Zur Position der lykischen Dichtersprache

Dieter Schürr (independent researcher (Hanau, Germany); diether.schuerr@gmx.net)

Journal of Language Relationship, № 23/1-2, 2025 - p.37-50

Abstract: The language of the Lycian poems is often called ‘Milyan’, less often ‘Lycian B’; here I argue that a better name for it would be the ‘Lycian poetic language’, since it is a kind of Lycian that was specifically used for the few attested poems within the frame of the Lycian funeral culture. There are some phonetic differences and only one grammatical difference from standard Lycian, as well as traits common with the Carian language. The origin of the poetic language is therefore probably to be sought in the frontier region between Lycia and Caria. Nevertheless, it was not an intermediate language, but clearly a form of Lycian, sharing a later phonetic development with ‘normal’ Lycian too.

Keywords: Lycian language, Milyan language, Carian language, Anatolian languages

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