Φρυγιστί

Phrygian

Indo-European (Paleo-Balkan, isolated branch — closest to Greek/Armenian per current consensus) · historical / hidden variety

FamilyIndo-European (Paleo-Balkan, isolated branch — closest to Greek/Armenian per current consensus) Speakers0 (extinct; last attestations c. 5th c. CE “New Phrygian” epitaphs) ScriptPhrygian alphabet (Old Phrygian, alphabet derived from Phoenician, related to Greek) and later Greek alphabet (New Phrygian) CountriesAncient central Anatolia (Phrygia: Gordion, Midas City, Pessinus) Official inNo (kingdom of Phrygia c. 1200–700 BCE) ISO 639-3xpg Glottocodephry1239

Phrygian is an extinct Indo-European language of central Anatolia, attested from the 8th century BCE (Old Phrygian inscriptions at Gordion and Midas City, the kingdom of King Midas) to about the 5th century CE (“New Phrygian” funerary curses written in the Greek alphabet). Its corpus is small — some 400 inscriptions — but enough to show that Phrygian forms an isolated Paleo-Balkan branch, most often grouped with Greek and Armenian. It preserves the augment, the e-grade IE thematic verb, and distinctive lexemes like ἄναρ (“husband”, cf. Greek ἀνήρ) and the divine name Bagaios (cf. Sanskrit bhága-, “god”, the same root as Slavic bogŭ).

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Phrygian

Water

/—/

Fire

/—/

Sun

/—/

Moon

masê

/maˈseː/

Mother

mater

/ˈmater/

Father

atas

/aˈtas/

Eat

/—/

Drink

/—/

Love

/—/

Heart

/—/

Tree

/—/

House

/—/

Dog

kan

/kan/

Cat

/—/

Hand

/—/

Eye

/—/

Hello

/—/

Thank you

/—/

One

/—/

Good

/—/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Indo-European (Paleo-Balkan, isolated branch — closest to Greek/Armenian per current consensus) languages

Meaning PhrygianProto-Japonic-KoreanicMessapicNicaraguan Sign LanguageTartessianLiburnianVenetic
Water /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ ouriom /ˈou.ri.om/
Fire /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/
Sun /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/
Moon masê /maˈseː/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/
Mother mater /ˈmater/ *əma /əma/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ matur /ˈma.tur/
Father atas /aˈtas/ *əpa /əpa/ ana /ˈana/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/
Eat /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/
Drink /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/ /—/
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