Lycian language

For other uses, see Lycian (disambiguation).
Lycian
𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊍𐊆 Trm̃mili

Xanthos stele with Lycian inscriptions
Native to Lycia, Lycaonia
Region Southwestern Anatolia
Era 500 – ca. 200 BCE[1]
Lycian script
Language codes
ISO 639-3 xlc
Linguist list
xlc
Glottolog lyci1241[2]

The Lycian language (𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊍𐊆 Trm̃mili)[3] was the language of the ancient Lycians of the region known as Lycia in Anatolia (present day Turkey), during the Iron Age.

Area

Lycia covered the region lying between the modern cities of Antalya and Fethiye in southern Turkey, especially the mountainous headland between Fethiye Bay and the Gulf of Antalya. The Lukka, as they were referred to in ancient Egyptian sources, which mention them among the Sea Peoples, probably also inhabited the region called Lycaonia, located along the next headland to the east, also mountainous, between the modern cities of Antalya and Mersin.

Classification

Lycian was an Indo-European language, one in the Luwian subgroup of Anatolian languages. The Luwian subgroup also includes cuneiform and hieroglyphic Luwian, Carian, Sidetic, and Pisidic.[4] The pre-alphabetic forms of Luwian extended back into the Late Bronze Age and preceded the fall of the Hittite Empire. These vanished at about the time of the Neo-Hittite states in southern Anatolia (and Syria); thus, the Iron Age members of the subgroup are localized daughter languages of Luwian.

Of the Luwic languages, only the Luwian parent language is attested prior to 1000 BCE, so it is unknown when the classical-era dialects diverged. Whether the Lukka people always resided in southern Anatolia or whether they always spoke Luwian are different topics.

Lycian is known from a few fairly extensive inscriptions. From them, scholars have identified at least two dialects. One is considered standard Lycian, also termed Lycian A; the other, which is attested on side D of the Xanthos stele, is termed Lycian B or Milyan, separated by its grammatical particularities. Lycian had its own alphabet, which was closely related to the Greek alphabet but included at least one character borrowed from Carian as well as characters proper to the language. The words were often separated by two points.

Lycian became extinct around the beginning of the first century BC, replaced by the Ancient Greek language.

Endonym

An inscription in Lycian in example

A few etymological studies of the Lycian language endonym are present. These are:[3]

Sources

Lycian is known from these sources:[7][8]

The inscriptional material covers a time span of about 170 years, between 500-330 BC.[11]

Description

A number of principal features help identify Lycian as being in the Luwian group:[12]

Notes

  1. Lycian at MultiTree on the Linguist List
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Lycian". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. 1 2 Bryce (1986) page 30.
  4. Adiego (2007) page 763.
  5. Strabo 7.7.1, 13.1.59.
  6. Strabo 14.1.3, 14.2.18.
  7. Adiego (2007) page 764.
  8. Bryce (1986) page 42.
  9. Bryce (1986) page 50.
  10. Bryce (1986) pages 51–52.
  11. Bryce (1986) page 54.
  12. Adiego (2007) page 765.

See also

References

  • Adiego, I.J. (2007). "Greek and Lycian". In Christidis, A.F.; Arapopoulou, Maria; Chriti, Maria. A History of Ancient Greek From the Beginning to Late Antiquity. Chris Markham (trans.). Cambridge University press. ISBN 0-521-83307-8. . Translator Chris Markham.
  • Bryce, Trevor R. (1986). The Lycians - Volume I: The Lycians in Literary and Epigraphic Sources. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 87-7289-023-1. 
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