Editing Thracian language (section)

== Remnants of the Thracian language ==
[[File:ThracianLanguageMap.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Limits of the (southern) Thracian linguistic territory according to Ivan Duridanov, 1985]]

Little is known for certain about the Thracian language, since no text has been satisfactorily deciphered. Some of the longer inscriptions may be Thracian in origin but they may simply reflect jumbles of names or magical formulas.<ref>Olteanu et al.</ref>

Enough Thracian lexical items have survived to show that Thracian was a member of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language family]].

Besides the aforementioned inscriptions, Thracian may be attested through [[personal name]]s, [[toponymy|toponyms]], [[hydronym]]s, [[wikt:phytonym|phytonyms]], divine names, etc. and by a small number of words cited in Ancient Greek texts as being specifically Thracian.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://members.tripod.com/~Groznijat/thrac/thrac_3.html |title=The Language of the Thracians |access-date=2007-01-14 |last=Duridanov |first=Ivan}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2021}}

There are 23 words mentioned by ancient sources considered explicitly of Thracian origin and known meaning.<ref name=Duridanov1976>{{cite book |last=Duridanov |first=I. |year=1976 |url=http://www.kroraina.com/thrac_lang |title=The Language of the Thracians (An abridged translation of Ezikyt na trakite, Ivan Duridanov, Nauka i izkustvo, Sofia, 1976. (c) Ivan Duridanov)}}</ref><ref>Georgiev, Vladimir I.. "Thrakisch und Dakisch". Band 29/2. Teilband Sprache und Literatur (Sprachen und Schriften [Forts.]), edited by Wolfgang Haase, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 1983. pp. 1151–1153. {{doi|10.1515/9783110847031-015}}</ref> Of the words that are preserved in ancient glossaries, in particular by Hesychius, only three dozen can be considered "Thracian". However, Indo-European scholars have pointed out that "even the notion that what the ancients called "Thracian" was a single entity is unproven."<ref name=Fortson2004>{{cite book |last=Fortson |first=B. |year=2004 |title=Indo-European Language and Culture: an Introduction |page=404}}</ref> The table below lists potential [[cognate]]s from Indo-European languages, but most of them have not found general acceptance within Indo-European scholarship. Not all lexical items in Thracian are assumed to be from the [[Proto-Indo-European language]], some non-IE lexical items in Thracian are to be expected.

{| class = wikitable
|+
! Word !! Meaning!! Attested by !! Cognates !! Notes
|-
|ἄσα (asa)
|colt's foot ([[Bessi]])
|Dioskurides
|Lit. dial. ''asỹs'' 'horse-tail, Equisetum', Latv. ''aši'', ''ašas'' 'horse-tail, sedge, rush'
| The etymology of both Baltic words is unclear and extra-Baltic cognates have yet to be established.<ref name=Fraenkel1962-5>{{cite book |last=Fraenkel |first=Ernst |year=1962 |title=Litauisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch |page=124}}</ref>
|-
|βόλινθος (bólinthos)
|aurochs, European bison
|Aristotle
|Proto-Slavic ''[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/volъ|*volъ]]'' ("ox"). Per Beekes, [[Pre-Greek]].<ref>{{harvnb|Beekes|2009|p=225}}</ref>
|See also Gk. βοῦς 'cow', but Latv. ''govs'' ' ''id'' ' both < PIE *g<sup>w</sup>ṓws. Proto-Slavic *vòlъ has no extra-Slavic cognates.
|-
|βρία (bría)
|unfortified village
|Hesychius, compare the Toponyms Πολτυμβρία, Σηλυ(μ)μβρία, and Βρέα in Thrace.
|Compared to Greek ῥίον (ríon; "peak, foothills") and Tocharian A ''ri'', B ''riye'' ("town") as if < ''*urih₁-''. Alternatively, compare Proto-Celtic ''[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/brixs|*brix-]]'' ("hill").
|Gk ῥίον has no clear etymology.<ref>{{harvnb|Beekes|2009|p=1287}}</ref> The Toch lemmata may be related.<ref name=Adams2013>{{cite book |last=Adams |first=D. |year=2013 |title=A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Enlarged and Greatly Revised |page=582}}</ref>
|-
|βρίζα (bríza)
|rye
|Galen
|Perhaps of Eastern origin, compare Greek ὄρυζα, Sanskrit ''vrīhí-'' ("rice").
|The 'rice' words in Gk and IIr are [[wanderwort]]s. The Gk word may be borrowed from an Eastern Iranian language.<ref>{{harvnb|Beekes|2009|pp=1112–1113}}</ref>
|-
|βρυνχός (brynkhós)
|kithara<ref name="Georgiev, Vladimir I. 1983">Georgiev, Vladimir I.. "Thrakisch und Dakisch". Band 29/2. Teilband Sprache und Literatur (Sprachen und Schriften [Forts.]), edited by Wolfgang Haase, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 1983. p. 1152. {{doi|10.1515/9783110847031-015}}</ref>
|
|Compared with Slavic ''*bręčati'' "to ring".
|The Proto-Slavic lemma is reconstructed based exclusively on Serbo-Croatian ''brecati'' 'twang, be insolent' and consequently may not even be reconstructable to its own proto-language as there are no external or internal comparanda. It may be onomatopoetic in nature. Furthermore, there is a grave issue with the inscription, as Gk /ŋ/ is written with a gamma before a velar, i.e., this word should be written ''βρυγχός'', which it is not. 
|-
|βρῦτος (brŷtos)
|beer of barley
|many
|Slavic "vriti" (to boil), Germanic ''[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bruþą|*bruþa-]]'' ("broth"), Old Irish ''bruth'' ("glow"), Latin ''dē-frŭtum'' ("must boiled down").<ref name="Georgiev, Vladimir I. 1983"/>{{efn|Valdés (2017) cites other cognates to the root: Celtic deity [[Borvo]] and [[Latin language|Latin]] ''ferveo'' "I boil" (from e-grade).<ref>Valdés, Marcos Obaya. "Averamientu al astúricu. Vocalización de les nasales del grau-cero indo-européu: *mo > am / *no > an, y delles propuestes etimolóxiques". In: ''Lletres asturianes: Boletín Oficial de l'Academia de la Llingua Asturiana'' Nº. 117, 2017, p. 64. {{ISSN|2174-9612}}</ref>}}
|-
|dinupula, si/nupyla
|wild melon
|Pseudoapuleus
|Lithuanian ''šùnobuolas'', lit. ("dog's apple"), or with Slavic [[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/dynja|*dynja]] ("melon"). Per Vladimir Georgiev, derived from ''*kun-ābōlo-'' or ''*kun-ābulo-'' 'hound's apple'.<ref name="Georgiev, Vladimir I. 1983"/>
| Proto-Slavic *dyña (from earlier *kъdyña is most likely borrowed from Gk. κῠδώνῐον via Lat. ''cydōnia''.<ref name=VasmerTrubachev>{{cite book |last=Vasmer |first=M. |year=1973 |title=Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), ed. Oleg Trubačev}}</ref>
|-
|γέντον (génton)
|meat
|Herodian., Suid., Hesych
|Possibly descended from IE ''*gʷʰn̥tó-'' 'strike, kill', cf. Sanskrit ''hatá-'' 'hit, killed'
|The adjective *gʷʰn̥tós in the zero-grade has an *-s in the nom.sg., whereas in Thracian the word ends in a nasal, which is a serious issue that requires morphological remodelling in Thracian for it to be posited as the starting point for Thracian γέντον. Furthermore, the e-grade vowel of the Thracian potential avatar remains to be explained as well if from an original PIE *gʷʰn̥tós.
|-
|καλαμίνδαρ (kalamíndar)
|plane-tree ([[Edoni]])
|Hesych.
|
|-
|κη̃μος (kêmos)
|a kind of fruit with follicle
|Phot. Lex.
|
|-
|κτίσται (ktístai)
|[[Ctistae]]
|Strabo
|
|-
|midne (in a Latin inscription, thus not written with Gk alphabet)
|village
|inscription from Rome
|Latvian ''mītne'' 'a place of stay', Avestan {{lang|ae|maēϑana-}} 'dwelling'<ref name="Fortson 2004 404"/>
|-
|Πολτυμ(βρία) (poltym-bría)
|board fence, a board tower
|
|Old English ''speld'' 'wood, log'
|The OE lemma is poorly understood and extra-Germanic cognates are few and far between. OE ''speld'' may have descended from a PIE root *(s)pley- which is poorly attested and does not seem to be a formal match to the Thracian term.
|-
|ῥομφαία ([[Rhomphaia|rhomphaía]])
|broadsword
|
|Compared with Latin ''rumpō'' ("to rupture"),<ref name="Georgiev, Vladimir I. 1983"/> Slavic: Russian ''разрубать'', Polish ''rąbać'' ("to hack", "to chop", "to slash"), Polish ''rębajło'' ("eager swordsman"), Serbo-Croatian ''rmpalija'' ("bruiser")
|The Slavic terms here must come from a medial *-b<sup>h</sup>-, whereas Lat. ''rumpō'' 'I break' must descend from a medial *-p-<ref name=LIV2>{{cite book |last=Rix |display-authors=et al. |first=H. |year=2001 |title=Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German)}}</ref> and therefore those words aren't even cognate with each other, let alone with the Thracian term.
|-
|σκάλμη (skálmē)
|knife, sword
|Soph. y Pollux, Marcus Anton., Hesych., Phot. L
|Albanian ''[[wikt:shkallmë|shkallmë]]'' ("sword"), Old Norse ''skolmr'' 'cleft'
|The Albanian term is likely a secondary innovation. ON ''skolmr'' is unclear and has no extra-Germanic cognates;<ref name=DeVries1977>{{cite book |last=de Vries |first=J. |year=1977 |title=Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Etymological Dictionary of Old Norse] (in German) |page=498}}</ref> it is unlikely to be related to the Thracian term.
|-
|σκάρκη (skárkē)
|a silver coin
|Hesych., Phot. Lex.
|
|-
|σπίνος (spínos)
|'a kind of stone, which blazes when water touches it' (i.e. 'lime')
|Arist.
| [[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] *k̑witn̥os 'white, whitish', Greek τίτανος (Attic) and κίττανος (Doric) 'gypsum, chalk, lime'.<br>Although from the same PIE root, Albanian ''shpâ(ni)'' 'lime, tartar' and Greek σπίνος 'lime' derive from a secondary origin as they were probably borrowed from Thracian due to phonetic reasons<ref>{{cite journal|last=Witczak|first=Krzysztof Tomasz|title=Studies in Thracian vocabulary (I–VII)|journal=Studia Indogermanica Lodziensia|volume=VII|year=2012|pages=153–168}} pp. 159–161.</ref>
|
|-
|τορέλλη (toréllē)
|a refrain of lament mourn song
|Hesych.
|
|-
|ζαλμός (zalmós)
|animal hide
|Porphyr.
|Per Georgiev, derived from ''*kolmo-s''. Related to Gothic ''hilms'', German ''Helm'' and Old Iranian ''sárman'' 'protection'.<ref name="Georgiev, Vladimir I. 1983"/>
|Thracian initial ζ- can either be related to PIE *ḱ (as in these 'cognates' and several below) or to *ǵ<sup>h</sup>-/*g<sup>h</sup>- as in the following entry, but not both. There does not exist an OIr word ''sárman'',<ref name=Bartholomae1961>{{cite book |last=Bartholomae |first=C. |year=1961 |title=Altiranisches Wörterbuch [Old Iranian Dictionary] (in German) |pages=1564–1567}}</ref> but a word ''śárman'' does exist in Sanskrit. However, Sanskrit ś- must go back to a PIE *ḱ-, not *k- as Georgiev states.
|-
|ζειρά (zeira)
|long robe worn by Arabs and Thracians
|Hdt., Xen., Hesych.
|Per Georgiev, related to Greek χείρ (kheir) and Phrygian ζειρ (zeir) 'hand'.<ref name="Georgiev, Vladimir I. 1983"/>
|See above. The meaning of Phrygian ζειρα(ι) is unknown, not 'hand' as Georgiev believes.<ref>Klein et al., edd. (2018) HCHL:1820, chapter XVI.101 'Phrygian' by Ligorio and Lubotsky.</ref>
|-
|ζελᾶ (zelâ), also ζῆλα (zêla), ζηλᾱς (zelās) 
|wine
|many
|Compared with Greek χάλις (khális; "unblended wine") and κάλιθος (kálithos; "wine")
|See above.
|-
|ζετραία (zetraía)
|pot
|Pollux
|Per Georgiev, related to Greek ''χύτρα'' (khútra) 'pot'.<ref name="Georgiev, Vladimir I. 1983"/>
|See above.
|-
|zibythides
|the noble, most holy one
|Hesych.
|Lith. ''žibùtė'' ("shining")
|}