Thracian languages
| Thracian | |
|---|---|
| Region | Bulgaria, European Turkey, parts of the region of Macedonia (including Paeonia), parts of Northern Greece, parts of Bithynia in Anatolia. Probably also spoken in parts of Dardania |
| Extinct | Fifth century |
|
Indo-European
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
txh |
|
| Glottolog | thra1250 |
The Thracian language (/ˈθreɪʃən/) was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times in Southeast Europe by the Thracians, the northern neighbors of the Ancient Greeks. The Thracian language exhibits satemization: it either belonged to the satem group of Indo-European languages or it was strongly influenced by satem languages. The language was still in use at least until the sixth century AD. In 570, Antoninus of Piacenza said that in the valleys of Mount Sinai there was a monastery in which the monks spoke Greek, Latin, Syriac, Egyptian and Bessian, the language of the Bessi, one of the most prominent Thracian tribes. The origin of the monasteries is explained in a mediaeval hagiography written by Symeon the Metaphrast in Vita Sancti Theodosii Coenobiarchae, in which he wrote that Saint Theodosius founded on the shore of the Dead Sea a monastery with four churches, in each being spoken a different language, among which Bessian was found. The place where the monasteries were founded was called "Cutila", which may be a Thracian name. The further fate of the Thracian language is a matter of dispute. Some authors like Schramm derived the Albanians from the Christian Bessi, or Bessians, an early Thracian people who were pushed westwards into Albania, thus making Albanian language descendant from Thracian, however this is one of many theories with mainstream historians supporting the Illyrian theory. Some authors like Harvey Mayer group Thracian and Dacian into a southern Baltic linguistic family.
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