The Paleo-Hispanic or Paleo-Iberian languages are the languages of the

Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula This is a list of the pre- Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula (the Roman Hispania, i.e., modern Portugal, Spain and Andorra). Some closely fit the concept of a people, ethnic group or tribe. Others are confederations or even unions of tribe ...

, excluding languages of foreign colonies, such as

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 ...

in Emporion and Phoenician in Qart Hadast. After the

Roman conquest of Hispania The romans ruled and occupied territories in the Iberian Peninsula that were previously under the control of native Celtic, Iberian, Celtiberian and Aquitanian tribes and the Carthaginian Empire. The Carthaginian territories in the south a ...

the Paleohispanic languages, with the exception of

Proto-Basque Proto-Basque (; ; ) is a reconstructed ancient stage of the Basque language. It preceded another reconstructed stage, Common Basque, which is derived by comparing dialects of modern Basque. Common Basque is their reconstructed common ancestor. Pr ...

, were replaced by

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 ...

, the ancestor of the modern

Iberian Romance languages The Iberian Romance, Ibero-Romance or sometimes Iberian languages Iberian languages is also used as a more inclusive term for all languages spoken on the Iberian Peninsula, which in antiquity included the non-Indo-European Iberian language. are ...

Languages

Some of these languages were documented directly through inscriptions, mainly in

Paleohispanic scripts The Paleohispanic scripts are the writing systems created in the Iberian Peninsula before the Latin alphabet became the dominant script. They derive from the Phoenician alphabet, with the exception of the Greco-Iberian alphabet, which is ...

, that date for sure between the 5th century BC, maybe from the 7th century in the opinion of some researchers, until the end of the 1st century BC or the beginning of the 1st century AD. *

Vasconic languages The Vasconic languages (from Latin 'Basque'), also called Euskarian or Basque-Aquitanian, are a putative language family that includes Basque and the extinct Aquitanian language. The extinct Iberian language is sometimes tentatively included, a ...

— Unattested, partially reconstructed through internal analysis of modern Basque. Proto-Basque is also the ancestor or sibling of the Aquitanian language (see below). ** Aquitanian — Close relative of modern

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

. Some scholars characterise Aquitanian as an ancestor of Basque, while others describe Aquitanian and Basque as siblings both descended from Proto-Basque. *

Unclassified language An unclassified language is a language whose genetic affiliation to other languages has not been established. Languages can be unclassified for a variety of reasons, mostly due to a lack of reliable data but sometimes due to the confounding inf ...

s ** Iberian — Shares many obvious similarities with the Vasconic languages. However, lack of data has thus far prevented scholars from determining whether these similarities arose from

convergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen *Convergence (comics), "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that ...

due to intense contact, or whether Iberian does in fact possess a genetic relationship to the Vasconic languages. ** Tartessian — Scholarly opinion places Tartessian definitely outside of the

Indo-European family The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

, but further classification remains uncertain. Tartessian seems to have borrowed many

place names Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' 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 a proper nam ...

from some

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and/or other

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

languages; but its syllable structure is totally incompatible with the phonology of any Indo-European language, and much more compatible with the phonology of the Vasconic languages and Iberian. Despite this phonological compatibility, a lack of data has thus far made it impossible to clarify any relationship with the

or Iberian. *

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...

*** Celtiberian ***

Gallaecian Gallaecian or Northwestern Hispano-Celtic is an extinct Celtic language of the Hispano-Celtic group. It was spoken by the Gallaeci in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula around the start of the 1st millennium. The region became the Roman p ...

** (Internally unclassified languages) *** Lusitanian — Definitely an Indo-European language. Possibly

or Italic, but a lack of data has prevented scholars from determining exactly where Lusitanian fits within the Indo-European family. *** (from Greek σορός ''sorós'' 'funerary urn' and θαπτός ''thaptós'' 'buried') is a hypothetical pre-Celtic language. Joan Coromines identified problematic words in Catalan with inscriptions on lead tablets, from ca. 2nd century CE, found at Amélie-les-Bains on the Catalan–French border. The inscriptions include some Latin but also a non-Latin and non-Celtic component that Coromines identifies with the

Urnfield culture The Urnfield culture () was a late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremation, cremating the dead and placin ...

from a millennium earlier, claiming to have found such "Sorothaptic" place names across Europe. Like the better-known Vasconic substrate hypothesis, Coromines' Sorothaptic hypothesis has not been well received. Other Paleohispanic languages can only be identified indirectly through

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 ...

anthroponym 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 coll ...

s or

theonym A theonym (from Greek (), 'god', attached to (), ) is a proper name of a deity. Theonymy, the study of divine proper names, is a branch of onomastics, the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. Theonymy helps develop an und ...

s cited by

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and

sources.

Classification

Of these languages, Celtiberian, Gallaecian, Lusitanian, and presumably Sorothaptic were

; Celtiberian and Gallaecian were

, and Lusitanian may also have been, but the hypothetical Sorothaptic was not. Aquitanian was a precursor of

, while Tartessian and Iberian remain unclassified.

References

External links

Pre-Roman languages and writing systems from Spain and Portugal – Jesús Rodríguez Ramos

Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)
{{Eurasian languages Extinct languages of Europe Pre-Indo-European languages Extinct languages of Spain

Languages

Classification

See also

References

Further reading

External links