Paleo-Sardinian, also known as Proto-Sardinian or Nuragic, is an

extinct language An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers, especially if the language has no living descendants. In contrast, a dead language is one that is no longer the native language of any community, even if it is still in use, li ...

, or perhaps set of languages, spoken on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

by the ancient Sardinian population during the Nuragic era. Starting from the Roman conquest with the establishment of a specific province, a process of

language shift Language shift, also known as language transfer or language replacement or language assimilation, is the process whereby a speech community shifts to a different language, usually over an extended period of time. Often, languages that are perceiv ...

took place, wherein

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

came slowly to be the only language spoken by the islanders. Paleo-Sardinian is thought to have left traces in the island's

onomastics Onomastics (or, in older texts, onomatology) is the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. An ''orthonym'' is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onomastic study. Onomastics can be helpful in data mining, w ...

as well as

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

s, which appear to preserve grammatical suffixes, and a number of words in the modern

Sardinian language Sardinian or Sard ( , or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language spoken by the Sardinians on the Western Mediterranean island of Sardinia. Many Romance linguists consider it the language that is closest to Latin among all its genealogica ...

Nuraghic Tower under Dramatic Sky - panoramio

Pre-Indo-European hypothesis

The

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

linguist

Johannes Hubschmid Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...

proposed six linguistic layers in prehistoric Sardinia. There is toponymic evidence suggesting that the Paleo-Sardinian language may have had connection to the reconstructed

Proto-Basque Proto-Basque ( eu, aitzineuskara; es, protoeuskera, protovasco; french: proto-basque), or Pre-Basque, is the reconstructed predecessor of the Basque language before the Roman conquests in the Western Pyrenees. Background The first linguist wh ...

and to the Pre-Indo-European

Iberian language The Iberian language was the language of an indigenous western European people identified by Greek and Roman sources who lived in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Iberian Peninsula in the pre-Migration Era (before about 375 AD). The a ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Eduardo Blasco Ferrer Eduardo Blasco Ferrer (Barcelona, 1956 – Bastia, 12 January 2017) was a Spanish-Italian linguist and a professor at the University of Cagliari, Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , ...

concluded that it developed in the island in the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

as a result of prehistoric migration from the

Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. The author in his analysis of the Paleo-Sardinian language finds only a few traces of Indo-European influences (''*ōsa'', ''*debel-'' and perhaps ''*mara'', ''*pal-'', ''*nava'', ''*sala''), which were possibly introduced in the Late

Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...

through

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

. Similarities between Paleo-Sardinian and Ancient Ligurian were also noted by

Emidio De Felice Emidio De Felice (Milan, 1918 – Genoa, 1993) was an Italian linguist and lexicographer. He became a university professor in 1963, teaching linguistics at the University of Genoa. Author of Italian language dictionaries, grammar books and lati ...

. Bertoldi and Terracini propose that the common suffix ''-ara'', stressed on the

antepenult In linguistics, the ultima is the last syllable of a word, the penult is the next-to-last syllable, and the antepenult is third-from-last syllable. In a word of three syllables, the names of the syllables are antepenult-penult-ultima. Etymology Ul ...

, was a plural marker, and they indicated a connection to Iberian or to the Paleo-Sicilian languages. Terracini claims a similar connection for the suffix ''-ànarV, -ànnarV, -énnarV, -ònnarV'', as in the place name '' Bonnànnaro''. A suffix ''-ini'' also seems to be characteristic, as in the place name '' Barùmini''. A suffix or suffixes ''-arr-, -err-, -orr-, -urr-'' have been claimed to correspond to the

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

(Terracini), to the Basque-speaking

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

and

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

(Wagner, Rohlfs, Blasco Ferrer, Hubschmid), and to

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

(Rohlfs). The non-Latin suffixes ''-ài, -éi, -òi, -ùi'' survive in modern place names based on Latin roots. Terracini sees connections to Berber. Bertoldi sees an

Anatolian Anatolian or anatolica may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the region Anatolia * Anatolians, ancient Indo-European peoples who spoke the Anatolian languages * Anatolian High School, a type of Turkish educational institution * Anatol ...

connection in the endings ''-ài, -asài'' (similar claims have been made of the

Elymians The Elymians ( grc-gre, Ἔλυμοι, ''Élymoi''; Latin: ''Elymi'') were an ancient tribal people who inhabited the western part of Sicily during the Bronze Age and Classical antiquity. Origins According to Hellanicus of Lesbos, the Elymians ...

of Sicily). A suffix ''-aiko'' is also common in Iberia and may have a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

origin. The tribal suffix ''-itani, -etani'', as in the Sulcitani, has also been identified as Paleo-Sardinian.

Etruscan-Nuragic connection

The linguist M. Pittau argues that the Paleo-Sardinian ("Sardian") language and the

Etruscan language Etruscan () was the language of the Etruscan civilization, in Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria (modern Tuscany, western Umbria, northern Latium, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Lombardy and Campania). Etruscan influenced Latin but was eventually co ...

were closely linked, as he argues that they were both emanations of the Anatolian branch of Indo-European. According to Pittau, the "Nuragics" were a population of Lydian origin who imported their Indo-European language to the island, pushing out the Pre-Indo-European languages spoken by the Pre-Nuragic peoples. Some examples of Nuragic names of Indo-European origin might be:Massimo Pittau
Appellativi nuragici di matrice indoeuropea
/ref>

Other hypothesis

Archeologist Giovanni Ugas suggested that the three main Nuragic populations (''Balares'', ''Corsi'' and ''Ilienses'') may have had separate origins and so may have spoken different languages: *the ''

Balares The Balares were one of the three major groups among which the Nuragic Sardinians considered themselves divided (along with the Corsi and the Ilienses). History Pausanias in his work ''Periegesis'' speculated that the Balares were the descend ...

'' might have possibly been from the

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

and thus of either Proto- Iberian or

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

origin, linked to the

Beaker culture The Bell Beaker culture, also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon, is an archaeological culture named after the Inverted bell, inverted-bell beaker (archaeology), beaker drinking vessel used at the very beginning of the E ...

. *The '' Corsi'' from the north-east might have possibly been of Ligurian origin. *The ''Iolaei/

Ilienses The Ilienses (or ''Iolaes'', later known as ''Diagesbes''Strabo, Geographica V, 2,7.) were an ancient Nuragic people who lived during the Bronze and Iron Ages in central-southern Sardinia, as well as one of the three major groups among which the anc ...

'', who inhabited the southern plains and today's

Barbagia Barbagia (; sc, Barbàgia or ) is a geographical, cultural and natural region of inner Sardinia, contained for the most part in the province of Nuoro and Ogliastra and located alongside the Gennargentu massif. The name comes from Cicero, wh ...

, might have probably spoken a Pre-Indo-European language similar to

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...

and other languages of that area. The common subdivision of modern Sardinian into the three dialects of

Gallurese Gallurese () is a Romance language from the Italo-Dalmatian family spoken in the region of Gallura, northeastern Sardinia. It is sometimes considered a dialect of southern Corsican or a transitional language between Corsican and Sardinian. ...

Logudorese Logudorese Sardinian ( sc, sardu logudoresu, it, sardo logudorese) is one of the two written standards of the Sardinian language, which is often considered one of the most, if not the most conservative of all Romance languages. The orthography ...

and

Campidanese Campidanese Sardinian ( sc, sardu campidanesu, it, sardo campidanese) is one of the two written standards of the Sardinian language, which is often considered one of the most, if not the most conservative of all the Romance languages. The ort ...

might reflect that multilingual substratum. Other Paleo-Sardinian tribes of possible Indo-European stock were the Lucuidonenses from the north of the island, who might have been originally from

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

, where the toponym

Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settle ...

is attested, and the

Siculensi The Siculensi were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy (III, 3). They dwelt south of the Celsitani and the Corpicenses and north of the Neapolitani The Neapolitani were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy (III, 3). They dwe ...

, perhaps related to the

Siculi The Sicels (; la, Siculi; grc, wikt:Σικελοί, Σικελοί ''Sikeloi'') were an Italic people, Italic tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily during the Iron Age. Their neighbours to the west were the Sicani. The Sicels gave Sicily the na ...

from

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, from the

Sarrabus Sarrabus-Gerrei is a sub-region of south-eastern Sardinia, Italy. Sarrabus Traditionally Sarrabus, probably from the Roman-time city of Sarcopos, occupies the area of the communes of Castiadas, Muravera, San Vito and Villaputzu, corresponding to ...

region.

Notes

References

*Alberto G. Areddu, ''Le origini albanesi della civiltà in Sardegna'', Naples, Grafica Elettronica, 2007. * *Johannes Hubschmid, ''Sardische Studien'', Bern, 1953. *Massimo Pittau. ''La lingua sardiana o dei Protosardi'', Cagliari: Ettore Gasperini, 2001. *Giulio Paulis, ''I nomi di luogo in Sardegna'', Sassari, 1987. *Giulio Paulis. “Il paleosardo: retrospettive e prospettive”, ''Aion: Annali del Dipartimento di Studi del Mondo Classico e del Mediterraneo Antico — Sezione linguistica'' 30, no. 4 (2010): 11-61. * *

Pre-Indo-European hypothesis

Etruscan-Nuragic connection

Other hypothesis

See also

Notes

References

Further Reading