View source for Messapic language

{{Short description|Extinct Indo-European language of Southeastern Italy}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Messapic
| altname          = Messapian
| nativename       = 
| region           = [[Apulia]]n region of [[Italy]]
| era              = attested 6th to 2nd century BC{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=57}}{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|pp=1839–1840}}
| ref              = linglist
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = (?) [[Albanoid]]<ref>{{harvnb|Hyllested|Joseph|2022|p=235}}; {{harvnb|van Driem|2022|pp=1055–1056}}; {{harvnb|Friedman|2020|p=388}}; {{harvnb|Majer|2019|p=258}}; {{harvnb|Trumper|2018|p=385}}; {{harvnb|Trask|2019|pp=14, 159, 210}}; {{harvnb|Yntema|2017|p=337}}; {{harvnb|Mërkuri|2015|pp=65–67}}; {{harvnb|Ismajli|2015|p=45}}; {{harvnb|Demiraj|2004|pp=58–59}}; {{harvnb|Hamp|1996|pp=89–90}}.</ref>{{efn|Due to the relatively poor knowledge of Messapic, its belonging to the IE branch of Albanian has been described by some as currently speculative,{{sfn|Hyllested|Joseph|2022|p=240}} although it is supported by available fragmentary linguistic evidence that shows common characteristic innovations and a number of significant lexical correspondences between the two languages.<ref>{{harvnb|Trumper|2018|pp=383–386}}; {{harvnb|Friedman|2020|p=388}}; {{harvnb|Friedman|2011|pp=275–291}}.</ref>|group=note}}
| script           = [[Messapic language#Alphabet|Messapic alphabet]]<ref>{{harvnb|Marchesini|2023a|p=10}}.</ref>
| map              = Iron Age Italy.svg
| mapcaption       = Ethnolinguistic map of Italy in the [[Iron Age]], before the [[Roman conquest of Italy|Roman expansion and conquest of Italy]]
| iso3             = cms
| linglist         = cms
| glotto           = mess1244
| glottorefname    = Messapic
| ethnicity        = [[Iapygians]]
| image            = Iscrizione funeraria messapica, III-II sec. a.C. -FG5.jpg
| imagecaption     = 3rd/2nd century BC Messapic inscription
}}
'''Messapic''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ɛ|ˈ|s|æ|p|ɪ|k|,_|m|ə|-|,_|-|ˈ|s|eɪ|-}}; also known as '''Messapian'''; or as '''Iapygian''') is an extinct [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkanic language]] of the southeastern [[Italian Peninsula]], once spoken in [[Salento]] by the [[Iapygians|Iapygian]] peoples of the region: the Calabri and Salentini (known collectively as the [[Messapians]]), the [[Peucetians]] and the [[Daunians]].{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1839}}{{Sfn|Small|2014|p=18}} Messapic was the pre-[[Roman Republic|Roman]], non-[[Italic languages|Italic]] language of [[Apulia]]. It has been preserved in about 600 inscriptions written in an alphabet derived from a [[Archaic Greek alphabets|Western Greek model]] and dating from the mid-6th to at least the 2nd century BC, when it went extinct following the [[Roman Republic|Roman]] conquest of the region.{{Sfn|Marchesini|2009|ps=: "L'orizzonte cronologico più antico dell'epigrafia messapica, almeno allo stato attuale della documentazione, è da collocare quindi alla metà circa del VI secolo, stando alla cronologia dei testi più antichi di cui abbiamo parlato sopra. Più difficile è invece formulare ipotesi per quanto riguarda il limite cronologico inferiore. Per il momento l'evidenza ci mostra che non si hanno iscrizioni messapiche databili oltre il II sec. a.C."|pp=80, 141}}{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=57}}{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|pp=1839–1840}}

== Name ==
The term 'Messapic' or 'Messapian' is traditionally used to refer to a group of languages spoken by the [[Iapygians]], a "relatively homogeneous linguistic community" of non-[[Italic languages|Italic]]-speaking tribes ([[Messapii|Messapians]], [[Peucetians]] and [[Daunians]]) dwelling in the region of [[Apulia]] before the Roman conquest.{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1839}}

However, some scholars have argued that the term '[[Iapygians|Iapygian]] languages' should be preferred for referring to the group of languages spoken in Apulia, with the term 'Messapic' being reserved to the inscriptions found in the [[Salento|Salento peninsula]], where the specific tribe of the Messapians had been living in the pre-Roman era.{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1839}}

The name ''Apulia'' itself derives from ''Iapygia'' after passing from Greek to [[Oscan language|Oscan]] to Latin and undergoing subsequent morphological shifts.{{Sfn|Small|2014|p=18}}

== Classification ==
{{Paleo-Balkanic family tree}}

Messapic was a non-[[Italic languages|Italic]] and non-Greek [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]] of [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Balkan]] origin.{{sfn|Matzinger|2021|p=29|ps=: "Since Messapic is a language of Balkan origin brought to Italy, it may be included in this analysis."}}<ref>{{harvnb|Matzinger|2015|p=59|ps=: "Che il messapico non appartenga al gruppo linguistico delle lingue italiche (latino-falisco, lingue sabelliche, venetico) risulta chiaramente dello sviluppo diverso di indo-europeo ''*o'' conservata nelle lingue italiche, ma mutata in ''a'' nel messapico (cfr. la desinenza del nom. sg. dei temi maschili i.-e. ''*-os'' nel latino arcaico ''-os'', sabellico ''-s'', venetico ''-os'' opposta a messapico -AS, o la desinenza del dat.-abl. pl. i.-e. ''*-bʰos'' nel latino arcaico ''-bos'', ''-bus'', osco ''-fs'', ''-ss'', umbro ''-s'', venetico ''-bos'' opposta a messapico ''-bas'')."}}</ref>{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|pp=1842 1843}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mnamon.sns.it/index.php?page=Lingua&id=29&lang=en|title=Ancient writing systems in the Mediterranean|last=Marchesini|first=Simona}}</ref> Modern archeological and linguistic research and some ancient sources hold that the ancestors of the [[Iapygians]] came to Southeastern Italy (present-day [[Apulia]]) from the [[Western Balkans]] across the [[Adriatic Sea]] during the early first millennium BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Boardman|Sollberger|1982|pp=839–840}}; {{harvnb|Mallory|Adams|1997|p=278}}; {{harvnb|Salvemini|Massafra|2005|pp=7–16}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2017|p=1790}}</ref>{{Efn|{{harvnb|Wilkes|1992|p=68|ps=: "...the Messapian language recorded on more than 300 inscriptions is in some respects similar to Balkan Illyrian. This link is also reflected in the material culture of both shores of the southern Adriatic. Archaeologists have concluded that there was a phase of Illyrian migration into Italy early in the first millennium BC."}}; {{harvnb|Fortson|2004|p=407|ps=: "They are linked by ancient historians with Illyria, across the Adriatic sea; the linkage is borne out archeologically by similarities between Illyrian and Messapic metalwork and ceramics, and by personal names that appear in both locations. For this reason, the Messapic language has often been connected by modern scholars to Illyrian; but, as noted above, we have too little Illyrian to be able to test this claim."}}|group=note|name=}}{{Efn|{{harvnb|Boardman|Sollberger|1982|p=231|ps=: "Apart from the spears and spear-heads of 'South-Illyrian' type (...), a connexion can be traced between Albania and Italy through various features in the pottery (shapes, handles; later on also painted geometric decoration); for although in Albania they derive from an earlier local tradition, they seem to represent new elements in Italy. In the same way we can account for the fibulae – typically Illyrian – arching in a simple curve with or without buttons, which one finds in southern Italy and in Sicily, and also some in which the curve is decorated with 'herring-bone' incisions, like examples from the eastern coast of the Adriatic. These influences appear finally in the rites of burial in tumuli in the contracted position, which are seen at this period in southern Italy, especially in Apulia. There is also evidence, as we have seen elsewhere, for supposing that in the diffusion of these Illyrian influences in Italy the Illyrian tribes which were displaced at the beginning of this period from the South-Eastern sea-board of the Adriatic and passed over into Italy may have played a significant role."}}|group=note|name=}}

=== Paleo-Balkanic ===
Messapic forms part of the [[Paleo-Balkan languages]]. Based upon lexical similarities with the [[Illyrian languages]], some scholars contend that Messapic may have developed from a dialect of pre-Illyrian, meaning that it would have diverged substantially from the Illyrian language(s) spoken in the Balkans by the 5th century BC, while others considered it a direct dialect of Iron Age Illyrian. Messapic is today considered an independent language and not a dialect of Illyrian. Although the unclear interpretation of Messapic inscriptions cannot warrant the placement of Messapic in any specific Indo-European subfamily,{{sfn|de Vaan|2018|p=2}} some scholars place Illyrian and Messapic in the same branch. [[Eric Hamp]] has grouped them under "Messapo-Illyrian", which is further grouped with Albanian under "Adriatic Indo-European".{{sfn|Hamp|Adams|2013|p=8}} Other schemes group the three languages under "General Illyrian" and "Western Paleo-Balkan".{{sfn|Ismajli|2015|p=45}}

A number of shared features between Messapic and [[Proto-Albanian language|Proto-Albanian]] may have emerged either as a result of linguistic contacts between Proto-Messapic and Pre-Proto-Albanian within the Balkan peninsula in prehistoric times, or of a closer relation as shown by the quality of the correspondences in the lexical area and shared innovations between Messapic and Albanian.<ref>{{harvnb|Matzinger|2005|p=48}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2015|p=|pp=65–66}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2017|p=1790}}; {{harvnb|Ismajli|2015|pp=65–68}}; {{harvnb|Trumper|2018|p=385}}; {{harvnb|Friedman|2020|p=388}}.</ref> Hyllested & Joseph (2022) identify Messapic as the closest language to Albanian, with which it forms a common branch titled ''Illyric''. Hyllested & Joseph (2022) in agreement with recent bibliography identify [[Graeco-Phrygian|Greco-Phrygian]] as the IE branch closest to the Albanian-Messapic one. These two branches form an areal grouping – which is often called "Balkan IE" – with Armenian.{{sfn|Hyllested|Joseph|2022|p=235}}

==== Illyrian languages ====
Although the Illyrian languages – and to some extent Messapic itself – are too scarcely attested to allow for an extensive linguistic comparison,<ref name=":2">{{harvnb|Woodard|2008|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Fortson|2004|p=407}}</ref>{{Efn|{{harvnb|Matzinger|2015|p=62|ps=: "Finché non sono risolti in maniera soddisfacente i vari e difficili problemi della fonologia storica dell'illirico vero e proprio è, al momento attuale, impossibile se non inutile effettuare una comparazione linguistica tra il messapico e l'illirico."}}; {{harvnb|de Simone|2016|ps=: "For many years the study of Messapic was based on the assumption that the language was genetically related to Illyrian. The main supporter of this theory was the German scholar H. Krahe, though he eventually modified his views considerably. At present we prefer to see Messapic as an autonomous linguistic unit, with its own history, to be studied within the context of the other languages and the history of ancient Italy. Yet it may still be possible to establish links between Messapic, which is certainly an Indo-European language, and other languages genetically close to it. In fact we cannot exclude that Messapic was introduced into Italy (in several waves?) by ‘Illyrian’ speakers who came from the Balkans, though at present this cannot be verified."}}|group=note|name=}} the Messapic language is generally regarded as related to, though distinct from, the [[Illyrian languages]].<ref>{{harvnb|West|2007|p=15|ps=...To these can be added a larger body of inscriptions from south-east Italy in the Messapic language, which is generally considered to be Illyrian...}}; see also {{harvnb|Mallory|Adams|1997|pp=378–379}}; {{harvnb|Fortson|2004|p=407}}; {{Harvnb|Woodard|2008|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Small|2014|p=18}}.</ref> This theory is supported by a series of similar personal and place names from both sides of the [[Adriatic Sea]]. Proposed [[cognate]]s in Illyrian and Messapic, respectively, include: '[[Bardylis|Bardyl(l)is]]/Barzidihi', '[[Teuta]]/Teutā', 'Dazios/Dazes', 'Laidias/Ladi-', 'Platōr/Plator-', '[[Iapydes]]/[[Iapygians|Iapyges]]', 'Apulus/Apuli', '[[Dalmatae|Dalmata]]/Dalmathus', 'Peucetioe/[[Peucetians|Peucetii]]', 'Ana/Ana', 'Beuzas/Bozat', 'Thana/Thana', '[[Deipaturos|Dei-paturos]]/[[Damatura|Da-matura]]'.<ref>{{Harvnb|Boardman|Sollberger|1982|p=870}}; {{harvnb|Buda|1984|p=50}}; {{harvnb|Pisani|1987|p=506}}; {{harvnb|Mallory|Adams|1997|pp=378–379}}; {{harvnb|West|2007|pp=140, 176}}; {{harvnb|Marchesini|2009|p=154}}; {{harvnb|Dzino|2014|p=48}}</ref>

==== Albanian ====
The linguistic data of [[Albanian language|Albanian]] can be used to compensate for the lack of fundamental information on Illyrian, since [[Proto-Albanian language|Proto-Albanian]] (the ancestor language of [[Albanian language|Albanian]]) was likewise an Indo-European language certainly spoken in the Balkans in antiquity,{{sfn|Friedman|2020|p=388}}{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=|pp=62–63}}{{sfn|Aigner-Foresti|2004|p=81|ps=: "Altri studiosi, sulla scia di P. Kretschmer, sostengono invece la parentela linguistica illirico-messapica partendo dal presupposto che l'antico illirico trovi un seguito nell'albanese moderno. Le loro argomentazioni sono attendibili anche se non vincolanti."}} and probably since at least the 7th century BC, as suggested by the presence of archaic loanwords from [[Ancient Greek]].{{Sfn|de Vaan|2017|p=1732}}{{Sfn|Matzinger|2017|p=1791–1792}}{{Sfn|Rusakov|2017|p=559}}{{Sfn|Matasović|2012|p=6}}

A number of linguistic [[cognate]]s with Albanian have been proposed, such as Messapic ''aran'' and Albanian ''arë'' ("field"), ''biliā'' and ''bijë'' ("daughter"), or ''menza-'' and ''mëz'' ("[[foal]]").<ref name=":0">{{harvnb|Orel|1998|pp=260, 265}}; {{harvnb|West|2007|pp=137, 146}}; {{harvnb|Rusakov|2017|p=556}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2017|p=1790}}; {{harvnb|Poli|2019|p=600}}</ref> The [[Toponymy|toponomy]] points to a link between the two languages, as some towns in Apulia have no etymological forms outside Albanian linguistic sources.{{sfn|Trumper|2018|p=385|ps=: "Overall, the complex of Albanian dialects remains a solid block of the Albanoid group still relatable with Messapic (observed in place naming in Apulia: some towns have no etymon outside Albanoid sources, for example in toponyms such as Manduria)."}} Other linguistic elements such as [[Grammatical particle|particles]], [[preposition]]s, [[suffix]]es, [[lexicon]], but also [[toponym]]s, [[anthroponym]]s and [[theonym]]s of the Messapic language find singular affinities with Albanian.{{sfn|Aigner-Foresti|2004|p=82|ps=: "Elementi linguistici (particelle, preposizioni, suffissi, lessico, ma anche toponimi, antroponimi e teonimi) del messapico trovano, infatti, singolare riscontro nell'albanese."}} Some [[phonological]] data can also be compared between the two languages, and it seems likely that Messapic belongs, like Albanian, to a specific subgroup of the Indo-European languages that shows distinct reflections of all the three [[dorsal consonant]] rows. In the [[Nominal (linguistics)|nominal]] context, both Messapic and Albanian continue, in the masculine terms in ''-o-'', the Indo-European ending ''*-osyo'' (Messapic ''-aihi'', Albanian ''-i / -u'').{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=|pp=62–66}}{{sfn|Ismajli|2015|pp=65–68}}

Regarding the verbal system, both Messapic and Albanian have formally and semantically preserved the two Indo-European [[subjunctive]] and [[optative]] moods. If the reconstructions are correct, we can find, in the preterital system of Messapic, reflections of a formation in ''*-s-'' (which in other Indo-European languages are featured in the suffix of the sigmatic aorist), as in the 3rd sg. ''hipades/opades'' ('he dedicated' < ''*supo-dʰeh₁-s-t'') and in the 3rd pl. ''stahan'' ('they placed' < ''*stah₂-s-n°t''). In Albanian, this formation was likewise featured in the category of aorists formed with the suffix ''-v-''. However, except for the dorsal consonant rows, these similarities do not provide elements exclusively relating Messapic and Albanian, and only a few [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] data are comparable.{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=|pp=62–66}}

== History ==
[[File:Illyrian_colonies_in_Italy_550_BC_(English)_(simple_map).svg|alt=|thumb|220px|Iapygian migrations in the early first millennium BC.{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=68|ps=: "...the Messapian language recorded on more than 300 inscriptions is in some respects similar to Balkan Illyrian. This link is also reflected in the material culture of both shores of the southern Adriatic. Archaeologists have concluded that there was a phase of Illyrian migration into Italy early in the first millennium BC."}}{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=60|ps=: "Per questi motivi lo sviluppo della propria cultura messapica, rispettivamente iapigia è oggi ampiamente considerato come il risultato di una confluenza di tradizioni culturali oltreadriatiche (cioè balcaniche, ma anche micenee in una fase anteriore e poi greco-ellenistiche) con tradizioni culturali locali già esistenti prima di questo nuovo insediamento."}}{{Sfn|Fortson|2004|p=407|ps=: "They are linked by ancient historians with Illyria, across the Adriatic sea; the linkage is borne out archeologically by similarities between Illyrian and Messapic metalwork and ceramics, and by personal names that appear in both locations. For this reason, the Messapic language has often been connected by modern scholars to Illyrian; but, as noted above, we have too little Illyrian to be able to test this claim."}}]]
The development of a distinct [[Iapygians|Iapygian]] culture in southeastern Italy is widely considered to be the result of a confluence of local Apulian material cultures with Balkanic traditions following the cross-[[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] migrations of proto-Messapic speakers in the early first millennium BC.{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=68|ps=: "...the Messapian language recorded on more than 300 inscriptions is in some respects similar to Balkan Illyrian. This link is also reflected in the material culture of both shores of the southern Adriatic. Archaeologists have concluded that there was a phase of Illyrian migration into Italy early in the first millennium BC."}}{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=60|ps=: "Per questi motivi lo sviluppo della propria cultura messapica, rispettivamente iapigia è oggi ampiamente considerato come il risultato di una confluenza di tradizioni culturali oltreadriatiche (cioè balcaniche, ma anche micenee in una fase anteriore e poi greco-ellenistiche) con tradizioni culturali locali già esistenti prima di questo nuovo insediamento."}}{{Sfn|Fortson|2004|p=407|ps=: "They are linked by ancient historians with Illyria, across the Adriatic sea; the linkage is borne out archeologically by similarities between Illyrian and Messapic metalwork and ceramics, and by personal names that appear in both locations. For this reason, the Messapic language has often been connected by modern scholars to Illyrian; but, as noted above, we have too little Illyrian to be able to test this claim."}}{{sfn|Boardman|Sollberger|1982|p=231|ps=: "Apart from the spears and spear-heads of 'South-Illyrian' type (...), a connexion can be traced between Albania and Italy through various features in the pottery (shapes, handles; later on also painted geometric decoration); for although in Albania they derive from an earlier local tradition, they seem to represent new elements in Italy. In the same way we can account for the fibulae – typically Illyrian – arching in a simple curve with or without buttons, which one finds in southern Italy and in Sicily, and also some in which the curve is decorated with ' herring-bone' incisions, like examples from the eastern coast of the Adriatic. These influences appear finally in the rites of burial in tumuli in the contracted position, which are seen at this period in southern Italy, especially in Apulia. There is also evidence, as we have seen elsewhere, for supposing that in the diffusion of these Illyrian influences in Italy the Illyrian tribes which were displaced at the beginning of this period from the South-Eastern sea-board of the Adriatic and passed over into Italy may have played a significant role."}}

The Iapygians most likely left the eastern coasts of the Adriatic for the [[Italian Peninsula]] from the 11th century BC onwards,{{sfn|Boardman|Sollberger|1982|p=229, 231}} merging with pre-existing [[Italic peoples|Italic]] and [[Mycenean civilisation|Mycenean]] cultures and providing a decisive cultural and linguistic imprint.{{sfn|Salvemini|Massafra|2005|pp=7–16}} Throughout the second half of the 8th century, contacts between Messapians and Greeks must have been intense and continuous; they began to intensify after the foundation of [[Taranto|Taras]] by [[Sparta]]n colonists around the end of the century. Despite its geographical proximity with [[Magna Graecia]], however, Iapygia was generally not encompassed in [[Greek colonies|Greek colonial]] territories, and with the exception of Taras, the inhabitants were evidently able to avoid other Greek colonies in the region.{{sfn|Salvemini|Massafra|2005|pp=7–16}}{{sfn|Graham|1982|pp=112–113}} During the 6th century BC Messapia, and more marginally Peucetia, underwent Hellenizing cultural influences, mainly from the nearby Taras. The use of writing systems was introduced during this period, with the acquisition of the Laconian-Tarantine alphabet and its progressive adaptation to the Messapic language.{{sfn|Salvemini|Massafra|2005|pp=7–16}}{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1840}} The oldest known Messapic texts date to the 6th century–early 5th century BCE.{{Sfn|de Simone|2016}}

[[File:Apulia Calabria et Lucania - Shepherd-c-030-031.jpg|thumb|left|upright|320px|''Apulia et Calabria'', cropped from "Map of Ancient Italy, Southern Part", by [[William R. Shepherd]], 1911.]]
The relationship between Messapians and Tarantines deteriorated over time, resulting in a series of clashes between the two peoples from the beginning of the 5th century BC.{{sfn|Salvemini|Massafra|2005|pp=7–16}} After two victories of the Tarentines, the Iapygians inflicted a decisive defeat on them, causing the fall of the aristocratic government and the implementation of a democratic one in Taras. It also froze relations between Greeks and the indigenous people for about half a century. Only in the late-5th and 6th centuries did they re-establish relationships. The second great Hellenizing wave occurred during the 4th century BC, this time also involving Daunia and marking the beginning of [[Peuceti]]an and [[Dauni]]an epigraphic records, in a local variant of the Hellenistic alphabet that replaced the older Messapic script.{{sfn|Salvemini|Massafra|2005|pp=7–16}}{{Sfn|Marchesini|2009|p=|pp=139–141}}{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1841}}

Along with Messapic, [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] and [[Oscan language|Oscan]] were spoken and written during the Romanization period all over [[Apulia]],{{sfn|Salvemini|Massafra|2005|pp=17–29}} and bilingualism in Greek and Messapic was probably common in southern Apulia at that time.{{Sfn|Adams|2003|pp=116–117}} Based upon the legends of the local currencies promoted by Rome, Messapic appears to have been written in the southern zone, Oscan in the northern area, while the central sector was a trilingual area where Messapic, Greek and Oscan co-existed in inscriptions.{{sfn|Salvemini|Massafra|2005|pp=17–29}} Messapic epigraphic records seem to have ended by the 2nd century BC.{{Sfn|Marchesini|2009|ps=: "L'orizzonte cronologico più antico dell'epigrafia messapica, almeno allo stato attuale della documentazione, è da collocare quindi alla metà circa del VI secolo, stando alla cronologia dei testi più antichi di cui abbiamo parlato sopra. Più difficile è invece formulare ipotesi per quanto riguarda il limite cronologico inferiore. Per il momento l'evidenza ci mostra che non si hanno iscrizioni messapiche databili oltre il II sec. a.C."|pp=80, 141}} During the 1st century BCE, the language was replaced by Latin, which is the origin of the modern Italian Sallentine dialects of the region.{{Sfn|de Simone|2016}}

== Phonology ==
A characteristic feature of Messapic is the absence of the Indo-European phonological opposition between the vowels /u/ and /o/, the language featuring only an o/u [[phoneme]]. Consequently, the superfluous letter /u/ ([[upsilon]]) was not taken over following the initial period of adaption of the [[Archaic Greek alphabets|Western ("red") Greek alphabet]].{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|pp=1840, 1844}} The 'o/u' phoneme existed in opposition to an 'a/o' phoneme formed after the phonological distinction between ''*o'' and ''*a'' was abandoned.{{sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1844}} The [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] (PIE) vowel /o/ regularly appears as /a/ in inscriptions (e.g., Venas < *Wenos; menza < *mendyo; tabarā < *to-bhorā).{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=59}}{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1844}} The original PIE phonological opposition between ''ō'' and ''o'' is still perceptible in Messapic.{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1844}} The [[diphthong]] ''*ou'', itself reflecting the merged diphthongs ''*ou'' and ''eu'', underwent [[sound change]] to develop into ''ao'', then into ''ō'' (e.g., *Toutor > Taotor > Θōtor).{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1844}}

The dental affricate or spirant written Θ is frequently used before the sounds ''ao-'' or ''o-'', where it is most likely a replacement for the older letter [[File:Messapic-trident2.svg|30x30px|alt=]]. Another special letter, [[File:Messapic-trident1.svg|30x30px|alt=]], occurs almost exclusively in Archaic inscriptions from the 6th and 5th centuries BC.{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1840}} Multiple [[Palatalization (sound change)|palatalizations]] have also taken place, as in '[[Zis (deity)|Zis]]' < *dyēs, 'Artorres' < *Artōryos, or 'Bla(t)θes' < *Blatyos (where '(t)θ' probably denoted a dental affricate or spirant /ts/ or /tš/).{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1844}} Proto-Indo-European *''s'' was rather clearly reflected in initial and intervocalic positions as Messapic ''h'', with notable examples including ''klaohi'' and ''hipa'', but note ''Venas'' with *''s'' in final position.{{sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1844}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=de Simone|first1=Carlo|title=La genti non greche della Magna Grecia. Atti dell' XI Convegno di Studi sulla Magna Grecia.|date=1972|publisher=Arte tipografica|editor1-last=Stazio|editor1-first=Attilio|location=Naples|pages=181–182|language=it|chapter=La lingua messapica: tentativo di una sintesi}}</ref>

The Proto-Indo-European [[Aspirated consonant|voiced aspirates]] ''*bh'' and ''*dh'' are certainly represented by the simple unaspirated voiced [[obstruent]]s /b/ and /d/ in Messapic (e.g., 'berain' < *bher-; '-des' < *dʰeh₁).{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1844}} On the other hand, the outcomes of the Indo-European palatal, velar, and labiovelar stops remain unclear, with slender evidence.{{sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1844}}

== Alphabet ==
The Messapic alphabet is an adaptation of the [[Archaic Greek alphabets|Western ("red") Greek alphabets]], specifically the [[Laconia]]n-[[Taranto|Tarantinian]] version.{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1840}} The actual Messapic inscriptions are attested from the 6th century BC onward, while the [[Peucetians|Peucetian]] and [[Daunians|Daunian]] epigraphic record (written in a local variant of the Hellenistic alphabet rather than in the older Messapic script) only begins in the 4th century BC.{{Sfn|Marchesini|2009|p=|pp=139–141}}{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1841}}

=== Messapic ===
The Greek letter Φ (/pʰ/) was not adopted, because it would have been superfluous for Messapic.{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1840}} While [[zeta]] "normally" represented the voiced counterpart to /s/, it may have been an affricate in some cases.{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1840}} The value of Θ is unclear, but is clearly dental; it may be an affricate or a spirant. In any case it appears to have arisen partly as the reflex of the segment *''ty''.{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1840}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! Messapic
! [[Archaic Greek alphabets|Western Greek]]
! Greek name
! Phonetic value
|-
|[[File:Messapic-a.svg|90x90px]]
|[[File:Greek_Alpha_03.svg|25x25px]]
|[[alpha]]
|{{IPAslink|a}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-b.svg|15x15px]]
|[[File:Greek_Beta_16.svg|25x25px]]
|[[beta]]
|{{IPAslink|b}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-g.svg|13x13px]]
|[[File:Greek_Gamma_archaic_1.svg|25x25px]]
|[[gamma]]
|{{IPAslink|g}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-d.svg|50x50px]]
|[[File:Greek_Delta_03.svg|25x25px]]
|[[Delta (letter)|delta]]
|{{IPAslink|d}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-e.svg|60x60px]]
|[[File:Greek_Epsilon_04.svg|25x25px]]
|[[epsilon]]
|{{IPAslink|e}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-v.svg|30x30px]]
|[[File:Greek_Digamma_oblique.svg|25x25px]]
|[[digamma]]
|{{IPAslink|v}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-z.svg|40x40px]]
|[[File:Greek_Zeta_archaic.svg|25x25px]]
|[[zeta]]
|{{IPAslink|z}}, {{IPAslink|dz}}, {{IPA|/dš/}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-eta.svg|14x14px]]
|[[File:Greek_Eta_normal.svg|25x25px]]
|[[eta]]
|{{IPAslink|h}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-h.svg|40x40px]]
|[[File:Greek_Eta_archaic.svg|25x25px]]
|[[heta]]
|{{IPAslink|h}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-theta.svg|80x80px]]
|[[File:Greek_Theta_archaic_straight.svg|25x25px]]
|[[theta]]
|{{IPAslink|θ}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-i.svg|20x20px]]
|[[File:Greek_Iota_normal.svg|25x25px]]
|[[iota]]
|{{IPAslink|i}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-k.svg|16x16px]]
|[[File:Greek_Kappa_normal.svg|25x25px]]
|[[kappa]]
|{{IPAslink|k}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-l.svg|40x40px]]
|[[File:Greek_Lambda_09.svg|25x25px]]
|[[lambda]]
|{{IPAslink|l}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-m.svg|40x40px]]
|[[File:Greek_Mu_02.svg|25x25px]]
|[[Mu (letter)|mu]]
|{{IPAslink|m}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-n.svg|50x50px]]
|[[File:Greek_Nu_archaic.svg|25x25px]]
|[[Nu (letter)|nu]]
|{{IPAslink|n}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-croce.svg|30x30px]]
|[[File:Greek Chi normal.svg|24x24px]]
|[[Xi (letter)|xi]]
|{{IPA|/š/}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-o.svg|40x40px]]
|[[File:Greek_Omicron_normal.svg|25x25px]]
|[[omicron]]
|{{IPAslink|o}}, {{IPAslink|u}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-p.svg|40x40px]]
|[[File:Greek_Pi_archaic.svg|25x25px]]
|[[Pi (letter)|pi]]
|{{IPAslink|p}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-q.svg|20x20px]]
|[[File:Greek_Koppa_normal.svg|25x25px]]
|[[Koppa (letter)|koppa]]
|{{IPAslink|k}} (before /o/)
|-
|[[File:Messapic-r.svg|40x40px]]
|[[File:Greek_Rho_pointed.svg|25x25px]]
|[[rho]]
|{{IPAslink|r}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-s.svg|80x80px]]
|[[File:Greek Iota 04.svg|24x24px]]
|[[sigma]]
|{{IPAslink|s}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-t.svg|40x40px]]
|[[File:Greek_Tau_normal.svg|25x25px]]
|[[Tau (letter)|tau]]
|{{IPAslink|t}}
|-
|[[File:Messapic-trident1.svg|40x40px]]
|[[File:Greek_Psi_straight.svg|25x25px]][[File:Greek Chi 05.svg|24x24px]]
|[[Chi (letter)|chi]]
|{{IPAslink|kʰ}} > -h-, -y- (intervocalic before /i/)
|-
|[[File:Messapic-trident2.svg|40x40px]]
| –
| –
|{{IPAslink|tʰ}} > /θ/
|-
!Sources
| colspan="12" |{{Harvnb|Marchesini|2009|pp=144–145}}; {{Harvnb|Matzinger|2014|pp=10–14}}; {{Harvnb|De Simone|2017|pp=1839–1844}}
|-
!Note
| colspan="12" |The letters are arranged in chronological order of appearance. Some [[letterform]]s went out of use and were replaced by new shapes (see {{Harvnb|Matzinger|2014|pp=10–14}}).
|}

===Apulian===
The script used in northern Apulia was rather peculiar, and some consider it to be a distinct writing system named ''Apulian''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/4404527/mod_resource/content/1/Daunians%2C%20Peucetians%20and%20Messapians.pdf|title=Daunians, Peucetians and Messapians? Societies and Settlements in South-East Italy|author=Edward Herring|year=2012|page=274}}</ref> A notable difference between the Apulian alphabet and the Laconian-Tarentinian Messapic alphabet was the use of Η (''eta'') for /ē/ rather than /h/.{{Sfn|De Simone|1988|p=}}{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1841}}{{Sfn|Matzinger|2014|p=15}}

== Inscriptions ==
The Messapic language is a 'fragmentary language' ({{lang|de|Trümmersprache}}), preserved only in about 600 inscriptions from the mid-6th up until the late-2nd century BC.{{Sfn|Marchesini|2009|p=143}}{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|pp=1839, 1842}} Many of them consist of the personal names of the deceased engraved in burial sites (36% of the total), and only a few inscriptions have been definitely deciphered.{{Sfn|Marchesini|2009|p=143}}{{Sfn|Matzinger|2015|p=58}}{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1841}} Some longer texts are also available, including those recently found in the Grotta della Poesia ([[Roca (archaeological site)|Roca Vecchia]]), although they have not been fully exploited by scholars yet.{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1842}} Most of the Messapic inscriptions are accessible in the ''Monumenta Linguae Messapicae'' (MLM), published in print in 2002.{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1841}}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+Examples of Messapic inscriptions
! scope="col" | Messapic inscription
! scope="col" | English translation
! scope="col" | Source
|-
|{{Transliteration|cms|Staboos Šonetθihi Dazimaihi beileihi}}
|'of Stabuas Šonetius, son of Dazimas'
|{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1842}}
|-
|{{Transliteration|cms|Dazoimihi Balehi Daštas bilihi}}
|'of Dazimas Bales, son of Dazet'
|{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1842}}
|-
|{{Transliteration|cms|tabarā Damatras}}; {{Transliteration|cms|tabarā Aproditia}}
|'priestess of Damatira'; 'priestess of Aprodita'
|{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1842}}
|-
|{{Transliteration|cms|kla(o)hi Zis Venas}}
|'listen, [[Zis (deity)|Zis]] (and) Venas'
|{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1843}}
|-
|{{Transliteration|cms|klohi Zis den θavan}}
|'listen, [[Zis (deity)|Zis]], the public voice'
|{{sfn|Pisani|1976|p=69}}
|-
|{{Transliteration|cms|θotoria marta pido vastei basta venian aran}}
|'θotoria Marta handed (gave) her field to the city of Basta'
|{{sfn|Ismajli|2015|p=65}}
|-
|{{Transliteration|cms|plastas moldatθehiai bilia etθeta hipades aprod[i]ta}}
|'Etθeta, the daughter of Plazet Moldatθes, dedicated to Aphrodite'
|{{sfn|Ismajli|2015|p=65}}
|}

==Lexicon==

===Toponymy/Anthroponymy===
{| class="wikitable"
! Messapic
! Modern Italian
! Balkan correspondences
! Sources
|-
| ''Amantia'', settlement
| [[Amantea]]
| [[Amantia]] <br /> [[Amantes (tribe)|Amantes]] <br /> [[Amantini]]
| <ref name="Palmer40">{{harvnb|Palmer|1988|p=40}}</ref>
|- 
| ''(Taotor) Andirabas'', god
| 
| (Deus) [[Andinus]] 
| <ref AR">{{cite book | author=Australian Rock Art Research Association | title=Rock Art Research: The Journal of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA). | publisher=Archaeological Publications | issue=v. 14-15 | year=1997 | page=137}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Gallipoli, Apulia|Anxa]]'' (Ansha), settlement
| - 
| -
| {{sfn|Lamboley|1996|p=245}}
|-
| ''Apsias'', river
| -
| [[Apsus]]
| <ref name="Palmer40"/>
|-
| ''Apuli'', tribal group<br />[[Teanum Apulum]], settlement
| [[Apulia]]
| ''Apulus'', personal name
| <ref name="Mallory378"/>
|-
| ''[[Artas of Messapia|Artas]]'', personal name
| -
| -
| {{sfn|Lamboley|1996|p=375}}
|-
| ''Ausculum'', settlement
| [[Ascoli Satriano]]
| -
| <ref name="Marchesini520"/>
|-
| ''Azetium'', settlement
| near [[Rutigliano]]
| Azeta, [[Dardani]]a
| <ref name="AR">{{cite book | author=Școala romanână din Roma | title=Ephemeris dacoromana | publisher=Libreria di scienze e lettere | issue=v. 3 | year=1925 | page=153}}</ref>
|-
| ''Barium'', settlement
| [[Bari]]
| -
| {{sfn|Lamboley|1996|p=305}}
|-
| ''Barzidihi'', personal name <br /> ''Barduli'', settlement
| -
| [[Bardyllis]]
| <ref name="Mallory378">{{harvnb|Mallory|Adams|1997|pp=378–379}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Zis (deity)#Zis Batas|Batas]]''/''Baton'', deity/personal name
| -
| [[Bato (Illyrian name)|Bato]]
| {{sfn|Lamboley|1996|pp=55,432-33}}
|-
| ''Brendésion''/''Brentésion'', settlement
| [[Brindisi]]
| [[Brač]]
| <ref name="brendon"/>
|-
| ''Butuntum'', settlement
| [[Bitonto]]
| [[Budva|Butua]]
| <ref name="Marchesini520"/>
|-
| ''Calabri'', tribal group
| [[Calabria]]
| [[Galabri]]
| <ref name="Katicic208"/>
|-
| ''Caelia'', settlement
| [[Ceglie del Campo]]
| [[Čelje]] 
| {{sfn|Lamboley|1996|p=44}}
|-
| ''Canusium'', settlement
| [[Canosa di Puglia]]
| -
| <ref name="Torelli1995">{{harvnb|Torelli|1995|pp=142–43}}</ref>
|-
| ''Dazas/Dazimas/<br />(Latin or ancient Greek forms: Dazos/Dazimos/Dasio/Dassius''), personal name
| -
| ''Dasius/Dassius'', personal name
| {{sfn|Marchesini|2020|p=500}}
|-
| ''Dardanos'', settlement; Derdensis, region; Dardi, tribal group
| -
| [[Dardani]]
| <ref>{{harvnb|Buqinca|2021|p=15}}; {{harvnb|Baliu|2012|p=69}}.</ref>
|-
| ''Genusium''/''ager Genusinus'', settlement/district
| ''[[Ginosa]]''
| ''[[Genusus]]'' (modern ''Shkumbin'')
| <ref name="Katicic208">{{harvnb|Katičić|1995|p=208}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Gnatia]]'', settlement
| -
| -
| {{sfn|Lamboley|1996|p=23}}
|-
| ''Graiva''
| -
| -
| {{sfn|Lamboley|1996|p=437}}
|-
| ''Herdonia'', settlement
| [[Ordona]]
| -
| <ref name="Torelli1995"/>
|-
| ''Hydruntum'', settlement
| [[Otranto]]
| -
| {{sfn|Lamboley|1996|p=207}}
|-
| ''Ladi-'', personal name component
| -
| [[Scerdilaidas]]
| <ref name="Mallory378"/>
|-
| ''[[Manduria]]'', toponym
| -
| ''Mezēnai'', ''Mëz, Mâz''
|
|-
| ''[[Peucetii]]''
| -
| ''Peucetioe'', [[Liburnia]]
| <ref name="Mallory378"/>
|-
| ''[[Rudiae]]'', settlement
| -
| -
| {{sfn|Lamboley|1996|p=171}}
|-
| ''[[Salapia]]'', settlement <br /> ''Salapitani'', tribal group
| -
| [[Selepitani]]
| {{sfn|Palmer|1988|p=39}}
|-
| ''Taotor'', deity
| -
| [[Teuta]], Triteuta, Teutana
| {{sfn|Lamboley|1996|p=429}}
|-
| ''Thana'', deity
| -
| Thana
| <ref name="Ruotolo">{{cite book | last=Ruotolo | first=G. | title=Corpus nummorum Rubastinorum | publisher=Edipuglia | year=2010 | page=14}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Dauni]]'', tribal group
| -
| ''[[Thunatae|Thunatai]]''
| <ref>{{cite book|last=Šašel Kos|first=Marjeta|chapter=Peoples on the northern fringes of the Greek world: Illyria as seen by Strabo|title=L'Illyrie méridionale et l'Épire dans l'Antiquité V: Actes du Ve colloque international de Grenoble (8–11 octobre 2008)|series=L'Illyrie méridionale et l'Épire dans l'Antiquité (V)|volume=2|year=2010|editor=Jean-Luc Lamboley, Maria Paola Castiglioni|publisher=De Boccard Editions|pages=617–629|isbn=9782951943339|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78WSAQAACAAJ}} p. 625.</ref>
|- 
| ''Uria'', settlement
| [[Patù|Vereto]]
| -
| {{sfn|Lamboley|1996|p=120}}
|-
| ''Uxentum'', settlement
| [[Ugento]]/Ušèntu
| -
| <ref name="Marchesini520">{{harvnb|Marchesini|2020|p=520}}</ref>
|}

=== Inherited ===
Only Messapic words regarded as 'inherited' from its precursor are hereunder listed, thus excluding loanwords from Greek, Latin or other languages.

{| class="wikitable"
! Messapic lexical item
!English translation
!Proto-Messapic form
![[Albanoid|Albanoid (Illyric)]]
![[Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan]]
!Other Indo-European cognates
!Sources
|--
|-
|''ana''
|mother
|''*annā'' (a nursery word)
|[[Proto-Albanian language|Proto-Albanian]]: *''na(n)nā, *amma;'' Albanian: ''nënë/nana,'' ''ëmë/âmë'' ('mother')
|Greek: ''ámma'' ('mother, nurse')
|[[Hittite language|Hittite]]: ''annaš'' ('mother'); Latin: ''amma'' ('mother');
|<ref>{{harvnb|Matzinger|2005|p=38}}; {{harvnb|West|2007|p=140}}; {{Harvnb|Matzinger|2014|p=26}}.</ref>
|-
|''anda''
|and, as well
|
|Proto-Abanian: ''*edhō/êndō;'' Albanian: ''edhe/ênde'' ('and', 'yet', 'therefore')
|Greek: ''endha/ΕΝΘΑ''; ('and' , 'as well')
|Latin: ''ante'' ("opposite, in front of"); Hittite: ''anda''
|<ref>{{harvnb|Marchesini|2009|p=148}}; {{harvnb|De Simone|2017|p=1844}}; {{Harvnb|Matzinger|2019|p=98}}.</ref>
|-
|''apa''
|from
|''*apo''
|Proto-Albanian: ''*apo''; Albanian: (''për-)apë''  ('from'); Albanian (Gheg): ''pi'' (PI < apa) ('from') or ''pa'' (PA < ''*apa'') ('without')
|[[Greek language|Greek]]: ''apó''
|[[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]]: ''ápa''
|<ref>{{harvnb|Matzinger|2005|p=38}}; {{Harvnb|Matzinger|2014|p=26}}.</ref>
|-
|''atabulus''
|[[sirocco]]
|
|Proto-Albanian: ''*abula''; Albanian: ''avull'' ('steam, vapor')
|
|[[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]]: ''*nebulaz'' ('fog')
|<ref>{{harvnb|Orel|1998|p=12}}; {{harvnb|Ismajli|2015|p=466}}.</ref>
|-
|''aran'' 
|field
|''*h₂r°h₃ā-''
|[[Proto-Albanian language|Proto-Albanian]]: ''*arā'': Albanian: ''arë, ara'' ('field')
|Ancient Greek ''arura'' ('earth')
|Hittite: ''arba-'' ('border, area'); [[Latvian language|Latvian]]: ''ara'' ('field')
|<ref>{{harvnb|Orel|1998|p=7}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2005|p=33}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2015|p=64}}; {{harvnb|Poli|2019|p=600}}.</ref>
|-
|''bàrka''
|belly
|
|Proto-Albanian: ''*baruka''; Albanian: ''bark'' ('belly')
|
|
|<ref>{{harvnb|Orel|1998|p=18}}; {{harvnb|Pisani|1976|p=69}}.</ref>
|-
|-
|''Barzidihi'', ''Barduli''
|''(personal name)''
|
|[[Illyrian language|Illyrian]]: ''[[Bardylis|Bardyl(l)is]]'';
Proto-Albanian: ''*bardza''; Albanian: ''bardhë/bardhi'', ''[[Bardha]]'' ('white', found also in anthroponyms, e.g., ''Bardh-i'', ''[[Bardhyl]]'')
|
|
|<ref>{{harvnb|Bejko|2004|p=108}}; {{harvnb|Orel|1998|p=17}}; {{harvnb|Demiraj|1997|p=90}}; {{harvnb|Buda|1984|p=50}}.</ref>
|-
|''bennan''
|''(a sort of vehicle)''
|''*benna''
|
|
|[[Gaulish language|Gaulish]]: ''benna'' (a kind of 'carriage')
|<ref>{{harvnb|Marchesini|2009|p=154}}.</ref>
|-
|''biles/bilihi''
|son
|
|Proto-Albanian: ''*bira''; Albanian: ''bir'', pl. ''bilj - bij'' ('son')
|
|Latin: ''fīlius'' ('son')
|<ref name=":1" />
|-
|''biliā/bilina''<br />
|daughter
|''*bhu-lyā''
|Proto-Albanian: ''*birilā''; Albanian: ''bijë'' - ''bija'' ('daughter'); older dialect ''bilë'' - ''bila'' ('daughter')
|
|Latin: ''fīlia'' ('daughter')
|<ref name=":1">{{harvnb|Orel|1998|p=25}}; {{harvnb|De Simone|2017|p=1842}}; {{harvnb|Pisani|1976|p=69}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2005|p=34}}; {{harvnb|Marchesini|2009|p=154}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2015|p=64}}.</ref>
|-
|''bréndon;'' ''bréntion''
|stag; stag's head. The Messapic word is at the origin of the toponym ''Brendésion'' (Βρενδέσιον), ''Brentḗsion'' (Βρεντήσιον), modern [[Brindisi]]
|
|Proto-Albanian: ''*brina''; Albanian: ''bri'', ''brî'' ('horn'; 'antler')
|
|[[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]: ''briedis'', ('elk');{{Efn|In a 2022 publication, [[Tijmen Pronk]] argues that Lith. ''briedis'', Latv. ''briêdis'', and Old Prussian ''braydis'' (all meaning 'elk') are loanwords from a non-IE language.<ref>Pronk, Tijmen. “Balto-Slavic”. In: ''The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective''. Edited by Thomas Olander. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. pp. 270-271. doi:10.1017/9781108758666.015.</ref>|group=note|name=}} [[Swedish language|Swedish]]: ''brinde'' ('elk')
|<ref name="brendon">{{harvnb|Mann|1977|p=92}}; {{harvnb|Orel|1998|p=37}}; {{harvnb|Pisani|1976|p=69}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2005|p=35}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2017|p=1790}}.</ref>
|-
|''Damatura''
|Mother Earth ''(goddess)''
|''[[Dhéǵhōm|*dʰǵʰ(e)m-]] matura''
|Pre-Proto-Albanian: ''*d<sup>ź</sup>ō'' > Proto-Albanian ''ðē(h)'' > Albanian: ''dhe'' ('earth')
|Whether the (pre-)Illyrian form is at the origin of the Greek goddess [[Demeter]] or the contrary is unclear.<ref>{{harvnb|Orel|1998|p=80}}; {{harvnb|West|2007|p=176}}; {{harvnb|Beekes|2009|p=324}}; {{harvnb|De Simone|2017|p=1843}}</ref>
|Latvian: ''Zemes Māte'' ('Mother Earth')
|<ref>{{harvnb|Pisani|1987|p=501}}; {{harvnb|West|2007|p=|pp=174–176}}; {{harvnb|Orel|1998|p=80}}.</ref>
|-
|''deiva; dīva''
|god; goddess
|
|
|
|Sanskrit: ''[[Deva (Hinduism)|devá]]'' ('heavenly, divine'); Lithuanian ''[[Dievas|Diēvas]]''; Old Norse: ''[[Týr]]''
|<ref>{{harvnb|West|2007|p=120}}; {{harvnb|De Simone|2017|p=1843}}.</ref>
|-
|''den''
|voice
|''*ghen''
|Proto-Albanian: ''*džana''; Albanian: ''zë/zâ, zër/zân'' ('voice')
|
|
|<ref name="Pisani 1976 69">{{harvnb|Pisani|1976|p=69}}.</ref>
|--
|''hazavaθi''
|to offer (sacral)
| 
|
|''ha-'' is a prefix, ''zav-'' is the same root as in Greek: χεών
|same root in Sanskrit ''ju-hô-ti'' and Avestan: ''zaotar''- ('sacrificer')
|<ref name="Pisani 1976 69"/>
|-
|''hipades''
|he/she/it offers, dedicates, sets up
|''*supo dhē-s-t''
|Proto-Albanian: ''*skūpa'': Albanian: ''hip'' ('go up') and ''dha/dhash'' ('he gave/I gave')
|
|
|<ref>{{harvnb|Pisani|1976|p=68}}; {{harvnb|Ismajli|2015|p=66}}; {{Harvnb|De Simone|2017|p=1845}}</ref>
|-
|''hipakaθi''
|offer, set up
|
|Albanian: ''hip'' ('go up') and ''ka/kam'' ('he has/I have') > ''hip-ka-''
|
|
|<ref>{{harvnb|Pisani|1976|p=68}}; {{harvnb|Fortson|2004|p=467}}.</ref>
|-
|''kàrpa''
|'[[tuff]] (rock), [[limestone]]', preserved as ''càrpë'' 'tuff' in [[Bitonto]] dialect and ''càrparu'' 'limestone' in [[Salentino dialect|Salentino]]
|
|Albanian: ''kárpë/kárpa'', pl. ''kárpa/-t'' ('rock, stiff')
|root of the oronym ''Karpates'' ([[Carpathian Mountains]])
|Lithuanian ''kerpù'', ''kir̃pti'' 'chop, cut'
|<ref>{{harvnb|Matasović|1995|p=96}}; {{harvnb|Demiraj|1997|p=213}}; {{harvnb|Cortelazzo|Marcato|1998|p=120}}; {{harvnb|Savić|Ligorio|2022|p=22}}.</ref>
|-
|''klaohi/klohi''
|hear, listen (''invocative'')
|''*kleu-s-''
|Albanian: ''kluoj/kluaj/kluhem'' ('call, hear')
|Greek: ''klythí'' ('hear')
|Sanskrit: ''śrudhí'' ('hear'); Slavic: ''slušati'' ('hear'); Lithuanian: ''klausyti'' ('hear')
|<ref>{{harvnb|Pisani|1976|p=69}}; {{harvnb|West|2007|p=317}}; {{harvnb|De Simone|2017|p=1845}}; {{harvnb|Marchesini|2009|p=152}}.</ref>
|-
|''kos''
|someone
|''*q<sup>w</sup>o''
|Proto-Albanian: ''*kuša''; Albanian: ''kush'' ('who')
|
|Tocharian A: ''Kus'' ('who')
|<ref>{{harvnb|Hamp|1966|p=114}}; {{harvnb|Marchesini|2009|p=153}}.</ref>
|-
|''ma''
|not
|''*meh₁''
|Albanian: ''ma'', ''me'', ''mos''
|Greek: ''mē''
|Sanskrit: ''mā''
|<ref>{{harvnb|Hamp|1966|p=114}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2005|p=38}}; {{harvnb|Marchesini|2009|p=153}}; {{Harvnb|Matzinger|2014|p=26}}.</ref>
|-
|''menza'', ''[[Manduria]]'' (toponym)
|foal
|''*mendyo''
|Proto-Albanian: ''*mandja''; Albanian: ''mëz'' - ''maz'' ('foal') (also root of ''mazrek'' '[[horse breeder]]'), ''mend'' ('to suckle'); Romanian: ''mînz'' ('foal')
|[[Thracian language|Thracian]]: ''mezēnai'' 'horseman'
|Gaulish: ''mandus'' ('foal')
|<ref>{{harvnb|Pisani|1976|p=69}}; {{harvnb|Orel|1998|pp=260, 265}}; {{harvnb|Delamarre|2003|p=215}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2005|p=36}}; {{harvnb|West|2007|pp=137, 146}}; {{Harvnb|Matzinger|2014|p=26}}.</ref>
|-
|''ner''
|man
|''*ner-''
|Proto-Albanian: ''*nera''; Albanian: ''njeri'' ('man')
|Greek: ''ανηρ'' ('man')
|Sanskrit: ''nar-'' ('man')
|<ref>{{harvnb|Pisani|1976|p=71}}.</ref>
|-
|''penkaheh''
|five
|
|Proto-Albanian: ''*pentše;'' Albanian: ''pesë'' ('five')
|
|Lithuanian: ''penki'' ('five')
|<ref>{{harvnb|De Simone|2017|p=1844}}.</ref>
|-
|''pi-''
|on, thereon
|
|[[Gheg Albanian#Malsia Albanian|MM Gheg Albanian]] ''pi'', [[Tosk Albanian]] ''mbi'' ('over, above')
|Greek πι
|Sanskrit ''pi-''
|<ref>{{harvnb|Dedvukaj|2023b|pp=274–275}}</ref>
|-
|''rhīnós''
|fog, mist, cloud
|
|Proto-Albanian: ''*rina'': Albanian: ''re, rê, rên'' ('cloud')
|
|
|<ref>{{harvnb|Orel|1998|p=366}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2005|pp=36–37}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2017|p=1790}}.</ref>
|-
|''tabarā; tabaras''
|priestess; priest (lit. 'offerer')
|''*to-bhorā''; ''*to-bhoros''
|Albanian: ''të bie/të bar, bjer/bar'' ('bring', 'carry')
|Greek: φορός ('bring')
|Latin: ''ferō'' ('bring')
|<ref>{{harvnb|Hamp|1966|p=114}}; {{harvnb|Pisani|1976|p=71}}; {{harvnb|Marchesini|2009|p=154}}; {{Harvnb|Matzinger|2014|p=26}}; {{harvnb|De Simone|2017|p=|pp=1842, 1844}}.</ref>
|-
|''teutā''
''Taotor''
|community, people
''(name of a god)''
|''*Toutor''
|Illyrian: ''[[Teuta|Teuta(na)]]'' ('mistress of the people', 'queen')
|
|[[Oscan language|Oscan]]: ''touto'' ('community'); [[Old Irish]]: ''túath'' ('tribe, people'); Lithuanian: ''tautà'' ('people'); [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''þiuda'' 'folk'
|<ref>{{Harvnb|Boardman|Sollberger|1982|pp=869–870}}; {{Harvnb|Mallory|Adams|1997|pp=288, 417}}; {{Harvnb|West|2007|p=137}}; {{harvnb|Marchesini|2009|p=154}}; {{harvnb|De Simone|2017|p=1844}}</ref>
|-
|''veinan''
|his; one's
|
|Albanian: ''vetë'' ('himself, oneself')
|
|Sanskrit: ''svayàm'' ('himself')
|<ref>{{harvnb|Pisani|1976|p=69}}; {{harvnb|Matzinger|2005|pp=38–39}}.</ref>
|-
|''Vèrnula''
|toponym (a village near [[Lecce]]), from a root meaning 'alder'
|
|[[Albanoid]] ''*u̯irnā'': Albanian ''verrë'' ('alder')
|
|
|<ref>{{harvnb|Hamp|1996|pp=89–90}}.</ref>
|-
|''Venas''
|desire ''(name of a goddess)''
|''*wenos''
|
|
|Latin: ''[[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]''; [[Indo-Aryan languages|Old Indic]]: ''vánas'' ('desire')
|<ref>{{harvnb|De Simone|2017|p=1843}}.</ref>
|-
|''[[Zis (deity)|Zis]]''
|sky-god
|''*dyēs''
|Albanian ''[[Zojz (deity)|Zojz]]'' ('sky-god')
|Greek ''[[Zeus]]''; [[Tymphaea]]n: ''[[Deipaturos]]'' ('daylight-sky-father'), considered a loanword from Illyrian
|Hittite: ''šīuš'' ('god'); Sanskrit: ''[[Dyaus|Dyáuṣ]]''; Latin: ''[[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]'' ('sky-god')
|<ref>{{harvnb|Søborg|2020|p=74}}; {{Harvnb|Mann|1952|p=32}}; {{Harvnb|West|2007|pp=166–168}}; {{Harvnb|Matzinger|2014|p=26}}; {{harvnb|De Simone|2017|p=1843}}.</ref>
|}

== Language contact ==
===Italic===
[[File:Samnium.jpg|thumb|250px|Southern [[Samnium]] and northern Apulia were major regions of Iapygian-Italic linguistic contact]]
Since its settlement, Messapic was in contact with the [[Italic languages]] of the region. In the centuries before Roman annexation, the frontier between Messapic and [[Oscan language|Oscan]] ran through Frentania-[[Irpinia]]-[[Lucania]]-Apulia. An "Oscanization" and "Samnitization" process gradually took place which is attested in contemporary sources via the attestation of dual identities for settlements. In these regions an Oscan/Lucanian population and a large Daunian element intermixed in different ways. [[Larinum]], a settlement which has produced a large body of Oscan onomastics is described as a "Daunian city" and [[Horace]] who was from [[Venusia]] in the transboundary area between the Daunians and the Lucanians described himself as  "Lucanian or Apulian". The creation of Roman colonies in southern Italy after the early 4th century BCE had a great impact in the Latinization of the area.{{sfn|Torelli|1995|pp=142-144}}

A small corpus of Messapic vocabulary did pass into Latin. They include ''baltea'' from ''balta'' (swamp), ''deda'' (nurse), ''gandeia'' (sword), ''horeia'' (small fishing boat), ''mannus'' (pony/small horse) from ''manda''. Messapic was an intermediary for the passing of several, mostly ancient Greek words, into Latin such as ''paro'' (small ship) from Greek ''paroon''. The Latin form of ''Odysseus'',  ''Ulixes'' might derive from a Messapic variant like the ethnonym ''Graeci'' which may have been used in its original form by Illyrians for their Greek neighbours in Epirus. A Messapic morphological intermediary has been proposed for Latin ''lancea'' (spear) and ''balaena'' (from Greek ''phallaina''). In literature, Horace and Ennius who came from the region are the only authors of Roman antiquity who have preserved the non-Italic word ''laama'' (swamp) which might be Messapic.{{sfn|Palmer|1988|pp=39-41}}

===Ancient Greek===
The Messapic verbal form ''eipeigrave'' ('wrote, incised'; variant ''ipigrave'') is a notable loanword from Greek (with the initial stem ''eipigra-'', ''ipigra-'' deriving from [[Epigraphy|''epigrá-phō'']], ἐπιγράφω, 'inscribe, engrave'), and is probably related to the fact that the Messapic alphabet has been borrowed from an Archaic Greek script.{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1846}} Other Greek loanwords include ''argora-pandes'' ('coin officials', with the first part deriving from ἄργυρος),{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1846}} and names of deities like ''[[Athena|Athana]]'' and perhaps ''Aprodita'',{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1843}}{{Sfn|Krahe|1946|p=199–200}} however the latter name is considered to be a Messapic theonym of an [[Proto-Indo-European mythology|Indo-European]] goddess.{{sfn|Marchesini|2021|p=16}} It coincides with the [[Proto-Albanian]] ''*apro dītā'' 'come forth brightness of the day/dawn', which could be the original source of the Ancient Greek [[Aphrodite]], and which is preserved in the Albanian phrase ''[[Afrodita|afro dita]]'' 'come forth the day/dawn', referring to the planet [[Venus]],{{sfn|Dedvukaj|2023a|pp=1–4}} and also used to refer to [[Prende]], the dawn goddess, goddess of love, beauty, fertility, health and protector of women, in the [[Albanian paganism|Albanian pagan mythology]], the equivalent of Ancient Greek Aphrodite.

The origin of the Messapic goddess ''Damatura/Damatira'' is debated: scholars like [[Vladimir I. Georgiev]] (1937), [[Eqrem Çabej]], [[Shaban Demiraj]] (1997), or [[Martin Litchfield West|Martin L. West]] (2007) have argued that she was an Illyrian goddess eventually borrowed into Greek as [[Demeter]],{{Sfn|Orel|1998|p=80}}{{sfn|West|2007|p=176}} while others like [[Paul Kretschmer]] (1939), [[Robert S. P. Beekes]] (2009) and [[Carlo De Simone (linguist)|Carlo De Simone]] (2017) have argued for the contrary.{{sfn|Beekes|2009|p=324}}{{Sfn|De Simone|2017|p=1843}} More recently it is considered a Messapic theonym of an Indo-European goddess by Marchesini (2021).{{sfn|Marchesini|2021|p=16}}

==See also==
*[[Paleo Balkan languages]]
*[[List of ancient peoples of Italy]]

==Sources==
===Footnotes===
{{reflist|group=note}}
{{notelist|}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
<!-- A -->
*{{Cite book|last=Adams|first=James N.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMc1WQAnRTkC|title=Bilingualism and the Latin Language|date=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-81771-4|language=en}}
*{{cite book|last=Aigner-Foresti|first=Luciana|title=Dall'Adriatico al Danubio: l'Illirico nell'età greca e romana: atti del convegno internazionale, Cividale del Friuli, 25-27 settembre 2003|chapter=Gli Illiri in Italia:istituzioni politiche nella Messapia preromana|editor=Gianpaolo Urso|publisher=ETS|series=I convegni della Fondazione Niccolò Canussio|year=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SCNpAAAAMAAJ|isbn=884671069X|pages=79–94}}
<!-- B -->
*{{cite book|last=Baliu|first=Begzad|title=Onomastikë dhe identitet|trans-title=Onomastics and Identity|year=2012|publisher=Era|isbn=978-9951-04-071-6|language=sq|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikibooks/sq/9/9d/Begzad_Baliu._Onomastike_dhe_identitet_paust.pdf}}
*{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lw7KxwEACAAJ|title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek|last=Beekes|first=Robert S. P.|year=2009|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-32186-1|language=en|author-link=Robert S. P. Beekes}}
*{{cite book|editor-last=Bejko|editor-first=Lorenc|title=Die Illyrer: Katalog zu einer Ausstellung von archäologischen Funden der albanischen Eisenzeit (12.-4. Jh. v. Chr.) aus den Sammlungen des Archäologischen Institutes der Albanischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Tirana und des Archäologischen Museums in Durres, Albanien ; Sonderausstellung im Museum für Urgeschichte des Landes Niederösterreich, Asparn an der Zaya, vom 3. April bis 30. November 2004|publisher=Amt der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung, Abteilung Kultur und Wissenschaft|year=2004|isbn=9783854602156|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SSNpAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last1=Boardman|first1=John|last2=Sollberger|first2=E.|title=The Cambridge Ancient History: The Prehistory of the Balkans; and the Middle East and the Aegean world, tenth to eighth centuries B.C.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=III (part 1)|year=1982|edition=2|editor1=J. Boardman|editor2=I. E. S. Edwards|editor3=N. G. L. Hammond|editor4=E. Sollberger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vXljf8JqmkoC|isbn=0521224969}}
*{{cite book|last=Buda|first=Aleks|author-link=Aleks Buda|title=Problems of the formation of the Albanian people, their language and culture: conference (selection)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BIlpAAAAMAAJ|year=1984|publisher=The "8 Nëntori" Pub. House}}
*{{cite thesis|last=Buqinca|first=Arianit|year=2021|title=Recherche sur les Dardaniens: VIe- Ier siècles av. J.- C.
|publisher=Université de Lyon|url=http://www.theses.fr/2021LYSE2007}}
<!-- C -->
*{{cite book|last1=Cortelazzo|first1=Manlio|last2=Marcato|first2=Carla|title=I dialetti italiani: dizionario etimologico, Volume 1|editor=Manlio Cortelazzo|chapter=càrpë|publisher=UTET|year=1998|isbn=9788802052113|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obQKAQAAMAAJ|page=120}}
<!-- D -->
*{{cite journal|last=Dedvukaj|first=Lindon|title=Linguistic evidence for the Indo-European and Albanian origin of Aphrodite|journal=Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America|publisher=[[Linguistic Society of America]]|doi=10.3765/plsa.v8i1.5500|volume=8|number=1|year=2023a|page=5500 |s2cid=258381736 |doi-access=free}}
*{{cite book|last=Dedvukaj|first=Lindon|title=ICHL26: International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Universität Heidelberg, 4-8 Sept. 2023 : Book of Abstracts|chapter=Reanalyzing the Historical Constructions of Albanian Prepositions|publisher=Universität Heidelberg|year=2023b|pages=274–275|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUdo0AEACAAJ}}
*{{Cite book|last=Delamarre|first=Xavier|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C3BKPgAACAAJ|title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental|date=2003|publisher=Errance|isbn=9782877723695|language=fr|author-link=Xavier Delamarre}}
*{{cite book|last=Demiraj|first=Bardhyl|title=Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz|series=Leiden Studies in Indo-European|volume=7|year=1997|language=de|place=Amsterdam, Atlanta|publisher=Rodopi}}
*{{cite book|last=Demiraj|first=Shaban|author-link=Shaban Demiraj|title=Gjuhësi Ballkanike|trans-title=Balkan Linguistics|chapter=Gjendja gjuhësore e Gadishullit Ballkanik në lashtësi|trans-chapter=The linguistic situation of the Balkan Peninsula in antiquity|publisher=[[Academy of Sciences of Albania]]|year=2004|isbn=9789994363001|language=sq|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBTnAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{Cite journal|last=De Simone|first=Carlo|date=1988|title=Inscrizione messapiche della grotta della poesia (Melendugno, Lecce)|journal=Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. Classe di Lettere e Filosofia|volume=18|issue=2|pages=325–415|jstor=24307508|issn=0392-095X|author-link=Carlo De Simone (linguist)}}
*{{Citation |last=de Simone |first=Carlo |title=Messapic language |url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4139 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics |year=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.4139 |isbn=978-0-19-938113-5|url-access=subscription }}
*{{Cite book|last=De Simone|first=Carlo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SuR8DwAAQBAJ|title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics|date=2017|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|volume=3|isbn=978-3-11-054243-1|editor-last=Klein|editor-first=Jared|language=en|chapter=Messapic|editor-last2=Joseph|editor-first2=Brian|editor-last3=Fritz|editor-first3=Matthias}}
*{{Cite book|last=de Vaan|first=Michiel|title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics|date=2017|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-054243-1|volume=3|editor-last=Klein|editor-first=Jared|chapter=The phonology of Albanian|author-link=Michiel de Vaan|editor-last2=Joseph|editor-first2=Brian|editor-last3=Fritz|editor-first3=Matthias}}
*{{cite book|title=Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages|volume=7|series=Indo-European Etymological dictionary series|issn=1574-3586|first=Michiel |last=de Vaan|publisher=Leiden|location=Boston|year=2018|isbn=9789004167971|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ecZ1DwAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite journal|last=Dzino|first=Danijel|title='Illyrians' in ancient ethnographic discourse|journal=Dialogues d'Histoire Ancienne|volume=40|number=2|year=2014|pages=45–65|doi=10.3917/dha.402.0045|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_2014_num_40_2_3944}}
<!-- F -->
*{{cite book|title=The Annals of Quintus Ennius and the Italic Tradition|last=Fisher|first=Jay|publisher=JHU Press|year=2014|isbn=9781421411293|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DFrCAwAAQBAJ}}
*{{Cite book|last=Fortson|first=Benjamin W.|title=Indo-European Language and Culture|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=2004|isbn=1-4051-0316-7|author-link=Benjamin W. Fortson IV}}
*{{cite journal|last=Friedman|first=Victor A.|title=The Balkan Languages and Balkan Linguistics|journal=Annual Review of Anthropology|volume=40|year=2011|pages=275–291|doi=10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145932 }}
*{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Victor A.|title=The Routledge Handbook of Language Contact|chapter=The Balkans|series=Routledge Handbooks in Linguistics|editor=[[Evangelia Adamou]], [[Yaron Matras]]|publisher=Routledge|year=2020|isbn=9781351109147|pages=385–403|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x4rvDwAAQBAJ}}
<!-- G -->
*{{cite book|last=Graham|first=A. J.|chapter=The Colonial Expansion of Greece|title=The Cambridge Ancient History: The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries B.C.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=III (part 3)|year=1982|edition=2|editor1=John Boardman|editor2=N. G. L. Hammond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0qAoqP4g1fEC|isbn=0521234476}}
<!-- H -->
*{{Cite book|last=Hamp|first=Eric P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5pCBRsfJMv8C|title=Ancient Indo-European Dialects: Proceedings of the Conference on Indo-European Linguistics Held at the University of California, Los Angeles, April 25-27, 1963|date=1966|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520001206|editor-last=Birnbaum|editor-first=Henrik|editor-link=Henrik Birnbaum|language=en|chapter=The Position of Albanian|author-link=Eric P. Hamp|editor-last2=Puhvel|editor-first2=Jaan|editor-link2=Jaan Puhvel}}
*{{cite journal|last=Hamp|first=Eric P.|author-link=Eric P. Hamp|title=Varia|journal=Études Celtiques|volume=32|year=1996|pages=87–90|doi=10.3406/ecelt.1996.2087 |issn=0373-1928}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Hamp |first1=Eric |last2=Adams |first2=Douglas |title=The Expansion of the Indo-European Languages: An Indo-Europeanist's Evolving View |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |date=2013 |volume=239 |url=https://toosfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/spp239_indo_european_languages.pdf}}
*{{cite book|last1=Hyllested |first1=Adam| last2=Joseph |first2=Brian D.|title= The Indo-European Language Family|publisher= Cambridge University Press|year=2022|isbn= 9781108499798|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xzKAEAAAQBAJ&dq=The+Indo-European+Language+Family+edited+by+Thomas+Olander&pg=PR7 |chapter=Albanian}}
<!-- I -->
*{{cite book|last=Ismajli|first=Rexhep|title=Studime për historinë e shqipes në kontekst ballkanik|trans-title=Studies on the History of Albanian in the Balkan context|editor=Eqrem Basha|publisher=Kosova Academy of Sciences and Arts, special editions CLII, Section of Linguistics and Literature|number=55|year=2015|place=Prishtinë|language=sq}}
<!-- K -->
*{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e552/842b520d682d11bb5ee9defc5a1075443d2a.pdf|title=Jarhbücher f. d. Altertumswiss|last=Krahe|first=Hans|year=1946|pages=199–204|chapter=Die illyrische Naniengebung (Die Götternamen)|s2cid=54995190|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307184806/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e552/842b520d682d11bb5ee9defc5a1075443d2a.pdf|archive-date=2019-03-07|author-link=Hans Krahe|language=de}}
*{{cite book|last=Katičić|first=Radoslav|title=Illyricum mythologicum|year=1995|publisher=Antibarbarus|isbn=9789536160327|place=Zagreb|language=hr|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6HviAAAAMAAJ}}
<!-- L -->
*{{cite book |last1=Lamboley |first1=Jean-Luc |title=Recherches sur les Messapiens, IVe-IIe siècle avant J.-C. |date=1996 |publisher=Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d'Athènes et de Rome |isbn=2728303606 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/befar_0257-4101_1996_mon_292_1}}
<!-- M -->
*{{cite journal|last=Majer|first=Marek|title=Parahistoria indoevropiane e fjalës shqipe për 'motrën'|trans-title=Indo-European Prehistory of the Albanian Word for 'Sister'|journal=Seminari Ndërkombëtar për Gjuhën, Letërsinë dhe Kulturën Shqiptare|trans-journal=International Seminar for Albanian Language, Literature and Culture|year=2019|issue=38|volume=1|issn=2521-3687|language=sq|publisher=[[University of Prishtina]]|pages=252–266}}
*{{citation|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC|year=1997|last1=Mallory|first1=James P.|place=London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-884964-98-5|last2=Adams|first2=Douglas Q.|author1-link=J. P. Mallory|author2-link=Douglas Q. Adams}}
*{{cite journal|last=Mann|first=Stuart E.|title=The Indo-European Consonants in Albanian|journal=Language|volume=28|number=1|year=1952|publisher=Linguistic Society of America|pages=31–40|jstor=409988|doi=10.2307/409988}}
*{{Cite book|last=Mann|first=Stuart E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3LJiAAAAMAAJ|title=An Albanian Historical Grammar|date=1977|publisher=Buske|isbn=978-3-87118-262-4|language=en}}
*{{Cite book|last=Marchesini|first=Simona|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CmAqAQAAIAAJ|title=Le lingue frammentarie dell'Italia antica: manuale per lo studio delle lingue preromane|date=2009|publisher=U. Hoepli|isbn=978-88-203-4166-4|language=it}}
*{{cite journal|last=Marchesini |first=Simona |title=Messapico |year=2020 |language=it |journal=Palaeohispanica: Revista sobre lenguas y culturas de la Hispania antigua |number=20 |pages=495–530 |doi=10.36707/palaeohispanica.v0i20.378|s2cid=243412082 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite book|last=Marchesini|first=Simona|chapter=I Messapi nel Mediterraneo|trans-chapter=The Messapians in the Mediterranean|title=Storia dei Mediterranei: Relazioni linguistiche, viaggi, politiche di dominio, conflitti. Annale 3|series=Mediterraneo e storia|volume=35|publisher=Edizioni di storia e studi sociali|year=2021|isbn=9788899168544|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mF3OzgEACAAJ|pages=10–42}}
*{{cite journal|last=Marchesini|first=Simona|title=Ancient Pilgrimage and Inscriptions. Examples from Pre-Roman Rock-Inscriptions of Italy|journal=Mythos Rivista di Storia delle Religioni|volume=17|year=2023a|url=https://journals.openedition.org/mythos/6003|issn=2037-7746|publisher=Salvatore Sciascia Editore}}
*{{cite journal|last=Matasović|first=Ranko|title=Skokove 'ilirske' etimologije|pages=89–101|journal=Folia onomastica Croatica|year=1995|issue=4|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/158643|language=Croatian}}
*{{Cite report|last=Matasović|first=Ranko|author-link=Ranko Matasović|year=2012|title=A Grammatical Sketch of Albanian for Students of Indo-European|url=http://mudrac.ffzg.unizg.hr/~rmatasov/Albanian.pdf|publisher=University of Zagreb}}
*{{cite journal|last=Matzinger|first=Joachim|title=Messapisch und Albanisch|year=2005|language=de|journal=International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction|number=2|pages=29–54}}
*{{Citation|last=Matzinger|first=Joachim|date=2014|title=Einführung ins Messapische|url=https://www.academia.edu/8686856|language=de|location=Vienna}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Matzinger|first=Joachim|title=Messapico e illirico|date=2015|journal=Idomeneo
|url=http://siba-ese.unile.it/index.php/idomeneo/article/view/15282|volume=19|pages=57–66|publisher=University of Salento|doi=10.1285/i20380313v19p57|issn=2038-0313}}
*{{Cite book|last=Matzinger|first=Joachim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SuR8DwAAQBAJ|title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics|date=2017|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|volume=3|isbn=978-3-11-054243-1|editor-last=Klein|editor-first=Jared|language=en|chapter=The Lexicon of Albanian|editor-last2=Joseph|editor-first2=Brian|editor-last3=Fritz|editor-first3=Matthias}}
*{{cite book|last=Matzinger|first=Joachim|title=Messapisch|series=Kurzgrammatiken indogermanischer Sprachen und Sprachstufen|volume=2|publisher=Dr Ludwig Reichert Verlag|year=2019|language=de|isbn=978-3954903986|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3YcAxQEACAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Matzinger|first=Joachim|chapter=Ancient Languages of the Balkans|title=Comparison and Gradation in Indo-European |editor=Götz Keydana |editor2=Wolfgang Hock |editor3=Paul Widmer|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|year=2021|isbn=9783110637434|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XZY9EAAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Mërkuri|first=Nexhip|editor-last=Ibrahimi|editor-first=Zeqirija|title=Shaban Demiraj – figurë e shquar e albanologjisë dhe ballkanologjisë|trans-title=Shaban Demiraj – prominent figure of Albanianology and Balkanology|chapter=Gjuhësia e përgjithshme dhe këndvështrimet bashkëkohore për Epirin dhe mesapët|trans-chapter=General Linguistics and Contemporary Perspectives on Epirus and the Messapians|publisher=Instituti i Trashëgimisë Shpirtërore e Kulturore të Shqiptarëve – Shkup|year=2015|isbn=9786084653240|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsixnQAACAAJ|pages=57|language=sq}}
<!-- O -->
*{{Cite book|last=Orel|first=Vladimir E.|author-link=Vladimir Orel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJQYAQAAIAAJ|title=Albanian Etymological Dictionary|date=1998|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-11024-3|language=en}}
*{{cite journal|last=Pisani|first=Vittore|title=Gli Illiri in Italia|year=1976|journal=Iliria|volume=5|pages=67–73|language=it|doi=10.3406/iliri.1976.1213}}
<!-- P -->
*{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Leonard Robert |title=The Latin Language |date=1988 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=080612136X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O7z4Sl-SgFEC}}
*{{Cite book|last=Pisani|first=Vittore|title=Linguistica e filologia: atti del VII Convegno internazionale di linguisti tenuto a Milano nei giorni 12-14 settembre 1984|publisher=Paideia|year=1987|isbn=8839403922|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VE4tAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Poli|first=Diego|chapter=Quale significato per il significante ''ri''? Alla ricerca della 'regalità' in Irlanda|title=Re e popolo: Istituzioni arcaiche tra storia e comparazione|editor-last=Fiori|editor-first=Roberto|publisher=V&R Unipress|year=2019|isbn=9783847010227|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f8PkEAAAQBAJ|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f8PkEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA527|pages=527–602}}
<!-- R -->
*{{cite book|title=The Indo-European Languages|last=Rusakov|first=Alexander|publisher=Routledge|year=2017|isbn=9781317391531|editor1-last=Kapović|editor1-first=Mate|pages=552–602|chapter=Albanian|editor2-last=Giacalone Ramat|editor2-first=Anna|editor3-last=Ramat|editor3-first=Paolo|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8i0lDwAAQBAJ}}
<!-- S -->
*{{Cite book|editor-last=Salvemini|editor-first=Biagio|editor-last2=Massafra|editor-first2=Angelo|title=Storia della Puglia. Dalle origini al Seicento|publisher=Laterza|language=it|isbn=8842077992|volume=1|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vadoAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Savić|first1=Danilo|last2=Ligorio|first2=Orsat|title=Illyrian and Slavic|date=2022|journal=Lucida Intervalla|volume=51|pages=3–41|location=Beograd|publisher=Filozofski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu|issn=1450-6645|url=https://dais.sanu.ac.rs/123456789/13679}}
*{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WmSnBAAAQBAJ|last=Small|first=Alastair|title=The Italic People of Ancient Apulia: New Evidence from Pottery for Workshops, Markets, and Customs|editor-last=Carpenter|editor-first=T. H.|editor-last2=Lynch|editor-first2=K. M.|editor-last3=Robinson|editor-first3=E. G. D.|date=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-99270-1|chapter=Pots, Peoples and Places in Fourth-Century B.C.E. Apulia|language=en}}
*{{cite thesis|last=Søborg|first=Tobias Mosbæk|title=Sigmatic Verbal Formations in Anatolian and Indo-European: A Cladistic Study|publisher=University of Copenhagen, Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics|year=2020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzBdzgEACAAJ}}
<!-- T -->
*{{cite book |last1=Torelli |first1=Mario |title=Studies in the Romanization of Italy |date=1995 |publisher=University of Alberta |isbn=0888642415 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j9nMWRAENUMC}}
*{{cite book|last=Trask|first=Robert Lawrence|author-link=Larry Trask|title=The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jacxEAAAQBAJ|publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]]|year=2019|orig-year=2000|isbn=9781474473316}}
*{{cite book|last=Trumper|first=John|chapter=Some Celto-Albanian isoglosses and their implications|editor1-last=Grimaldi|editor1-first=Mirko|editor2-last=Lai|editor2-first=Rosangela|editor3-last=Franco|editor3-first=Ludovico|editor4-last=Baldi|editor4-first=Benedetta|title=Structuring Variation in Romance Linguistics and Beyond: In Honour of Leonardo M. Savoia|year=2018|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|isbn=9789027263179|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAR-DwAAQBAJ}}
*{{Cite book|last=van Driem|first=George|author-link=George van Driem|title=Languages of the Himalayas|volume=2|year=2022|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-51492-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6tGLEAAAQBAJ}}
<!-- W -->
*{{cite book|title=Indo-European Poetry and Myth|last=West|first=Martin L.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0199280759|author-link=Martin Litchfield West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXrJA_5LKlYC}}
*{{Cite book|last=Wilkes|first=J. J.|author-link=J. J. Wilkes|title=The Illyrians|location=Oxford, United Kingdom|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=1992|isbn=0-631-19807-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Nv6SPRKqs8C}}
* {{cite book|last=Woodard|first=Roger D.|title=The Ancient Languages of Europe|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientlanguages00roge|url-access=registration|date=2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-46932-6}}
<!-- Y -->
*{{cite book|last=Yntema|first=Douwe|title=The Peoples of Ancient Italy|chapter=The Pre-Roman Peoples of Apulia (1000-100 BC)|series=De Gruyter Reference|editor=Gary D. Farney, Guy Bradley|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|year=2017|isbn=9781614513001|pages=337–|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UElADwAAQBAJ|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UElADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA337}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* Lomas, Kathryn. "Crossing Boundaries: The Inscribed Votives of Southeast Italy." Pallas, no. 86, 2011, pp.&nbsp;311–329. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43606696. Accessed 15 Apr. 2020.
* {{cite book |last1=Lombardo |first1=Mario |last2=Boffa |first2=Giovanni |chapter=Contact and Interaction between Greeks and Messapians |title=Alloglо̄ssoi: Multilingualism and Minority Languages in Ancient Europe |editor1-first=Albio Cesare |editor1-last=Cassio |editor2-first=Sara |editor2-last=Kaczko |location=Berlin, Boston |publisher=De Gruyter |date=2023 |pages=215–250 |doi=10.1515/9783110779684-010|isbn=9783110779684 }}
* {{cite book |last=Marchesini |first=Simona |chapter=The Messapic Inscription from Grotta Poesia MLM 3 Ro: Analysis with Frame Semantics |title=Alloglо̄ssoi: Multilingualism and Minority Languages in Ancient Europe |editor1-first=Albio Cesare |editor1-last=Cassio |editor2-first=Sara |editor2-last=Kaczko |location=Berlin, Boston |publisher=De Gruyter |date=2023b |pages=283–298 |doi=10.1515/9783110779684-012|isbn=9783110779684 }}
* {{Cite journal|last=Meudler|first=Marcel|date=2003|title=Mézence, un théonyme messapien ?|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/rea_0035-2004_2003_num_105_1_5647|journal=Revue des Études Anciennes|volume=105|issue=1|pages=5–15|doi=10.3406/rea.2003.5647}}
* ''Messapische Studien''. Inschriften mit Kommentar, Skizze einer Laut- und Formenlehre. Von Otto Haas Universitätdozent - Wien. Heidelberg: Carl Winter - Universitätsverlag. 1962.

== External links ==
* [http://www.altosalentorivieradeitrulli.it/nuova_pagina_17.htm Civiltà messapica] {{in lang|it}}
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1503336/Archaeologists-find-western-worlds-oldest-map.html Archaeologists find western world's oldest map].  Telegraph Newspaper Online, November 19, 2005.

{{Paleo-Balkan languages}}
{{Illyrians}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Messapian Language}}
[[Category:Unclassified Indo-European languages]]
[[Category:Languages of ancient Italy]]
[[Category:Salento]]
[[Category:Paleo-Balkan languages]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 6th century BC]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 1st century BC]]
[[Category:Illyrian languages]]