Responding to Deroubaix Clyv 's
>>2. I've ever heard that Albanian is a restant from the Illyrian
>>languages, but when I see the the Illyrian rooth that means 'water', I
>>see no connections with the Albanian word 'ujë'. Could you give >>me some
linguistic proofs that Albanian is an Illyrian language?
Piotr Gasiorowski , keyed in part:
> 2. We know very little about Illyrian proper. Still, I'm absolutely sure
>of one thing: if Messapic (as usually assumed) represents the >Illyrian
branch, then Albanian can't have anything to do with Illyrian, >no matter
what modern Albanians believe. Their belief in >autochthony since time out
of mind is a nationalist remedy for the >understandable feeling of
territorial insecurity (aggravated by the >Kosovo conflict) but it cannot be
substantiated linguistically. A few >years ago many educated Poles suffered
from similar complexes >regarding our own prehistory. The "homeland" issue
is no longer >politically sensitive in this country, I'm happy to report.
>I think Albanian is related to the extinct Dacian (or Getic) languages
>spoken more or less in what is now Romania (the southern >Carpathian
region). If you need any arguments in favour of THAT >position, I'll be
happy to oblige you early next year ;-)
If the last clause means we only have to wait a few hours for those
arguments, I can make it. I am most interested to hear them. I don't
oppose, its just that I am an interloper anyway (A non linguist lurking
from anth oriented historical interest) and you are touching on a complex
matrix of questions relating to this area. If Albanian is not Illyrian, and
is related to Daci..then it must be Thracian. I'm not sure...but I think
the Albanian shifted as much under Ottoman influence as the Geto-Daci did
under Roman. The local position is that there are surviving Daci words
(several hundred) in the Romaneste lexicon: home, hearth, food, village and
family words. Distinguishing these between, say..Moesi would be
dificult..but Illyrian is another story, To do any comparison with Albanian,
you've got to get back past the Turkic influence.
La Revedere;
Rex H. McTyeire
Bucharest, Romania
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rexbo@...>