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The Illyrian languages are a group of Indo-European languages that were spoken in the western part of the Balkans ¹ in former times by groups identified as Illyrians: Delmatae, Pannoni, Illyrians, Autariates, Taulanti (see List of Illyrian tribes). Some sound-changes from Proto-Indo-European to Illyrian and other language features are deduced from what remains of the Illyrian languages, but because there are no² examples of ancient Illyrian literature surviving (aside from the Messapian writings if they can be considered Illyrian), it is difficult to clarify its place within the Indo-European language family. Because of the uncertainty³, most sources provisionally place Illyrian on its own branch of Indo-European, though its relation to other languages, ancient and modern, continues to be studied.

Language affinity

The Illyrian languages are part of the Indo-European language family. The relation of the Illyrian languages to other Indo-European languages---ancient and modern---is poorly understood due to the paucity of data and is still being examined. The Illyrian languages are often considered to be Centum dialects⁴. Today, the main source of authoritative information about the Illyrian language consists of a handful of Illyrian words cited in classical sources, and numerous examples of Illyrian anthroponyms, ethnonyms, toponyms and hydronyms.

A grouping of Illyrian with the Messapian language has been proposed for about a century, but remains an unproven hypothesis. The theory is based on classical sources, archaeology, as well as onomastic considerations. Messapian material culture bears a number of similarities to Illyrian material culture. Some Messapian anthroponyms have close Illyrian equivalents.

A grouping of Illyrian with the Venetic language and Liburnian language, once spoken in northeastern Italy and Liburnia respectively, is also proposed. The consensus now is that Illyrian was quite distinct from Venetic and Liburnian ⁵⁶, however a close linguistic relation has not been ruled out and is still being investigated.

A number of 19th century scholars believed the modern Albanian language to be descended from Illyrian. However, in modern linguistic thinking, the phylogenetic position of Albanian remains undetermined,⁷ though a Daco-Thracian affinity is favored by a small minority.⁸

Outside influences

The Ancient Greek language would have become an important external influence on Illyrian-speakers who occupied lands adjacent to ancient Greeks. Invading Celts who settled on lands occupied by Illyrians brought the Illyrians into contact with the Celtic languages. Intensive contact may have happened in what is now Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia. Because of this intensive contact, and because of conflicting classical sources, it is unclear whether some ancient tribes were Illyrian or Celtic (see for example Scordisci and Iapodes) or mixed. Thracians and Paionians also occupied lands populated by Illyrians, bringing Illyrians into contact with the Thracian language and Paionian language.

Yet it was not Greek, Celtic, Thracian, or Paionian, but Latin that would come to displace Illyrian above the Jireček line. The Romans conquered all the lands in which Illyrian was spoken, and it is quite possible that Illyrian faded early in the Common era, perhaps even before the Slavic invasion of the Balkans.

Illyrian words

Since there are no Illyrians texts, sources for identifying Illyrian words have been identified by Hans Krahe⁹ as of four kinds: inscriptions, glosses of Illyrian words in Classical texts, names— including proper names (mostly inscribed on tombstones), toponyms and river names— and Illyrian loanwords in other languages. The last category has proved particularly contentious. The names occur in sources that range over more than a millennium, including numismatic evidence, as well as posited original forms of placenames (Krahe 1955). The only Illyrian inscription (Messapian inscriptions are treated separately and there is no consensus that they are to be reckoned as Illyrian) is, perhaps, on a spearhead found at Kovel.¹⁰ A votive inscription on a ring found near Shkodër which was initially interpreted as Illyrian was shown to actually be Byzantine Greek [1].

Only a few Illyrian words are cited in Classical sources by Roman or Greek writers, but these glosses, provided with translations, provide a core vocabulary. Only four identified with an ethnonym Illyrii or Illurioí; others must be identified by indirect means:

Some additional words have been extracted by linguists from toponyms, hydronyms, anthroponyms, etc.:

Illyrian names

Illyrian

The following names derive from Illyrian or are not yet connected with another language.¹³¹⁴¹⁵

Celtic

The following Illyrian names, most of which occur in inscriptions from the upper Neretva river valley near Konjic in Bosnia, are considered to derive from Celtic¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹²⁰²¹

Thracian

Greek

Names of Gods

The following names derive from various languages and are names of Gods worshiped by the Illyrians.²⁸²⁹³⁰³¹³²³³³⁴

References

Notes

^ If the Messapian language was close enough to the Illyrian languages to be considered an Illyrian language, then Illyrian would also have been spoken in southern Italy.
^ The Ancient Languages of Europe by Roger D. Woodard,ISBN-10: 0521684951,2008,Page 6:"... While the Illyrians are a well-documented people of antiquity, not a single verifiable inscription has survived written in the Illyrian language
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,Page 67,"Illyrians Illyrian language' Though almost nothing of it survives, except for names, the Illyrian language has figured prominently ...""
^ A Grammar of Modern Indo-European by Carlos Quiles,ISBN 8461176391,2007,page 77,"The Illyrian languages are generally but not unanimously reckoned as centum dialects"
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,page 183,"... We may begin with the Venetic peoples, Veneti, Carni, Histri and Liburni, whose language set them apart from the rest of the Illyrians. ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,page 81,"... " In Roman Pannonia the Latobici and Varciani who dwelt east of the Venetic Catari in the upper Sava valley were Celtic but the Colapiani of the Colapis (Kulpa) valley were Illyrians ( ..."
^ Alföldy, Geza (1964). "Die Namengebung der Urbevölkerung in der römischen Provinz Dalmatia." (Heidelberge) Beiträge zur Namenforschung 15.55-104; Duridanov, Ivan (1976). Ezikyt na trakite. Sofia: Nauka i izkustvo; Hamp, Eric P. (1957). "Albanian and Messapic." Studies Presented to Joshua Whatmough 73-89. La Haye: Mouton; Hamp, Eric P. (1966). "The position of Albanian." In: Birnbaum, Henrik & Jaan Puhvel (1966). Ancient Indo-European dialects: proceedings. Berkeley: University of California Press; Katičić, Radoslav (1964). "Namengebiete im römischen Dalmatian." Die Sprache 10.23-33; Katičić, Radoslav (1976). Ancient Languages of the Balkans. La Haye: Mouton, 2 vol; Krahe, Hans (1925). Die alten balkanillyrischen geographischen Namen. Heidelberg; Winter; Hans Krahe|Krahe, Hans (1929) Lexikon altillyrischen Personennamen. Heidelberg: Winter; Krahe, Hans]] (1955). Die Sprache der Illyrier, vol. 1. Wiesbaden: Winter; Kronasser, Heinz (1962). "Zum Stand der Illyristik." Linguistique Balkanique, 4:5-23; Kronasser, Heinz (1965). "Illyrer und Illyricum." Die Sprache 11.155-183; Neroznak, Vladimir Petrovich (1978). Paleobalkanskie jazyki. Moskva: Nauka; Paliga, Sorin (2002). "Pre-Slavic and Pre-Romance Place-Names in Southeast Europe." Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Thracology. Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1, pp. 219–229; version intégrale: Orpheus 11–12.85–132; Pollo, Stefan & Alex Buda (1969). Historia e popullit shqiptar. Prishtina, 2 vols.; Pollo, Stefan & Arben Puto (1974). Histoire de l’Albanie: des origines à nos jours. Lyon: Horvath; Polomé, Edgar C. (1982). "Balkan Languages: Illyrian, Thracian and Daco-Moesian." In: Boardman, Edwards et al. (1982). The Prehistory of the Balkans; and the Middle East and the Aegean world, tenth to eighth centuries B.C. London: Cambridge University Press, The Cambridge Ancient History, 2nd ed., vol. 3, part 1, pp. 866-888; Schwandner-Sievers, Stéphanie et al. (2002). Albanian identities: Myth and history. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Chapitres notamment par Noel Malcolm, George Schöpflin et Ger Duijzings; Simone, Carlo de (1964). Die messapischen Inschriften und ihre Chronologie. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz ('Die Sprache der Illyrier, vol. II); Rădulescu, Mircea-Mihai (1984). "Illyrian, Thracian, Daco-Mysian, the substratum of Romanian and Albanian." Journal of Indo-European Studies 12.77-131; Rădulescu, Mircea-Mihai (1987). "The Indo-European position of Illyrian, Daco-Mysian and Thracian: A historica-methodological approach." Journal of Indo-European Studies 15.239-271; Rădulescu, Mircea-Mihai (1994). "The Indo-European position of Messapic." Journal of Indo-European Studies 22.329-344; Untermann, Jürgen (1964). Die messapischen Personennamen. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz (Die Sprache der Illyrier, vol. II); Untermann, Jürgen (2001). Die vorrömischen Sprachen der iberischen Halbinsel: Wege und Aporien bei ihrer Entzifferung. Wiesbaden: Westdt. Verlag; Watkins, Calvert (1998). "The Indo-European linguistic family: genetic and typological perspectives". In: Giacalone Ramat, Anna & Paolo Ramat, eds (1998). The Indo-European languages. London: Routledge; Wilkes, John (1992). The Peoples of Europe: The Illyrians. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
^ Georgiev, Vladimir (1960a). "Albanisch, Dakisch-Mysisch und Rumanisch: Die Herkunft der Albaner." Linguistique Balkanique 2.1–19; Georgiev, Vladimir (1960b). "The Genesis of the Balkan peoples." The Slavonic and East European Review 44(103).285-297; Georgiev, Vladimir (1961). "La toponymie ancienne de la péninsule balkanique." Linguistique balkanique 3:1.1-62; Kortlandt, Frederik (1988). "The Thraco-Armenian consonant shift." Linguistique Balkanique 31.71-74; Sergent, Bernard (1995). Les Indo-Européens. Paris: Payot; Russu, Ion I. (1969). Limba traco-dacilor. Bucharest: Edit. Stiintifica.
^ Krahe, Die Sprache der Illyrier I. Die Quellen (1955).
^ Gustav Must, reviewing Krahe 1955 in Language 32.4 (October 1956) p. 721.
^ Strabo 7.43, "élos loúgeon kaloúmenon"
^ This group is considered to be cognate with the Italian city name of Trieste, and Albanian treg "market" is not a cognate but instead a borrowing from Slavic.
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075, Page 72:"... Thus it seems generally agreed that the name of the Illyrian queen Teuta of the third century Bc derives from teutana, which means `queen'. ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,Page 71, "... The names Daza, Dasius and Dazomenus have been connected with Das- menus in Pannonia and Dazos in southern Italy. The meaning of these plausible correspondences is hard to determine: neither the internal links between the three principal Illyrian onomastic provinces nor those between ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,Page 186: "... around the head of the Adriatic were the Liburni, who occupied the coast and islands between Istria and the river Titus (Krka) and had been known to the Greeks since at least the eighth century BC. ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,page 76,"... 76 The Search for Illyrians Pinnes and Tato are present, from the Japodes Diteio and Ve(n)do, and a few names are of Celtic origin, Kabaletus, Litus, Nantanius, Sarnus, Sinus, Sisimbrius and Vepus. ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,page 75,"... A few names which occur in the upper Neretva valley around Konjic appear to be of Celtic origin: Bolo, Bricussa, lacus, Mallaius and ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,Page 82,"... The number of Illyrian names in that area, Genthena, Tatta, Dasius and Thana is small compared with the Celtic: Aioia, Andetia, Baeta, Bidna, Catta, Dussona, ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,page 79,"... Four names are accepted as definitely Celtic: Nantia, Nonntio, Poia and Sicu. Mellito has a Greek and Celtic element, while the Celtic associations of Ammida, Matera and Seneca remain questionable. Rather than constituting evidence for the ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,Page 82,"... The number of Illyrian names in that area, Genthena, Tatta, Dasius and Thana is small compared with the Celtic: Aioia, Andetia, Baeta, Bidna, Catta, Dussona, Enena,laca, Madusa, Matisa, Nindia, Sarnus, ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,page 84,"... Apart from some names of Thracian origin, Bessus and Teres, and some Celtic names, Arvus, Belzeius, Cambrius, laritus, Lautus, Madussa and Argurianus (either Thracian or Celtic), the only name of south Illyrian origin is Plares. ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,page 86,"... 86 The Search for Illyrians (two examples), Varanilla and Varidius. The Thracian names include: Auluporis, Auluzon, Bithus (three examples), Celsus (two examples), Celsinus, Cocaius, Daizo, Delus, Dida, Dinentilla , Dizas, Dizo (two examples) ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,page 84,"... Apart from some names of Thracian origin, Bessus and Teres, and some Celtic names, Arvus, Belzeius, Cambrius, laritus, Lautus, Madussa and Argurianus (either Thracian or Celtic), the only name of south Illyrian origin is Plares. ..."
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,page 79,"... Four names are accepted as definitely Celtic: Nantia, Nonntio, Poia and Sicu. Mellito has a Greek and Celtic element, while the Celtic associations of Ammida, Matera and Seneca remain questionable. Rather than constituting evidence for the ..."
^ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058;layout=;query=toc;loc=cu%2Flon Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075, Page 217:"...Ceraunii whose name deriving from the Greek for `thunderbolt' links them with high mountains,
^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,ISBN 0631198075,Page 98:"... the Illyrian Enchelei, the 'eel-men', whose name points to a location near Lake Ohrid. According to Polybius (5. ..."
^ Wilkes. ...dominant Illyrian deity and some were evidently worshipped only in particular regions. Thus several deities occur only in Istria, including Eia, Malesocus, Boria and Iria. Anzotica was the Liburnian Venus and appears in the traditional image of the classical goddess.
^ Wilkes. Other local deities were Latta, Sentona and the nymph Ica, praying in relief sculpture), Knez 1974 (ritual vessel), Baçe 1984 (temple architecture in Illyrian Albania).
^ Wilkes. ...including altars dedicated by chiefs of the Japodes at the shrine of Bindus Neptunus at a spring near Bihaé (see figure 30).17 The first reported contact between Japodes and Romans occurred in 171...
^ Wilkes. North of the Japodes, the altars to Vidasus and Thana dedicated at the hot springs of Topusko reveal the local 246 Roman Illyrians...
^ Wilkes. Life and Death among Illyrians 247 identities of Silvanus and Diana, a familiar combination on many dedications in the territory of the Delmatae.
^ Wilkes. ...the short cloak streaming out behind. The Illyrian town Rhizon (Risinium) on the Gulf of Kotor had its protective deity Medaurus...
^ Wilkes. ...Armatus at Delminium (Duvno) who was evidently a war god of the Delmatae, and the Latin Liber who appears with the...

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