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Elymian |
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The Elymian language is the extinct language of the ancient Elymian people of western Sicily. It is not known whether Elymian
was an Indo-European language. The limited and fragmentary nature of the surviving sources makes it very difficult to identify
its affinities with other regional languages; it has been speculated that Elymian was related to the Italic languages, though
this interpretation is disputed. Only a handful of Elymian texts have survived. These comprise a few placenames and personal
names; several coins inscribed in Greek script with the names of Elymian cities; and around 170 fragments of pottery inscribed
in Greek script, found in the ruined Elymian city of Segesta. All of the texts date to between the 6th and 4th centuries BC.
The majority are very short and fragmentary (only a few characters), with the small number of longer texts apparently containing
a name, sometimes followed by I am. A vase found at Montedoro, around 15 km southwest of Palermo, features the only known
complete inscription in Elymian. Tentatively translated, it may be read as I [the pot] am [a gift] for/by Ata Tuka. The problem
of the identification of Elymian language can be summarized under two main positions. Some historical linguists agree that
some peculiarities of that language, like non-alphabetic symbols engraved on some dedicational fragments of pots, and genitive
in -ai found in almost all the complete sequences, are aspects of its non-Hellenic Eastern origin. Other historical linguists
classify it as Indo-European on the basis of some affinities with Italic languages. At this point, the problem of its linguistic
affiliation can receive new light only with the carrying out of archaeological investigations in Elymian settlements in western
Sicily. (Antonino Rizzo). |
Names (more)[de] Elymische Sprache[en] Elymian language [no] Elymisk [ru] Элимский язык |
Language type : Ancient
Technical notes
This page is providing structured data for the language Elymian. |
ISO 639 CodesISO 639-3 : xlyLinked Data URIshttp://lexvo.org/id/iso639-3/xlyhttp://dbpedia.org/resource/ISO_639:xly More URIs at sameas.org SourcesAuthority documentation for ISO 639 identifier: xlyFreebase ISO 639-3 : xly GeoNames.org Country Information Publications Office of the European Union Metadata Registry : Countries and Languages |