Thracian language
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The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times by the Thracians in South-Eastern Europe.
Geographic distribution
Excluding Dacian, whose status as a Thracian language is disputed1, Thracian was spoken in substantial numbers in what is now southern Bulgaria, parts of Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, Northern Greece (especially prior to Ancient Macedonian expansion), Albania, throughout European Turkey and in parts of North-Western Asiatic Turkey (e.g., Bithynia).
Including Dacian/Getian, it was spoken in Romania, northern Bulgaria, parts of Serbia, the Republic of Moldova, western-central Ukraine, and eastern Hungary and Slovak Republic as well.
Sources
As an extinct language with only a few short inscriptions attributed to it (see below), there is little known about the Thracian language, but a number of features are agreed upon. Some Thracian words can be found cited in ancient texts [link] (this list excludes Dacian plant names which however are sometimes included):
- asa — A Bessian word for the Coltsfoot.
- bolinthos — "wild bull, bison"
- bria — "town"
- brynchos — "guitar"; cf. Romanian broancă "a stringed instrument", Russian brenčat' "playing on a stringed instrument", Pol brzek "ringing, tinkle", Ukraine brjak "ringing, sound"
- brytos, bryton, brutos, bryttion — "a kind of ale made from barley" ; cf. E broth, Welsh brwd "brewage", Lat defrutum "must boiled down", Gk apéphrysen "to seethe, boil", Skt bhurati "he quivers", Alb brumë "dough"
- dinupula, *sinupyla — "wild pumpkin"; cf. Macedonian dinya a watermelon, Lith šúnobuolas wild pumpkin, Alb thënukël dogberry
- genton — "meat"
- kalamindar — "plane tree"
- kemos — "a kind of fruit with follicles"
- ktistai — "Thracians living in celibacy, monks"
- mendruta — a Moesian name for the beet or alternately the false helleborine, Veratrum nigrum
- rhomphaia — "a spear"; later the meaning "sword" is attested
- skalme — "a knife, a sword"
- skarke — "a coin"
- spinos — "a stone which burns when water is poured on it"
- torelle — "a lament, a song of mourning"
- zalmos, zelmis — "a hide, skin" ; cf. G Helm "helmet", Lith šálmas, OPruss salmis "helmet", OSl šlĕmŭ, Skt śárman "cover"
- zeira, zira — "a type of upper garment"
- zelas — "wine"
- zetraia — "a pot"
- zibythides — "the noble Thracian men and women"
- -disza, -diza, -dizos — "a fortified settlement"
- -para, -pera, -paron, etc. — "a town"
Another source for the Thracian vocabulary are words of unknown or disputed etymology found in Bulgarian (see Bulgarian lexis), Romanian (see Eastern Romance substratum), and Macedonian. Albanian is sometimes regarded as a descendant of Dacian or Thracian, or as a descendant of Illyrian with a Daco-Thracic admixture; thus the Albanian lexis is another source.
Thracian words in the Ancient Greek lexicon are also proposed. Greek lexical elements may derive from Thracian, such as balios ("dappled"; < PIE *bhel-, "to shine"; Pokorny also cites Illyrian as a possible source), bounos, "hill, mound", etc.
Inscriptions
Only four Thracian insciptions have been found. One is a gold ring found in 1912 in the town of Ezerovo, Bulgaria. The ring was dated to the 5th century BC. On the ring is an inscription written in a Greek script which says:- ΡΟΛΙΣΤΕΝΑΣΝ / ΕΡΕΝΕΑΤΙΛ / ΤΕΑΝΗΣΚΟΑ / ΡΑΖΕΑΔΟΜ / ΕΑΝΤΙΛΕΖΥ / ΠΤΑΜΙΗΕ / ΡΑΖ / ΗΛΤΑ
- rolisteneasn /ereneatil / teanēskoa / razeadom / eantilezy / ptamiēe / raz / ēlta
A second inscription was found in 1965 near the village of Kjolmen, Preslav district, dating to the 6th century BC. It consists of 56 letters of the Greek alphabet, probably a tomb stele inscription similar to the Phrygian ones:
- ΕΒΑΡ. ΖΕΣΑ ΑΣΝ ΗΝΕΤΕΣΑ ΙΓΕΚ.Α / ΝΒΛΑΒΑΗΕΓΝ / ΝΘΑΣΝΛΕΤΕΔΝΘΕΔΝΕΙΝΔΑΚΑΤΡ.Σ
- ebar. zesa asn ēnetesa igek. a / nblabaēegn / nuasnletednuedneindakatr.s
- ΗΖΙΗ ..... ΔΕΛΕ / ΜΕΖΗΝΑΙ
- ēziē ..... dele / mezēnai
These are the longest inscriptions preserved. The remaining ones are mostly single words or names on vessels and other artefacts. In addition, Thracian lexical elements have been drawn from inscriptions in Greek or Latin.
In a Latin inscription from Rome discussing a citizen from the Roman province of Thracia, the phrase Midne potelense is found; this is interpreted as indicating the Thracian's place of origin, midne being seen as the Thracian equivalent of Latin vicus, "village". If this is correct, the Thracian word has a close cognate (Latv. mitne, "a dwelling") in Latvian, a Baltic language.It could be connected also to the Bulgarian term for dwelling place "mitnitsa".