Ligurian language

:For the Romance language, see Ligurian language (Romance).

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The Ligurian language was spoken in pre-Roman times and into the Roman era by an ancient people of north-western Italy and south-eastern France known as the Ligures. Very little is known about this language (mainly place names and personal names) which is generally believed to have been Indo-European; it appears to have adopted significantly from other Indo-European languages including Greek (from Greek traders), Celtic (Gaulish), Italic (Latin) and, in later times, Germanic (including Cimbrian).

Related Topics:
Italy - France - Ligures - Indo-European - Greek - Celtic - Gaulish - Italic - Germanic

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Xavier Delamarre argues that Ligurian was a Celtic language, similar to but not the same as Gaulish. His argument hinges on two points: firstly, the Ligurian place-name Genua (modern Genoa, located near a river mouth) is claimed by Delamarre to derive from PIE *genu-, "chin". Many Indo-European languages use 'mouth' to mean the part of a river which meets the sea or a lake, but it is only in Celtic languages that PIE *genu- is used to indicate the mouth. Besides Genua, which is considered Ligurian (Delmarre 2003 p.177), this is found also in Genava (modern Geneva), which is Gaulish. However, Genua and Genava may derive from another PIE root with the form *genu-, which means "knee".

Related Topics:
Genoa - River - PIE - Geneva - Gaulish - Knee

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Delamarre's second point is Plutarch's mention (Marius 10, 5-6) that during the Battle of Aquae Sextiae in 102 BC, the Ambrones (who may have been a Celtic tribe) began to shout "Ambrones!" as their battle-cry; the Ligurian troops fighting for the Romans, on hearing this cry, found that it was identical to an ancient name in their country which the Ligurians often used when speaking of their descent (outôs kata genos onomazousi Ligues), so they returned the shout, "Ambrones!".

Related Topics:
Plutarch - Battle of Aquae Sextiae - 102 BC - Ambrones - Romans

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Delmarre points out a risk of circular logic - if it is believed that the Ligurians are non-Celtic, and if many place names and tribal names that classical authors state are Ligurian seem to be Celtic, it is incorrect to discard all the Celtic ones when collecting Ligurian words and to use this edited corpus to demonstrate that Ligurian is non-Celtic or non-Indo-European.

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Strabo on the other hand states "As for the Alps... Many tribes (éthnê) occupy these mountains, all Celtic (Keltikà) except the Ligurians; but while these Ligurians belong to a different people (hetero-ethneis), still they are similar to the Celts in their modes of life (bíois)."

Related Topics:
Strabo - Alps

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The Ligurian-Celtic question is also discussed by Barruol (1999).

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Herodotus (5.9) wrote that sigunnai meant 'hucksters, peddlers' among the Ligurians who lived above Massilia.

Related Topics:
Herodotus - Massilia

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