Editing Messapic language (section)

==== Albanian ====
The linguistic data of [[Albanian language|Albanian]] can be used to compensate for the lack of fundamental information on Illyrian, since [[Proto-Albanian language|Proto-Albanian]] (the ancestor language of [[Albanian language|Albanian]]) was likewise an Indo-European language certainly spoken in the Balkans in antiquity,{{sfn|Friedman|2020|p=388}}{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=|pp=62–63}}{{sfn|Aigner-Foresti|2004|p=81|ps=: "Altri studiosi, sulla scia di P. Kretschmer, sostengono invece la parentela linguistica illirico-messapica partendo dal presupposto che l'antico illirico trovi un seguito nell'albanese moderno. Le loro argomentazioni sono attendibili anche se non vincolanti."}} and probably since at least the 7th century BC, as suggested by the presence of archaic loanwords from [[Ancient Greek]].{{Sfn|de Vaan|2017|p=1732}}{{Sfn|Matzinger|2017|p=1791–1792}}{{Sfn|Rusakov|2017|p=559}}{{Sfn|Matasović|2012|p=6}}

A number of linguistic [[cognate]]s with Albanian have been proposed, such as Messapic ''aran'' and Albanian ''arë'' ("field"), ''biliā'' and ''bijë'' ("daughter"), or ''menza-'' and ''mëz'' ("[[foal]]").<ref name=":0">{{harvnb|Orel|1998|pp=260, 265}}; {{harvnb|West|2007|pp=137, 146}}; {{harvnb|Rusakov|2017|p=556}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2017|p=1790}}; {{harvnb|Poli|2019|p=600}}</ref> The [[Toponymy|toponomy]] points to a link between the two languages, as some towns in Apulia have no etymological forms outside Albanian linguistic sources.{{sfn|Trumper|2018|p=385|ps=: "Overall, the complex of Albanian dialects remains a solid block of the Albanoid group still relatable with Messapic (observed in place naming in Apulia: some towns have no etymon outside Albanoid sources, for example in toponyms such as Manduria)."}} Other linguistic elements such as [[Grammatical particle|particles]], [[preposition]]s, [[suffix]]es, [[lexicon]], but also [[toponym]]s, [[anthroponym]]s and [[theonym]]s of the Messapic language find singular affinities with Albanian.{{sfn|Aigner-Foresti|2004|p=82|ps=: "Elementi linguistici (particelle, preposizioni, suffissi, lessico, ma anche toponimi, antroponimi e teonimi) del messapico trovano, infatti, singolare riscontro nell'albanese."}} Some [[phonological]] data can also be compared between the two languages, and it seems likely that Messapic belongs, like Albanian, to a specific subgroup of the Indo-European languages that shows distinct reflections of all the three [[dorsal consonant]] rows. In the [[Nominal (linguistics)|nominal]] context, both Messapic and Albanian continue, in the masculine terms in ''-o-'', the Indo-European ending ''*-osyo'' (Messapic ''-aihi'', Albanian ''-i / -u'').{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=|pp=62–66}}{{sfn|Ismajli|2015|pp=65–68}}

Regarding the verbal system, both Messapic and Albanian have formally and semantically preserved the two Indo-European [[subjunctive]] and [[optative]] moods. If the reconstructions are correct, we can find, in the preterital system of Messapic, reflections of a formation in ''*-s-'' (which in other Indo-European languages are featured in the suffix of the sigmatic aorist), as in the 3rd sg. ''hipades/opades'' ('he dedicated' < ''*supo-dʰeh₁-s-t'') and in the 3rd pl. ''stahan'' ('they placed' < ''*stah₂-s-n°t''). In Albanian, this formation was likewise featured in the category of aorists formed with the suffix ''-v-''. However, except for the dorsal consonant rows, these similarities do not provide elements exclusively relating Messapic and Albanian, and only a few [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] data are comparable.{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=|pp=62–66}}