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

extinct language An extinct language or dead language is a language with no living native speakers. A dormant language is a dead language that still serves as a symbol of ethnic identity to an ethnic group; these languages are often undergoing a process of r ...

, 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

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, 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 perceived ...

took place, wherein

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

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 onomatology in older texts) is the study of proper names, including their etymology, history, and use. An ''alethonym'' ('true name') or an ''orthonym'' ('real name') is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onom ...

as well as

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, 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 ...

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. The original character of the Sardinian language among the Romance idioms has long been know ...

Nuraghic Tower under Dramatic Sky - panoramio

Pre-Indo-European hypothesis

There is toponymic evidence suggesting that the Paleo-Sardinian language may have had connection to the reconstructed Proto-Basque and to the Pre-Indo-European

Iberian language The Iberian language is the language of an indigenous western European people identified by Ancient Greece, Greek and ancient Rome, Roman sources who lived in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Iberian Peninsula in the pre-Migration Era ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. According to Max Leopold Wagner: Massimo Pallottino, referring to various authors such as Bertoldi, Terracini and Wagner himself, highlighted the following similarities between Sardinian, Basque and Iberian: Archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu hypotheized that the "Basque-Caucasian" idioms of the Bonnanaro culture replaced the previous languages of "pan-Mediterranean" type spoken by the preceding cultures. Eduardo Blasco Ferrer concluded that it developed in the island in the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

as a result of prehistoric migration from the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. 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 Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

through

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) 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 roughly coextensive with ...

. Similarities between Paleo-Sardinian and Ancient Ligurian were also noted by Emidio De Felice. According to Blasco Ferrer: However for the linguist and glottologist Giulio Paulis, the Basque language is not of great help in the interpretation of the very rich toponymic heritage of Paleo-Sardinian origin. Bertoldi and Terracini propose that the common suffix ''-ara'', stressed on the antepenult, 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 (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

(Terracini), to the Basque-speaking

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

and

Gascony Gascony (; ) 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 of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...

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

southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

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

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

. Bertoldi sees an Anatolian connection in the endings ''-ài, -asài'' (similar claims have been made of the

Elymians The Elymians () were an ancient tribe, tribal people who inhabited the western part of Sicily during the Bronze Age and Classical antiquity. Origins According to Thucydides, the Elymians were refugees coming from the destroyed Troy. Instead for ...

of Sicily). A suffix ''-aiko'' is also common in Iberia. The tribal suffix ''-itani, -etani'', as in the

Sulcitani The Solcitani (also called the Sulcitani), were an ancient people of Sardinia, noted by Ptolemy (III, 3). They dwelt at the extreme south part of the island, immediately south of the Neapolitani and the Valentini (ancient people), Valentini. Their ...

, has also been identified as Paleo-Sardinian. Several linguists, including Bertoldi, Terracini, Wagner and the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

Johannes Hubschmid, proposed various linguistic layers in prehistoric Sardinia. The oldest, pan-Mediterranean, widespread in the

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, Sardinia and

, a second, Hispano-Caucasian substrate, which would explain the similarities between Basque and Paleo-Sardinian, and, finally, a Ligurian substrate.

Etruscan–Nuragic connection

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

Etruscan language Etruscan ( ) was the language of the Etruscan civilization in the ancient region of Etruria, in Etruria Padana and Etruria Campana in what is now Italy. Etruscan influenced Latin but was eventually superseded by it. Around 13,000 Etruscan epigraph ...

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, but this hypothesis does not enjoy consensus. The Etruscan language is believed to be neither Indo-European, nor related to the Anatolian languages, nor to the Paleo-Sardinian language. The consensus among scholars is that Etruscan is only related to the Rhaetic language spoken in the Alps and to the language attested by a few inscriptions found on the island of Lemnos. Some examples of Nuragic names of Indo-European origin might be: * «sprig of cherry tree with fruits» (

Osini Osini is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Nuoro in the Italian region Sardinia, located about northeast of Cagliari and about southwest of Tortolì. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 925 and an area of .All demograph ...

), probably Sardian or Nuragic relict uff. Aegean-Anatolian (s) a">Aegean-Anatolian.html" ;"title="uff. Aegean-Anatolian">uff. Aegean-Anatolian (s) a perhaps to compare – not derive – with the Ancient Greek language">Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Pre-Indo-European hypothesis

Etruscan–Nuragic connection

Other hypothesis

See also

Notes

References