Messapic has been traditionally classified as connected to “Illyrian”, although the very concept of a language behind Illyrian tribe names is not tenable today. The “Messapic language” is better confined to the inscriptions of the Salento peninsula, south of a hypothetical line connecting Brindisi-Taranto, which is where the name of Messapians (Messāpii, Mεσσάπιοι) is found in ancient sources. Indigenous inscriptions are attested here since ca. mid–6th c. BC, with a homogeneous linguistic community designated by the traditional name “Iapygian” (Simone 2018).
The prolific use in Messapic documents of European common appellative *teutā ‘people, community’, as well as deities connecting the language to Italic, makes it quite likely that it belonged to the North-West Indo-European language expanding with Bell Beakers into the Apennine Peninsula.
Common features include (Simone 2018):
· NWIE *o → Messapic a.
· Diphthong *ou, *eu → *ou → Messapic ao.
· Multiple palatalisations, such as Bla(t)ϑes =Blatses/Blatšes < *Blati̯os, Zis < *di̯ēs.
· Vocalisation of syllabic nasal, cf. anda < *n̥do ‘and, as well’.
· Probable deaspiration of voiced aspirates: *bh → *b, *dh → *d.
· NWIE *s → Messapic h.
· Genitive in –(i)hi probably comparable to Italo-Celtic -ī-genitive.
The following is a tentative version of the fable in Proto-Messapic, based on the scarce data available, assuming a close similarity with the Italo-Celtic group.
avih ekōh-ke. |
|
avih i̯āi vlanā ne eht |
ekōn vaiðet; |
tam graum vegam vegantəm, |
tam maɣam baram, |
tam gəmanəm ōku berantəm. |
avih ekabah vaoket: |
“kēr agetar moi, |
viram ekōn aɣantəm viðəntei.” |
ekōh vaokantsi: “klaodi, avih! |
kēr agetar noh vidəntbah: |
virah, patih, avii̯am vlanām |
sebei garmām vehtim dedōti. |
avii̯am-ke vlānā ne ehtsi.” |
tad kekluvah, avih aɣram buɣet. |