This article is about the prehistoric language of the Ligures. For the modern Romance language, see Ligurian language.
The Ligurian language was spoken in pre-Roman times and into the Roman era by an ancient people of north-western Italy and current south-eastern France known as the Ligures.
Very little is known about ancient Ligurian; the lack of inscriptions and the unknown origin of the Ligurian people prevent its certain linguistic classification as a Pre-Indo-European[4] or an Indo-European language.[5] The linguistic hypotheses are mainly based on toponymy and onomastics.
Strabo indicates that the Ligurians were different from the Celts:
As for the Alps... Many tribes (éthnê) occupy these mountains, all Celtic (Keltikà) except the Ligurians; but while these Ligurians belong to a different people (hetero-ethneis), still they are similar to the Celts in their modes of life (bíois).
Because of the strong Celtic influences on the language and culture, the Ligurians were known in antiquity as Celto-Ligurians (in Greek ΚελτολίγυεςKeltolígues) in some other sources.[6]
Scholars, such as Ernst Gamillscheg, Pia Laviosa Zambotti and Yakov Malkiel,[8][9] posit that ancient Ligurian was a pre-Indo-European language, with significant late Indo-European influence, especially Celtic (Gallic) and Italic (Latin), superimposed on the original language. Their thesis is that the Ligurians were survivors of the ancient pre-Indo-European populations that had occupied Europe, at least from the fifth millennium BC.[10] These populations would have had languages of their own families, which they would have preserved until the onset of waves of Indo-European migration. Later, the latter would conquer the territories, imposing their culture and language on the Ligurians.
Ligurian as an Indo-European language and its relationship with Celtic
Xavier Delamarre argues that Ligurian was a Celtic language, similar to, but not the same as, Gaulish. His argument hinges on two points: firstly, the Ligurian place-name Genua (modern Genoa, located near a river mouth) is claimed by Delamarre to derive from PIE *ǵenu-, "chin(bone)". Many Indo-European languages use 'mouth' to mean the part of a river which meets the sea or a lake, but it is only in Celtic for which reflexes of PIE *ǵenu- mean 'mouth'. Besides Genua, which is considered Ligurian,[11] this is found also in Genava (modern Geneva), which may be Gaulish. However, Genua and Genava may well derive from another PIE root with the form *ǵonu-, which means "knee" (so in Pokorny, IEW).[12]
Delamarre's second point is Plutarch's mention[13] that during the Battle of Aquae Sextiae in 102 BC, the Ambrones (who were a Germanic tribe from Jutland) began to shout "Ambrones!" as their battle cry; the Ligurian troops fighting for the Romans, on hearing this cry, found that it was identical to an ancient name in their country which the Ligurians often used when speaking of their descent (outôs kata genos onomazousi Ligues), so they returned the shout, "Ambrones!".
A risk of circular logic has been pointed out – if it is believed that the Ligurians are non-Celtic, and if many place names and tribal names that classical authors state are Ligurian seem to be Celtic, it is incorrect to discard all the Celtic ones when collecting Ligurian words and to use this edited corpus to demonstrate that Ligurian is non-Celtic or non-Indo-European.[14]
The Ligurian-Celtic question is also discussed by Guy Barruol in his 1969 paper The Pre-Roman Peoples of South-East Gaul: Study of Historical Geography.[15]
Ligurian as substrate
French historian and philologist Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville held that Ligurian was the first Indo-European language spoken in Western Europe and was related to Sicel. In his work Premiers Habitants de l'Europe (2nd edition 1889–1894), Jubainville proposed an early Indo-Europeansubstrate language for Corsica, Sardinia, eastern Spain, southern France and western Italy, based on the occurrence there of place names ending in -asco, -asca, -usco, -osco, -osca as well as -inco, -inca.[16] For examples of the Corsican toponymy cited by Jubainville, see Prehistory of Corsica.
^"Liguri". Enciclopedie on line. Treccani.it (in Italian). Rome: Treccani -Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. 2011. Le documentazioni sulla lingua dei Liguri non ne permettono una classificazione linguistica certa (preindoeuropeo di tipo mediterraneo? Indoeuropeo di tipo celtico?).
^Jubainville, H. D'Arbois de (1889). Les Premiers Habitants de l'Europe d'après les Écrivains de l'Antiquité et les Travaux des Linguistes: Seconde Édition (in French). Paris: Ernest Thorin. V.II, Book II, Chapter 9, Sections 10, 11.
^Mees, Bernard (2003). "A genealogy of stratigraphy theories from the Indo-European west". In Anderson, Henning (ed.). Language Contacts in Prehistory: Studies in Stratigraphy. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamin Publishing Company. pp. 11–44. ISBN1-58811-379-5.
Sources
Barruol, Guy (1999). Les peuples pré-romains du sud-est de la Gaule - Etude de géographie historique (in French) (2nd ed.). Paris.
Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (2nd ed.). Paris: Editions Errance. ISBN2-87772-237-6.
Kruta, Venceslas (1991). The Celts. Thames and Hudson.
Strabo (1917). Geography, Volume I. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 49. Translated by Horace Jones. London: William Heinemann. ISBN9780674990555.
April 12, 2023
ligurian, ancient, language, this, article, about, prehistoric, language, ligures, modern, romance, language, ligurian, language, ligurian, language, spoken, roman, times, into, roman, ancient, people, north, western, italy, current, south, eastern, france, kn. This article is about the prehistoric language of the Ligures For the modern Romance language see Ligurian language The Ligurian language was spoken in pre Roman times and into the Roman era by an ancient people of north western Italy and current south eastern France known as the Ligures LigurianNative toLiguriaRegionNorthern Mediterranean Coast straddling South east French and North west Italian coasts including Northern Tuscany and Corsica Era300 BCE 100 CE 1 Language familyUnclassified Pre Indo European Paleo European or Celtic 2 para Celtic 3 Language codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code xlg class extiw title iso639 3 xlg xlg a Linguist ListxlgGlottologanci1248Very little is known about ancient Ligurian the lack of inscriptions and the unknown origin of the Ligurian people prevent its certain linguistic classification as a Pre Indo European 4 or an Indo European language 5 The linguistic hypotheses are mainly based on toponymy and onomastics Contents 1 Ancient sources 2 Ligurian as a Pre Indo European language 3 Ligurian as an Indo European language and its relationship with Celtic 4 Ligurian as substrate 5 See also 6 References 7 SourcesAncient sources Edit Map of Italy and its languages The Ligurian group is N4 The Ligurian is increasingly attested as a non Indo European language Liguria in Roman Italy Strabo indicates that the Ligurians were different from the Celts As for the Alps Many tribes ethne occupy these mountains all Celtic Keltika except the Ligurians but while these Ligurians belong to a different people hetero ethneis still they are similar to the Celts in their modes of life biois Because of the strong Celtic influences on the language and culture the Ligurians were known in antiquity as Celto Ligurians in Greek Keltoligyes Keltoligues in some other sources 6 Herodotus 7 wrote that sigunnai meant hucksters peddlers among the Ligurians who lived above Massilia Ligurian as a Pre Indo European language EditScholars such as Ernst Gamillscheg Pia Laviosa Zambotti and Yakov Malkiel 8 9 posit that ancient Ligurian was a pre Indo European language with significant late Indo European influence especially Celtic Gallic and Italic Latin superimposed on the original language Their thesis is that the Ligurians were survivors of the ancient pre Indo European populations that had occupied Europe at least from the fifth millennium BC 10 These populations would have had languages of their own families which they would have preserved until the onset of waves of Indo European migration Later the latter would conquer the territories imposing their culture and language on the Ligurians Ligurian as an Indo European language and its relationship with Celtic EditXavier Delamarre argues that Ligurian was a Celtic language similar to but not the same as Gaulish His argument hinges on two points firstly the Ligurian place name Genua modern Genoa located near a river mouth is claimed by Delamarre to derive from PIE ǵenu chin bone Many Indo European languages use mouth to mean the part of a river which meets the sea or a lake but it is only in Celtic for which reflexes of PIE ǵenu mean mouth Besides Genua which is considered Ligurian 11 this is found also in Genava modern Geneva which may be Gaulish However Genua and Genava may well derive from another PIE root with the form ǵonu which means knee so in Pokorny IEW 12 Delamarre s second point is Plutarch s mention 13 that during the Battle of Aquae Sextiae in 102 BC the Ambrones who were a Germanic tribe from Jutland began to shout Ambrones as their battle cry the Ligurian troops fighting for the Romans on hearing this cry found that it was identical to an ancient name in their country which the Ligurians often used when speaking of their descent outos kata genos onomazousi Ligues so they returned the shout Ambrones A risk of circular logic has been pointed out if it is believed that the Ligurians are non Celtic and if many place names and tribal names that classical authors state are Ligurian seem to be Celtic it is incorrect to discard all the Celtic ones when collecting Ligurian words and to use this edited corpus to demonstrate that Ligurian is non Celtic or non Indo European 14 The Ligurian Celtic question is also discussed by Guy Barruol in his 1969 paper The Pre Roman Peoples of South East Gaul Study of Historical Geography 15 Ligurian as substrate EditFrench historian and philologist Marie Henri d Arbois de Jubainville held that Ligurian was the first Indo European language spoken in Western Europe and was related to Sicel In his work Premiers Habitants de l Europe 2nd edition 1889 1894 Jubainville proposed an early Indo European substrate language for Corsica Sardinia eastern Spain southern France and western Italy based on the occurrence there of place names ending in asco asca usco osco osca as well as inco inca 16 For examples of the Corsican toponymy cited by Jubainville see Prehistory of Corsica Other linguists expanded on the idea Julius Pokorny adapted it as the basis for his Illyro Venetic theory Paul Kretschmer saw evidence for Ligurian in Lepontic inscriptions now seen as Celtic Hans Krahe focusing on river names converted the concept into his theory of the Old European hydronymy 17 See also EditPrehistory of CorsicaReferences Edit Ligurian at MultiTree on the Linguist List Kruta 1991 p 54 Kruta 1991 p 55 Liguri Enciclopedie on line Treccani it in Italian Rome Treccani Istituto dell Enciclopedia Italiana 2011 Le documentazioni sulla lingua dei Liguri non ne permettono una classificazione linguistica certa preindoeuropeo di tipo mediterraneo Indoeuropeo di tipo celtico Ligurian language Britannica com 2014 12 16 Retrieved 2015 08 29 Baldi Philip 2002 The Foundations of Latin Walter de Gruyter p 112 Herodotus 1920 A D Godley ed The Histories Translated by A D Godley Cambridge Harvard University Press Book 5 Chapter 9 Gamillscheg Ernst 1950 Romanen und Basken in German Mainz amp Wiesbaden Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Mainz Malkiel Yakov 1952 Old and New Trends in Spanish Linguistics Studies in Philology 49 3 437 458 JSTOR 4173021 Laviosa Zambotti Pia 1943 La civilta dei piu antichi agricoltori liguri Rivista di Studi Liguri in Italian 9 2 3 96 108 Delamarre 2003 p 177 Indogermanisches Etymologisches Woerterbuch Plutarch Caius Marius Chapter 10 Sections 5 6 Dyfed Lloyd Evans 2005 2011 Celtic Gods The Gaulish and Ligurian god Vasio Nemeton The Sacred Grove Archived from the original on May 18 2013 Barruol 1969 sfn error no target CITEREFBarruol1969 help Jubainville H D Arbois de 1889 Les Premiers Habitants de l Europe d apres les Ecrivains de l Antiquite et les Travaux des Linguistes Seconde Edition in French Paris Ernest Thorin V II Book II Chapter 9 Sections 10 11 Mees Bernard 2003 A genealogy of stratigraphy theories from the Indo European west In Anderson Henning ed Language Contacts in Prehistory Studies in Stratigraphy Amsterdam amp Philadelphia John Benjamin Publishing Company pp 11 44 ISBN 1 58811 379 5 Sources EditBarruol Guy 1999 Les peuples pre romains du sud est de la Gaule Etude de geographie historique in French 2nd ed Paris Delamarre Xavier 2003 Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise 2nd ed Paris Editions Errance ISBN 2 87772 237 6 Kruta Venceslas 1991 The Celts Thames and Hudson Strabo 1917 Geography Volume I Loeb Classical Library Vol 49 Translated by Horace Jones London William Heinemann ISBN 9780674990555 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ligurian ancient language amp oldid 1120407203, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
