Scythian Roots for Mysterious Carian Words

What is it about?

This study re-examines some ancient Carian pseudo-glosses, which are Carian words cited by Byzantine writers but aren't fully explained by other Carian texts. The research proposes that three of these specific terms—κόον/κῶν/κοῖον ‘sheep’, γίσσα ‘stone’, and ἄλα ‘horse’—originated from a non-Indo-European language spoken among the Scythians. These Carian pseudo-glosses show striking similarities with related words found in Altaic languages (such as Proto-Turkic, Proto-Bulgar Turkic, Early Common Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic) and Xiongnu terms. The study suggests this parallelism resulted from linguistic contact within the vast Scythian cultural sphere, a broad political entity spanning Eurasia and influencing diverse peoples at its eastern and western extremes. It concludes that these Carian pseudo-glosses were either genuine loanwords into the Carian language or were mislabelled as Carian by Byzantine writers for reasons that are not yet clear.

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Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash

Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study is important because it offers a new explanation for mysterious Carian words (pseudo-glosses) that have remained largely unexplained for over a century, despite extensive research. It proposes that three of these specific Carian terms—'sheep', 'stone', and 'horse'—did not originate from the Indo-European Carian language itself. Instead, it suggests they came from a non-Indo-European language spoken among the Scythians, demonstrating vast linguistic contact within the widespread Scythian cultural sphere across Eurasia. This research fundamentally re-examines their origin, suggesting they were either genuine loanwords into Carian or mislabelled as Carian by Byzantine writers.