Nouns – not much sign of a case system

• Verbs – prefixes, suffixes, incorporation

biderokededine sesdirgadedin

basbiderokedinebaserokeiunbaida

Proto-Basque Phonemic Inventory

b d g n l r s ś h

(p) t k N L R ts tś

a e i o u

Iberian Phonemic Inventory

b d g n l r s ś

t k (N) L R

a e i o u ã

Basque and Iberian Phonological Similarities

• No bilabial nasal m

• No glides w y

• No fricatives f v θ đ

• No long vowels

• Two sibilants

• Two rhotics, probably also two liquids etc.

Basque-Iberian Phonotactic Similarities

• No initial r-

• Initial d- is grammatically restricted

• No CR clusters: CVRSC syllable template

• Restricted distribution of fortis consonants

• [m] only as a restricted allophone of /b/

• Fortis consonants at compound juncture

Etruscan

The Tyrrhenian family:

Etruscan, Rhaetic, Lemnian

Tursenoi

Etrusci

Rasna

• Lemnian seems to have an Italic loanword napʰotʰ ‘grandson’.

• Lemnian seems close to Etruscan, not so close to Rhaetic.

• The ‘Sea People’, who sailed east to attack the Hittites and Egyptians c.1200 BC onwards, included people called Turusha.

Etruscan – Anatolian Connections

• Genetic evidence (people, cows)

• Linguistic evidence (apparent Anatolian loanwords in Etruscan)

• Archaeological evidence (similar tombs)

• Folk tradition (Herodotus, etc)

Etruscan PIE Basque

Sun usil seHwel- egus; ki

Moon tiwr meHnes- ilargi

Earth kel dʰegʰem- lur

Water tʰi wod-r ur

Father apa pHter- aita

Mother ati meHter- ama

Brother ruwa bʰreHter- anaia

Son klan suHnus s< eme

Etruscan Phonemic Inventory

pʰ tʰ kʰ

p t k

m n

f s ʃ h

ts

r l y w

a e i u

Etruscan Morphology

• Inflectional, not polysynthetic

• Suffixing

• Nominal case-system

• Nominative-accusative, not ergative

• Verbs not marked for person or number

Etruscan case system

Nouns Demonstr.prn.1sg.prn.

Nom. -ø -ø mi

Acc. -ø -an mini

Gen. -as -as ?

‘2nd.Gen.’ -al -la ?

Abl. -is -is ?

Loc. -i / -tʰi -i / -tʰi ?

Eteocretan

Eteocretan

Minoan Linear A

Pre-Greek

Laburinthos maze (orig. ‘palace’)Huakinthos hyacinthTerebinthos terebinth treeAsaminthos bath-tubMerinthos ropeZakunthos (placename)Korinthos (placename)Amarunthos (placename)

? ?

Eteocretan = Linear A = Pre-Greek

? ?

Minoan Linear A

Eteocretan

Pre-Greek –nthos Placenames

Pre-Greek = Linear A

• Laburinthos maze (orig. palace)

• Mallos wool, sheep’s fleece

• Barakis green cloak (orig. green dye)

• Nikuleon fig fruit

• Lura lyre

• Basileus king (orig. mayor)

? ?

Eteocretan = Linear A = Pre-Greek

? ?

Eteocretan – Greek bilingual from Dreros

Turon…….turo[isalabre…..isaluria

? ?

Eteocretan = Linear A = Pre-Greek

? ?

Proto-Basque Phonemic Inventory

b d g n l r s ś h

(p) t k N L R ts tś

a e i o u

Iberian Phonemic Inventory

b d g n l r s ś

t k (N) L R

a e i o u ã

The End

Basque

s< emearents; at hartu dut• I’ve taken it for my son

s< aldu dis; kis; ugu • We have sold them to you

ikusi gaitus; u • You have seen us

Mirenek es; tul egin du• Miren has coughed

Iberian

are tage adinbelaur antalskar• Here lies Adinbelaur, son of Antalskarikonãkei-ãi ildubeleś eban• I am (the grave) of Ikonãkei. Ildubeleś set it up.ildirda-śalir-ban• This is the coin of (the city) Ilerdaildirbigis-en seltaŕ-ãi • I am the tomb of Ildirbigisnerśetikan-tegiar-ãi• I was made by Nersetikan

Etruscan

mi welelias tʰina mlakʰ malakas• I (am) the good jug of good Welelia

laris welkasnas mini turuke• Laris Welkasnas gave me

itun turuke wenel atelinas tinas kliniaras• Wenel Atelinas gave this to the sons of Zeus

ekltʰi ʃutʰitʰ lartʰ altʰu• Larth Althu (is) in this tomb

Eteocretan

…]rmaw et isalabre komn[…]d men inai isaluria lmo

…]ark agset med arkrkokles de[….

…]iarala pʰraisoi inai […]restnmntorsardopʰsano[…

…]sanomoselos pʰraisona[….

Linear A

a-re-ne-si-di-jo-pi-ke-pa-ja-ta-ri-no-te-ri-mu

a-ja-ku

a-ta-i-jo-wa-ja tu-ru-sa du-bu-re i-da-a

u-na-ka-na-si i-pi-na-ma si-ru-te

ta-na-su-te-ke se-to-i-ja a-sa-sa-ra-me

a-ta-i-jo-wa-ja o-su-qa-re ja-sa-sa-ra-me

u-na-ka-na-si i-pi-na-ma si-ru-te

Etruscan PIE Basque

1 tʰu Hoino- bat2 tsal duo- bi3 ki trei- hiru4 ʃa kʷetwor- laur5 makʰ penkʷe borts;6 hutʰ sweks s< ei7 ketsp septm s; as; pi10 sar dekm hamar

Vinča, Tartaria tablets, 5000 BC

Varna,

4500 BC

Dispilio tablet, 5000 BC