Editing Luwian language (section)

==Geographic and chronological distribution==
Luwian was among the languages spoken during the 2nd and 1st millennia BC by groups in central and western Anatolia and northern [[Syro-Hittite states|Syria]].<ref>Melchert 2003.</ref> The earliest Luwian texts in cuneiform transmission are attested in connection with the Kingdom of [[Kizzuwatna]] in southeastern Anatolia, as well as a number of locations in central Anatolia. Beginning in the 14th century BC, Luwian-speakers came to constitute the majority in the Hittite capital [[Hattusa]].<ref>Yakubovich 2010:307</ref> It appears that by the time of the collapse of the [[Hittite Empire]] ''ca''. 1180 BC, the Hittite king and royal family were fully bilingual in Luwian. Long after the extinction of the [[Hittite language]], Luwian continued to be spoken in the [[Neo-Hittite]] states of [[Syria]], such as [[Milid]] and [[Carchemish]], as well as in the central Anatolian kingdom of [[Tabal (state)|Tabal]] that flourished in the 8th century BC.<ref>Melchert 2003, pp. 147–51</ref>

A number of scholars in the past attempted to argue for the Luwian homeland in western Anatolia. According to [[James Mellaart]], the earliest Indo-Europeans in northwest Anatolia were the horse-riders who came to this region from the north and founded [[:tr:Demircihöyük|Demircihöyük]] ([[Eskişehir Province]]) in [[Phrygia]] c. 3000 BC. They were allegedly ancestors of the [[Luwians]] who inhabited [[Troy]] II, and spread widely in the Anatolian peninsula.<ref>Christoph Bachhuber (2013), [https://www.academia.edu/2242825/ ''James Mellaart and the Luwians: A Culture-(Pre)history''],</ref> He cited the distribution of a new type of wheel-made pottery, Red Slip Wares, as some of the best evidence for his theory. According to Mellaart, the proto-Luwian migrations to Anatolia came in several distinct waves over many centuries. The recent detailed review of Mellaart's claims suggests that his ethnolinguistic conclusions cannot be substantiated on archaeological grounds.<ref>Christoph Bachhuber (2013), [https://www.academia.edu/2242825/ ''James Mellaart and the Luwians: A Culture-(Pre)history''], p. 284</ref>

Other arguments were advanced for the extensive Luwian presence in western Anatolia in the late second millennium BC. In the [[Old Hittite]] version of the [[Hittite laws|Hittite Code]], some, if not all, of the Luwian-speaking areas were called ''Luwiya''. Widmer (2007) has argued that the [[Mycenaean Greek|Mycenaean]] term ''ru-wa-ni-jo'', attested in [[Linear B]], refers to the same area.<ref>P. Widmer, "Mykenisch ru-wa-ni-jo 'Luwier'", ''Kadmos'' 45 (2007), 82–84, cited on [http://www.palaeolexicon.com/default.aspx?static=12&wid=346749 Palaeolexicon]: Word study tool of ancient languages,</ref> but the stem *''Luwan-'' was recently shown to be non-existent.<ref>Gander 2015: 474</ref> In a corrupt late copy of the [[Hittite laws|Hittite Code]] the geographical term ''Luwiya'' is replaced with ''[[Arzawa]]''<ref>See, e.g., Bryce in Melchert 2003:29–31; Singer 2005:435; Hawkins 2009:74.</ref> a western Anatolian kingdom corresponding roughly with Mira and the Seha River Land.<ref>Although Yakubovich (2010) has argued that a chain of scribal error and revision led to this substitution, and that ''Luwiya'' was not coterminous with [[Arzawa]], but was further east in the area of the [[Konya Plain]]; see Yakubovich 2010:107–17.</ref> Therefore, several scholars shared the view that Luwian was spoken—to varying degrees—across a large portion of western Anatolia, including [[Troy]] (''[[Wilusa]]''), the Seha River Land (''Sēḫa'' ~ ''Sēḫariya'', i.e., the Greek [[Gediz River|Hermos]] river and [[Bakırçay|Kaikos]] valley), and the [[Mira-Kuwaliya]] kingdom with its core being the [[Maeander]] valley.<ref>Watkins 1994; id. 1995:144–51; Starke 1997; Melchert 2003; for the geography Hawkins 1998.</ref> In a number of recent publications, however, the geographic identity between Luwiya and [[Arzawa]] was rejected or doubted.<ref>Hawkins 2013, p. 5, Gander 2017, p. 263, Matessi 2017, fn. 35</ref> In the post-Hittite era, the region of Arzawa came to be known as [[Lydia]] (Assyrian ''Luddu'', Greek Λυδία), where the [[Lydian language]] was in use. The name ''Lydia'' has been derived from the name ''Luwiya'' (Lydian *''lūda''- < *''luw(i)da''- < ''luwiya''-, with regular Lydian sound change ''y'' > ''d'').<ref>Beekes 2003; cf. Melchert 2008b:154.</ref> The [[Lydian language]], however, cannot be regarded as the direct descendant of Luwian and probably does not even belong to the Luwic group (see [[Anatolian languages]]). Therefore, none of the arguments in favour of the Luwian linguistic dominance in Western Asia Minor can be regarded as compelling, although the issue continues to be debated.