View source for Paeonian language

{{Short description|Extinct Indo-European language of the Balkans}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Paeonian
| altname          = Paionian
| region           = [[Paeonia (kingdom)|Paeonia]] <small>(Modern [[North Macedonia]], northern [[Greece]], south-western [[Bulgaria]])</small>
| extinct          = [[Late antiquity]]
| ref              = 
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| iso3             = none
| glotto           = none
| linglist         = 0iz
| fam2             = (unclassified)
| ethnicity        = [[Paeonians]]
}}
{{Indo-European topics}}

'''Paeonian''',<ref>Harry van der Hulst, Rob Goedemans and Ellen van Zanten as ed., A Survey of Word Accentual Patterns in the Languages of the World, Empirical Approaches to Language Typology, Walter de Gruyter, 2010, {{ISBN|311019631X}}, p. 433.</ref> sometimes spelled '''Paionian''', is a poorly attested, extinct language spoken by the ancient [[Paeonians]] until [[late antiquity]].

[[Paeonia (kingdom)|Paeonia]] was located to the north of [[Macedon]], south of [[Kingdom of Dardania|Dardania]], west of [[Thrace]], and east of the southernmost [[Illyrians]].

==Classification==

Classical sources usually considered the [[Paeonians]] distinct from the rest of the [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan people]], comprising their own ethnicity and language. It is considered a Paleo-Balkan language but this is only a geographical grouping, not a genealogical one. Modern linguists are uncertain as to the classification of Paeonian, due to the extreme scarcity of surviving materials in the language, with numerous hypotheses having been published:

* [[Wilhelm Tomaschek]] and [[Paul Kretschmer]] have put forward an “Illyrian” hypothesis (i.e a part of the linguistic complex of the ancient north-western [[Balkans]]) which, according to [[Radoslav Katičić]], seems to be the prevailing opinion.<ref name=":2">[[Radoslav Katicic]], (2012) Ancient Languages of the Balkans: n.a. Volume 4 of Trends in Linguistics. Walter de Gruyter, p. 119, {{ISBN|3111568873}}.</ref>
*Dimitar Dečev and [[Susan Wise Bauer]] proposed a [[Thracian language|Thracian]] hypothesis.<ref>Susan Wise Bauer (2007). ''The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome.'' {{ISBN|0-393-05974-X}}, page 518: "... Italy); to the north, Thracian tribes known collectively as the Paeonians."</ref>
*[[Francesco Billari|Francesco Villari]] proposed a [[Thraco-Illyrian]] hypothesis.<ref>Francesco Villari. ''Gli Indoeuropei e le origini dell'Europa''. Il Mulino, 1997. {{ISBN|88-15-05708-0}}.</ref>
* [[Karl Julius Beloch|Karl Beloch]], [[Ioannis Svoronos]] and Irwin L. Merker consider Paeonian an [[Ancient Greek|ancient Greek dialect]] (or a lost [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]]  very closely related to Greek, i.e [[Hellenic languages|Hellenic]]) with a great deal of Thracian and Illyrian influence.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Merker|first=Irwin L.|date=1965|title=THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF PAIONIA|url=https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/article/view/578/585|journal=[[Institute for Balkan Studies (Greece)]]|volume=6|issue=1|pages=36–37|via=}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
* [[Vladimir I. Georgiev]] suggested a [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]] affiliation.<ref name=":2" />
* [[Athenaeus]] seems to have connected the Paeonian language to the [[Mysian language]], which was possibly a member of the [[Anatolian languages]], or of the [[Armeno-Phrygian languages]].<ref>cite journal|Hrach Martirosyan “Origins and historical development of the Armenian language” in Journal of Language Relationship, International Scientific Periodical, n.º10 (2013). Russian State University for the Humanities, Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Martirosyan|first=Hrach|title=Origins and Historical Development of the Armenian Language|date=2014|pages=1–23|publisher=Leiden University|url=https://ling.hse.ru/data/2014/09/01/1313574129/Hrach%20Martirosyan%20-%20Handout.pdf|access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref><ref>I. M. Diakonoff [http://rbedrosian.com/Classic/diakph11.htm The Problem of the Mushki] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825171104/http://rbedrosian.com/Classic/diakph11.htm |date=August 25, 2011}} in The Prehistory of the Armenian People</ref>
*[[Radoslav Katičić]] has said that “we know so little about their language that any linguistic affiliation seems meaningless”.<ref name=":2" />

==Paeonian vocabulary==

Several Paeonian words are known from classical sources:

*''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2368440 monapos]'', {{lang|ine-039|monaipos}}, the [[European bison]]
*''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%23103959 tilôn]'', a species of [[fish]] once found in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0004%3aid%3dprasiad-lake Lake Prasias]
*{{lang|ine-039|paprax|italic=yes}}, a species of [[fish]] once found in Lake Prasias. {{lang|ine-039|Paprakas}}, masc. acc. pl.

A number of [[anthroponym]]s (some known only from Paeonian coinage) are attested: {{Transliteration|ine|[[Agis (Paeonian)|Agis]]|italic=no}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Άγις|italic=no}}),
{{Transliteration|ine|[[Patraos]]|italic=no}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Πατράος|italic=no}}), {{Transliteration|ine|[[Lycpeios]]|italic=no}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Λύκπειος|italic=no}}), {{Transliteration|ine|[[Audoleon]]|italic=no}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Αυδολέων|italic=no}}), {{Transliteration|ine|[[Eupolemos]]|italic=no}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Εὐπόλεμος|italic=no}}), {{Transliteration|ine|[[Ariston of Paionia|Ariston]]|italic=no}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Αρίστων|italic=no}}), etc. In addition several toponyms ({{Transliteration|ine|[[Bylazora]]|italic=no}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Βυλαζώρα|italic=no}}), {{Transliteration|ine|[[Astibos]]|italic=no}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Άστιβος|italic=no}}) and a few theonyms {{Transliteration|ine|''Dryalus''}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Δρύαλος|italic=no}}), {{Transliteration|ine|''Dyalos''}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Δύαλος|italic=no}}), the Paeonian [[Dionysus]], as well as the following:

* {{lang|ine-039|Pontos|italic=yes}}, effluent of the [[Strumica River]], perhaps from {{lang|ine|*ponktos|italic=no}}, "boggy" (cf. German {{lang|de|feucht}}, "wet", [[Middle Irish]] {{lang|mga|éicne}} "salmon", [[Sanskrit]] {{Transliteration|sa|pánka}} "mud, mire", [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|pontos}} "passage", "way");
* {{lang|ine-039|[[Idomenae]]}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Ιδομένη}}) (nowadays near [[Gevgelija]]), name of a city (cf. [[Greek language|Greek]] ''[[Idomeneus (mythology)|Idomeneus]]'', proper name in Homer; "[[Mount Ida (Crete)|Ida]]", mountain in [[Crete]]);
* {{lang|ine-039|[[Stobi|Stoboi]]}} (today [[Gradsko, North Macedonia|Gradsko]]), name of a city, from {{lang|ine|*stob(h)|italic=no}} (cf. [[Old Prussian]] {{lang|prg|stabis}} "rock", [[Old Church Slavonic]] {{Transliteration|cu|stoboru}}, "pillar", Old English {{lang|ang|stapol}}, "post", Ancient Greek {{Transliteration|grc|stobos}}, "scolding, bad language");
* {{lang|ine-039|[[Dysoron]]}} ({{lang|ine-Grek-039|Δύσορον}} and {{lang|ine-Grek-039|Δύσωρον}},<ref>[http://www.poesialatina.it/_ns/greek/testi/Suda/Lexicon.html Suda, delta, 1679]</ref> nowadays [[Dysoro]], {{lang|el|Δύσορο}}), name of a mountain, from "dys-", "bad" (cf. [[Greek language|Greek]] {{Transliteration|el|dyskolos}} "difficult", and "oros" [[Greek language|Greek]] {{Transliteration|el|oros}}, "mountain");
* {{lang|ine-039|[[Agrianes]]}}, name of a tribe, possibly from {{lang|ine|*agro-}} "field" (cf. Lat. {{lang|la|ager}}, Grc. {{lang|el|ἀγρός}} {{Transliteration|el|agros}}, Eng. [[acre]]) with cognates in the Greek tribe of Agraioi who lived in [[Aetolia]], and the name of the month Agrianos which is found throughout the [[Doric Greek|Dorian]] and [[Aeolic Greek|Aeolian]] worlds.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Citation|last=Cuche|first=Vincent|title=Dorian festivals|date=2017|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah30116|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History|volume=|pages=1–2|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|language=en|doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah30116|isbn=978-1-4443-3838-6|quote=...an Agrianos month is found throughout the Dorian and Aeolian worlds. (Burkert 1983: 168–79).|access-date=2021-01-02|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|35em}}

== Further reading ==
*Francisco Villar. ''Gli Indoeuropei e le origini dell'Europa''. Il Mulino, 1997. {{ISBN|88-15-05708-0}}
*{{cite web| author=Kevin Hodges| title=Fluent in 60 Seconds: Learning a new language is a breeze—as long as it's Paionian.| publisher=Smithsonian magazine| date=November 2010| url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Fluent-in-60-Seconds.html| access-date=2013-05-11| archive-date=2012-06-25| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625223125/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Fluent-in-60-Seconds.html| url-status=dead}}

{{Paleo-Balkan languages}}
{{Paionians}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paeonian Language}}
[[Category:Paleo-Balkan languages]]
[[Category:Hellenic languages]]
[[Category:Illyrian languages]]
[[Category:Thracian language]]
[[Category:Thraco-Illyrian]]
[[Category:Languages of ancient Macedonia]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 4th century]]
[[Category:Unclassified Indo-European languages]]
[[Category:Varieties of Ancient Greek]]
[[Category:Extinct languages of Europe]]