| Paleo-Sardinian | |
| Nativename: | Nuragic |
| Region: | Sardinia |
| Ethnicity: | Ancient Sardinians |
| Family: | Unclassified |
| Familycolor: | unclassified |
| Iso3: | none |
| Glotto: | none |
Paleo-Sardinian, also known as Proto-Sardinian or Nuragic, is a set of extinct languages spoken on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia by the ancient Sardinian population during the Nuragic era. Starting from the Roman conquest of Sardinia and Corsica, a process of language shift took place, wherein Latin became the only language spoken by the islanders. Paleo-Sardinian is thought to have left traces in the island's onomastics as well as toponyms, which appear to preserve grammatical suffixes, and a number of words in the modern Sardinian language.
There is toponymic evidence suggesting that the Paleo-Sardinian language may have a connection to the reconstructed Proto-Basque and to the Pre-Indo-European Iberian language of Spain.[1] According to Max Leopold Wagner:
Massimo Pallottino, referring to various authors such as Bertoldi, Terracini and Wagner, highlighted the following similarities between Sardinian, Basque and Iberian:
Archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu hypothesized that the "Basque-Caucasian" idioms of the Bonnanaro culture replaced the previous languages of "pan-Mediterranean" type spoken by the preceding cultures.[2]
Eduardo Blasco Ferrer concluded that the Paleo-Sardinian language developed on the island in the Neolithic as a result of prehistoric migration from the Iberian Peninsula. In his analysis of the Paleo-Sardinian language, he finds only traces of Indo-European influence *ĹŤsa, *debel- and perhaps *mara, *pal-, *nava, *sala which were possibly introduced in the Late Chalcolithic through Liguria. Similarities between Paleo-Sardinian and Ancient Ligurian were also noted by Emidio De Felice.[3] Blasco Ferrer stated:
However, for the linguist and glottologist Giulio Paulis, the Basque language is not helpful in the interpretation of the toponymic heritage of Paleo-Sardinian origin.
Bertoldi and Terracini propose that the common suffix -ara, stressed on the antepenult, was a plural marker, and they indicated a connection to Iberian or to the Paleo-Sicilian languages. Terracini claims a similar connection for the suffixes -à narV, -à nnarV, -énnarV,and -ònnarV, as in the place name Bonnà nnaro. The suffix-ini also seems to be characteristic, as in the place name Barùmini. Infixes -arr-, -err-, -orr-, and -urr- have been claimed to correspond to the North African Numidia (Terracini), to the Basque-speaking Iberia and Gascony (Wagner, Rohlfs, Blasco Ferrer, Hubschmid), and to southern Italy (Rohlfs).
The non-Latin suffixes -à i, -éi, -òi,and -ùi survive in modern place names based on Latin roots. Terracini sees connections to Berber. Bertoldi sees an Anatolian connection in the endings -à i, -asà i (similar claims have been made of the Elymians of Sicily). A suffix -aiko is also common in Iberia. The tribal suffix -itani, -etani, as in the Sulcitani, has also been identified as Paleo-Sardinian.
Several linguists, including Bertoldi, Terracini, Wagner, and Hubschmid, proposed various linguistic layers in prehistoric Sardinia. The oldest pan-Mediterranean was widespread in the Iberian Peninsula, France, Italy, Sardinia, and North Africa. The second Hispano-Caucasian would explain the similarities between Basque and Paleo-Sardinian, and the third Ligurian.
The linguist Massimo Pittau[4] argues that the Paleo-Sardinian language and the Etruscan language were closely linked, as he argues that they were both emanations of the Anatolian branch of Indo-European. According to Pittau, the "Nuragics" were of Lydian origin who imported their Indo-European language to the island, pushing out the Pre-Indo-European languages spoken by the Pre-Nuragic peoples, but this hypothesis does not enjoy consensus.[5] The Etruscan language is believed to be neither Indo-European nor related to the Anatolian languages nor to the Paleo-Sardinian language. The consensus among scholars is that Etruscan is only related to the Rhaetic language spoken in the Alps and to the language attested by a few inscriptions found on the island of Lemnos.[6] [7] [8]
Some examples of Nuragic names of Indo-European origin might be:[9]
Some scholars attribute a "Rhaetian-Etruscoid" strand with the suffix -èna that characterizes a series of toponyms in central Italy (Tuscany, Umbria, Tuscia and Marsica) and in Veneto, passing through Emilia and Romagna. The presence of this suffix is attested, at least since the Middle Ages, also in southern Corsica and in the eastern coast of Sardinia (Gallura, Barbagia, Ogliastra), e.g., Arzachèna, Lugulèna, etc.[10]
Archeologist Giovanni Ugas suggested that the three main Nuragic populations (Balares, Corsi and Ilienses) may have had separate origins and spoke different languages:
The common subdivision of modern Sardinian into the three dialects of Gallurese, Logudorese, and Campidanese might reflect that multilingual substratum. Other Paleo-Sardinian tribes of possible Indo-European stock were the Lucuidonenses from the north of the island, and the Siculensi from the Sarrabus region.
