Pre-Indo-European languages
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The term pre-Indo-European languages relates to several (not necessarily related) non-classified languages that existed in prehistoric Europe and South Asia before the arrival of speakers of Indo-European languages. The oldest Indo-European language texts date from 19th century BC in Kültepe in modern-day Turkey, and while estimates vary widely spoken Indo-European languages are believed to have developed at the latest by the third millennium BC (see Proto-Indo-European Urheimat hypotheses).
Some of the pre-Indo-European languages are attested only as linguistic substrates in Indo-European languages; however, some others (like Etruscan, Minoan, Iberian etc.) are also attested with inscriptions, most of them dating back to the Bronze Age.
Surviving pre-Indo-European languages include the Basque language, Nihali, and Burushaski.
Examples of suggested substrate influences on Indo-European languages:
- substrate to Anatolian: Hurro-Urartian languages and Hattic language
- Substrate in Vedic Sanskrit
- Harappan language
- Vedda language (a dialect of Sinhalese containing pre-Sinhalese substrate lexicon)
- Elamite language
- Dravidian languages
- substrates to early (undifferentiated or partly differentiated) Indo-European in the Centum areal
- Pre-Greek substrate
- Pelasgian
- Eteocretan (see also Minoan language, Linear A, Cretan hieroglyphs)
- Eteocypriot (see also Cypro-Minoan script)
- Pre-Celtic of the British Isles, see Celtic settlement of Great Britain and Ireland
- Insular Celtic
- Goidelic substrate hypothesis
- Pictish language (since about 2000, generally classified as Celtic)
- Continental Celtic
- Paleohispanic languages
- Iberian language
- Tartessian language (classification as Celtic has been proposed)
- Insular Celtic
- Italic:
- Tyrrhenian languages including at least:
- Camunic language (probably Raetic or Celtic)
- Elymian language (probably Indo-European)
- North Picene language
- Paleosardic language (aka Paleosardinian, Protosardic, Nuraghic language)
- Sicanian language
- Sicel language (probably Indo-European)
See also
- Languages of Neolithic Europe
- Pre-Indo-European (disambiguation)
- Saami languages (containing pre-Uralic substrate)
- Proto-Euphratean language