The "Liburnian language" refers to a proposed extinct language which would have been spoken by the ancient

Liburnians The Liburnians or Liburni ( grc, Λιβυρνοὶ) were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers ''Arsia'' ( Raša) and ''Titius'' ( Krka) in what is now Croati ...

, who occupied

Liburnia Liburnia ( grc, Λιβουρνία) in ancient geography was the land of the Liburnians, a region along the northeastern Adriatic coast in Europe, in modern Croatia, whose borders shifted according to the extent of the Liburnian dominance at a g ...

, a variously defined region in modern southwestern

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, in classical times. Classification of the Liburnian language is not clearly established; it is reckoned as an Indo-European language with a significant proportion of the Pre-Indo-European elements from the wider area of the ancient

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 Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

. Due to the paucity of evidence, the very existence of a distinct 'Liburnian language' must be considered hypothetical at this point.

Classification

No writings in Liburnian are known. The only presumed Liburnian linguistic remains are Liburnian toponyms and some family and personal names in Liburnia presumed to be native to the area, in Latinized form from the 1st century AD. Smaller differences found in the archaeological material of narrower regions in Liburnia are in a certain measure reflected also in these scarce linguistic remains. This has caused much speculation about the language but no certainty. Features shared by Liburnian and other languages have been noted in Liburnian language remains, names and toponyms, dating from between the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

and the beginning of

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the o ...

. These are insufficient for a precise linguistic classification, other than a general indication that they have an Indo-European basis, but also may incorporate significant elements from Pre-Indo-European languages. This also appears to be the case in their social relations, and such phenomena are likely related to their separate cultural development, physical isolation and mixed ethnic origins. Following studies of the onomastics of the

Roman province of Dalmatia Dalmatia was a Roman province. Its name is derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae, which lived in the central area of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It encompassed the northern part of present-day Albania, much of C ...

Géza Alföldy Géza Alföldy (June 7, 1935 – November 6, 2011) was a Hungarian historian of ancient history. Life Géza Alföldy was born in Budapest. He studied at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Budapest from 1953 to 1958, where he i ...

has suggested that the Liburni and Histri belonged to the

Venetic language Venetic is an extinct Indo-European language, usually classified into the Italic subgroup, that was spoken by the Veneti people in ancient times in northeast Italy (Veneto and Friuli) and part of modern Slovenia, between the Po Delta and ...

area. In particular, some Liburnian

anthroponyms Anthroponymy (also anthroponymics or anthroponomastics, from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος ''anthrōpos'' / 'human', and ὄνομα ''onoma'' / 'name') is the study of ''anthroponyms'', the proper names of human beings, both individual and co ...

show strong Venetic affinities, a few similar names and common roots, such as ''Vols-'', ''Volt-'', and ''Host-'' (< PIE ''*ghos-ti-'' 'stranger, guest, host'). Liburnian and Venetic names sometimes also share suffixes in common, such as ''-icus'' and ''-ocus''.

Jürgen Untermann Jürgen Untermann (24 October 1928, in Rheinfelden – 7 February 2013, in Brauweiler) was a German linguist, indoeuropeanist and epigraphist. A disciple of Hans Krahe and of Ulrich Schmoll, he studied at the University of Frankfurt and the U ...

, who has focused on Liburnian and Venetic onomastics, considers that only the Liburnians at the north-eastern Istrian coast were strongly Venetic. Untermann has suggested three groups of Liburnian names: one structurally similar to those of the Veneti and Histri; another linked to the

Dalmatae The Delmatae, alternatively Dalmatæ, during the Roman period, were a group of Illyrian tribes in Dalmatia, contemporary southern Croatia and western Bosnia and Herzegovina. The region of Dalmatia takes its name from the tribe. The Delmatae ap ...

Iapodes The Iapydes (or Iapodes, Japodes; el, Ἰάποδες) were an ancient people who dwelt north of and inland from the Liburnians, off the Adriatic coast and eastwards of the Istrian peninsula. They occupied the interior of the country between the ...

and other

Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, a ...

on the mainland to the south of the Liburnians, and a third group of names that were common throughout Liburnian territory, and lacked any relation to those of their neighbors. Other proper names, such as those of local deities and toponyms also showed differing regional distributions. According to R. Katičić, Liburnian toponyms, in both structure and form, also demonstrate diverse influences, including Pre-Indo-European, Indo-European and other, purely local features. Katičić has also stated that toponyms were distributed separately along ethnic and linguistic lines. S. Čače has noted that it can not be determined whether Liburnian was more related to the North Adriatic language group (Veneti, Histri) or the languages of Iapodes and Dalmatae, due to the scarcity of evidence. While the Liburnians differed significantly from the Histri and Veneti, both culturally and ethnically, they have been linked to the Dalmatae by their burial traditions. Other toponymical and onomastic similarities have been found between Liburnia and other regions of both Illyria and

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, especially

Lycia Lycia ( Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is ...

, Lydia,

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined ...

Pisidia Pisidia (; grc-gre, Πισιδία, ; tr, Pisidya) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of Ant ...

, Isauria,

Pamphylia Pamphylia (; grc, Παμφυλία, ''Pamphylía'') was a region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus (all in modern-day Antalya province, Turkey). It was bounded on the north b ...

Lycaonia Lycaonia (; el, Λυκαονία, ''Lykaonia''; tr, Likaonya) was a large region in the interior of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), north of the Taurus Mountains. It was bounded on the east by Cappadocia, on the north by Galatia, on the west by ...

and

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

, as well as similarities in elements of social organization, such as

matriarchy Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general ...

/ gynecocracy (''gynaikokratia'') and the numerical organization of territory. These are also features of the wider Adriatic region, especially Etruria, Messapia and southern Italy. Toponymical and onomastic connections to Asia Minor may also indicate a Liburnian presence amongst the

Sea Peoples The Sea Peoples are a hypothesized seafaring confederation that attacked ancient Egypt and other regions in the East Mediterranean prior to and during the Late Bronze Age collapse (1200–900 BCE).. Quote: "First coined in 1881 by the Fren ...

. The old toponym ''Liburnum'' in

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

may also link the Liburnian name to the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

, as well as the proposed Tyrsenian language family. The Liburnians underwent

Romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, a ...

after being conquered by the Romans in 35 BCE. The Liburnian language was replaced by

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 ...

, and underwent

language death In linguistics, language death occurs when a language loses its last native speaker. By extension, language extinction is when the language is no longer known, including by second-language speakers. Other similar terms include linguicide, the de ...

–most likely during

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

. The Liburnians nevertheless retained some of their cultural traditions until the 4th century CE, especially in the larger cities – a fact attested by archaeology.

Onomastics

Anthroponyms

The single name plus patronymic formula common among Illyrians is rare among Liburnians. In a region where the Roman three-name formula ('' praenomen'', '' nomen gentile'', ''

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...

'': ''Caius Julius Caesar'') spread at an early date, a native two-name formula appears in several variants. Personal name plus family name is found in southern Liburnia, while personal name plus family name plus patronymic is found throughout the Liburnian area, for example: , , , , . *Acaica *Aetor *Avitus (masc.), Avita (fem.) *Boninus *Cliticus *Colatina *Curticus *Darmo *Dumma *Hosp(olis) *Hostiducis ( gen.) *Hostiices *Lambicus *Malavicus *Marica *Menda *Moicus *Oclatinus *Oeplus *Opia *Opiavus *Oplus *Plaetor, gen. Plaetoris. Found among the Veneti as ''Plaetorius''; among the Illyrians as ''Plator'', genitive ''Platoris''. Attested as ''Pletor'' in an inscription found in the area of

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. *Patalius *Recus *Suioca *Tarnis *Toruca *Trosius *Turus *Vadica *Velsouna (fem.) *Viniocus *Volaesa *Volscus *Volsetis (gen.) *Volso *Volsonus *Volsounus (masc.), Volsouna (fem.) *Volsus *Voltimesis (gen.) *Vol(l)tis(s)a *Zupricus The majority of the preceding names are unknown among the eastern and southern neighbors of the Liburnians (

, etc.), yet many have Venetic complements. The following names are judged to be exclusively Liburnian, yet one (''Buzetius'') is also attested among the neighboring

to the north and northeast: *Aeia *Barcinus *Buzetius *Caminis (gen.) *Ceunus *Clausus *Granp (...). Attested only in abbreviated form. *Iaefus *Lastimeis (gen. ?) *Mamaester *Pasinus *Picusus *Tetenus *Vesclevesis (gen.). - The etymology is established. It is a compound, the initial element ''Ves-'', from PIE ''*u̯esu-'' ('good'); the second element ''-cleves-'' (genitive suffix ''-is'') from PIE ''*ḱleuos'' ('fame', ultimately from ''*ḱleu-'' 'to hear'). *Virno

Theonyms

*Anzotica - the Liburnian

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

Toponyms

References

Sources

*Wilkes, John. ''The Illyrians.'' Blackwell Books, 1992. *Untermann, J., ''Venetisches in Dalmatien'', Godišnjak (Annuaire) CBI, Sarejevo. 5, 5-22. {{Paleo-Balkan languages Extinct languages of Europe Unclassified languages of Europe Liburnia