List of Extinct Languages

[Anthony Aristar]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Dear Colleagues:

The LINGUIST list would like to ask for your help.  LINGUIST is at
present redesigning its site, and expanding its offerings
dramatically.  An essential part of this expansion entails moving all
our data (and all future data that we collect) into a database.  Each
piece of data will be categorized in a number of ways that are
appropriate to its type.  One of the most important ways that data
will be categorized is by language.

We have benefited from the generosity of SIL, which has agreed to let
us use the Ethnologue codes.  This has saved us an immense amount of
work.  We're very pleased that we won't have to launch into a
full-scale categorization of all human languages!

There are still gaps in the Ethnologue codes, however.  As you may
know, Ethnologue only includes languages which are either spoken or
still in use in some function.  Thus Latin, Sanskrit and Ge`ez are
listed in Ethnologue, since these are in liturgical use today, but
Akkadian is not.

On LINGUIST, of course, we need to be able to categorize
data which belongs to any language, whether current or not,
so it's fallen to us to fill in the gaps in Ethnologue.
As a result, we've put together a list of languages, all
of which are extinct, and do not appear in Ethnologue,
along with a brief set of describing information.  The
following is an example:

Akkadian (Accadian, Assyrian, Assyro-Babylonian, Babylonian) XAKK
<Afroasiatic, Semitic, East; Mesopotamia; 4th Millennium BC to 100 AD>

First is the canonical language name.  Following this, in parenthesis,
is a list of alternate names which have been used for the language.
Next comes an internal LINGUIST code which you may ignore.  In angle
brackets follows the following information, in this order: Family to
which the language belongs, followed by each node between it and the
parent language; place where the language was spoken; time when the
language was spoken.  Each of these fields is delimited by a
semi-colon.

What we would like to ask is your help in ensuring that the data in
this list is accurate.  So we are asking you to look over the data
which falls within your area of expertise, and tell us the following:

1.  Which extinct languages are missing in the list?

2.  If any languages are missing, could you supply us with information
to make up a new entry in our list?

3.  Is any of the data listed for any of the languages below missing,
inaccurate, or just plain wrong?  This includes alternate names which
we have omitted.

We will only be listing languages which have left some trace, even if
only slight.  Reconstructed languages will be treated separately, as
part of our language family tables.

Note: The following languages are omitted from the list below, since
we have complete data on them:

Old Church Slavonic, Old English, Old Frankish, Old High German, Old
Irish, Old Norse, Old Persian, Old Prussian, Old Saxon, Old Turkish

The data we collect here will be made available to the members of the
Open Language Archive Community http://www.language-archives.org/)
(and to anyone else who wants it), and will quite possible be used on
many sites.  So your help will not only benefit LINGUIST, but perhaps
ultimately all linguists.

Please send all responses to:

        aristar at linguistlist.org

Anthony Aristar
Moderator, LINGUIST

**********************************************

Akkadian (Accadian, Assyrian, Assyro-Babylonian, Babylonian)
XAKK    <Afroasiatic, Semitic, East; Mesopotamia; 4th Millennium
BC to 100 AD>

Bactrian        XBAC    <Ind-European, Indo-Iranian; Central Asia;
300 BC - 1000 AD>

Carian  XCAR    <Unknown, possibly Indo-European; Anatolia;
Before 1st Century AD>

Celtiberian (Celto-Iberian)     XCEL    <Indo-European, Celtic,
Continental; Iberia; Late 1st Millennium BC- Early 1st
Millennium AD>

Chorasmian (Khwarezmian)        XCHO    <Indo-European, Indo-Iranian;
Central Asia; 300 BC - 1000 AD>

Classical Mongolian     XCMO    <Altaic; Central Asia; c 1500 AD>

Eblaite XEBL    <Afroasiatic, Semitic, East;N. Mesopotamia;
3rd Millenium BC>

Egyptian        XEGY    <Afroasiatic, Egyptian; Egypt; 3000 BC -
300 BC>

Elamitic        XELA    <Unknown; SW. Iran; 3rd millennium BC - 8th
Century BC>

Elymian XELY    <Unknown; Sicily; 2nd half of 1st Millennium BC>

Etruscan        XETR    <Unknown; N. Italy; 7th century BC - 100 AD>

Faliscan        XFAL    <Indo-European, Italic, Latin-Faliscan; Central
Italy; 4th Century BC>

Gallic (Gaulish)        XGAL    <Indo-European, Celtic, Continental;
France/Belgium; Late 1st Millennium BC- Early 1st Millenium AD>

Hattic (Hattian, Khattic, Khattish, Proto-Hittite)      XHAT
<Unknown; Central Anatolia; 2nd Millennium BC)

Hieroglyphic Luwian     XHLU    <Indo-European, Anatolian, Luwic;
E.Anatolia; 2nd-1st Millennium BC>

Hittite (Nesili)        XHIT    <Indo-European, Anatolian; Central
Anatolia; 2nd-1st millennium BC>

Hurrian XHUR   <Hurro-Urartean; NE. Anatolia; 2nd - Ist
Millennium BC>

Iberian XIBE    <Unknown; Iberia; 2nd half of 1st Millennium
BC - 1st half of 1st Millennium AD>

Illyrian        XILL    <Indo-European, Illyrian; Balkans; 2nd half
of 1st Millennium BC - 1st half of 1st Millennium AD>

Jurchin (Jurchi, Jurchen)       XJUR    <Southern Tungusic, Central
Asia; c 1100 AD>

Kaskian XKAS <Unknown, NE Anatolia, 3rd-2nd Millennium BC>

Khotanese  (Khotanese-Sakan)    XKHO    <IE, Indo-Iranian; Central
Asia, 300 BC -1000 AD>

Kitan (Khitan, Liao)    XKIT    <Altaic, Mongolic, Manchuria;
916-1125 AD>

Lepontic        XLEP    <Indo-European, Celtic, Continental; N. Italy;
1st centuries BC>

Ligurian        XLEP    <Indo-European, Celtic, Continental;  N. Italy;
300 BC- 100 AD>

Lycian  XLYC    <Indo-European, Anatolian, Luwic; W. Anatolia;
500 BC to about 200 BC>

Lusitanian      XLUS    <Indo-european, Unknown; SW Iberia; 2nd
Century AD>

Luwian  XLUW    <IE, Anatolian, Luwic; E.Anatolia; 2nd-1st
Millennium BC>

Lydian  XLYD    <IE, Anatolia, Luwic, W. Anatolia, c. 400 BC>

Macedonian      XMAC    <Indo-European, Hellenic; N. Greece; 1st
Millennium BC>

Meroitic        XMER    <Unknown; Sudan; 200 BC - 4th century AD >

Messapian (Messapic)    XMES    <Indo-European; SE Italy;
600-100 BC>

Mycenaean Greek XMYC    <Indo-European, Hellenic, Greek; S.
Greece; Late 2nd Millennium BC>

Mysian  XMYS    <<Indo-European, Unknown; Anatolia; Before 1st
Century AD>

North Picenian  XNPI    <Unknown;  Italy; 1st millennium BC >

Numidian (Ancient Berber, Lybico-Berber)        XNUM    <Afroasiatic,
Berber; NW. Africa; c. 200 BC>

Old Ossetic     XASS    <IE, Indo-Iranian; Central Asia; 300 BC -
1000 AD>

Oscan   XOSC    <Indo-European, Italic, Osco-Umbrian; Italy; 1st
Millennium BC>

Pahlavi (Pehlevi)       XPAH    <IE, Indo-Iranian; Central Asia; 300 BC -
1000 AD>

Palaic XPAC     <IE, Anatolian; Anatolia; 2nd Millennium BC>

Pamphylian      XPAM    <Indo-European, Anatolian; Anatolia; Before
1st Century AD>

Parthian        XPAR    <IE, Indo-Iranian; Central Asia; 300 BC -
1000 AD>

Phoenician      XPHO    <Afroasiatic, Semitic, Central, Canaanite;
Lebanon; 2nd-1st Millennium BC>

Phrygian        XPHR    <IE, Unknown; W. Anatolia; 8th BC to 2nd AD>

Pisidian        XPIS    <Unknown; Anatolia; Before 1st Century AD>

Punic   XPUN    <Afroasiatic, Semitic, Central, Canaanite; N.
Africa; 1st Millennium BC - 700 AD >

Rhaetic XRHA    <Unknown, possible  related to Etruscan; N.
Italy/Switzerland; 1st Millennium BC>

Sabaean XSAB    <Afroasiatic, Semitic, South, S. Arabia;
before 700 AD>

Sakan   XSAK    <Indo-European, Indo-Iranian; Central Asia; 300 BC -
1000 AD>

Sicel (Siculan) XSIC    <Indo-European, Unknown;  Sicily; 5-6th
century BC>

Sidetic XSID <Unknown, city of Side, Anatolia, 3rd to 2nd
centuries BC>

Sogdian XSOG    <Indo-European, Indo-Iranian; Central Asia;
300 BC - 1000 AD >

South Picenian (South Picene, East Italic)      XSPI    <IE, Italy,
from 7th BC>

Sumerian        XSUM    <Unknown; S.Iraq, Before 1st Millennium BC>

Tangut  XTAN    <Sino-Tibetan, Tibetan; Central Asia; c.
11th century AD>

Tartessian XTAR  <Unknown; SW Spain; 1st Millennium BC>

Thracian        XTHR    <Indo-European, Thracian; S. Balkans; 1st
Millennium BC - 500 AD>

Tokharian A  (Tocharian A, Eastern Tokharian, Turfanian,
Karashahrian, Agnean)   XTOA    <Indo-European, Tokharian;
Xinjiang>

Tokharian B (Tocharian B, Western Tokharian, Kuchean)   XTOB
<Indo-European, Tokharian; Xinjiang>

Ugaritic        XUGA    <Afroasiatic, Semitic, Canaanite; Syria;
15th to 13th Century BC>

Umbrian XUMB    <Indo-European, Italic, Osco-Umbrian; Italy;
before 1st century AD>

Urartian (Urartic, Vannic)      XURA     <Hurro-Urartean; NE.
Anatolia; Ist Millennium BC>

Venetic XVEN <Indo-European, Unknown; N. Italy; from 5th BC -
1st century BC>

Volscian        XVOL    <Indo-European, Italic, Osco-Umbrian; Italy;
3rd century BC>