Editing Thracian language (section)

== Inscriptions ==
The following are the longest inscriptions preserved. The remaining ones are mostly single words or names on vessels and other artifacts. No translation has been accepted by the larger Indo-European community of scholars.<ref>{{cite book|first=Jared|last=Klein et al. edd. | title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics| chapter=XVI Languages of fragmentary attestation, section 104 by Claude Brixhe | publisher=De Gruyter | year=2018 |quote="There are as many interpretations of these as there are investigators; and as a result these monuments have not contributed anything to our knowledge of the language" |page=1851}}</ref>

=== Ezerovo inscription ===
[[File:Golden_ring_Ezerovo_mound_BG_Ancient_Thrace_period.jpg|thumb|171x171px|The Ring of Ezerovo, found in 1912]]

Only four Thracian inscriptions of any length have been found. The first is a gold ring found in 1912 in the village of [[Ezerovo, Plovdiv Province|Ezerovo]] (Plovdiv Province of [[Bulgaria]]); the ring was dated to the 5th century BC.<ref>{{cite web| title=Golden ring with Thracian inscription. NAIM-Sofia exhibition |url=http://naim.bg/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=217 | publisher = National Archaeological Institute with Museum, Sofia }}</ref> The ring features an inscription in a Greek script consisting of 8 lines, the eighth of which is located on the rim of the rotating disk; it reads without any spaces between:
{{lang|txh|ΡΟΛΙΣΤΕΝΕΑΣΝ / ΕΡΕΝΕΑΤΙΛ / ΤΕΑΝΗΣΚΟΑ / ΡΑΖΕΑΔΟΜ / ΕΑΝΤΙΛΕΖΥ / ΠΤΑΜΙΗΕ / ΡΑΖ // ΗΛΤΑ|italics=none}}

Dimitar Dechev (Germanised as ''D. Detschew'') separates the words as follows:<ref>{{cite book|first=Ivan|last=Duridanov | title=Die Sprache der Thraker | series=Bulgarische Sammlung | volume= 5 | publisher=Hieronymus Verlag | year=1985 | isbn=3-88893-031-6 | language= de|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ra3iAAAAMAAJ&q=Rolisteneas|quote=Ich bin Rolisteneas, Sprößling des Nereneas; Tilezypta, Arazerin nach ihrer Heimat, hat mich der Erde übergeben (d.h. begraben).}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Die Sprache der Thrako-Daker|first=Ion I.|last=Russu|publisher=Ed. Ştiinţificā|year=1969|language=de|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IgUQAQAAIAAJ&q=Rolisteneas}}</ref>

{{fs interlinear |lang=txh |indent=2
|ΡΟΛΙΣΤΕΝΕΑΣ ΝΕΡΕΝΕΑ ΤΙΛΤΕΑΝ ΗΣΚΟ ΑΡΑΖΕΑ ΔΟΜΕΑΝ ΤΙΛΕΖΥΠΤΑ ΜΙΗ ΕΡΑ ΖΗΛΤΑ
|Rolisteneas Nerenea tiltean ēsko Arazea domean Tilezypta miē era zēlta
|I am Rolisteneas, a descendant of Nereneas; Tilezypta, an Arazian woman, delivered me to the ground.
}}

=== Kyolmen inscription ===

A second inscription, hitherto undeciphered, was found in 1965 near the village of {{ill|Kyolmen|bg|Кьолмен}}, [[Varbitsa Municipality]], dating to the sixth century BC. Written in a Greek alphabet variant, it is possibly a tomb stele inscription similar to the Phrygian ones; Peter A. Dimitrov's transcription thereof is:<ref>{{cite book|title=Thracian Language and Greek and Thracian Epigraphy|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4438-1325-9|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8gkaBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|first=Peter A.|last=Dimitrov|chapter=The Kyolmen Stone Inscription|page=5}}</ref>

:ΙΛΑΣΝΛΕΤΕΔΝΛΕΔΝΕΝΙΔΑΚΑΤΡΟΣΟ<ref name="KyolmenRTL">Written from right to left.</ref>
:ΕΒΑ·ΡΟΖΕΣΑΣΝΗΝΕΤΕΣΑΙΓΕΚΟΑ<ref name="KyolmenLTR">Written from left to right.</ref>
:ΝΒΛΑΒΑΗΓΝ<ref name="KyolmenRTL" />
i.e.
:ilasnletednlednenidakatroso
:eba·rozesasnēnetesaigekoa
:nblabaēgn

=== Duvanlii inscription ===
A third inscription is again on a ring, found in {{ill|Duvanlii|bg|Дуванлии}}, [[Kaloyanovo Municipality]], next to the left hand of a skeleton. It dates to the 5th century BC. The ring has the image of a [[Thracian horseman|horseman]]<ref>Pleket, H.W., and R.S. Stroud, eds. 1994. ''Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum''. 41–584. Amsterdam. {{doi|10.1163/1874-6772_seg_a41_584}}</ref> with the inscription surrounding the image.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Orel |first=Vladimir E. |author-link=Vladimir Orel |title=On Two Minor Thracian Inscriptions |journal=Glotta |volume=64 |issue=1/2 |date=1986 |pages=48–49 |jstor=40266737}} Accessed 22 July 2024.</ref> It is only partly legible (16 out of the initial 21):

{{fs interlinear |lang=txh |indent=2
|ΗΥΖΙΗ ..... ΔΕΛΕ / ΜΕΖΗΝΑΙ
|ēuziē ..... dele / mezēnai
|}}

The word ''mezenai'' is interpreted to mean 'Horseman', and a cognate to [[Illyrian languages|Illyrian]] ''Menzanas'' (as in "Juppiter/Jove Menzanas" 'Juppiter of the foals' or 'Juppiter on a horse');<ref>{{cite book |last=Georgiev |first=Vladimir I. |author-link=Vladimir I. Georgiev |title=Introduction to the History of the Indo-European Languages |edition=3rd |location=Sofia |publisher=Bulgarian Academy of Sciences |date=1981 |page=116 |quote=''Μεζην'' = nom.-voc., which is under the figure of the horseman, is the name of the Thracian god-horseman; it corresponds to the name (epithet) of the Messapian god ''Menzana'' (Iupiter), to whom horses were offered as a sacrifice. Both names are derived from ''*mendy-ān'' 'horseman', a derivative of ''*mendi(o)-'' 'horse'; they are related to Alb. ''mëz-'' 'stallion' and Rum. (Dac.) ''mînz'' 'stallion'.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Orel |first=Vladimir E. |author-link=Vladimir Orel |title=On Two Minor Thracian Inscriptions |journal=Glotta |volume=64 |issue=1/2 |date=1986 |page=49 |jstor=40266737 |quote=Georgiev (1977, 112) suggested to connect MEZHNAI with ''Iuppiter Menzana'', which seems more plausible, if one remembers of the mounted figure on the ring, Menzana being a deity connected with the horse-cult. (...) The second word ''mezēnai'' could be identified with ''Menzana'' and treated as a name of a deity.}} Accessed 22 July 2024.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Meudler |first=Marcel |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/rea_0035-2004_2003_num_105_1_5647 |title=Mézence, un théonyme messapien? |journal=Revue des Études Anciennes |volume=105 |date=2003 |issue=1 |pages=5–6 |language=FR |doi=10.3406/rea.2003.5647}}</ref> [[Albanian language|Albanian]] ''mëz'' 'foal'; [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''mînz'' 'colt, foal';<ref>{{cite journal |last=Oreshko |first=Rostislav |title=The onager kings of Anatolia: Hartapus, Gordis, Muška and the steppe strand in early Phrygian culture |journal=Kadmos |volume=59 |issue=1–2 |date=2020 |page=118= |doi=10.1515/kadmos-2020-0005|url=https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-03880045/file/Oreshko%20The%20onager%20kings%20of%20Anatolia%20-%20final.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Pax Leonard |first=Stephen |title=Hipponyms in Indo-European: using register to disentangle the etyma |journal=Journal of Language Relationship |volume=19 |issue=1–2 |date=2021 |page=4 |doi=10.1515/jlr-2021-191-206|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref> [[Latin language|Latin]] ''mannus'' 'small horse, pony';<ref>Kaluzkaja, Irina. "Thracian-Illyrian language parallels: Thrac. MEZENAI – Illyr. Menzanas". In: ''Thracian World at Crossroad of Civilizations – Proceedings of 7th International Congress of Thracology''. Bucharest: 1996. pp. 372–373.</ref><ref>Francisco Marcos-Marin. "Etymology and Semantics: Theoretical Considerations apropos of an Analysis of the Etymological Problem of Spanish mañero, mañeria." In: ''Historical Semantics—Historical Word-Formation''. de Gruyter, 1985. p. 381.</ref> [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] ''manduos'' 'pony' (as in tribe name ''[[Viromandui]]''<ref>Balmori, C. Hernando. "[https://www.persee.fr/doc/ecelt_0373-1928_1941_num_4_1_1177 Notes on the etymology of sp. 'perro']". In: ''Etudes Celtiques'', vol. 4, fascicule 1, 1941. p. 49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/ecelt.1941.1177</ref> 'men who own ponies').<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. p. 1161. {{doi|10.1515/9783110847031-015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Cazacu |first=Boris |author-link=:ro:Boris Cazacu |title=Einige Fragen zur Ausarbeitung eines neuenetymologischen Wörterbuchs der rumänischen Sprache [DISKUSSION AKTUELLER PROBLEME] |journal=Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie |volume=96 |issue=5–6 |date=1980 |pages=509–510 |doi=10.1515/zrph.1980.96.5-6.489 |quote=Vl. Georgiev zeigte, daß es dieses Wort auch im Thrakischen gab, wo die Form ''Mezenai'' unter dem Bild des thrakischen Ritters auftaucht. |trans-quote=Vl. Georgiev demonstrated that the word existed in Thracian, with the form ''Mezenai'', under the depiction of the Thracian Horseman.}}</ref>{{efn|A similarly looking word ''Mandicae'' 'to Mandica' is attested in an inscription from [[Asturia]]. It has been suggested to mean the name of a goddess related to foals.<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. 67. {{ISSN|2174-9612}}</ref>}}