Editing Dacian language (section)

=====Anatolia=====
[[File:Asia minor-Shepherd 1923.JPG|thumb|right|upright=2|Map showing the regions of ancient Anatolia, including [[Bithynia]], [[Phrygia]] and [[Mysia]]]]

According to some ancient sources, notably [[Strabo]], the northwestern section of the [[Anatolian peninsula]], namely the ancient regions of [[Bithynia]], [[Phrygia]] and [[Mysia]], were occupied by tribes of Thracian or Dacian origin and thus spoke dialects of the Thracian or Dacian languages (which, Strabo claimed, were in turn closely related). However, the link between Dacian and Thracian has been disputed by some scholars, as has the link between these two languages and Phrygian.

According to Strabo (VII.3.2) and [[Herodotus]], the people of Bithynia in northwest [[Anatolia]] originated from two Thracian tribes, the ''Bithyni'' and ''Thyni'', which migrated from their original home around the river [[Struma (river)|Strymon]] in Thrace. Therefore, they spoke the Thracian language. In addition, Strabo (VII.3.2) claims that the neighbouring [[Phrygians]] were also descended from a Thracian tribe, the ''Briges'', and spoke a language similar to Thracian. In fact, it has been established that both Bithynians and Phrygians spoke the [[Phrygian language]]. Phrygian is better documented than Thracian and Dacian, as some 200 inscriptions in the language survive. Study of these has led mainstream opinion to accept the observation of the ancient Greek philosopher [[Plato]] (''Cratylus'' 410a) that Phrygian showed strong affinities to [[Greek language|Greek]].{{sfn|Brixhe|1994}}{{sfn|Brixhe|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=J-f_jwCgmeUC&pg=PA72 72]}} Georgiev argued in one article that Phrygian originally belonged to the same IE branch as Greek and [[Ancient Macedonian language|Ancient Macedonian]] (which did not include Thracian or Dacian),{{sfn|Georgiev|1960|pp=285–297}} but later adopted the view that Phrygian constituted a separate branch of Indo-European, (also unrelated to Thracian or Dacian).{{sfn|Georgiev|1977|p=282}} This position is currently favoured by mainstream scholarship.{{sfn|Polomé|1982|p=888}}

In addition, Strabo (VII.3.2) equates the [[Moesi]] people of the Danubian basin with the ''Mysi'' ([[Mysians]]), neighbours of the Phrygians in NW Anatolia, stating that the two forms were Greek and Latin variants of the same name. The Mysians, he adds, were Moesi who had migrated to Anatolia and also spoke the Dacian language. Georgiev accepts Strabo's statement, dubbing the language of the Moesi "Daco-Mysian". However, there is insufficient evidence about either Dacian or the [[Mysian language]], both of which are virtually undocumented, to verify Strabo's claim.{{citation needed|date=August 2011}} It is possible that Strabo made a false identification based solely on the similarity between the two tribal names, which may have been coincidental.