Editing Ligurian language (ancient) (section)

==Ancient sources==

=== Territory ===
[[File:Hecataeus_world_map-en.svg|thumb|World map of [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] (6th century BC).{{Sfn|Keyser|2011|p=42}}]]
Early Greek geographers, such as [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] (6th century BC) and [[Pseudo-Scylax]] (4th century BC), used the term ''Ligues'' as a broad label for the so-called [[Barbarian|barbarians]] of the distant West. They placed these peoples in a semi-mythical setting at the outer edges of the known world, comparable to other legendary groups like the [[Hyperborea|Hyperboreans]] or [[Aethiopia|Ethiopians]], who were believed to inhabit the world's extreme boundaries.{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=321–323}}{{Sfn|Keyser|2011|p=42–45}} In these sources, ''Ligustica,'' the land of the ''Ligues'', often aligned with [[Massalia]]'s sphere of influence, stretching from [[Empúries|Emporion]] in Catalonia to Antipolis ([[Antibes]]) in southeastern France.{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=323–325}} Classical Greek authors of this period do not mention any Ligures in Italy.{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=327–328}}{{Sfn|Keyser|2011|p=42–45}} Instead, they describe Ligurian territory as ending east around Antipolis or Monoikos ([[Monaco]]), beyond which began the domains of the [[Tyrrhenians]] ([[Etruscans]]) or [[Pelasgians]].{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=327–328}}

Over time, as geographic knowledge improved and distinct groups like the [[Iberians]] and [[Gauls]] came into clearer focus, references to the Ligures became more concrete. Later Latin authors continued to echo elements of the older, semi-mythical tradition, yet the idea of Ligures as a general label for the distant West gradually gave way to a more localised concept, placing them in a specific region around Massalia ([[Marseille]]).{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=321–323}}
{{Blockquote|text=... though the early writers of the Greeks call the Sallyes 'Ligues', and the country which the Massiliotes hold, 'Ligustica', later writers name them 'Celtoligues', and attach to their territory all the level country as far as Luerio and the Rhodanus, the country from which the inhabitants, divided into ten parts, used to send forth an army, not only of infantry, but of cavalry as well.|source={{harvnb|Strabo|1923}}, ''Geōgraphiká'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/strabo-geography/1917/pb_LCL050.269.xml 4:6:3].}}

[[File:ItaliaAlTempoDiAugusto (expo -25 contrasto 25).jpg|thumb|328x328px|The Roman ''regio Liguria'' at the time of [[Augustus]] (7 AD), at the top left of the map.]]
By the 3rd century BCE, Roman records (the ''Acta triumphalia Populi Romani'' of [[Publius Cornelius Lentulus Caudinus|P. Lentulus Caudinus]]) began mentioning Ligures in Italy, north of the [[Magra]] River. This suggests that the Romans recognised a distinct people called 'Ligures' in the Italian Peninsula, separate from the older Greek tradition of 'Ligues' in southern Gaul. In the subsequent centuries, Roman military campaigns in the region (including one against the [[Ingauni]] in 185–180 BCE) gradually brought to light the existence of Ligures in northwestern Italy, culminating in the formal establishment of the ''[[Regio IX Liguria|Region IX]]'' ''[[Regio IX Liguria|Liguria]]'' under [[Augustus]] (27 BC – 14 AD).{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=327–328}} At that point, the Ligures occupied the westernmost part of the Italian peninsula and a portion of the nearby French coastline, extending from Album Intimilium (modern [[Ventimiglia]]) to [[Ameglia]].{{Sfn|Giannattasio|2024|pp=414–416}}

=== Ethnicity ===
Early Greek authors such as Hecataeus of Miletus and Pseudo-Scylax probably used 'Ligure' a generic name for such distant and partially known tribes, or merely as a geographic reference that had no relevance to their ethnicity.{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=321–323}}{{Sfn|Keyser|2011|p=42–45}} To reconcile conflicting accounts, certain sources coined terms like 'Celto-Ligure' to suggest an ethnic intermingling. Latin historian [[Livy]] believed that the Ligures represented an older stratum predating the Gauls in northern Italy, while [[Strabo]] and others observed that many of the peoples previously described as 'Ligures' were actually Celts. In an attempt to resolve these inconsistencies, Strabo proposed that Celtic influence had effectively supplanted the original Ligures.{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=325–327}}

Writing in the early 1st century AD, Strabo noted that the Ligures living in the Alps were a people distinct from the Celts, even though they shared cultural similarities:{{Blockquote|text=As for the Alps ... many tribes (''éthnê'') occupy these mountains, all Celtic (''keltikà'') except the Ligurians; but while these Ligurians belong to a different people (''heteroethneis''), still they are similar to the Celts in their modes of life (''bíois'')|source={{harvnb|Strabo|1923}}, ''Geōgraphiká'', 2.5.28.}}
Regarding the tribes around Massalia, earlier writers called the [[Salyes]] 'Ligure', while Strabo used the denomination 'Celto-Ligure'. According to scholars, this suggests that their culture gradually came under the influence of a Celtic-speaking elite, as evidenced by the Celtic name of their rulers and towns, and the Celtic influence on their religion.{{sfn|Dyson|1985|pp=136–137}}{{sfn|de Hoz|2005|p=182}} Similarly, the [[Segobriges]] were identified as Ligures by the oldest texts about the [[Founding myth of Marseille|foundation of Massalia]], but their ethnonym and the names of their chiefs are undoubtedly Celtic.{{Sfn|de Hoz|2005|p=174}}

=== Ligurian lexicon ===
Some glosses appear in the text of ancient writers. Greek historian [[Herodotus]], while discussing the name of the people known as the [[Sigynnae]] (Greek: ''Sigúnnai''), a [[nomadic]] tribe from Central Europe, noted that the term ''sigynnae'' was also used by the Ligures living "up beyond Marseille" to refer to traders.{{sfn|Clackson|2015|pp=3–5}} The Ligurian name of the [[Po (river)|River Po]], recorded as ''Bodincus'', is said by Pliny to mean "of unmeasured depth", which can be compared to Sanskrit ''budhná''- ('bottom, ground, base, depth'), Latin ''fundus'' and [[Middle Irish]] ''bond'' ('sole of the shoe').{{Sfn|Mees|2024|p=208}} 

Many of the other proposed Ligurian glosses remain uncertain. The term ''lebērís'' (λεβηρίς), recorded by Strabo as a [[Massalia|Massiliote]] word for 'rabbit', is believed to have been borrowed into Latin as ''lepus''. Pliny the Elder mentions ''langa'' or ''langurus'' as a type of lizard inhabiting the banks of the Po River, which Johannes Hubschmid linked to the Latin ''longus'' ('long'). The term ''asia'', meaning 'rye' and recorded by Pliny, could be amended to ''sasia'' and connected to the Sanskrit ''sasya-'' ('corn, grain, fruit, crop') and Welsh ''haidd'' ('barley'), though these connections remain unsure.{{Sfn|Mees|2024|p=208}}