Editing Sardinian language (section)

===Origins of modern Sardinian===
;Prenuragic and Nuragic era
{{see also|Paleo-Sardinian language|Nuragic civilization}}
[[File:Bronzo Nuragico. Cacciatore.JPG|thumb|upright=.7|Hunter, [[Nuragic bronze statuette]]]]
The origins of ancient Sardinian, also known as Paleo-Sardinian, are currently unknown. Research has attempted to discover obscure, indigenous, pre-Romance [[Root (linguistics)|roots]]. The root ''s(a)rd'', indicating many place names as well as the [[Sardinians|island's people]], is reportedly either associated with or originating from the [[Sherden]], one of the [[Sea Peoples]].<ref>Ugas, Giovanni (2017). ''Shardana e Sardegna : i popoli del mare, gli alleati del Nordafrica e la fine dei grandi regni (15.-12. secolo a.C.)'', Edizioni della Torre, Cagliari, pp. 398–408</ref> Other sources trace instead the root ''s(a)rd'' from {{lang|grc|Σαρδώ}}, a legendary woman from the [[Anatolia]]n [[Lydia|Kingdom of Lydia]],<ref>''Platonis dialogi, scholia in Timaeum'' (edit. C. F. Hermann, Lipsia 1877), 25 B, p. 368</ref><ref>M. Pittau, ''La Lingua dei Sardi Nuragici e degli Etruschi'', Sassari 1981, p. 57</ref> or from the [[Ancient Libya|Libyan]] mythological figure of the [[Sardus|Sardus Pater ''Babai'']] ("Sardinian Father" or "Father of the Sardinians").<ref>[[Sallust]], ''Historiae'', II, fr.4</ref><ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], Ελλάδοσ περιήγησισ, X, 17</ref><ref>[[Silius Italicus]], ''Punica'', XII, 360</ref><ref>[[Gaius Julius Solinus]], ''Collectanea rerum memorabilium'', IV, 1</ref><ref>[[Isidore of Seville]], XIV, ''[[Etymologiae]]'', ''Thapsumque iacentem'', 39</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aristeo.org/sardegnaemiti/personaggi/sardo.html|title=Personaggi – Sardo|website=www.aristeo.org|access-date=17 January 2019|archive-date=11 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211061836/http://www.aristeo.org/sardegnaemiti/personaggi/sardo.html}}</ref><ref>Serra, Marcello (1978). ''Enciclopedia della Sardegna : con un saggio introduttivo intitolato Alla scoperta dell'isola'', Pisa, Giardini editori e stampatori, p. 29: "Origine e carattere dei Sardi"</ref>

In 1984, Massimo Pittau claimed to have found the etymology of many Latin words in the [[Etruscan language]], after comparing it with the [[Nuragic language]](s).<ref name="pittau.it"/> Etruscan elements, formerly thought to have originated in Latin, would indicate a connection between the ancient Sardinian culture and the Etruscans. According to Pittau, the Etruscan and Nuragic language(s) are descended from [[Lydian language|Lydian]] (and therefore [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]) as a consequence of contact with Etruscans and other [[Tyrrhenians]] from [[Sardis]] as described by [[Herodotus]].<ref name="pittau.it"/> Although Pittau suggests that the Tirrenii landed in Sardinia and the Etruscans landed in modern [[Tuscany]], his views are not shared by most Etruscologists.

According to Bertoldi and Terracini, Paleo-Sardinian has similarities with the [[Iberic language]]s and [[Siculi]]an; for example, the suffix -''ara'' in [[proparoxytone]]s indicated the plural. Terracini proposed the same for suffixes in -''{{IPA|/àna/}}'', -''{{IPA|/ànna/}}'', -''{{IPA|/énna/}}'', -''{{IPA|/ònna/}}'' + ''{{IPA|/r/}}'' + a [[paragogic]] vowel (such as the toponym ''[[Bonnanaro|Bunnànnaru]]''). Rohlfs, Butler and Craddock add the suffix -''{{IPA|/ini/}}'' (such as the toponym ''[[Barumini|Barùmini]]'') as a unique element of Paleo-Sardinian. Suffixes in /''a'', ''e'', ''o'', ''u''/ + -''rr''- found a correspondence in north Africa (Terracini), in [[Iberian peninsula|Iberia]] (Blasco Ferrer) and in southern Italy and [[Gascony]] (Rohlfs), with a closer relationship to Basque (Wagner and Hubschmid). However, these early links to a [[Aquitanian language|Basque precursor]] have been questioned by some Basque linguists.<ref name="Trask">[[Larry Trask|Trask, L.]] ''The History of Basque'' [[Routledge]]: 1997 {{ISBN|0-415-13116-2}}</ref> According to Terracini, suffixes in -''{{IPA|/ài/}}'', -''{{IPA|/éi/}}'', -''{{IPA|/òi/}}'', and -''{{IPA|/ùi/}}'' are common to Paleo-Sardinian and [[Berber languages|northern African languages]]. Pittau emphasized that this concerns terms originally ending in an accented vowel, with an attached paragogic vowel; the suffix resisted Latinization in some place names, which show a Latin body and a Nuragic [[:wikt:desinence|suffix]]. According to Bertoldi, some toponyms ending in -''{{IPA|/ài/}}'' and -''{{IPA|/asài/}}'' indicated an Anatolian influence. The suffix -''{{IPA|/aiko/}}'', widely used in Iberia and possibly of Celtic origin, and the ethnic suffix in -''{{IPA|/itanos/}}'' and -''{{IPA|/etanos/}}'' (for example, the Sardinian {{Lang|sc|Sulcitanos}}) have also been noted as Paleo-Sardinian elements (Terracini, Ribezzo, Wagner, Hubschmid and Faust).

Some linguists, like Max Leopold Wagner (1931), Blasco Ferrer (2009, 2010) and Arregi (2017<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lanuovasardegna.it/tempo-libero/2017/12/21/news/quel-filo-che-lega-i-sardi-con-i-baschi-1.16269342|title="Quel filo che lega i sardi con i baschi"|date=22 December 2017|website=La Nuova Sardegna}}</ref>) have attempted to revive a theoretical connection with Basque by linking words such as Sardinian {{Lang|sc|idile}} {{Gloss|marshland}} and Basque {{Lang|eu|itil}} {{Gloss|puddle}};<ref>{{cite book|author=Wagner M.L.|year=1931|title=Über die vorrömischen Bestandteile des Sardischen|page=227}}</ref> Sardinian {{Lang|sc|ospile}} {{Gloss|fresh grazing for cattle}} and Basque {{Lang|eu|hozpil}} {{Gloss|cool, fresh}}; Sardinian {{Lang|sc|arrotzeri}} {{Gloss|vagabond}} and Basque {{Lang|eu|arrotz}} {{Gloss|stranger}}; Sardinian {{Lang|sc|golostiu}} and Basque {{Lang|eu|gorosti}} {{Gloss|holly}}; Gallurese (Corso-Sardinian) {{Lang|sdn|zerru}} {{Gloss|pig}} (with ''z'' for {{IPA|[dz]}}) and Basque {{Lang|eu|zerri}} (with ''z'' for {{IPA|[s]}}). [[Sardinian people#Genetics|Genetic data]] have found the [[Basque people|Basques]] to be close to the [[Sardinian people|Sardinians]].<ref name=Arnaiz-Villena>Arnaiz-Villena A, Rodriguez de Córdoba S, Vela F, Pascual JC, Cerveró J, Bootello A. – HLA antigens in a sample of the Spanish population: common features among Spaniards, Basques, and Sardinians. – Hum Genet. 1981;58(3):344–8.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lanuovasardegna.it/tempo-libero/2017/12/21/news/il-genetista-conferma-le-origini-comuni-1.16269258|title=Il genetista conferma le origini comuni tra i sardi e i baschi|date=22 December 2017|website=La Nuova Sardegna}}</ref><ref name="Naturegen">{{Cite journal|title=Genomic history of the Sardinian population|first1=Charleston W. K.|last1=Chiang|first2=Joseph H.|last2=Marcus|first3=Carlo|last3=Sidore|first4=Arjun|last4=Biddanda|first5=Hussein|last5=Al-Asadi|first6=Magdalena|last6=Zoledziewska|first7=Maristella|last7=Pitzalis|first8=Fabio|last8=Busonero|first9=Andrea|last9=Maschio|first10=Giorgio|last10=Pistis|first11=Maristella|last11=Steri|first12=Andrea|last12=Angius|first13=Kirk E.|last13=Lohmueller|first14=Goncalo R.|last14=Abecasis|first15=David|last15=Schlessinger|first16=Francesco|last16=Cucca|first17=John|last17=Novembre|date=14 October 2018|journal=Nature Genetics|volume=50|issue=10|pages=1426–1434|doi=10.1038/s41588-018-0215-8|pmid=30224645|pmc=6168346}}</ref>
[[File:I_popoli_della_Sardegna_Romana.png|thumb|right|upright|Location of the Sardinian tribes, as described by the Roman sources<ref>{{cite book|author=Attilio Mastino|year=2005|title=Storia della Sardegna antica|publisher=Edizioni Il Maestrale|page=307|isbn=88-86109-98-9}}</ref>]]
[[File:Map Length of Roman Rule Neo Latin Languages.jpg|thumb|Length of the Roman rule and emergence of the Romance languages<ref>{{cite book|last=Bereznay|first=András|year=2011|title=Erdély történetének atlasza|trans-title=Atlas of the History of Transylvania|page=63|publisher=Méry Ratio|language=hu|isbn=978-80-89286-45-4}}</ref>]]
Since the Neolithic period, some degree of variance across the island's regions is also attested. The [[Arzachena culture]], for instance, suggests a link between the northernmost Sardinian region ([[Gallura]]) and [[southern Corsica]] that finds further confirmation in the [[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]] by [[Pliny the Elder]]. There are also some stylistic differences across Northern and Southern Nuragic Sardinia, which may indicate the existence of two other tribal groups ([[Balares]] and [[Ilienses]]) mentioned by the same Roman author. According to the archeologist Giovanni Ugas,<ref>Giovanni Ugas – L'alba dei Nuraghi (2005) p. 241</ref> these tribes may have in fact played a role in shaping the current regional linguistic differences of the island.

{{anchor|Other influences}}

;Classical period
{{see also|Sardinia and Corsica}}
Around the 10th and 9th century BC, [[Phoenicia]]n merchants were known to have made their presence in Sardinia, which acted as a geographical mediator in between the [[Iberian peninsula|Iberian]] and the [[Italian peninsula]]. In the eighth and seventh centuries, the Phoenicians began to develop permanent settlements, politically arranged as [[city-state]]s in similar fashion to the Lebanese coastal areas. It did not take long before they started gravitating around the [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]] sphere of influence, whose level of prosperity spurred Carthage to send a series of expeditionary forces to the island; although they were initially repelled by the natives, the North African city vigorously pursued a policy of active imperialism and, by the sixth century, managed to establish its political hegemony and military control over South-Western Sardinia. Punic began to be spoken in the area, and many words entered ancient Sardinian as well.<ref>{{cite book|author=Max Leopold Wagner|year=1951–1997|title=La lingua sarda|location=Nuoro|publisher=Ilisso|pages=158–161}}</ref> Words like {{Lang|sc|giara}} 'plateau' (cf. [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] {{Lang|he-latn|yaʿar}} 'forest, scrub'), {{Lang|sc|g(r)uspinu}} '[[Tropaeolum|nasturtium]]' (from Punic {{Lang|xpu-latn|cusmin}}), {{Lang|sc|curma}} '[[Ruta chalepensis|fringed rue]]' (cf. Arabic {{Lang|ar-latn|ḥarmal}} '[[Peganum harmala|Syrian rue]]'), {{Lang|sc|mítza}} 'spring' (cf. Hebrew {{Lang|he-latn|mitsa}}, {{Lang|he-latn|metza}} 'source, fountainhead'), {{Lang|sc|síntziri}} '[[Equisetum palustre|marsh horsetail]]' (from Punic {{Lang|xpu-latn|zunzur}} '[[Polygonum aviculare|common knotgrass]]'), {{Lang|sc|tzeúrra}} 'sprout' (from {{Lang|mis|*zerula}}, diminutive of Punic {{Lang|xpu-latn|zeraʿ}} 'seed'), {{Lang|sc|tzichirìa}} '[[dill]]' (from Punic {{Lang|xpu-latn|sikkíria}}; cf. Hebrew {{Lang|he-latn|šēkār}} 'ale') and {{Lang|sc|tzípiri}} '[[rosemary]]' (from Punic {{Lang|xpu-latn|zibbir}}) are commonly used, especially in the modern Sardinian varieties of the [[Campidano|Campidanese plain]], while proceeding northwards the influence is more limited to place names, such as the town of [[Magomadas]], {{Lang|sc|Macumadas}} in [[Nuoro]] or {{Lang|sc|Magumadas}} in [[Gesico]] and [[Nureci]], all of which deriving from the Punic {{Lang|xpu-latn|maqom hadash}} {{Gloss|new city}}.<ref>Giulio Paulis, "Sopravvivenze della lingua punica in Sardegna", in ''L'Africa romana, Atti del VII Convegno di Studio (Sassari 1989)'' (Sassari: Gallizzi, 1990), 599–639.</ref><ref>Giulio Paulis, "L'influsso linguistico fenicio-punico in Sardegna. Nuove acquisizioni e prospettive di ricerca", in ''Circolazioni culturali nel Mediterraneo antico: Atti della VI giornata camito-semtica e indoeuropea, I Convegno Internazionale di linguistica dell'area mediterranea, Sassari 24–27 aprile 1991'', ed. Paolo Filigheddu (Cagliari: Corda, 1994), 213–19.</ref>

The [[History of Sardinia#Roman Empire|Roman]] domination began in 238 BC, but was often contested by the local Sardinian tribes, who had by then acquired a high level of political organization,<ref>Giovanni Lilliu, Sopravvivenze nuragiche in età romana cit., in "L'Africa romana", VII, Gallizzi , Sassari 1990, p. 443</ref> and would manage to only partly supplant the pre-Latin Sardinian languages, including [[Punic language|Punic]]. Although the colonists and ''negotiatores'' (businessmen) of strictly [[Italic peoples|Italic]] descent would later play a relevant role in introducing and spreading Latin to Sardinia, [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanisation]] proved slow to take hold among the Sardinian natives,<ref>"Sardinia was under the control of Carthage from around 500BC. It was conquered by Rome in 238/7 BC, but was isolated and apparently despised by the Romans, and Romanization was not rapid." {{cite book|author=James Noel Adams|title=Bilingualism and the Latin Language|date=9 January 2003|page=209|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-81771-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMc1WQAnRTkC&q=bitia}}</ref> whose proximity to the Carthaginian cultural influence was noted by Roman authors.<ref>"E viceversa gli scrittori romani giudicavano la Sardegna una terra malsana, dove dominava la ''pestilentia'' (la malaria), abitata da popoli di origine africana ribelli e resistenti, impegnati in latrocinia ed in azioni di pirateria che si spingevano fino al litorale etrusco; un luogo terribile, scarsamente urbanizzato, destinato a diventare nei secoli la terra d'esilio per i condannati ''ad metalla''". {{cite book|author=Attilio Mastino|title=Storia della Sardegna antica|edition=2|year=2009|publisher=Il Maestrale|pages=15–16}}</ref> [[Punic language|Punic]] continued to be spoken well into the 3rd–4th century AD, as attested by votive inscriptions,<ref>Ignazio Putzu, "La posizione linguistica del sardo nel contesto mediterraneo", in ''Neues aus der Bremer Linguistikwerkstatt: aktuelle Themen und Projekte'', ed. Cornelia Stroh (Bochum: Universitätsverlag Dr. N. Brockmeyer, 2012), 183.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ferruccio Barreca|title=La civiltà fenicio-punica in Sardegna|publisher=Carlo Delfino Editore|year=1988|location=Sassari}}</ref> and it is thought that the natives from the most interior areas, led by the tribal chief [[Hospito]], joined their brethren in making the switch to Latin around the 7th century AD, through their conversion to Christianity.<ref>"The last to use that idiom, the inhabitants of Barbagia, renounced it in the seventh century together with paganism in favor of Latin, still an archaic substratum in the Sardinian language." Proceedings, VII Congress, Boulder-Denver, Colorado, 14 August – 19 September 1965, International Association for Quaternary Research, Indiana University Press, p. 28</ref><ref group="note">[[Pope Symmachus]] (498–514 C.E.), a Sardinian by birth, described himself as ''ex paganitate veniens'', "coming from a pagan land". [[Pope Gregory I|Gregory the Great]] (590–614 C.E.) reproached the people of [[Barbagia]] for still worshipping stone and wooden idols (Wagner 1951: 73).</ref> [[Cicero]], who loathed the Sardinians on the ground of numerous factors, such as their outlandish language, their kinship with Carthage and their refusal to engage with Rome,<ref>"Cicerone in particolare odiava i Sardi per il loro colorito terreo, per la loro lingua incomprensibile, per l'antiestetica mastruca, per le loro origini africane e per l'estesa condizione servile, per l'assenza di città alleate dei Romani, per il rapporto privilegiato dei Sardi con l'antica Cartagine e per la resistenza contro il dominio di Roma." {{cite book|author=Attilio Mastino|title=Storia della Sardegna antica|edition=2|year=2009|publisher=Il Maestrale|page=16}}</ref> would call the Sardinian rebels {{Lang|la|latrones mastrucati}} ({{Gloss|thieves with rough wool cloaks}}) or {{Lang|la|Afri}} ({{Gloss|Africans}}) to emphasize Roman superiority over a population mocked as the refuse of Carthage.<ref group=note>"{{lang|la|Fallacissimum genus esse Phoenicum omnia monumenta vetustatis atque omnes historiae nobis prodiderunt. ab his orti Poeni multis Carthaginiensium rebellionibus, multis violatis fractisque foederibus nihil se degenerasse docuerunt. A Poenis admixto Afrorum genere Sardi non deducti in Sardiniam atque ibi constituti, sed amandati et repudiati coloni. [...] Neque ego, cum de vitiis gentis loquor, neminem excipio; sed a me est de universo genere dicendum, in quo fortasse aliqui suis moribus et humanitate stirpis ipsius et gentis vitia vicerunt. magnam quidem esse partem sine fide, sine societate et coniunctione nominis nostri res ipsa declarat. quae est enim praeter Sardiniam provincia quae nullam habeat amicam populo Romano ac liberam civitatem? Africa ipsa parens illa Sardiniae, quae plurima et acerbissima cum maioribus nostris bella gessit.}}" {{cite web|url=http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/scauro.shtml|title=Cicero: Pro Scauro|access-date=28 November 2015}} ("All the monuments of the ancients and all histories have handed down to us the tradition that the nation of the Phoenicians is the most treacherous of all nations. The Poeni, who are descended from them, have proved by many rebellions of the Carthaginians, and very many broken and violated treaties, that they have in no respect degenerated from them. The Sardinians, who are sprung from the Poeni, with an admixture of African blood, were not led into Sardinia as colonists and established there, but are rather a tribe who were draughted off, and put there to get rid of them. Nor indeed, when I speak of the vices of the nation, do I except no one. But I am forced to speak generally of the entire race; in which, perhaps, some individuals by their own civilized habits and natural humanity have got the better of the vices of their family and nation. That the greater part of the nation is destitute of faith, destitute of any community and connection with our name, the facts themselves plainly show. For what province is there besides Sardinia which has not one city in it on friendly terms with the Roman people, not one free city? Africa itself is the parent of Sardinia, which has waged many most bitter wars against our ancestors." Translation by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1856, {{cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/|title=Perseus Digital Library}})</ref>

A number of obscure Nuragic roots remained unchanged, and in many cases Latin accepted the local roots (like ''nur'', presumably cognate of ''[[Norax]]'', which makes its appearance in ''[[nuraghe]]'', ''[[Nurra]]'', ''[[Nurri]]'' and many other toponyms). [[Barbagia]], the mountainous central region of the island, derives its name from the Latin {{Lang|la|Barbaria}} (a term meaning {{Gloss|Land of the Barbarians}}, similar in origin to the now antiquated word ''[[Barbary]]''), because its people refused cultural and linguistic assimilation for a long time: 50% of toponyms of central Sardinia, particularly in the territory of [[Olzai]], are actually not related to any known language.<ref>Wolf H. J., 1998, ''Toponomastica barbaricina'', p. 20 Papiros publisher, Nuoro</ref> According to Terracini, amongst the regions in Europe that went on to draw their language from Latin, Sardinia has overall preserved the highest proportion of pre-Latin toponyms.<ref>{{cite book|title=Archivio glottologico italiano|year=1968|volume=53–54|page=209}}</ref> Besides the place names, on the island there are still a few names of plants, animals and geological formations directly traceable to the ancient Nuragic era.<ref>Cf. {{cite book|author=Max Leopold Wagner|title=D.E.S. – Dizionario etimologico sardo|location=Heidelberg|year=1960–1964}}</ref>

By the end of the Roman domination, Latin had gradually become however the speech of most of the island's inhabitants.<ref>Casula, Francesco Cesare (1994). La Storia di Sardegna. Sassari, it: Carlo Delfino Editore. {{ISBN|978-88-7138-084-1}}. p. 110</ref> As a result of this protracted and prolonged process of Romanisation, the modern Sardinian language is today classified as Romance or neo-Latin, with some phonetic features resembling [[Old Latin]]. [[Classification of Romance languages#The standard proposal|Some linguists]] assert that modern Sardinian, being part of the Island Romance group,<ref name="Koryakov">{{cite book|author=Koryakov Y.B.|title=Atlas of Romance languages|year=2001|location=Moscow}}</ref> was the first language to split off from Latin,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zhang|first=Huiying|year=2015|title=From Latin to the Romance languages: A normal evolution to what extent?|url=http://oec.xmu.edu.cn/qjcs/upload/201502/201502.pdf|journal=Quarterly Journal of Chinese Studies|volume=3|issue=4|pages=105–111|access-date=1 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119120250/http://oec.xmu.edu.cn/qjcs/upload/201502/201502.pdf|archive-date=19 January 2018}}</ref> all others evolving from Latin as Continental Romance. In fact, contact with Rome might have ceased from as early as the first century BC.<ref>"Although it is an established historical fact that Roman dominion over Sardinia lasted until the fifth century, it has been argued, on purely linguistic grounds, that linguistic contact with Rome ceased much earlier than this, possibly as early as the first century BC." {{cite book |editor=Martin Harris |editor2=Nigel Vincent |title=The Romance languages|page=315|publisher=Routledge|location=London|year=2000}}</ref> In terms of vocabulary, Sardinian retains an array of peculiar Latin-based forms that are either unfamiliar to, or have altogether disappeared in, the rest of the Romance-speaking world.<ref>{{cite book|author=Michele Loporcaro|title=Profilo linguistico dei dialetti italiani|year=2009|publisher=Editori Laterza|page=170}}</ref><ref>For a list of widely used words in Sardinian that were already considered quite archaic by the time of [[Marcus Terentius Varro]], see {{cite book|title=Manuale di linguistica sarda. Manuals of Romance linguistics|year=2017 |author=Eduardo Blasco Ferrer |author2=Peter Koch |author3=Daniela Marzo|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|pages=89–90}}</ref>

The number of Latin inscriptions on the island is relatively small and fragmented. Some engraved poems in ancient Greek and Latin (the two most prestigious languages in the [[Roman Empire]]<ref>''Cum utroque sermone nostro sis paratus.'' Svetonio, De vita Caesarum, Divus Claudius, 42</ref>) are seen in the so-called "Viper's Cave" ({{Lang|sc|Gruta 'e sa Pibera}} in Sardinian, {{Lang|it|Grotta della Vipera}} in Italian, {{Lang|la|Cripta Serpentum}} in Latin), a burial monument built in Caralis ([[Cagliari]]) by Lucius Cassius Philippus (a Roman who had been exiled to Sardinia) in remembrance of his dead spouse Atilia Pomptilla;<ref>"Le ultime provengono, per lo più, come quelle metriche della "Grotta della Vipera" nel sobborgo cagliaritano di Sant'Avendrace, da tombe di continentali immigrati. Oltre a ciò il numero delle iscrizioni latine in Sardegna non è molto elevato e il loro contenuto è spesso frammentario; e, per di più, quasi due terzi di esse provengono da Cagliari e dal suo distretto." {{cite book|author=Max Leopold Wagner|year=1951–1997|title=La lingua sarda|location=Nuoro|publisher=Ilisso|page=75}}</ref> we also have some religious works by [[Eusebius of Vercelli|Eusebius]] and [[Lucifer of Cagliari|Saint Lucifer]], both from Caralis and in the writing style of whom may be noted the lexicon and perifrastic forms typical of Sardinian (e.g. {{lang|la|narrare}} in place of {{lang|la|dicere}}; compare with Sardinian {{lang|sc|nàrrere}} or {{lang|sc|nàrri(ri)}} {{Gloss|to say}}).<ref>{{cite book|author=Max Leopold Wagner|year=1951–1997|title=La lingua sarda|location=Nuoro|publisher=Ilisso|pages=75–76}}</ref>

After a period of 80 years under the [[Vandals]], Sardinia would again be part of the [[Byzantine Empire]] under the [[Exarchate of Africa]]<ref>"Dopo la dominazione vandalica, durata ottanta anni, la Sardegna ritornava di nuovo all'impero, questa volta a quello d'Oriente. Anche sotto i Bizantini la Sardegna rimase alle dipendenze dell'esarcato africano, ma l'amministrazione civile fu separata da quella militare; alla prima fu preposto un {{lang|la|praeses}}, alla seconda un {{lang|la|dux}}; tutti e due erano alle dipendenze del {{lang|la|praefectus praetorii}} e del {{lang|la|magister militum}} africani." {{cite book|author=Max Leopold Wagner|year=1951–1997|title=La lingua sarda|location=Nuoro|publisher=Ilisso|page=64}}</ref> for almost another five centuries. Luigi Pinelli believes that the Vandal presence had "estranged Sardinia from Europe, linking its own destiny to Africa's territorial expanse" in a bond that was to strengthen further "under Byzantine rule, not only because the Roman Empire included the island in the African Exarchate, but also because it developed from there, albeit indirectly, its ethnic community, causing it to acquire many of the African characteristics" that would allow ethnologists and historians to elaborate the theory of the Paleo-Sardinians' supposed African origin,<ref name="Pinelli16">{{cite book|author=Luigi Pinelli|title=Gli Arabi e la Sardegna: le invasioni arabe in Sardegna dal 704 al 1016|publisher=Edizioni della Torre|place=Cagliari|page=16|year=1977}}</ref> now disproved. Casula is convinced that the Vandal domination caused a "clear breaking with the Roman-Latin writing tradition or, at the very least, an appreciable bottleneck" so that the subsequent Byzantine government was able to establish "its own operational institutions" in a "territory disputed between the Greek- and the Latin-speaking world".<ref>{{cite book |author=Francesco Cesare Casula |title=Breve storia della scrittura in Sardegna. La "documentaria" nell'epoca aragonese |publisher=Editrice Democratica Sarda |year=1978 |pages=46, 48 |author-link=Francesco Cesare Casula}}</ref>

Despite a period of almost five centuries, the Greek language only lent Sardinian a few ritual and formal expressions using Greek structure and, sometimes, the Greek alphabet.<ref>M. Wescher e M. Blancard, ''Charte sarde de l'abbaye de Saint-Victor de Marseille écrite en caractères grecs'', in "Bibliothèque de l' École des chartes", 35 (1874), pp. 255–265</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.filologiasarda.eu/files/documenti/pubblicazioni_pdf/bss3/01Soddu-Crasta-Strinna.pdf|title=Un'inedita carta sardo-greca del XII secolo nell'Archivio Capitolare di Pisa|author1=Alessandro Soddu |author2=Paola Crasta |author3=Giovanni Strinna}}</ref> Evidence for this is found in the ''[[condaghe]]s'', the first written documents in Sardinian. From the long Byzantine era there are only a few entries but they already provide a glimpse of the sociolinguistical situation on the island in which, in addition to the community's everyday Neo-Latin language, Greek was also spoken by the ruling classes.<ref name="ReferenceA">Giulio Paulis, ''Lingua e cultura nella Sardegna Bizantina'', Sassari, 1983</ref> Some toponyms, such as ''[[Jerzu]]'' (thought to derive from the Greek {{Lang|grc-latn|khérsos}}, {{Gloss|untilled}}), together with the personal names ''Mikhaleis'', ''Konstantine'' and ''Basilis'', demonstrate Greek influence.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>