Anatolian languages
Categories: Anatolian languages | Extinct languages | Ancient languages
The Anatolian languages are a group of extinct languages, either Indo-European or (in some classifications) closely related to Indo-European, which were spoken in Asia Minor, including Hittite. Other Anatolian languages include Luwian, the language of the script commonly called "Hieroglyphic Hittite" and Palaic. Lydian, Lycian, Pisidian, Sidetic, and Carian are later Anatolian languages that are known from a number of inscriptions; no extended texts survive in them. Other possible Anatolian languages include Mysian, Cappadocian, and Paphlagonian.
In 1906 there were excavations in Central Asia Minor by German scientists. At Bogázköy they discovered the capital of the Hittite Empire. It was prosperous from 1900 BC till 1200 BC. Thousands of clay tablets were found, written in cuneiform, most of them from the 17th till the 14th century BC. The Hittite language was deciphered by Bedřich Hrozný in 1916-1917, who discovered that it was an Indo-European language. The Hittite morphology is less complicated than other, older Indo-European languages. Either some Indo-European characteristics disappeared in Hittite or the other languages have innovated. It contains numerous archaisms of great importance. In these archives some other languages were found as well.
It is unclear at what point exactly the Anatolian languages became extinct. The areas were heavily Hellenized following the conquests of Alexander the Great, and it is generally thought that by Roman times, the native languages of the area were largely extinct.
See also
de:Anatolische Sprachen fr:Langue anatolienne he:שפות אנטוליות la:Linguae Anatolicae nl:Anatolische talen pl:Języki anatolijskie sv:Anatoliska språk zh:安纳托利亚语族