Anatolian languages
The
Anatolian languages are a group of extinct
Indo-European languages, which were spoken in
Asia Minor, the best attested of them being the
Hittite language.
*
Hittite (
nesili), attested from ca. 1900 BCE to 1100 BCE, official language of the
Hittite Empire*
Luwian (
luwili), a close relative of Hittite spoken in adjoinging regions sometimes under Hittite control
**Cuneiform Luwian, glosses and short passages in Hittite texts written in
Cuneiform script**Hieroglyphic Luwian, written in
Anatolian hieroglyphs on seals and in rock inscriptions
*
Lycian, spoken in
Lycia in the
Iron Age, a descendant of
Luwian, extinct in ca. the
1st century BCE, fragmentary.
*
Palaic, spoken in north-central Anatolia, extinct around the
13th century BCE, known only fragmentarily from quoted prayers in Hittite texts
*
Carian, spoken in
Caria, fragmentarily attested from graffiti by
Carian mercenaries in Egypt from ca. the
7th century BCE, extinct ca. in the
3rd century BCE.
*
Lydian, spoken in
Lydia, extinct in ca. the
1st century BCE, fragmentary.
*
Pisidian and
Sidetic (
Pamphylian), fragmentary.
There were likely other languages of the family that have left no written records, such as the languages of
Mysia,
Cappadocia and
Paphlagonia.
The Hittite
morphology is less complicated than other, older Indo-European languages. Either some Indo-European characteristics disappeared in Hittite or the other languages have innovated. It contains numerous
archaisms of great importance.
The Anatolian branch is generally considered the earliest to split off the
Proto-Indo-European language, from a stage referred to either as
Indo-Hittite or "Middle PIE", typically a date in the mid
4th millennium BC is assumed. In a
Kurgan framework, there are two possibilities of how early Anatolian speakers could have reached Anatolia: from the north via the
Caucasus, and from the west, via the
Balkans[While models assuming an Anatolian PIE homeland of course do not assume any migration at all, and the model assuming an Armenian homeland assumes straightforward immigration from the East.], with the Balkans route being considered somewhat more likely by Steiner (1990).
The
Aegean languages have been proposed as being related to the Anatolian branch, but in mainstream linguistics, the evidence in support of such claims is not considered conclusive.
Anatolia was heavily
hellenized following the conquests of
Alexander the Great, and it is generally thought that by the 1st century BC the native languages of the area were extinct. This makes Anatolian the first known branch of Indo-European that has become extinct, the only other known branch that has no living descendants being
Tocharian, which ceased to be spoken around the
8th century.
*G. Steiner,
The immigration of the first Indo-Europeans into Anatolia reconsidered,
JIES 18 (1990), 185â€"214.
*
Indo-Hittite*
Language families and languages*
Aegean languages*
Anatolian Languages (by D. E. Landon)
