New study on Elymian language

[Hauteville]

Elymians was a mysterious indigenous people of north western Sicily that for years was considered descendent of Trojan escaped exiled (myth of Iliad) but new study on their language show a different thing.

The hypothesis of an affinity with the idioms of the Anatolian groups do not find consensus and today is recognized at the Elymian an Italic affinity, despite the absence of incontrovertible evidence that allow to specify it further. In this perspective, the northwestern Sicily the Elymian would appear as a spoken Italic, as of a different Italic from that witnessed in the East of the island from the documents from Mountain of March or Mendolito Adrano.

http://lila.sns.it/mnamon/index.php?page=Lingua&id=59&PHPSESSID=281003b6fda15f761681ad8c10a9c486

 

[Yetos]

and [au] (probably represented as <αο>) cannot be isolated and identified for sure as Elymian (see Agostiniani 1992, p. 142).


some reduplicated graphs such as <αα>, two different hypotheses have been formulated: that it is the realization of a long vowel phoneme or rather the /aa/ biphoneme representation of an original /aja/ with the drop of an intervocalic /j/ (see Durante 1980, p. 886). From this second hypothesis it could be derived that a palatal sound corresponding to /w/ seems to be lacking in the Elymian system.


these 2 Hypothesis make big difference,
If we accept them or if we reject them

 

[Mars]

Sicani were another ancient people from present Sicily, with a disputed past. It seems ancient Ligurians (Ligures) played a role with them, too: according to a theory, they were the southern branch of an archaic indoeuropean family including the Ligurians. Furthermore, according to an ancient theory, they were from Iberia, and escaped from the Ligures who lived there in very ancient times (they were "ancient" even to the greek and roman historians...!).

 

[Hauteville]

Yes there is a linguistic link between Sicanians and Elymians and ancient Ligures like Entella of Sicily (modern Contessa Entellina) and the river Entella of Liguria or Segesta and Segesta Tigulliorum and many others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligures

 

[Pax Augusta]

Interesting!

 

[Hauteville]

Another linguistic link between Sicanian-Elymians and Ligures is Lerici and Erice.

 

[Angela]

The linguistics of ancient Indo-European languages is not my strong suit, but perhaps Taranis can comment on the strictly linguistic issues.

I must say that you guys are taking away a lot of the romance here!

It should be added perhaps that the Trojans of the era under question might have been just another Indo-European group if some scholars are correct, so perhaps it is a bit of a distinction without a difference?

 

[Taranis]

The problem with any kind of speculation about the Elymian language is that we don't have much data to begin with. Sicily was already thoroughly Hellenized by the time of most Classical sources. For example, a large number of place names on Sicily - through Sicily - seem Greek in origin, such as Drepanon (Trapani), Panormos (Palermo), Kephaloides (Cefalu) and Messena (Messina).

 

[Joey D]

There are a few traces of the Sicel language left, preserved in Greek lettering, which indicate an indo-european origin.

 

[Hauteville]

There are a few traces of the Sicel language left, preserved in Greek lettering, which indicate an indo-european origin.

Yes even if some words who probably derives from Siculo/Elimo or even Sicano (some pre-IE words) are present in modern Sicilian according to the linguistic Enrico Caltagirone, as well as some phonemes.