The parts of Hispania without epigraphy

This chapter describes the linguistic situation in those parts of the Iberian peninsula where there are no or very few inscriptions written in the indigenous languages. Our knowledge is based on the onomastic evidence (place names, deity names, and personal names) that has come down to us, mainly through the Latin epigraphy of late republican and imperial times. The characteristics of each category of names are discussed, pointing out their potential strengths and limitations as a source for knowledge of the linguistic situation, as well as the coincidences and differences that they sometimes reflect, in order to define onomastic areas. Finally, the different linguistic regions that can be observed in the peninsula are presented by means of analysing the geographical distribution, linguistic attribution, and other characteristics of the indigenous onomastic evidence.

The linguistic situation in the territory of Andalusia

In antiquity present-day Andalusia was occupied by several different peoples, among whom the main cultural role was taken by the Tartessians, subsequently the Turdetani. The first part of this chapter aims to define the limits and variety of the different ethnic groups. Thereafter, the material available to study the languages of the region is analysed: inscriptions, place names, and personal names. This material is limited and poses numerous problems, but it enables us to define linguistic zones, to emphasize the plurilingual nature of the area, to detect the probable role of Phoenician as a lingua franca, and to draw attention to certain features of Turdetanian, the most widely spoken of the vernacular languages of the region.

The epigraphic and linguistic situation in the south-west of the Iberian peninsula

This chapter’s analysis of the language of the south-west Iberian peninsula concludes that it consists of five vowels, one lateral consonant, one vibrant (plus another doubtful example), one nasal consonant, two sibilants, and three stops (occlusives) although the writing system does not enable us to make more precise statements about the latter; the frequent and non-existent combinations between the different phonemes are also established. The successive attempts to decipher the language are described, special attention being paid to the most recent of them, the weak points of which are specified, and the minimal contribution of Latinized personal names is pointed out.

The Iberian peninsula in pre-Roman times

This chapter summarizes current knowledge of the human geography of the Iberian peninsula during the Iron Age. It compares and contrasts different sources (Greek and Latin texts, coins minted by indigenous peoples, and archaeological evidence) to recreate the palaeoethnological panorama of the region and reconstruct the historical processes that led to its formation, including the impact of the Phoenicians and Greeks. This analysis indicates the existence of a linguistically non-Indo-European area, mainly the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastal regions between the Pyrenees and the mouth of the Guadiana, and an Indo-European one in the centre of the peninsula and along the greater part of the Atlantic coast. Ethnic groups of varying size and political importance are attested in both areas. Population growth and iron metallurgy played a crucial role in the formation of this human reality, together with the development of urbanization, which started in the Mediterranean coastal areas and progressively spread.

Language and writing among the Lusitanians

The number of inscriptions written totally or partially in Lusitanian is limited: only six or seven with Lusitanian vocabulary and/or grammatical words, usually dated to the first two centuries CE. All are written in the Latin alphabet, and most are bilingual, displaying code-switching between Latin and Lusitanian. There are also many deity names in Latin inscriptions. The chapter summarizes Lusitanian phonology, morphology, and syntax, though entire categories are not attested at all. Scholarly debate about the classification of Lusitanian has focused on whether it should be considered a Celtic language. The chapter reviews the main issues, such as the fate of Indo-European */p/ or the outcome of voiced aspirate stops. The prevailing opinion is that Lusitanian was not Celtic. It must have diverged from western Indo-European dialects before the kernel of what would evolve into the Celtic and Italic families had been constituted. An appendix provides the text of extant Lusitanian inscriptions and representative Latin inscriptions displaying Lusitanian deity names and/or their epithets.

The Vasco-Iberian theory

In this chapter a short history of the Vasco-Iberian theory and its significance in contemporary scholarship is presented. In the first part, the principal scholars who have defended a relationship between Basque and Iberian in one way or another are reviewed, and what could be labelled as ‘classical Vasco-Iberism’ is described. We subsequently focus on those aspects of the Vasco-Iberian theory that still have some influence in modern scholarship, and the new proposals that have been put forward following this theory in the fields of Iberian phonetics, morphology, syntax, and onomastics.

Iberian writing and language

The first part of this chapter is devoted to the description of Iberian literacy, from the time of the earliest documents (dated to the fifth century BCE) until the abandonment of the Iberian writing systems in the first century CE. The second part of the chapter offers a linguistic description of the still undeciphered Iberian language, which aims to show its best-known aspects (the onomastic system, some nominal suffixes) and also its most debated questions. Finally, comments on a selection of inscriptions are offered.

Method and methods

After defining the use of the term ‘Palaeohispanic’ and providing an overview of the epigraphic and linguistic geography of the Iberian peninsula in antiquity and the advances in their study over the years, a series of key questions in historical philology, specifically as concerns Palaeohispanic languages and epigraphy, are introduced: script and text decipherment; the complexity of philology as the science that is concerned with the encounter between texts, cultures, and societies; their historical nature, which requires their chronology to be studied; and the problems of language contact and the relationships between language and ethnicity. Finally, the chapter discusses the confrontation between Palaeohispanic languages and scripts and Latin culture, the transformations that it gave rise to, and the death of the former.

Writing, colonization, and Latinization in the Iberian peninsula

This chapter offers a comprehensive summary of the impact of the Roman conquest and subsequent colonization on the pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian peninsula and their epigraphy. After analysing the evolution of the earliest Roman inscriptions from Hispania and the strategies adopted by local elites to integrate within the new order, this study reflects the twofold effect of Roman epigraphic culture on the Palaeohispanic tradition: the adoption and new forms of use of Roman epigraphic supports by local peoples, directly linked to an increase in writing on non-perishable supports, and the spread of the Latin language and alphabet in indigenous texts, which was merely the written manifestation of a far-reaching linguistic process, materialized in multiple epigraphic phenomena reflecting a multilingual society. This phase of contacts was followed by another that clearly illustrated the disappearance of Palaeohispanic languages and scripts at varying rates, depending on the intensity of the Roman presence in each region.

Writing and language in Celtiberia

This chapter is composed of six sections: first of all, an introduction containing historical and historiographical aspects concerning the Celtiberians; this is followed by a detailed linguistic definition of Celtiberian and its position among other Indo-European and Celtic languages; the third section provides a description of the structure of the onomastic formulae found in inscriptions, this being one of the best-attested sources of information in Celtiberian; the following section offers an introduction to Celtiberian epigraphic culture, which arose from contact with the Iberians and Romans, while the penultimate section analyses the principal Celtiberian epigraphic genres; finally, a useful, up-to-date commentary of some selected Celtiberian inscriptions is offered.