| Revision as of 20:27, 18 June 2014 editHistoryAddict2000 (talk | contribs)205 edits →Description← Previous edit | Revision as of 20:55, 18 June 2014 edit undoHistoryAddict2000 (talk | contribs)205 editsNo edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 14: | Line 14: | ||
| |linglist=xpu | |linglist=xpu | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| The '''Punic language''', also called '''Carthaginian''' or '''Phoenicio-Punic''', is an extinct variety of the ], a ] of the ]. It was spoken in the ] in ] and several ] by the ] from about 800 BC to 600 AD. The Punics stayed in contact with ] until the ] by the ] in 146 BC. | The '''Punic language''', also called '''Carthaginian''' or '''Phoenicio-Punic''', is an extinct variety of the ], a ] of the ]. It was spoken in the ] in ] and several ] by the ] from about 800 BC to 600 AD. The Punics stayed in contact with ] until the ] by the ] in 146 BC. By around the 4th century AD, Punic had was still spoken in Tunisia, parts of North Africa and the Mediterranean. The Neo-Punic alphabet also descended from the Punic language, by around 400 AD, Punic was mainly used for monumental inscriptions, while the cursive Neo-Punic alphabet was used elsewhere. <ref>http://www.omniglot.com/writing/punic.htm</ref> Examples of Punic literary works cover the topic of Mago, a Punic general with great notoriety, spread Carthage's influence as much through writing books as he did fighting. Mago wrote twenty eight-volumes about husbandry. The Roman Senate appreciated these works so much that after taking Carthage they presented them to African princes who owned libraries there. The Greek version of Mago's works were translated into Greek by Cassius Dionysius of Utica, the Latin version was probably translated into Latin from the Greek version, (the Latin version was ordered to be translated into Latin).Further examples of Punic works of literature include the works of Hanno, not the Hanno who lived in the time of Agathocles of Syracuse, but a more ancient Hanno. Hanno wrote about his encounters during his naval voyages around Africa and about the settling of new colonies. | ||
| == Description == | == Description == | ||
| Line 31: | Line 31: | ||
| Publishing Company |location= |isbn= 90-272-1922-2 |pages= 263 |chapter= Language contact and Maltese intonation: Some parallels with other language varieties }}</ref> Punic was indeed spoken on the island of ] at some point in its history, as evidenced by the ], integral to the decipherment of Punic after its extinction, and other inscriptions found on the islands. | Publishing Company |location= |isbn= 90-272-1922-2 |pages= 263 |chapter= Language contact and Maltese intonation: Some parallels with other language varieties }}</ref> Punic was indeed spoken on the island of ] at some point in its history, as evidenced by the ], integral to the decipherment of Punic after its extinction, and other inscriptions found on the islands. | ||
| The ] language's writing method was similar to that of ], Punic is written from right to left. <ref>http://www.omniglot.com/writing/punic.htm</ref>. | The ] language's writing method was similar to that of ], Punic is written from right to left, in horizontal lines. <ref>http://www.omniglot.com/writing/punic.htm</ref>. This was because it was a language related to Phonenician, and in Phoenician,sentences are written from right, to left in horizontal lines, exactly like Punic. | ||
| == Phonology == | == Phonology == | ||
Revision as of 20:55, 18 June 2014
| Punic | |
|---|---|
| Region | Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, southern Iberia, Libya, Malta |
| Extinct | 1st millennium |
| Language family | Afro-Asiatic |
| Early form | Phoenician |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xpu |
| Linguist List | xpu |
| Glottolog | puni1241 |
The Punic language, also called Carthaginian or Phoenicio-Punic, is an extinct variety of the Phoenician language, a Canaanite language of the Semitic family. It was spoken in the Carthaginian empire in North Africa and several Mediterranean islands by the Punic people from about 800 BC to 600 AD. The Punics stayed in contact with Phoenicia until the destruction of Carthage by the Roman Republic in 146 BC. By around the 4th century AD, Punic had was still spoken in Tunisia, parts of North Africa and the Mediterranean. The Neo-Punic alphabet also descended from the Punic language, by around 400 AD, Punic was mainly used for monumental inscriptions, while the cursive Neo-Punic alphabet was used elsewhere. Examples of Punic literary works cover the topic of Mago, a Punic general with great notoriety, spread Carthage's influence as much through writing books as he did fighting. Mago wrote twenty eight-volumes about husbandry. The Roman Senate appreciated these works so much that after taking Carthage they presented them to African princes who owned libraries there. The Greek version of Mago's works were translated into Greek by Cassius Dionysius of Utica, the Latin version was probably translated into Latin from the Greek version, (the Latin version was ordered to be translated into Latin).Further examples of Punic works of literature include the works of Hanno, not the Hanno who lived in the time of Agathocles of Syracuse, but a more ancient Hanno. Hanno wrote about his encounters during his naval voyages around Africa and about the settling of new colonies.
Description
Punic is known from inscriptions (most of them religious formulae) and personal name evidence. The play Poenulus by Plautus contains a few lines of vernacular Punic, which have been subject to some research because, unlike inscriptions, they largely preserve the vowels.
Augustine of Hippo is generally considered the last major ancient writer to have some knowledge of Punic, and is considered "our primary source on the survival of Punic". According to him, the Punic language was still spoken in his region (Northern Africa) in the 5th century AD, centuries after the fall of Carthage, and there were still people who called themselves "chanani" (Canaanite, i.e.: Carthaginian) at that time. Writing around AD 401, he says:
Quae lingua si improbatur abs te, nega Punicis libris, ut a viris doctissimis proditur, multa sapienter esse mandata memoriae. Poeniteat te certe ibi natum, ubi huius linguae cunabula recalent.
And if the Punic language is rejected by you, you virtually deny what has been admitted by most learned men, that many things have been wisely preserved from oblivion in books written in the Punic tongue. Nay, you ought even to be ashamed of having been born in the country in which the cradle of this language is still warm. (Ep. xvii)
Besides Augustine, the only proof of Punic-speaking communities at such a late period is a series of trilingual funerary texts found in the Christian catacombs of Sirte, Libya: the gravestones are carved in Classical Greek, Latin and Punic. It may have even survived the Arabic conquest of North Africa: the geographer al-Bakrī describes a people speaking a language that was not Berber, Latin or Coptic in Sirte, a region where spoken Punic survived well past written use. However, it is likely that Arabization of the Punics was facilitated by their language belonging to the same group (the Semitic languages group) as that of the conquerors, and thus having many grammatical and lexical similarities.
The idea that Punic exerted an influence on the modern Maltese language was first raised in 1565. This theory has been mostly discredited; mainstream theories hold Maltese to be derived from Siculo-Arabic, with a large number of loanwords from Italian. Punic was indeed spoken on the island of Malta at some point in its history, as evidenced by the Cippi of Melqart, integral to the decipherment of Punic after its extinction, and other inscriptions found on the islands.
The Punic language's writing method was similar to that of Modern Hebrew, Punic is written from right to left, in horizontal lines. . This was because it was a language related to Phonenician, and in Phoenician,sentences are written from right, to left in horizontal lines, exactly like Punic.
Phonology
The Punic language has 20 consonants.
| Punic phonology | ||||||||||||
| Orthography | Name | Transliteration | Pronunciation | Notes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 𐤀 | Alp later Alf | ʾ | /ʔ/ | Sometimes also used for the indication of vowels. | ||||||||
| 𐤁 | Bet | b | /b/ | |||||||||
| 𐤂 | Gaml | g | /g/ | |||||||||
| 𐤃 | Delt | d | /d/ | |||||||||
| 𐤄 | He | h | /h/ | Under Roman influence often elided but was still pronounced in certain Carthaginian words. | ||||||||
| 𐤅 | Waw later Wow | w | /w/ | Sometimes also used for the indication of the vowel "u". | ||||||||
| 𐤆 | Zen | z | /z/ | In a few names attested as "sd" like in Hasdrubal for "ʕazrubaʕl", "esde" for "heze" ("this", used in some Punic dialects), but the bulk of the texts show a simple "s", for example "syt" for "zut" ("this", in Late Punic) | ||||||||
| 𐤇 | Het | ḥ | /ħ/ | Seldom used as a vowel for "a, e, i, o, u", the sound of Het was weakened and words written usually with it were instead often written with the letter Alf in Late Punic inscriptions. | ||||||||
| 𐤈 | Tet | ṭ | /tˤ/ | |||||||||
| 𐤉 | Yod | y | /j/ | Sometimes also used for the indication of the vowel "i" but mostly in foreign names. | ||||||||
| 𐤊 | Kap later Kof | k | /k/ | Some words in Latin transliterations which ended with final Kof show a spirantization as written indicated by "h" instead of the usual "ch". | ||||||||
| 𐤋 | Lamda | l | /l/ | |||||||||
| 𐤌 | Mem | m | /m/ | |||||||||
| 𐤍 | Nun | n | /n/ | |||||||||
| 𐤎 | Semka | s | /s/ | |||||||||
| 𐤏 | Eyn later En | ʿ | /ʕ/ | Often used for the vowel "a" and "o" in late Punic, mostly for foreign Latin names. | ||||||||
| 𐤐 | Pey later Fey | p later f | /p/ later /f/ | In Late Punic and in Late Phoenician "p" underwent a fricativization to "f" during the 3rd century BCE | ||||||||
| 𐤑 | Sade | ṣ | /ṣ/ | Attested in some Latin texts as "st" and in one case as "ts", but mostly represented as "s" in Latin and Ancient Greek as well as Hittite, Lydian and Etruscan texts. | ||||||||
| 𐤒 | Qop later Quf | q | /kˤ/ | |||||||||
| 𐤓 | Rosh later Rush | r | /r/ | |||||||||
| 𐤔 | Shin | š | /ʃ/ | |||||||||
| 𐤕 | Taw | t | /t/ | |||||||||
References
- http://www.omniglot.com/writing/punic.htm
- Sznycer, Maurice (1967). Les passages puniques en transcription latine dans le Poenulus de Plaute. Paris: Librairie C. Klincksieck.
- Jongeling. Karel; & Kerr, Robert M. (2005). Late Punic epigraphy: an introduction to the study of Neo-Punic and Latino-Punic inscriptions. Mohr Siebeck. p. 4. ISBN 3-16-148728-1.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Jongeling and Kerr, p. 71
- L-Akkademja tal-Malti. "The Maltese Language Academy".
- Vella, Alexandra (2004). "Language contact and Maltese intonation: Some parallels with other language varieties". In Kurt Braunmüller
and Gisella Ferraresi (ed.). Aspects of Multilingualism in European Language History. Hamburg Studies on Multiculturalism. John Benjamins
Publishing Company. p. 263. ISBN 90-272-1922-2.
{{cite book}}: line feed character in|editor=at position 17 (help); line feed character in|publisher=at position 15 (help) - http://www.omniglot.com/writing/punic.htm
- 1976: A Grammar of Phoenician and Punic. Munich: Beck. ISBN 3-406-00724-4
External links
| Semitic languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branches | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| East | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| South |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||