Messapic in the context of "Anatolian languages"

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⭐ Core Definition: Messapic

Messapic (/mɛˈsæpɪk, mə-, -ˈseɪ-/; also known as Messapian; or as Iapygian) is an extinct Indo-European Paleo-Balkanic language of the southeastern Italian Peninsula, once spoken in an area that roughly coincided with the modern region of Apulia by the Iapygian peoples: the Calabri and Salentini (known collectively as the Messapians), the Peucetians and the Daunians. Messapic was the pre-Roman, non-Italic language of Apulia. It has been preserved in about 600 inscriptions written in an alphabet derived from a Western Greek model and dating from the mid-6th to at least the 2nd century BC, when it went extinct following the Roman conquest of the region.

In current classifications of the Indo-European language family, Messapic is grouped in the same Indo-European branch with Albanian, which is supported by available fragmentary linguistic evidence that shows common characteristic innovations and a number of significant lexical correspondences between the two languages, and notably within the centum-satem classification they both feature the (partial) retention of the Proto-Indo-European three-way contrast for dorsal stops, which is limited only to them among the historical languages of the Balkans and Adriatic Sea (a similar feature is also evident in Luwian of the Anatolian languages and in Armenian). Proto-Messapic migration from the opposite Adriatic coast through a trans-Adriatic interaction network is also confirmed by recent archaeological evidence dating to the period between 1700 BCE and 1400 BCE, in the post-Cetina horizon.

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Messapic in the context of Iapygians

The Iapygians or Apulians (Latin: Iapyges, Iapygii) were an Indo-European-speaking people, dwelling in an eponymous region of the southeastern Italian Peninsula named Iapygia (modern Apulia) between the beginning of the first millennium BC and the first century BC. They were divided into three tribal groups: the Daunians, Peucetians and Messapians. They spoke Messapic, a language of Paleo-Balkan provenance.

After their lands were gradually colonized by the Romans from the late 4th century onward and eventually annexed to the Roman Republic by the early 1st century BC, Iapygians were fully Latinized and assimilated into Roman culture.

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Messapic in the context of Iapygian

The Iapygians or Apulians (Latin: Iapyges, Iapygii) were an Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited Iapygia in southeastern Italy (modern Apulia), from the early first millennium BC until the first century BC. They were traditionally divided into three tribal groups: the Daunians, Peucetians and Messapians.

Their culture developed following cross-Adriatic migrations of Balkan populations in the early first millennium BC, whose traditions blended with local Apulian communities to form a distinct regional identity. The Iapygians spoke Messapic, a Paleo-Balkan language written in Greek-derived alphabets. Their culture, distinct in dress, religion, and burial customs, underwent significant Hellenizing influences from the 6th century BC onward, largely through contacts with nearby Greek colonies such as Taras.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Iapygians ← Iapygian
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Indo-European languages → Paleo-Balkan languages → Italian Peninsula → Apulia → Iapygians → Messapians → Peucetians → Daunians → Roman Republic → Italic languages → Archaic Greek alphabets → Albanoid → Albanian language → Centum and satem languages → Balkans → Adriatic Sea → Luwian language → Anatolian languages → Armenian language → Cetina culture →