re pre-greek language

[Stanley Friesen]

At 06:43 PM 10/3/99 +0200, Damien Erwan Perrotin wrote:
>Third there is the toponymy of Crete (and of a great part of mainland
>Greece. This toponymy is not Greek. The problem is that a number of
>place-names can be interpreted as IE, while not greek : thus
>knossos : the hill (Irish cnoc, Old English hnec)
>Argissa : the white place (from *arg-)
>Gortyne : the closed place (IE *ghert-).

This could simply mean there were several layers of language replacement in
the area.  Certainly I think it likely that there *were* pre-Greek IE
languages in the general area of the Greek peninsula.  For one thing, I
think a route through the Balkans the most likely route for the entry of
Anatolian into Anatolia. (One Web site I found makes an interesting case
for some of the pre-Greek toponyms being from a language related to
Tracian, which combined with the above, puts two other IE languages in the
general area).

>these toponyms are found in the central mediteranea area, up to Etruria
>(Crotona, Cortuna), but that could be an effect from the sea people
>invasion or not.

Or they could be from an older incursion of IE speakers.

--------------
May the peace of God be with you.         sarima at ix.netcom.com