Editing Pelasgians (section)

=== Pelasgian as Indo-European ===
==== Greek ====
[[Edward Bulwer-Lytton]] argued that the Pelasgians spoke [[Greek language|Greek]] based on the fact that areas traditionally inhabited by the "Pelasgi" (i.e. Arcadia and Attica) only spoke Greek and the few surviving Pelasgian words and inscriptions (i.e., Lamina Borgiana,<ref>An inscription discovered in Calabria in 1785 and preserved in Cardinal Borgia's collection at Velletri, discussed in Luigi Lanza, ''Saggio di lingua Latina e altri antichi d'Italia'', vol. I, 2nd ed. Florence 1824.</ref> Herodotus 2.52.1) betray Greek linguistic features despite the classical identification of Pelasgian as a [[barbarian]] language.<ref>{{harvnb|Lytton|1837|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-E4EAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA5 5–8]}}.</ref> According to Thomas Harrison of [[Saint Andrews University]], the Greek etymology of Pelasgian terms mentioned in Herodotus such as ''θεοί'' (derived from ''θέντες'') indicates that the {{qi|Pelasgians spoke a language at least 'akin to' Greek}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Harrison|1998|pp=25–26: "Herodotus' account, for example, of the adoption by the Pelasgians of the names of the gods (2.52.1) suggests a much closer relationship between the Pelasgian and Greek languages. Before they heard the names of the gods, the Pelasgians (assuming, interestingly, the existence of a number of gods) called them simply θεοί, on the grounds that they had 'established (θέντες) all affairs in their order'. This etymology, advanced apparently in all seriousness, seems to suggest that the Pelasgians spoke a language at least 'akin to' Greek."}}</ref> According to French classical scholar [[Pierre Henri Larcher]], if this linguistic affiliation is true, then it proves that the Pelasgians and the Greeks were the same people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Larcher |first=Pierre-Henri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdzfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA54 |title=Notes on Herodotus: Historical and Critical Comments on the History of Herodotus, with a Chronological Table |date=1844 |publisher=Whittaker |pages=54 |language=en |quote=If this affiliation of language be admitted, then the Pelasgians and Greeks were of the same race.}}</ref>

==== Anatolian ====
In western Anatolia, many [[toponym]]s with a "-ss-" [[suffix]] derive from the adjectival suffix also seen in [[cuneiform]] [[Luwian language|Luwian]] and some [[Palaic language|Palaic]]; the classic example is [[Bronze Age]] [[Tarhuntassa]] (loosely meaning "City of the Storm God Tarhunta"), and later [[Parnassus]] possibly related to the Luwian word ''parna-'' or "house". These elements have led to a second theory that Pelasgian was to some degree an [[Anatolian language]], or that it had areal influences from Anatolian languages.{{Sfn|Finkelberg|2006}}

==== Thracian ====
[[Vladimir I. Georgiev]], a Bulgarian linguist, asserted that the Pelasgians spoke an Indo-European language and were, more specifically, related to the [[Thracians]].{{Sfn|Georgiev|1961}}{{pn|date=December 2022}}{{Sfn|Georgiev|1977}}{{pn|date=December 2022}} Georgiev also proposed, relying on a sound-shift model, that ''pelasgoi'' was a cognate of a [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root and Greek Πέλαγος ''pelagos'' "sea".{{cn|date=December 2022}}

Georgiev also suggested that the Pelasgians were a sub-group of the Bronze Age [[Sea People]]s and identifiable in Egyptian inscriptions as the [[exonym]] PRŚT or PLŚT.{{cn|date=July 2024}} However, this Egyptian name has more often been read as [[Peleset]], a cognate of a Hebrew exonym, פלשת ''Peleshet'' (Pəlešeth) – that is, the Biblical [[Philistines]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Killebrew |first=Ann E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VtAmmwapfVAC |title=Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, and Early Israel, 1300–1100 B.C.E. |publisher=Society of Biblical Literature |year=2005 |isbn=1-58983-097-0 |location=[[Atlanta]] |page=202}}</ref>

==== Albanian ====
{{See also|Origins of the Albanians#Obsolete hypotheses|Albanian nationalism|}}
In 1854, an [[Austrian Empire|Austria]]n diplomat and [[Albanian language]] specialist, [[Johann Georg von Hahn]], identified the Pelasgian language with [[Proto-Albanian]].{{Sfn|Hahn|1854|loc=IV. Sind Die Albanesen Autochthonen?, pp. 211–279}} This theory is not supported by any scientific evidence, and is seen as a myth by modern scholars.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Mackridge |first=Peter |date=2007–2008 |title=Aspects of language and identity in the Greek peninsula since the eighteenth century |magazine=[[The Newsletter of the Society Farsharotu]] |publisher=[[Society Farsharotu]] |pages=16–17 |volume=XXI & XXII |issue=1 & 2 |quote=Soon after this the "Pelasgian theory" was formulated, according to which the Greek and Albanian languages were claimed to have a common origin in Pelasgian, while the Albanians themselves are Pelasgians and hence come from the same ethnological stock as the Greeks. The "Pelasgian theory" began to take shape in the 1850s and 1860s and became widespread in the 1870s. ... Needless to say, there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support any of these theories.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Schwandner-Sievers|Fischer|2002}}; Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers and [[Bernd Jürgen Fischer]], editors of ''Albanian Identities: Myth and History'', present papers resulting from the London Conference held in 1999 entitled "The Role of Myth in the History and Development of Albania." The "Pelasgian" myth of Albanians as the most ancient community in southeastern Europe is among those explored in Noel Malcolm's essay, "Myths of Albanian National Identity: Some Key Elements, As Expressed in the Works of Albanian Writers in America in the Early Twentieth Century". The introductory essay by Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers establishes the context of the "Pelasgian Albanian" mythos, applicable to Eastern Europe generally, in terms of the longing for a stable identity in a rapidly opening society.</ref>

==== Undiscovered Indo-European ====
Albert Joris Van Windekens (1915–1989) offered rules for an unattested hypothetical Indo-European Pelasgian language, selecting vocabulary for which there was no Greek etymology among the names of places, heroes, animals, plants, garments, artifacts and social organization.{{Sfn|Van Windekens|1952}}{{Sfn|Van Windekens|1960}} His 1952 essay ''Le Pélasgique'' was skeptically received.<ref>As, for example, in Gordon Messing's extended review, criticizing point-by-point, in ''Language'' '''30'''.1 (January–March 1954), pp. 104–108.</ref>