Thracians

Thracian language

Sources
As an extinct language with only a few short inscriptions attributed to it (see below), there is little known about the Thracian language, but a number of features are agreed upon. Some Thracian words can be found cited in ancient texts[2] (this list excludes Dacian plant names which however are sometimes included):
•   asa — A Bessian word for the Coltsfoot; cf. Lith dial. asỹs "horse-tail," Latv. aši, ašas "horse-tail, sedge, rush," rel. to Latv. ašs, ass "sharp", OBulg ostrǔ, Lith aštrùs "sharp"
•   bolinthos — "wild bull, Mac. vol "a bull", bison", English bull
•   bria — "town"
•   brynchos — "guitar"; cf. Romanian broancă "a stringed instrument", Russian brenčat' "play on a stringed instrument", Polish brzek "ringing, tinkle", Mac. brumchi "a ringing sound"
•   brytos, bryton, brutos, bryttion — "a kind of ale made from barley" ; cf. E broth, Welsh brwd "brewage", Lat defrutum "must boiled down", Gk apéphrysen "to seethe, boil",Slavic vriti "to seethe, boil" vrutok "strong spring, boiling water", Skt bhurati "he quivers", Alb brumë "dough"
•   dinupula, *sinupyla — "wild pumpkin"; cf. Bul. and Mac. dinya a watermelon, Lith šúnobuolas wild pumpkin, Alb thënukël dogberry
•   genton — "meat"
•   kalamindar — "plane tree"
•   kemos — "a kind of fruit with follicles"
•   ktistai — "Thracians living in celibacy, monks"
•   mendruta — a Moesian name for the beet or alternately the False Helleborine, Veratrum nigrum
•   rhomphaia — "a spear"; later the meaning "sword" is attested, Mac. rophia " a lightning", "God's sword"
•   skalme — "a knife, a sword"
•   skarke — "a coin"
•   spinos — "a stone which burns when water is poured on it"
•   torelle — "a lament, a song of mourning"
•   zalmos, zelmis — "a hide, skin" ; cf. G Helm "helmet", Lith šálmas, OPruss salmis "helmet", OSl šlĕmŭ, Skt śárman "cover"
•   zeira, zira — "a type of upper garment"
•   zelas — "wine"; Russian zelye "a fermented or witch's brew",
•   zetraia — "a pot"; Grk. χύτρα (chutra) "pot"
•   zibythides — "the noble Thracian men and women", Lith. zhibut "fire, light" Mac. and Serb. shibytsa "a lightening stick".
In addition there are many words and probable words extracted from anthroponyms, toponyms, hydronyms, oronyms and other lexical elements found in ancient and Byzantine sources (see also List of ancient Thracian cities):
•   -disza, -diza, -dizos — "a fortified settlement" compare to Slavic zidati, sozidati, (po)dizati "to build"
•   -para, -pera, -paron, etc. — "a town" A number of probable Thracian words are found in inscriptions (most of them written with Greek script) on buildings, coins, and other artifacts (see inscriptions below).
Another source for the Thracian vocabulary are words of unknown or disputed etymology found in Bulgarian and Macedonian(see Bulgarian lexis)as well as Romanian (see Eastern Romance substratum). Albanian is sometimes regarded as a descendant of Dacian or Thracian, or as a descendant of Illyrian with a Daco-Thracic admixture; thus the Albanian lexis is another source.
Thracian words in the Ancient Greek lexicon are also proposed. Greek lexical elements may derive from Thracian, such as balios ("dappled"; < PIE *bhel-, "to shine"; Pokorny also cites Illyrian as a possible source), bounos, "hill, mound", etc.