Punic language
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| Punic | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Formerly spoken in North Africa | |
| Total speakers: | — | |
| Language family: | Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic Northwest Semitic Canaanite Punic |
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| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | sem | |
| ISO 639-3: | xpu | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
The Punic language is an extinct Semitic language formerly spoken in the Mediterranean region of North Africa by the people of the Punic culture.
[edit] Description
Punic is an extinct variety of the Phoenician language spoken in the oversea Phoenician empire in North Africa, including Carthage, and the Mediterranean. It is known from inscriptions and personal name evidence.
Augustine of Hippo is generally considered the last major ancient writer to have some knowledge of Punic, and is considered "our primary source on the survival of [late] Punic".[1]
In the past it was sometimes said that Punic was an influence on the modern Maltese language, but this theory has been discredited.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Jongeling. Karel; & Kerr, Robert M. (2005). Late Punic Epigraphy. Mohr Siebeck, p. 4. ISBN 3161487281.
- ^ Vella, Alexandra (2004). "Language contact and Maltese intonation: Some parallels with other language varieties", in Kurt Braunmüller and Gisella Ferraresi: Aspects of Multilingualism in European Language History, Hamburg Studies on Muliculturalism. John Benjamins Publishing Company, p. 263. ISBN 9027219222.
