Editing Baltic languages (section)

===Thracian hypothesis===
{{See also|Classification of Thracian#Balto-Slavic}}
The Baltic-speaking peoples likely encompassed an area in eastern Europe much larger than their modern range. As in the case of the [[Celtic languages]] of Western Europe, they were reduced by invasion, extermination and assimilation{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}. Studies in [[comparative linguistics]] point to [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|genetic relationship]] between the languages of the Baltic family and the following extinct languages:
* [[Dacian language|Dacian]]{{sfn|Mayer|1996|p={{page needed|date=November 2022}}}}{{sfn|Duridanov|1969|p={{page needed|date=November 2022}}}}<ref name="Rosales">{{cite book|author-first=Jurate |author-last=de Rosales |title=Europos šaknys |trans-title=European Roots |language=lt |isbn=9786098148169 |year=2015 |publisher=Versmė |url=https://on.lt/europos-saknys}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-first=Jurate |author-last=de Rosales |title=Las raíces de Europa |trans-title=The races of Europe |language=es |isbn=9788412186147|year=2020|publisher=Kalathos Ediciones }}</ref><ref name="Schall">Schall H. "Sudbalten und Daker. Vater der Lettoslawen". In: ''Primus congressus studiorum thracicorum. Thracia II''. Serdicae, 1974, pp. 304, 308, 310.</ref><ref name="Radulescu">Radulescu M. ''The Indo-European position of lllirian, Daco-Mysian and Thracian: a historic Methodological Approach''. 1987. {{page needed|date=November 2022}}</ref>
* [[Thracian language|Thracian]]{{sfn|Mayer|1996|p={{page needed|date=November 2022}}}}{{sfn|Duridanov|1969|p={{page needed|date=November 2022}}}}<ref name="Rosales" /><ref name="Radulescu" /><ref>Dras. J. Basanavičius. ''Apie trakų prygų tautystę ir jų atsikėlimą Lietuvon''. {{page needed|date=November 2022}}</ref>
The Baltic classification of Dacian and Thracian has been proposed by the Lithuanian scientist [[Jonas Basanavičius]], who insisted this is the most important work of his life and listed 600 identical words of Balts and [[Thracians]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Balts and Goths: the missing link in European history |publisher=Vydūnas Youth Fund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0XLxAAAAMAAJ|language=en|year=2004 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Daskalov |first1=Roumen |last2=Vezenkov |first2=Alexander |title=Entangled Histories of the Balkans – Volume Three: Shared Pasts, Disputed Legacies |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004290365 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WDRzBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA81|language=en|date=13 March 2015 }}</ref> His theory included [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]] in the related group, but this did not find support and was disapproved among other authors, such as [[:bg:Иван Дуриданов|Ivan Duridanov]], whose own analysis found Phrygian completely lacking parallels in either Thracian or Baltic languages.{{sfn|Duridanov|1976}}

The Bulgarian linguist Ivan Duridanov, who improved the most extensive list of toponyms, in his first publication claimed that Thracian is genetically linked to the Baltic languages{{sfn|Duridanov|1969}} and in the next one he made the following classification: <blockquote>"The Thracian language formed a close group with the Baltic, the Dacian and the "[[Pelasgian]]" languages. More distant were its relations with the other Indo-European languages, and especially with Greek, the Italic and Celtic languages, which exhibit only isolated phonetic similarities with Thracian; the Tokharian and the Hittite were also distant. "{{sfn|Duridanov|1976}} </blockquote>Of about 200 [https://www.lexicons.ru/old/f/thracian/index.html reconstructed Thracian words] by Duridanov most cognates (138) appear in the Baltic languages, mostly in Lithuanian, followed by Germanic (61), Indo-Aryan (41), Greek (36), Bulgarian (23), Latin (10) and Albanian (8). The cognates of the [[List of reconstructed Dacian words|reconstructed Dacian words]] in his publication are found mostly in the Baltic languages, followed by Albanian. Parallels have enabled linguists, using the techniques of [[comparative linguistics]], to decipher the meanings of several Dacian and Thracian placenames with, they claim, a high degree of probability. Of 74 [[Dacian–Baltic connection|Dacian placenames]] attested in primary sources and considered by Duridanov, a total of 62 have Baltic cognates, most of which were rated "certain" by Duridanov.{{sfn|Duridanov|1969|pp=95–96}} For a big number of 300 [[Thracian language#Classification|Thracian geographic names]] most parallels were found between Thracian and Baltic geographic names in the study of Duridanov.{{sfn|Duridanov|1976}}{{sfn|Duridanov|1985}}{{sfn|Duridanov|1976}} According to him the most important impression make the geographic cognates of Baltic and Thracian <blockquote>"the similarity of these parallels stretching frequently on the main element and the suffix simultaneously, which makes a strong impression".{{sfn|Duridanov|1985}}{{sfn|Duridanov|1969}}</blockquote>
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Romanian linguist [[Sorin Paliga]], analysing and criticizing Harvey Mayer's study, did admit "great likeness" between Thracian, the [[Substrate in Romanian|substrate of Romanian]], and "some Baltic forms".<ref>Paliga, Sorin. "[https://ceeol-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/search/article-detail?id=1051762 Tracii şi dacii erau nişte „baltoizi”?]" [Were Thracians and Dacians ‘Baltoidic’?]. In: ''Romanoslavica'' XLVIII, nr. 3 (2012): 149–150.</ref>