Paeonian,[1] sometimes spelled Paionian, is a poorly attested, extinct language spoken by the ancient Paeonians until late antiquity.
Paeonian | |
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Paionian | |
Native to | North Macedonia, northern Greece, south-eastern Kosovo, south-western Bulgaria |
Indo-European
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | None (mis ) |
0iz | |
Glottolog | None |
Paeonia once stretched north of Macedon, into Dardania, and in earlier times into southwestern Thrace.
Classical sources usually considered the Paeonians distinct from the rest of the Paleo-Balkan people, comprising their own ethnicity and language. It is considered a Paleo-Balkan language but this is only a geographical grouping, not a genealogical one. Modern linguists are uncertain as to the classification of Paeonian, due to the extreme scarcity of surviving materials in the language, with numerous hypotheses having been published:
Several Paeonian words are known from classical sources:
A number of anthroponyms (some known only from Paeonian coinage) are attested: Agis (Άγις), Patraos (Πατράος), Lycpeios (Λύκπειος), Audoleon (Αυδολέων), Eupolemos (Εὐπόλεμος), Ariston (Αρίστων), etc. In addition several toponyms (Bylazora (Βυλαζώρα), Astibos (Άστιβος) and a few theonyms Dryalus (Δρύαλος), Dyalos (Δύαλος), the Paeonian Dionysus, as well as the following:
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...an Agrianos month is found throughout the Dorian and Aeolian worlds. (Burkert 1983: 168–79).