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
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